Lenovo's ThinkPad Z16 has problems with random restarts

[Redaktion]

When it comes to new hardware, it is often wise to wait a bit with a purchase, as some firmware issues may still be present in a new product. Sometimes there are devices that are more problematic than others - for the expensive Lenovo ThinkPad Z16, frequent random restarts are the reason why our review is not finished yet.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-s-ThinkPad-Z16-has-problems-with-random-restarts.648911.0.html

[Rodrigo]

Random restarts occur in my case in 2 ways.
1) with bluetooth devices (mouse, Kb, Headphones). solution was in the latest bios and no restart since then.
2) when power settings are set to maximum performance. Balance mode mitigates this

[Pascal76]

and there is a Bluetooth issue for LENOVO AMD PCs (at least the last T14, T14S, x13):
Bluetooth disappears suddenly ... you have to stop the machine and start it to recover it (restart is not enough)

[ceevee]

I'm going to buy Z13. Does anyone know if this occurs with Z13 too?

[Benjamin Herzig]

I'm going to buy Z13. Does anyone know if this occurs with Z13 too?

We had no such problems with our ThinkPad Z13 review unit.

[Louis]

I experienced this with two x1 carbon gen 10s as well. Eventually just returned it after second one showed the same issue

[kek]

Random bugs like this is why I stay away from AMD....

Sad bc they sure have really good products, but random reboots are annoying.

[Elias Kousk]

I'm using Z16 for about a week and haven't seen any random restarts yet.

My setup is Ryzen 7 Pro 6850H, 32GB RAM, integrated 680M GPU, 1TB SSD, no WWAN and 1200p IPS non-touch.

Using BIOS 1.21 from within the 1st hour of operation.

I'm dual booting Kubuntu 22.04 and W11.

On W11 after the initial updates with the Lenovo utility the GPU driver wasn't working correctly, no correct resolution, lost brightness control etc Or W11 update caused this by overwriting the Lenovo provided driver. To fix it I tried reinstalling the Lenovo drivers from the device manager with no success. I then tried the drivers from AMD, but the install was failing and BSODed every time at a specific point. Finally, I used the DDU utility to remove all installed GPU drivers and tried to install the AMD one again. This time it succeeded, and I got back my brightness control.

Other than that zero issues on both Kubuntu and W11.

The battery could be better with moderate use. I see 7 to hours, I expected a bit more, maybe it's a bit early and the battery needs to charge a few cycles more for optimal performance. Or it's because I'm using kernel 5.15 on Kubuntu and power management for this new processor series is not optimal there. I want to use 5.19 but I have to wait for it to be available with HWE.

Overall I'm very pleased with this machine. The Z13 review here summarizes my experience. I'm glad I got it even though I was afraid of freezes/restarts or Linux issues based on what I read here or Reddit or Lenovo forums.

[Linn Sheng]

Does anyone here still experience any random booting or freeze? I'm thinking of buying 1 z16

[Gyula]

I have an AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H with 32Gb RAM and 1TB SSD. (21D40015HV)
I installed all the updates from Lenovo and the Win11 updates on the very first day.
I had one blue screen/freeze during the installation of the Logitech G HUB. I'm using a G305 (not bluetooth)
No issues since then, running flawless in the last 2 days.

[Eric Stoll]

Purchased in May 2023. Keep in mind this machine has been out almost a year now. From the very first power on, it threw an error before even getting to the OS, rebooted a few times, got stuck and required a paperclip hard reboot. After that, got into the OS, got through initial Windows updates. Crashed. Another paperclip hard reboot. It reboots and gets stuck before showing the BIOS splash screen. Its running BIOS 1.55. Ran Lenovo Vantage updates, and there were many. The crashes continue. It's usable for less than 10 minutes at a time. Ran a full hardware diagnostic and no error codes available. It's a complete lemon and going back to Lenovo.

[BBBelgium]

I have a 2 month Z13 that I was really happy with until I tried to play a couple steam games with my son.  Hard reboots /crashes anytime the GPU is loaded.  Verified the same with benchmarks and across multiple OS and driver combinations.  Pegging the fans to max speed seemed to help, but as soon as GPU Temps hit 60+ it crashes.  Ticket opened with Lenovo.  I love the device but for a premium price I hope it's not a broader quality issue.