Lenovo ThinkPad T490 (i7, MX250, Low Power FHD) Laptop Review

[Redaktion]

The ThinkPad T490 is a radical redesign of the central ThinkPad series, the T series. Lenovo emphasizes a much improved mobility with a more compact, thinner and lighter case. This begs the question whether Lenovo had to make any compromises in order to make these improvements. This time around, at least Lenovo does not skimp on the screen.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T490-i7-MX250-Low-Power-FHD-Laptop-Review.421150.0.html

[random T480 user]

I'm interested in ordering one low-power 400nit fhd panel that's present on T490(s) to upgrade my T480.
Would you please check if either of these two panels you guys found on T490(s), AUO B140HAN05.7 and BOE NE140FHM-N61, is compatible with T480, to be specific a T480 with fhd panel of which eDP connector is also a 30-pin?

[AA]

They traded their entire legacy for displays.
Yet HP still wins on displays, and speakers.

[Not_anton]

You claim that the laptop is very thin, but there's not a single photo from the side - not even at ports selection. All photos are at 45 degrees, and the laptop foes not really look thin on them.

I mean it's fine if Lenovo pays you for biased reviews, but then mark them as "sponsored content". Seems unfair to other laptops with objective articles.

[Benjamin Herzig]

@Not_anton,
you can look at any of the reviews I have done and you will find that all of them have their pictures taken at a 45 degree angle. It is just a necessity of my photo setup.

Also, we don't claim that this laptop is extraordinarily thin, just that it is a lot thinner than older versions of the T400 series. It is equally thin as competitors. We have a size comparison tool, so anyone can see how thin the device actually is.

[Konstantinos]

@ random T480
"...AUO B140HAN05.7 and BOE NE140FHM-N61, is compatible with T480, to be specific a T480 with fhd panel of which eDP connector is also a 30-pin?"

Yes, go on. All Thinkpads with IPS display have the same eDP standard connector (actually almost all laptops with IPS screens use the same standard eDP connector). I had done this without a problem to my Thinkpad. There is a problem only if you have a TN type (not IPS) screen that uses a different connector.

[ts]

Those LatencyMon numbers are really worrisome. Hope they're not actually representative of the T490. My T480 stays in the green for hours on end even with WLAN enabled

[gggggg]

I would be interested to know if the i5 version of the T490 can do 700 points on sustained load in Cinebench, which is what the i5 version of the T480s can do. (and tested with the MX250 to see the effects of the cooling system)
The response times of the low powered IPS screen is really not good for me, so I'd probably choose the WQHD.  Is it the same model LP140QH2-SPB1 as on the T480s and X1 Carbon? I need the same color accuracy.
Other than that, not having the full sized SD card is a pain, but manageable, and the extra 100g weight over the T480s is ok. Then I might go with the T490 instead of the T480s (as long as the i5 cpu can perform as well).
The maintenance issue with the difficult case removal is a one time thing, so it's manageable, after I install a new M.2 SSD stick, a 512gb sdd to the WWAN slot, and a RAM stick.
Since the motherboard has 8GB soldered on, is it better to use a same sized 8GB stick in the open slot, or is a 16 GB stick in dual channel asymmetric just as good in performance?

[gggggg]

Oh, i just noticed on the lenovo website for the T490 that the MX250 is only available with the i7 CPU, which is not good for me. I want to have the MX250 with the i5 CPU for better CPU performance, (since the i5 is faster than the i7 on sustained load due to throttling).  I guess I'll think about the T480s again with the i5 and MX150.

Is the cooling system for the T490 for the i5 without MX250 really worse than the cooling system for the i7 with MX250, as the article describes?

[Benjamin Herzig]

@gggggg,
yes, the iGPU versions have a weaker cooling system with a single heatpipe. The dGPU version has a dual-heatpipe design.

[ED]

I see what you did there Lenovo.

• T480 dumped
• T480s renamed to T490
• X1(ish) renamed to T490s

Farewell Thinkpad T, it's been good while it lasted.

[RobotActor]

Great review. 

I ordered a T490 with the i5 chip and the low power display, before your review came out.  Still waiting for it to be delivered.  Do you think this configuration will have longer battery life than the review unit? 

In your review of the T490s you detail the steps to under-volt the processor - but you didn't do that in this review.  Is it correct to assume the steps to under-volt the T490s will work on the i5 version of the T490?

[e42]

Simple put, T490 is worse than T480, end of story. And if any T480 user needs a better screen, they can mod their machine. Thinkpad brand stands for great maintnance - but here there's a crap unopenable case. It stands for versatility - but here there's a builtin 50Wh crap battery instead of 3 options. It's a degradation machine.

[mathew7]

Sooo, the T480 with MX150 was terrible. I only tried it once under Windows 10 with CS:GO and after about 1 minute I would have 30-40FPS with stutters (1080p low preset; good thing I only did bot practice).
Under Linux (specifically Ubuntu 18.10), if I want to game (tested with CS:GO and GPUTest+stress) I have to disable HT (not a problem with 4-cores) and underclock GPU by -200/-2000MHz (max drivers allow) to prevent thermal trip (and I cannot set this once and forget).
You see, EC trips when GPU reaches ~76C, but NVIDIA has unchangeable slowdown temp in 90+C range. So, without those changes, NVIDIA stays at 1600MHz until EC trips (about 10s) and drops CPU to 400-800MHz and GPU to 400MHz. With GPUTTest (linux furmark)+4-core stress-ng. And a reboot is needed to restore any performance (with CPU I found tools that change MSRRs, but nothing for GPU).
PS: In Win10, with furmark, it would start with 1400 and gradually get to 1100. But in Linux will keep GPU at 1600 unless tripped or underclocked.

[tanstaafl]

Why is there such a drive to make the thinnest and lightest laptop?  What about a workhorse laptop with long battery life and a keyboard with good key travel that I can bang on all day?  Why does every company have to copy Apple?