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Tech · Lenovo · 2021

Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 2 (AMD)

Eight Ryzen cores in the top configuration, a free memory slot, and Windows 11 support, at off-lease prices.

Off-lease ThinkPads: which generation is still worth it — #1

Overall

8.2

out of 10

Axis scores

Strongest on Value (8.8), weakest on Design (7.4), a 1.4-point spread. The 8.2 overall is the plain average of all 5 Tech axes, with no weighting.

Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 2 (AMD) — axis scores out of 10Horizontal bar chart of editorial scores out of 10 across 5 axes. Bars run from a shared zero baseline; longer is better. Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 2 (AMD): Performance 8.3, Value 8.8, Durability 8.2, Ease of use 8.4, Design 7.4.PerformanceLenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 2 (AMD) — Performance 8.3 out of 108.3ValueLenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 2 (AMD) — Value 8.8 out of 108.8DurabilityLenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 2 (AMD) — Durability 8.2 out of 108.2Ease of useLenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 2 (AMD) — Ease of use 8.4 out of 108.4DesignLenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 2 (AMD) — Design 7.4 out of 107.4Editorial score out of 10 — higher is better
  • Performance — How well it does the core job
  • Value — What the same money buys elsewhere
  • Durability — Failure and fade reports past the one-year mark
  • Ease of use — Setup, daily operation, cleaning, maintenance
  • Design — Build quality and how it sits in a room

Specs

Processor
Ryzen 5 PRO 5650U or Ryzen 7 PRO 5850U
Memory
8GB or 16GB soldered plus one SO-DIMM slot
Display
14-inch, 1920×1080 on most units
Battery
50Wh
Storage
One M.2 NVMe slot
Ports
2× USB-C, 2× USB-A, HDMI, Ethernet, headphone jack

As published by the manufacturer. We didn't measure these ourselves.

Is it for you

Buy it if

  • You want the most processor and memory headroom an off-lease budget buys
  • You plug into Ethernet, an external monitor, and USB-A devices without a dongle
  • Linux is the plan, since AMD units of this generation are well supported

Skip it if

  • Weight matters, since this is the heaviest 14-inch machine here after the T480
  • The listing shows the dim 250-nit panel and you work near windows

This is the off-lease ThinkPad to buy if you want it to feel current. Ryzen 5000 PRO chips run Windows 11 officially, and the 8-core 5850U handles compiles and large spreadsheets that make 8th-gen Intel machines struggle.

Half the memory is soldered and the other half is a standard SO-DIMM slot, so a 16GB unit can go to 48GB with one stick. Check the PSREF entry for the listing’s machine type number to confirm which panel it shipped with; Lenovo built this model with several, and the base 250-nit screen is noticeably dim.

The full-size Ethernet jack and two USB-A ports matter more than they look on a spec sheet. A used laptop is often a second machine on a desk full of older cables.

Search with the machine type, 20XK or 20XL, to keep Intel T14 Gen 2 listings out of the results. They look identical in photos and use different chips.

Last updated . The scoring method is on how we rank.