Lenovo IdeaPad and Lenovo ThinkPad are two of the most sought-after and best-selling laptop series from the brand. While ThinkPad being a name for business laptops, IdeaPad laptops are built more specifically for everyday consumers. The differences between the two are quite noticeable but you can still point out similarities, considering both series are from the same brand.
Lenovo ThinkPad – A Brief Overview
Lenovo ThinkPad range is a premium laptop collection that has been introduced since 90s and rest is all known. Mainly focused for business users, these laptops are powered with high-capacity specs and top-notch features. Also popular for corporations, school organisations and business institutes, the ThinkPads come with rememberable durability. If you ought to expect spectacular performance, reliability and high quality, ThinkPad is one of the laptops you must look for.
Top 3 ThinkPads:
- Lenovo ThinkPad X1
- Lenovo ThinkPad P15s
- Lenovo ThinkPad L390
Lenovo IdeaPad – A Brief Overview
The Chinese laptop brand, Lenovo, launched its IdeaPad series in 2008 which is far after the ThinkPad series was launched. So, the IdeaPads are newer as compared to ThinkPad laptops and are just a little more than decade old. This also makes them fresh in terms of design, overall look, build and a lot more. However, this laptop range was announced for consumer-based purposes such as everyday tasks, common digital activities and more. IdeaPad range is cheaper than ThinkPad range and usually comes in a lighter, compact build.
Top 3 IdeaPads:
- Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3i
- Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i
- Lenovo IdeaPad 3
Lenovo ThinkPad Vs Lenovo IdeaPad – Key Differences
Most of the differences can be observed quite evidently in the case of both these series – one lineup is business-focused while other is consumer-based.
Design and Build
Lenovo ThinkPad looks and feel premium but when it comes to newest design factor, IdeaPad has that vibe more. The ThinkPads are usually built with materials like aluminium and brushed matte texture. You will also observe them to have brilliant keyboard with much tactile feedback and fastest typing key controls. On the other hand, Ideapads are totally designed stylishly and sport decent, classy looks.
The portability factor in the IdeaPad range is better where you can observe they are much lighter than ThinkPad laptops. However, ThinkPad avoids any unnecessary pretty features added on the build to make the design better. Instead, ThinkPad is more focused on the real-inside power and speed. IdeaPad is a much nicer looking laptop and is streamlined, plus lightweight to carry around easily during the day. Another major difference is that IdeaPad is adjusted with the trackpoint while ThinkPads do not have it installed mostly.
Hardware – Performance and Speed
Some laptops only focus is the real power inside it, and ThinkPads are especially built for the purpose. You can witness the high amount of power installed in the form of RAM, storage, processors and what not in ThinkPads. Powered with latest Gen Intel processors, the ThinkPads don’t leave a chance for any lagging or speed concerns. The minimum processing model used in the ThinkPad is the Intel Core i5, which is also a powerful processor. The performance of ThinkPads usually ranges much higher than other ranges due to top-notch and noteworthy specs.
On the contrary, as much as the IdeaPads are aesthetically pleasing, their performance is more basic. Created for everyday usage, these laptops typically consume less power and have been integrated with lesser RAM or storages. Moreso, there surely are Intel processors included in IdeaPad but you will also see AMD powered processors. On an overall note, IdeaPads are still powerful enough for everyday to advanced tasks and operations. In comparison to ThinkPads, they do fall off a beat for speed and performance.
Display
Lenovo ThinkPads come with high-quality displays, usually featuring UHD, 4K, QHD screens. The most common sizes in ThinkPad range are 14-inch, and the contrast ratio is kept at a brilliant accuracy. Doubtlessly, Lenovo has made sure to equip this range with the best display ever and fantastic viewing experience. Lenovo Ideapad, on the other end, come with moderate displays and have a decent quality. However, as compared to ThinkPad display, the IdeaPad display has less stunning specs such as contrast ratio or refresh rates. The leagues of both these series laptops in terms of display are different. You can’t expect an Ideapad’s display nearing the ThinkPad ones that easy.
Battery and Connectivity
The battery performance of an IdeaPad is simply more impressive than a ThinkPad. One of the top reasons of this cause is that ThinkPads are doubtlessly more powerful and consume more energy. Even though, they are integrated with good enough battery power, they cannot prevail as longer as IdeaPads. However, you can still expect a ThinkPad to run modest hours during the day. Ideapads can easily run through the day, without having to think about plugging in the battery sockets.
The ports game in both ThinkPad and IdeaPad is strong enough, but you can get to see variations according to models. In some ThinkPads, the port choices have been given more while in some of the latest IdeaPad laptops, there are sufficient ports added, as well.
Which One is better – ThinkPad or IdeaPad?
Conclusively, Lenovo ThinkPads are way better in performance and speed in comparison to the IdeaPad laptops. However, if your priority isn’t high-end performance, in fact you need a laptop that performs sufficiently and sports nice-looking ultra-portable design, IdeaPad is for you. While Lenovo ThinkPads perform amazingly for gaming, multimedia or complex digital fields, the IdeaPads can prove to be amazing for everyday usage. You can also use IdeaPads for a bit more advanced tasks, and there are one or more IdeaPads launched for gaming as well. But, considering how far ThinkPads can go with their speed, they are almost unbeatable. IdeaPads, however are lovely to travel with when you don’t have intensive workloads, heavier digital projects or any complex deadlines.