Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 review: A few ports short of greatness

The Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 is an odd duck. It’s an ultra-portable business laptop that looks great on paper. It’s thin, light, has a great screen, and nice extras like Windows Hello support for its webcam and a fingerprint sensor. And, with its AMD Ryzen 7 Pro processor, it’s no slouch.

But it’s also missing other things that you might expect in a business laptop like an abundance of USB ports or a microSD card reader. And, for the price of the model we tested, it’s hard not to think of Lenovo’s excellent ThinkPad X1 Carbon as a potential alternative. Ultimately, this ThinkPad might be best compared to its classic red “nub.” You’ll either love it or hate it. But if you’re just the right type of business person who travels occasionally, it might be the right laptop for you.

Looking for more options? Check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops available right now.

Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2: Specs

The ThinkPad Z14 Gen 2 comes in a variety of configurations, but most of that revolves around the usual suspects: amount of RAM, storage, processor choice, and type of display and resolution. The top-of-the-line version we tested is configured with an AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 7840U processor, 32GB of (sadly soldered) RAM, 1TB of SSD storage, and a 2880×1800 OLED touchscreen display. If you’re willing to step down to 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a 1920×1080 IPS non-touch (or touch!) display, you can spend less. But it’s hard to recommend a modern Windows 11 laptop with 16GB of RAM or 256GB of storage.

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 7840U
• Memory: 32GB
• Graphics/GPU: AMD Radeon 780M graphics
• Display: 13-inch, 2880×1800 OLED 400 nits, touch
• Storage: 1TB SSD
• Webcam: 1080p
• Connectivity: Two Type-C USB4 ports, combo audio jack
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
• Biometrics: IR facial recognition, fingerprint reader
• Battery capacity: 51.5 Watt-hour
• Dimensions: 11.6 x 7.0 x 0.55 inches
• Weight: 2.62 pounds
• MSRP: $1,873.80 as tested ($1,241.40, base)

Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2: Build quality and looks

IDG / Josh Hendrickson

IDG / Josh Hendrickson

            <div class="scrim" style="background-color: #fff" aria-hidden="true"></div>
    </div></figure><p class="imageCredit">IDG / Josh Hendrickson</p></div>

Have you ever seen a ThinkPad before? If so, then the Z1, with its grey chassis and red nub in the middle of the keyboard, will be instantly recognizable to you. And that’s not a negative thing! This is a business laptop that you want to take to the office or onsite, the last thing you’d want for that scenario is something gaudy, unnecessarily glitzy, or ugly. The ThinkPad Z13 is a professional looking laptop and overall easy on the eyes.

As usual, Lenovo went with a sleek matte black design with a few red highlights. The dot above above the ThinkPad logo is a bright red along with the classic nub on the keyboard. And the back of the lid also has a little treat, the I in the ThinkPad logo lights up when the laptop is on. We have the aluminum lid version in for testing, but Lenovo also offers a flax fiber with a woven fabric look. In pictures it looks nice, but that’s all we can say since we didn’t get our hands on that model.

IDG / Josh Hendrickson

            <div class="lightbox-image-container foundry-lightbox"><div class="extendedBlock-wrapper block-coreImage undefined"><figure class="wp-block-image size-large enlarged-image"><img decoding="async" data-wp-bind--src="selectors.core.image.enlargedImgSrc" data-wp-style--object-fit="selectors.core.image.lightboxObjectFit" src="" alt="Lenovo ThinkPad logo" class="wp-image-2279930" width="1200" height="675" loading="lazy" /></figure><p class="imageCredit">IDG / Josh Hendrickson</p></div>

    </div></figure><p class="imageCredit">IDG / Josh Hendrickson</p></div>

Overall, the bezels are small, but that leads to a jut out for the webcam section. But Lenovo does a great thing here and turns a problem into an opportunity. The webcam bar shape is a wedge that serves as the perfect spot to grip and open your laptop. It’s not a bug, it’s actually a feature! The device is thin, light, and definitely built for travel. That may be working against it, as I noticed the fans running more often that I’d prefer and the device building up heat even during mundane tasks like web browsing.

The Z13 is also a touch on the heavier side for an ultrabook in its class. It even weighs more than the ThinkPad Carbon X1, surprisingly. But that’s a good thing. At a little over two and half pounds, it’s not so heavy that you’ll regret lugging it around more than most other ultrabooks. But the feel of the device is solid. It doesn’t creak, squeak, or groan, and that’s down to the material choices. They weigh more, but feel better.

Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2: Keyboard and trackpad

IDG / Josh Hendrickson

            <div class="lightbox-image-container foundry-lightbox"><div class="extendedBlock-wrapper block-coreImage undefined"><figure class="wp-block-image size-large enlarged-image"><img decoding="async" data-wp-bind--src="selectors.core.image.enlargedImgSrc" data-wp-style--object-fit="selectors.core.image.lightboxObjectFit" src="" alt="Lenovo ThinkPad keyboard" class="wp-image-2279933" width="1200" height="675" loading="lazy" /></figure><p class="imageCredit">IDG / Josh Hendrickson</p></div>

    </div></figure><p class="imageCredit">IDG / Josh Hendrickson</p></div>

I’m sorry to say I&rsqu