Lenovo ThinkBook 15 G2 ITL Black 2021 Review

For $429, the 24GB of RAM and 1TB SSD are the headline acts, outpacing nearly everything at this price. The screen is a weak spot, landing in the bottom quarter of our database, and gaming performance is painfully low at 20.7 out of 100. It's a killer office machine if you can live with a dull display.

For $429, a refurbished price that's hard to ignore, the Lenovo ThinkBook 15 G2 ITL lands in our database with a surprising mix of strong and weak numbers. The 24GB of RAM sits in the 58th percentile, above average, while the 1TB NVMe SSD hits the 81st percentile, making this a storage and multitasking champion for the money. Port selection is solid too, with Thunderbolt and Ethernet earning an 80th percentile rank. But the screen drags the whole package down, coming in at the 21st percentile, and the 11th Gen Core i5 is nothing special at the 41st percentile.

The GPU percentile reading is a head-scratcher. It shows a 97th percentile ranking, listing it as AMD integrated graphics, which seems like a database quirk rather than real-world power. In actual use, we'd treat that as fine for office apps but almost useless for gaming, which is why the overall gaming score bottoms out at a terrible 20.7 out of 100. What you're getting is a reliable work laptop that can handle spreadsheets and dozens of browser tabs, not a machine for creative work or after-hours play.

The Core i5-1135G7 isn't going to set any speed records. In our data, it sits at the 41st percentile, meaning plenty of modern ultrabooks will run circles around it in CPU-heavy tasks. But with 24GB of DDR4 memory, you won't feel cramped, and the 1TB NVMe SSD loads everything quickly, landing in the 81st percentile for storage speed. The real star is connectivity: Thunderbolt, three USB-A ports, HDMI, and Ethernet give you an 80th percentile port score, which is rare on budget-friendly laptops.

That bizarre 97th percentile GPU ranking deserves a reality check. Integrated graphics, whether AMD or Intel, can't touch even a low-end discrete GPU. Our gaming benchmarks hammer this point home with a 20.7 out of 100 score, one of the lowest we've recorded for any category. Don't let that high percentile number fool you; this laptop is built for Word and Outlook, not Call of Duty. The screen, at 60Hz and 21st percentile, lacks brightness and color accuracy, making even media consumption a bit dull.

For $429 as a refurbished unit, the ThinkBook 15 G2 ITL is a value monster in specific areas. You're getting 24GB of RAM and a 1TB NVMe SSD, a combination that usually costs twice as much in a new laptop. That storage alone is a standout at the 81st percentile. While the screen and CPU are mediocre, the price cushions those blows. Throw in a backlit keyboard, fingerprint reader, and Windows 11 Pro, and this is a tempting pick for office workers who just need a cheap, reliable machine. The missing battery data is the one gamble, but at this price, it's a calculated risk.

Stack this ThinkBook against something like the ASUS ProArt PX13 or the Microsoft Surface Laptop Copilot+ PC, and the differences are comical. Those laptops serve up stunning high-res screens, snappy new CPUs, and all-day battery life, but they'll set you back well over $1,000. The ThinkBook wins on price alone, and its RAM and storage specs actually outpace many budget competitors in raw numbers. The trade-off is a dim 60Hz display and a processor that feels its age. If you can tolerate a mediocre screen and no gaming, this old-timer still makes a case for itself.

If you need a bright, color-accurate screen for photo editing or simply want to watch movies without squinting, the 21st percentile display will drive you crazy. Gamers should run the other way, since the 20.7 out of 100 gaming score tells you all you need to know. Anyone who values portability will also be disappointed, as the 41st percentile compactness ranking means this isn't a slip-into-a-bag ultrabook. Finally, if battery life is critical, the lack of any official data on this refurb is a gamble you might not want to take.

If you need a desktop replacement that can chew through office work, handle massive spreadsheets, and keep three dozen tabs open while staying under $500, the ThinkBook 15 G2 ITL is a solid grab. The 24GB RAM and 1TB SSD are the showstoppers here, and the port selection means you won't need dongles. Just know that the screen is a letdown and gaming is completely off the table. For the price, it's a purpose-built workhorse that understands its limitations.