Lenovo THINKBOOK LENOVO THINKBOOK 15 G2 ITL 15.5" FHD INTEL 11TH Review

The Lenovo ThinkBook 15 G2 offers a massive 40GB of RAM at a shockingly low price, but it's held back by a slow older CPU and a very basic display.

CPU I5-1135G
RAM 40 GB
Storage 1 TB
Screen 15.5" 1920x1080
GPU AMD Graphics
OS Windows 11 Pro
Lenovo THINKBOOK LENOVO THINKBOOK 15 G2 ITL 15.5" FHD INTEL 11TH laptop
66.6 Overall Score

Overview

The Lenovo ThinkBook 15 G2 ITL is a weird one. It's got a massive 40GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, which is way more than you'd expect at this price. But it pairs that with an older 11th Gen Intel CPU and a basic 60Hz screen, making it a real mix of power and compromise.

It's clearly built for work, not play. The scores show it's best as a general use machine, not for students or business pros who need top-tier performance. The touchscreen and backlit keyboard are nice touches, but they don't fix the core issues.

Performance

Let's break it down. The AMD integrated graphics are surprisingly decent, landing in the 98th percentile. That's not for gaming, but it helps with video calls and light photo editing. The 40GB RAM is also a huge plus for multitasking. The problem is the CPU. It's in the 23rd percentile, which means it's slow. Expect some lag when you have too many tabs or apps open. The screen is also a weak point, sitting in the bottom 16th percentile. It's just a basic 1080p 60Hz panel.

Performance Percentiles

CPU 29.2
GPU 95.9
RAM 90.4
Ports 82.2
Screen 24.6
Portability 45.9
Storage 83.2
Reliability 74.5
Social Proof 50.1

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Strong gpu (98th percentile) 96th
  • Strong ram (88th percentile) 90th
  • Strong port (85th percentile) 83th
  • Strong storage (78th percentile) 82th

Cons

  • Below average screen (16th percentile) 25th
  • Below average cpu (23th percentile) 29th

Specifications

Full Specifications

Processor

CPU I5-1135G

Graphics

GPU Graphics
Type integrated
VRAM 48 GB
VRAM Type GDDR6

Memory & Storage

RAM 40 GB
Storage 1 TB
Storage Type NVMe SSD

Display

Size 15.5"
Resolution 1920 (Full HD)
Refresh Rate 60 Hz

Connectivity

Thunderbolt 1 x Thunderbolt 4
HDMI 1 x HDMI
Wi-Fi WiFi 6
Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.0

Physical

OS Windows 11 Pro

Value & Pricing

At $459, this is a tough call. You're getting an insane amount of RAM and a good SSD for the money. If your work involves having fifty browser tabs and a dozen documents open at once, that RAM is a lifesaver. But you're sacrificing a lot in CPU speed and screen quality. For pure specs-per-dollar, it's interesting. For a balanced, pleasant experience, it's harder to recommend.

Price History

New Refurbished
$450 $500 $550 $600 Feb 18Mar 21Mar 30 $509

vs Competition

Compared to an ASUS Zenbook Duo, you lose the innovative dual-screen design and get a much slower CPU, but you gain way more RAM for less money. Next to a gaming laptop like the MSI Vector or Gigabyte AORUS, there's no contest for performance, but those cost three times as much. The real question is against a modern budget ultrabook. This ThinkBook offers more raw memory, but you'll feel the age of its processor in daily use compared to something with a newer chip.

Spec Lenovo THINKBOOK LENOVO THINKBOOK 15 G2 ITL 15.5" FHD INTEL 11TH Apple MacBook Pro Apple 14" MacBook Pro (M4 Max, Space Black) ASUS ROG Flow ASUS ROG Flow - AMD Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 AMD Radeon Lenovo ThinkPad Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 16" UHD+ OLED Touchscreen MSI Creator MSI Creator M14 A13V A13VF-081US 14" 2.8K Laptop, HP ZBook HP 14" ZBook Ultra G1a Multi-Touch Mobile
CPU I5-1135G Apple M4 Max AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 Intel Core Ultra 7 165H Intel Core i7 13620H AMD Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395
RAM (GB) 40 36 128 64 32 128
Storage (GB) 1024 1024 1024 2048 2048 2048
Screen 15.5" 1920x1080 14.2" 3024x1964 13.4" 2560x1600 16" 3840x2160 14" 2880x1800 14" 2880x1800
GPU AMD Graphics Apple M4 Max 32-core AMD Radeon 8060 NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 AMD Radeon
OS Windows 11 Pro macOS Windows 11 Pro Windows 11 Pro, English Windows 11 Home (MSI recommends Windows 11 Pro for business) Windows 11 Pro
Weight (kg) - 1.6 1.2 1.8 1.6 2.5
Battery (Wh) - 72 70 90 - 74

Verdict

Buy this only if your number one priority is having a ton of RAM for under $500, and you don't care about CPU speed or screen quality. It's a niche pick for budget power users who live in their browser. For almost everyone else, especially students or business users, spending a bit more for a better-balanced machine with a newer CPU is the smarter move.