Lenovo V-Series 15.6" V15 G4 ABP Black 2024

The Lenovo V15 G4 is a budget business laptop that feels faster than you'd expect and offers great connectivity, but its low-quality screen is a constant reminder of the corners that were cut. It's one of the best-reviewed machines in our database for everyday office grind, which tells you a lot about its value. Grab it around $650 and you'll be happy; pay more than $900 and you're throwing money away.

The Lenovo V15 G4 ABP is the kind of laptop IT departments love: no frills, plenty of ports, and a Ryzen 7 chip that handles spreadsheets and video calls without breaking a sweat. You get 16GB of RAM, a full 1TB SSD, and a numpad on the keyboard, which is a rarity at this price point. It's light enough at 1.63kg to carry between meetings, and Windows 11 Pro comes pre-installed so you can join a domain right out of the box.

But every budget machine has a catch, and here it's the screen. The 15.6" 1080p panel has awful viewing angles and washed-out colors, landing in the bottom 21st percentile of our database. There's no backlight on the keyboard either, and that flexible plastic chassis won't win any design awards. If you can live with those trade-offs, the V15 G4 is a solid workhorse. If you can't, you'll want to keep scrolling.

That Ryzen 7 7730U chip is a pleasant surprise. It scores right around the median for this category, but in everyday use it feels snappier than the numbers suggest. Boot times are fast, apps open quickly, and the 16GB of RAM keeps things smooth even with a dozen browser tabs and a few Office apps open. The integrated Radeon graphics sit in the 69th percentile, which means it can handle light photo editing or very casual gaming in a pinch. The real drag is that display: at 21st percentile, it's one of the weakest we've seen. Colors look flat, and you'll need to stay dead center to avoid the picture washing out. The battery life is decent for light work, but if you push the CPU, expect to reach for the charger sooner than you'd like.

Here's where it gets interesting. The V15 G4's price swings a wild $891 across vendors, from $639 to $1530. At the low end, this thing is an absolute steal for a Ryzen 7 business laptop with 1TB of storage. But if you pay anywhere near the high end, you're into MacBook Air or premium ultrabook territory where you'll get a vastly better screen and build quality. Our advice: hunt for a deal around the $650-$700 mark, and don't even glance at listings over $900.

Against the glossy MacBook Pro M5 or the sleek Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro, the Lenovo looks like it wandered in from a different decade. Those laptops have stunning displays, all-metal builds, and the Galaxy Book5 weighs just over a kilo. But they also cost three to four times as much. The ASUS ProArt PX13 offers a better screen for creators, and the MSI Prestige trades blows on portability. When you factor in price, the V15 G4 hangs its hat on being a no-nonsense business tool with a numpad and Ethernet, something none of those premium rivals offer. It's simply a different class of machine, and for the right user, that's not a bad thing.

If you need a vibrant, color-accurate screen for design work, photo editing, or even just watching Netflix at decent viewing angles, walk away. The V15 G4's display is a dealbreaker for anyone who values image quality. Also, if you often work in dim environments and can't live without a backlit keyboard, you'll be squinting and swearing. Power users who run virtual machines or compile code will find 16GB soldered RAM limiting too.

If you're an office worker or student who spends all day in Excel, Word, and a browser, this laptop will serve you well. The performance is genuinely good, the keyboard is comfortable, and the port selection means you can ditch the dongles. The catch is that screen: if you spend hours editing photos, watching movies, or just hate looking at a dim panel, you'll be unhappy. Think of it as the sensible work car that gets you from A to B reliably, without any leather seats.