Lenovo ThinkPad 14" T470s 2022, Core i5-6300U, 8GB, 128GB SSD, Black

The ThinkPad T470s is a lightweight 14-inch business laptop with a fantastic keyboard and great port selection, but its dual-core i5-6300U, 8GB RAM, and 128GB SSD are seriously dated. At $414, it's a tough sell unless you only need basic productivity and value portability above all else. The gaming score of 9.3 out of 100 tells you everything you need to know about its graphics capabilities. If you can find it cheaper or just need a dedicated writing machine, it's worth considering. Otherwise, look for a newer refurbished ThinkPad.

The i5-6300U sits at the 46th percentile for CPU performance in our database, which means it's about average compared to all laptops we've tested. That sounds okay until you remember that 'all laptops' includes a lot of very old machines. In real terms, this chip handles a few browser tabs, a word processor, and maybe a spreadsheet without much drama. But open twenty tabs, fire up a video call, and try to run a heavy PDF at the same time, and you'll feel the dual-core architecture start to wheeze. The 8GB of RAM doesn't help much either. It's at the 6th percentile for memory, which is rough. Windows 10 Pro will run, but you'll want to keep background apps to a minimum.

The 128GB SSD is the real bottleneck. That's at the 7th percentile for storage, and it fills up fast. Windows 10 alone eats a good chunk of that, and before you know it, you're juggling files and uninstalling apps to free up space. The SSD itself is fine for boot times and app launches, but the capacity is a constant annoyance. The HD Graphics 520 lands at the 14th percentile for GPU performance, which means it's fine for video playback and basic display output, but anything 3D is going to struggle. Even older games at low settings will chug. This is a productivity machine, not a play machine.

Stacked against something like the Apple MacBook Air M4, the T470s looks like it's from another planet. The M4 Air has a chip that's several generations ahead, a much better display, and battery life that embarrasses this old ThinkPad. But it also costs several times more. The comparison isn't really fair. The T470s competes more directly with refurbished business laptops like the Dell Latitude 7000 series or HP EliteBook 800 series from the same era. Against those, the ThinkPad holds its own with a better keyboard and slightly lighter build, though the 128GB SSD is smaller than what you'd typically find on competing refurbs.

The ASUS Vivobook Pro 15 and Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition are both modern machines with vastly better performance, but they're also in a completely different price bracket. If you're cross-shopping the T470s against those, you're probably confused about what you need. The T470s is for someone who wants a cheap, reliable typing machine and doesn't care about modern performance. The HP OmniBook X Flip and Samsung Galaxy Book6 Pro are even further removed, with ARM chips and OLED displays that make the ThinkPad's IPS panel look dated. The honest take is this: the T470s only makes sense if you're on a very tight budget and prioritize keyboard quality and portability over everything else.

At $414 USD from the listing we're looking at, the T470s is a tricky value proposition. On one hand, you're getting a genuine ThinkPad with a great keyboard, solid build, and useful ports for less than the price of a mid-range Chromebook. On the other hand, that $414 buys you a dual-core CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD in a world where even budget laptops now ship with quad-core chips and 256GB drives. The compact score of 63.6 out of 100 reflects this tension. It's a small, light machine, but the internals are dated.

If you can find this closer to $300, it becomes a much easier recommendation as a secondary machine or a dedicated writing laptop. At $414, you're paying a premium for the ThinkPad name and build quality. The reliability score of 81st percentile is genuinely good, and these machines were built to last. But you need to ask yourself if you'd rather have a new budget laptop with a warranty and modern specs, or a used business machine with a legendary keyboard and aging internals.

The ThinkPad T470s is one of those machines that shows up on refurbished and clearance listings years after its prime, and honestly, it still has a reason to exist. This is a 14-inch business laptop with a matte 1080p IPS display, a backlit keyboard, and a fingerprint reader, all wrapped in a chassis that weighs just 1.31kg. For someone who needs a cheap, portable typing machine for email, documents, and web browsing, this thing still makes a case for itself. But you need to know exactly what you're getting into, because the specs are a time capsule from 2016.

The Core i5-6300U is a dual-core chip with Hyper-Threading, not the 4-core the listing suggests. It runs at 2.4GHz base and boosts to 3.0GHz. Paired with 8GB of DDR4 and a 128GB SSD, it'll handle basic office work without falling over, but don't expect it to chew through heavy multitasking. The integrated HD Graphics 520 is fine for driving the display and playing video, but gaming is basically off the table. Our database puts this machine's gaming score at 9.3 out of 100, which is about as close to zero as you can get without being a literal typewriter.

What makes the T470s interesting is the ThinkPad DNA. The keyboard is still one of the best laptop keyboards ever made, the build quality is solid, and the port selection is genuinely useful. You get Thunderbolt, a USB-C port, three USB-A ports, HDMI, and even Ethernet. That's more connectivity than most modern ultrabooks offer. If you're a student or someone who just needs a dependable machine for writing and light browsing, and you can find this at a good price, it's worth a look. Just don't expect it to feel modern.

If you need to run anything beyond basic productivity software, skip this. The dual-core i5-6300U will choke on video editing, photo work, or even heavy multitasking with lots of browser tabs. The 8GB of soldered RAM means you can't upgrade your way out of that limitation, and the 128GB SSD is a constant headache. Creative professionals, developers, and anyone who runs virtual machines or heavy spreadsheets should look elsewhere. Even a modern budget laptop with a quad-core chip and 16GB of RAM will run circles around this thing.

Gamers should obviously skip it too. The HD Graphics 520 is one of the weakest GPUs in our database, and the gaming score of 9.3 out of 100 is about as bad as it gets. If you want a cheap laptop that can still play some games, look for something with an AMD Ryzen APU or at least Intel Iris Xe graphics. And if you need Wi-Fi 6 for faster wireless speeds, this machine tops out at Wi-Fi 5. For the same money, a refurbished ThinkPad T480 or T490 with a quad-core CPU and a bigger SSD is a much smarter buy.

If you're a writer, a student on a tight budget, or someone who just needs a dependable machine for email and documents, the T470s can still work. The keyboard is genuinely excellent, the 1.31kg weight makes it easy to carry, and the port selection means you won't need a dongle for everything. The matte display is also a nice touch for working in bright rooms or near windows. Just be prepared to live within the limits of a dual-core CPU and 8GB of RAM. Keep your tabs in check, and it'll treat you fine.

For anyone who needs to run heavier software, do any kind of photo or video editing, or just wants a machine that won't feel slow in two years, this isn't it. The 128GB SSD is a dealbreaker for a lot of people, and the lack of Wi-Fi 6 means you're leaving speed on the table with modern routers. If you can stretch your budget even a little, a newer refurbished ThinkPad like a T480 or T490 with a quad-core chip and a bigger SSD is a much better long-term bet. The T470s is a classic, but it's a classic that's showing its age.