Review: Lenovo ThinkPad W550s

Introduction and design

If you don't need the full quad-core processing performance of last year's ThinkPad W540 workstation, you can still get workstation-class power in this year's ThinkPad W550s. Positioned as a slimmer cousin to the ThinkPad W540 and this year's ThinkPad W541 in Lenovo's lineup, the W550s comes packed with Intel's fifth generation Broadwell processor and a discrete graphics chip in a more portable package.

This Ultrabook-class laptop, priced starting at $1,133 (£765, AU$1,455), packs plenty of punch to compete with heavyweight workstations, with features including an optional 3K touchscreen display, desktop docking, longer battery life, military specification testing for durability and plenty of ports.

With a 15.5-inch high resolution screen, the ThinkPad W550s has many rivals. Namely, it competes against Dell's $2,234 (£1,505, AU$2,862) Precision M3800 workstation with a 4K display and Nvidia Quadro K1100M graphics and the more powerful, $2,079 (£1,400, AU$2,665) Dell Precision M4800 with a 4K touch panel and quad-core Haswell processor alongside an Nvidia Quadro K2100M GPU. Other notable competitors include HP's $2,999 (£2,020, AU$3,845) ZBook 15 G2 with a QHD+ resolution display and Quadro K2100M graphics, and MSI's $2,649 (£1,785, AU$3,395) WS60 with 4K display along with a quad-core Haswell processor and Quadro K2100M graphics.

If you're looking at OS X, Apple's $2,499 (£1,685, AU$3,205) MacBook Pro15-inch with Retina display and Nvidia GeForce GT 750M graphics is also an excellent contender.

Design

If you love Lenovo's understated aesthetics from its ThinkPad range, you won't be disappointed here. All of the power of the ThinkPad W550s is packed into a simple black box with straight edges and subtly rounded corners.

Even though the ThinkPad W550s looks like a plastic brick, don't be fooled by its construction. The components are protected by a sturdy roll cage, metal skeleton, and reinforced with what Lenovo describes as "satellite-grade" carbon fiber.

With one-third the weight of aluminum, the use of a carbon fiber shell helps keeps the W550s light while being more shock absorbent at the same time, in case you drop the notebook. I can't attest to the shock absorbent nature of the design as I didn't perform any drop tests, but the overall build quality is solid with minimal creaks and no flexes.

Compared to the more powerful ThinkPad W541 on the market, the compact 15 x 10.2 x 0.92-inch (38.1 x 25.9 x 2.34cm) dimensions of the 5.47-pound (2.48kg) ThinkPad W550s make it easier to travel with.

Even though the reductions in weight from 5.57 pounds (2.52kg) and thickness from 1.1 inches (2.79cm) from the ThinkPad W540 seem small, I found that it makes a huge difference when you're carrying the laptop in a shoulder bag all day.

The compactness of the W550s is even more dramatic when compared to a few of Lenovo's rivals. The Dell M4800 is about 50% thicker and almost a pound heavier at 6.35 pounds (2.88kg), while HP's ZBook 15 weighs 6.13 pounds (2.78kg) with a 1.2-inch (3.04cm) thick frame.

Still, there are thinner and lighter workstations on the market. The 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is both lighter at 4.46 pounds (2.02kg) and slimmer at 0.71 inches (1.8cm). Dell's M3800 workstation is even more dramatic, with an even lighter 4.15-pound (1.88kg) weight. Although the M3800 has the same 0.71-inch thickness as Apple's laptop, Dell tapers the front to a slim 0.31 inches (0.79cm), making it feel thinner than it really is.

With the ThinkPad W550s, Lenovo opted for a dual-finish design. The top lid of the laptop has a soft-touch finish. The rubberized material makes the laptop easier to grip, but is a magnet for dirt and fingerprints.

Lifting open the top lid reveals a spacious keyboard deck and large 15.5-inch display. The lid is attached to the body with sturdy, square stainless steel hinges. The hinge is solid enough that hard taps on the touchscreen display didn't cause the screen to tilt back.

Compared to the 14-inch full HD display on the ThinkPad T450s that TechRadar reviewed recently, the larger footprint of the W550s gives you more screen real estate and pixels to work with, making it easier to juggle multiple windows and stay productive.

Even though the large screen makes video editing and photo touchups an immersive experience, I wish Lenovo had opted for a taller screen. The 16:9 aspect ratio feels a little constraining when working with large Excel spreadsheets and Word documents, and a 16:10 display would certainly feel roomier.

Unlike the lid, the keyboard deck, palm rest, under carriage and sides are not coated in the soft-touch finish. Similar to the Lenovo ThinkPad T450s, I found the matte plastic more resistant to attracting fingerprints, oils and dirt over extended use.

A bevy of ports on both sides of the ThinkPad makes it easy to connect peripherals while traveling without the optional docking station. With both VGA and mini DisplayPorts on the W550s, users can connect two displays simultaneously to the W550s.

The optional docking port on the undercarriage of the laptop allows for more expandability with additional USB ports, HDMI, DVI-D, and DisplayPort.

Keyboard

Typing is very comfortable on the spill-resistant, backlit keyboard. The ThinkPad W550s comes with responsive keys that offer plenty of travel. Compared to the MacBook Pro, there is more key travel on the concave keys of the ThinkPad W550s, but the keys of the Lenovo sound more dampened.

In my use, key presses on the W550s sound softer without the clickiness of the MacBook keys.

For those who live inside Excel or deal a lot with numbers, there is a dedicated number pad just to the right of the keyboard. This is an advantage over consumer-centric notebooks or those intended for creative professionals, like the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display.

Compared to a desktop keyboard, the keys on the number pad are slightly narrower on the ThinkPad W550s, but not quite as narrow as the keys on the MSI WS60.

Because of the inclusion of the number pad, both the keyboard and the trackpad were skewed a little to the left in their placement relative to the screen. Though the overall typing experience is excellent, ergonomics may be hindered depending on how you use the notebook.

When used as a laptop on my lap, I found that my body was slightly turned towards the left to accommodate for the off-center position of the keyboard. When used on a desk, this was less obvious.

Specifications and display

One of the ThinkPad W550s's biggest selling points is the optional 3K display. Given that the W550s is marketed to those who work with media and entertainment, manufacturing and design, and 2D and basic 3D CAD design work, the higher resolution screen may be a worthwhile splurge from a standard 1080p panel.

Adding a non-touch 3K panel bumps up the price of the ThinkPad W550s by $200, while the touchscreen option adds another $220 on top of that premium.

Here's how the unit sent to TechRadar for review was configured:

Spec sheet

• Processor: 2.6GHz Intel Core i7-5600U (dual-core, 4MB cache, up to 3.2GHz with Turbo Boost)


• Graphics: Nvidia Quadro K2100M (2GB GDDR5 video memory), integrated Intel HD Graphics 4600


• Memory: 16GB RAM (DDR3L, 1,600Mhz)


• Storage: 512GB SSD


• Screen: 15.5-inch, 2,880 x 1,620 (3K), multi-touch display


• Camera: 720p webcam


• Battery: Three-cell internal with optional external batteries


• Wireless: Bluetooth 4.0; 802.11ac (B/G/N), dual-band Wi-Fi


• Ports: VGA, mini DisplayPort v1.2, 3x USB 3.0 (one always-on charging port), Gigabit Ethernet, memory card reader, optional fingerprint scanner


• OS: Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit

Although the ThinkPad W550s starts at a modest $1,133 with a standard 1080p display, our review unit is priced at $2,433 (£1,645, AU$3,185) after web discounts. Adding the optional mobile broadband modem and a high capacity rear six-cell battery would take the total to $2,667 (£1,805, AU$3,490) after discounts, making it the most expensive configuration for the model. You're literally touching close to $1 per pixel on the gorgeous 3K touchscreen.

The ThinkPad W550s has several independent software vendor (ISV) certifications, so leading industry applications should run seamlessly. This is a big reason for organizations to get a business-class workstation over a consumer notebook, as there are hours of testing to ensure application compatibility on the hardware.

With military standard (MIL-SPEC) testing, the ThinkPad W550s has been rated to perform in humid conditions, extreme low and high temperatures, and high altitude. It could also withstand solar radiation, high vibration, mechanical shock, temperature shock, fungus, and sand. Although the W550s isn't classified as a rugged notebook, it's been constructed with durability in mind.

Display

Unlike on Apple's MacBook Pro series, the display both on the touchscreen and non-touchscreen versions of the ThinkPad W550s has a matte coating.

Under bright office lights and outdoors, the matte coating is useful in reducing reflections and glare. I found that under bright conditions, I didn't have to turn the brightness up with Lenovo's matte display as I would have with a Surface Pro 3 or MacBook Pro.

Compared to the 300 nits on Lenovo's ThinkPad T450s, the 315 nit-rated screen on the W550s looks a lot brighter. I found screen brightness to be most comfortable between 50 and 70%. Without the touchscreen configuration, the 3K panel is even brighter with 350 nits.

Colors are vivid and blacks appear inky on the 15.5-inch display of the ThinkPad W550s. Unfortunately, for those who need color-accurate work, the W550s doesn't come with the color calibration tool found on the ThinkPad W540.

Like on the ThinkPad T450s, the downside with the matte display is that text and images appear grainier than on a glossy display. The W550s's high resolution panel compensated a little to keep things crisp, but content on the glossy MacBook Pro with Retina display appears sharper to my eyes.

Finally, even though the bezels aren't as slim as Dell's XPS 13, they're not so distractingly large as to dwarf the screen as on the MSI WS60.

Benchmarks, performance and battery life

As the ThinkPad W550s is not considered a direct successor to last year's powerhouse workstation in Lenovo's lineup, benchmarked performance doesn't quite match the venerable W540 model.

There are a couple reasons for the slightly degraded performance found when testing the W550s, but Lenovo made its design choice to provide for longer battery life and a slimmer design.

The first reason is that, even though the W550s is equipped with the latest Core processor, Intel's mobile Broadwell series is only available in dual-core configuration at this time. Compared to last year's model, Intel's older Haswell processor is available in a quad-core configuration, delivering stronger CPU performance.

Second, Nvidia's Quadro K2100M GPU on last year's model delivers stronger performance than the discrete Quadro 620M graphics on W550s. Still, performance on the W550s isn't too far off from last year's model, especially considering the added bonus of a 17 hour-rated battery life.

Benchmarks

• PCMark 8: Creative 2,201; Home: 2,182


• PCMark 8 Battery Life: 8 hours and 15 minutes (50% screen brightness)


• 3DMark: Fire Strike: 1,426; Cloud Gate: 5,246; Sky Diver: 4,830


• Cinebench: GPU: 59.74 fps; CPU: 279


• SpecWPC: Media & Entertainment: 1.61; Product Development: 1.81; Life Sciences: 1.9; Financial Services: H0.89; Energy: 1.65; General Operations: 3.02

Performance

Even though the final benchmark scores reflect the fact that Nvidia's GPU was used, a few of the tests were not able to identify the discrete graphics and just showed the integrated Intel HD 5000 graphics.

Lenovo confirmed that our SpecWPC results matched what's being produced with the Nvidia Quadro K620M processor, even though the test could only identify the integrated Intel graphics. Similarly, 3DMark was not able to properly identify the GPU, a reason that could be attributed to the Quadro K620M's newness on the market.

Even though the benchmarked numbers don't quite match last year's ThinkPad W540s with a quad-core processor, the new dual-core Broadwell architecture and Nvidia Quadro K620M graphics hold their ground.

Comparing the SpecWPC results between the W550s and the W540 from last year, I got a score of 1.61 versus 2.99 for the Media and Entertainment test, 1.81 versus 2.52 for the Product Development test, 1.9 versus 2.09 for the Life Sciences test, 0.89 versus 2.66 for the Financial Services test, 1.65 versus 2.89 for the Energy test, and 3.02 versus 4.29 for the General Operations test, respectively.

As the MSI WS60 comes with a similar quad-core Intel Haswell Core i7 processor and Nvidia Quadro K2100M graphics as the Lenovo W540, performance numbers between the systems are similar using 3DMark and PCMark benchmarks.

The MSI mobile workstation delivered 3DMark scores of 1,670 on Fire Strike, 9,630 on Cloud Gate and 5,987 on Sky Diver compared to the W550s's scores of 1,426, 5,246 and 4,830 respectively. Both sets of scores beat the Ultrabook average scores of 706, 4,160 and 2,437 respectively, showing the discrete GPU at work on the mobile workstations.

For the PCMark test, the MSI WS60 delivered a score of 2,656 for the home test compared to the W550s's 2,182.

With Cinebench's results, the GPU scores are roughly identical with 55.71 fps achieved by the MSI unit versus 59.74 on the ThinkPad. The biggest difference is in CPU performance, with the ThinkPad generating a score of 279, while the MSI unit achieved 411.

In real world usage, general performance on quad-core Haswell systems with Quadro K2100M graphics and the dual-core Broadwell ThinkPad W550s with Quadro 620M graphics is roughly the same. I observed no noticeable lag, stutter or delay while using the W550s when streaming videos, transferring large files between the PC and a USB drive, browsing the web, performing light Photoshop edits and working inside Office documents.

Where it matters with systems with quad-core Haswell CPUs and K2100M graphics is with heavier graphics work. I noticed that video encoding finished faster on the MSI WS60 compared to the ThinkPad W550s. Likely, users who use heavy 3D graphics with CAD rendering, perform advanced Photoshop edits, or make and edit videos will appreciate the faster performance of the quad-core CPU coupled with the Quadro K2100M GPU.

A big benefit when compared with the MSI WS60 is that the ThinkPad W550s runs extremely quiet. Whereas the WS60's fans were constantly spinning, the fans on the W550s only kicked in when needed. Once the ThinkPad is sufficiently cooled, the fans spin down, making for a very quiet mobile workstation.

If you're a light user who spends most of your time inside Microsoft Office and internet browsers with the occasional need to open Photoshop or Adobe Premiere, then the ThinkPad W550s is more than adequate for your workflow.

Battery life

If you don't need the raw power, the Lenovo ThinkPad W550s more than makes up for the small sacrifice in performance for much longer battery life. The W550s has a rated battery life of 13 hours if you're using the internal three-cell battery coupled with a second removable three-cell unit. That number increases to 17 hours if you combine the internal battery with an extended six-cell pack.

Like the ThinkPad T450s, the ThinkPad W550s comes with Lenovo's Power Bridge battery technology. Power Bridge allows you to maintain your workflow without interruption. You can swap the depleted rear battery for a fresh one. The internal battery will maintain your work state, so you don't need to shutdown the system.

In real-world usage, battery life is admirably good, though nowhere near the numbers that Lenovo quotes. With an internal three-cell battery and a swappable six-cell battery, battery life is closer to 11 hours with Photoshop editing, running multiple Chrome browser tabs and windows, and the occasional viewing of short YouTube clips with Microsoft Word either in use or in the background.

That number is remarkable, given that my colleague Kevin Lee achieved just five hours and 17 minutes last year with the W540.

If you carry a spare battery, you can go even longer without recharging, which is great for road warriors, frequent travelers, or those working in athe field where power outlets aren't readily available. Batteries that can be hot-swapped – or even just removed – isn't something that's found anymore on consumer laptops.

Verdict

Don't let the benchmark numbers fool you: the ThinkPad W550s is an under-rated system that delivers plenty of power in both performance and battery life. If you're not editing or encoding videos, or working with large 3D graphics files all day, I would recommend the ThinkPad W550s over last year's ThinkPad W440, or this year's W541, for its stamina.

We liked

Balanced performance and strong battery life are key features to the slimmer cousin of the ThinkPad W540 and W541. With a thinner profile and lighter weight, the ThinkPad W550s still packs a lot of power to keep users happy.

Enterprise users will appreciate the optional fingerprint scanner as well as the convenience of desktop docking. A wide array of ports on the W550s allows you to connect multiple peripherals.

Even though the ThinkPad W550s isn't classified as a rugged notebook, its durable design allows you to use this mobile workstation in a variety of different conditions. The spill-resistant keyboard keeps your W550s safe in case of a water accident.

With workstation-grade performance, the ThinkPad W550s shines with its battery life, delivering over ten hours of real-world use. If you need more charge on the road, the Power Bridge technology allows you to swap a depleted battery with a fresh one.

Unlike some competing workstations, like the MSI WS60, the ThinkPad W550s runs extremely quiet.

We disliked

Though Lenovo made a valiant attempt to slim down its workstation, the design remains stagnant. The W550s isn't as light as the Dell Precision M3800, nor does it have the sheen of Apple's aluminum-clad MacBook Pro.

Given that Dell borrowed the design aesthetics from its premium XPS 13 for the Precision M3800 mobile workstation with the dramatic tapering, I wish Lenovo would have done the same, and utilized the tapered design from the $1,249 (£1150, AU$1,433) ThinkPad X1 Carbon. The tapered design would at least create the illusion of an even slimmer workstation.

If you can live with slightly degraded performance compared to the quad-core and graphics powerhouses in the W540 series, then the W550s will reward you with battery stamina. The extended battery, however, adds to the laptop's thickness and weight. That said, Lenovo was faced with a conundrum.

If Lenovo used a fully sealed battery instead, it would have traded the longevity and convenience of hot-swappable batteries for something just a bit longer lasting than what's inside. On the other hand, it could have made the laptop even slimmer.

Another downside is price. Although the W550s has a low $1,133 (£765, AU$1,455) starting price, adding options and upgrading to a high capacity solid state drive quickly drives the price close to $3,000 (£2,020, AU$3,845) before any discounts or promotions. Keep in mind that this is the base price. Users will likely have to budget more for software, like Adobe's suite or Microsoft Office.

Final verdict

With understated aesthetics and a durable design, there is much to love about the ThinkPad W550s, if you can afford it. Long battery life and a large, high resolution display keeps you productive longer while you're mobile. Plus, the docking port allows users to take the ThinkPad W550s back to their desks to use as a desktop replacement, given its strong performance.

All said, this mobile workstation is met with some tough competition, especially when it comes to price per part. So, the real question is: are you ready to be $3,000 (£2,020, AU$3,845) poorer for the ThinkPad pedigree?

Unless your world revolves heavy video editing or graphics manipulation, sacrificing a little bit of performance to achieve over 10 hours of real-world battery life with workstation-class performance is well worth it if you can do more.

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