Lenovo Thinkpad L460 Laptop With Core i5/i7 6th Gen/8GB/256GB SSD
The ThinkPad L460 is a great option for small businesses or users who place a high priority on productivity because it has a quick keyboard, a sharp screen, and a long battery life.
Best-in-class keyboard; Long battery life with the extended keyboard; Loud audio
Thicker and heavier than competitors; jumpy touchpad; no USB Type-C
Bluetooth |
Bluetooth 4.1 |
Brand |
Lenovo |
CPU |
Intel Core i5-6200U |
Card Slots |
Smart Card |
Company Website |
www.lenovo.com |
Display Size |
14 |
Graphics Card |
Intel HD Graphics 520 |
Hard Drive Size |
256GB |
Hard Drive Type |
SSD |
Native Resolution |
1920x1080 |
Operating System |
Windows 10 Pro |
Ports (excluding USB) |
Ethernet, Headphone/Mic, Kensington Lock, Mini DisplayPort, VGA, USB 3.0 |
RAM |
8GB |
RAM Upgradable to |
16GB |
Size |
13.34 x 9.23 x 0.95 inches |
Touchpad Size |
3.9 x 2.2 |
USB Ports |
3 |
Video Memory |
128MB |
Warranty/Support |
One-year depot warranty |
Weight |
4 pounds (3-cell battery) / 4.4 pounds (6-cell battery) |
Wi-Fi |
802.11 b/g/n/ac |
Wi-Fi Model |
Intel Wireless-AC 8260 |
The ThinkPad L460 offers a great combination of durability, security, and usability at an affordable price and is designed for small-to-medium businesses with high requirements and limited budgets. This 14-inch laptop, which has a starting price of INR 56,530 (INR 86,264.43 when configured), is more affordable than Lenovo's ThinkPad T460 and rivals like the Dell Latitude E7470 while still providing a sharp screen, best-in-class keyboard, MIL-SPEC-tested chassis, and more than 12 hours of battery life. Although the ThinkPad L460 makes a few compromises, it offers exceptional productivity and great value.
The ThinkPad L460 is composed of less premium-looking material than its more costly siblings, but it shares the same straightforward, black appearance as the majority of Lenovo's other professional laptops. The ThinkPad L460's ABS/PC plastic chassis has a rough surface and lacks the same high-end feel as the ThinkPad T460's sleek, glass-fiber-reinforced chassis. The body, however, has a strong, sturdy feel, and the hinges appear to be particularly tight.
Lenovo's laptop is substantially bigger and heavier than both its rivals and its somewhat more expensive sibling while being light enough to tote about all day. The L460 weighs 4.4 pounds with a three-cell battery and 4.44 pounds with an alternative six-cell battery. Its dimensions are 13.34 x 9.23 x 0.95 inches. With its three- and six-cell battery choices, the Lenovo ThinkPad T460 weighs 3.8/4.2 pounds but is 0.12 inches slimmer and 0.4 pounds lighter.
While both Lenovos are out slammed by Dell's Latitude E7470 (3.13 pounds, 13.19 x 9.13 x 0.74 inches), Toshiba's Tecra A40-C (4 pounds, 13.4 x 9.6 x 0.94 inches) is around the same size as the L460.
Lenovo ThinkPad L460 Size |
|
Weight |
4.0 pounds (3-cell battery) / 4.4 pounds (6-cell) |
Dimensions |
13.34 x 9.23 x 0.95 inches |
The ThinkPad L460 was made to resist some rough handling. The laptop has reportedly passed MIL-SPEC 810G testing for exposure to high temperatures, shocks, and vibrations. It has also gone through internal stress and bump tests, like all ThinkPads, to ensure that it can withstand being jostled around while traveling. Small water splashes are collected by the spill-resistant keyboard and drained out of a hole in the system's bottom.
The ThinkPad L460 has strong security features, including TPM encryption and optional Intel vPro management, that IT managers will like. A smart-card reader (INR 816) and a fingerprint scanner (INR 1633) are further options for the laptop.
The matte, 14-inch, 1920 x 1080 display of the ThinkPad L460 provides true colors, clear details, and stable viewing angles. I noticed small elements in the Ghostbusters trailer, such as the grime on a subway wall or the reflections on a hood ornament. Although not very rich, the ghosts' green and blue radiance appeared real. However, a lot of things appeared to have a small red bias, especially skin tones. Up to 80 degrees to the left and right, colors remained true, and at a full 90 degrees, they barely slightly faded.
Our colorimeter determined that the L460 can reproduce 67 percent of the sRGB color gamut, which is slightly less than the category average for 14-inch laptops (80 percent) but equal to the result for the ThinkPad T460. Both the Toshiba Tecra A40-C (72%) and Dell Latitude E7470 (118%) performed better.
The L460's screen is also highly accurate, scoring a Delta E error rating of just 0.25 (0 is perfect), which is approximately on par with the results of the Latitude E7470 (0.5) and ThinkPad T460 and far better than the category average (2.23) (0.5) The ThinkPad L460's display measured 233 nits on our light meter, which is almost the same as the T460's panel's performance but somewhat less bright than the category average (246 nits) (239 nits). The Latitude E7470 (338 nits) was significantly brighter, though.
You won't have any trouble providing audio-visual presentations to a large conference room full of people thanks to the L460's powerful, bottom-mounted speakers. The loudness of "Back in Black" by AC/DC was loud enough to fill my home's first floor when I played it on the laptop. The sound of the instruments on the left and the voices on the right were clearly distinct from one another. The output was richer and more accurate than on most of the computers we test, despite some significant tinniness at maximum volume. The included Dolby Audio program offers settings for movie, music, game, and voice sound types, but I thought the all-purpose Dynamic option sounded the best.
Even among business laptops from Lenovo, which are known for their comfortable keyboards, the ThinkPad L460's keyboard stands out as one of the finest. The chiclet keys' gently curved design offers a very deep 2.1mm of travel (typically 1.5 to 2mm) and a degree of tactile feedback that offers just the appropriate amount of resistance without being stiff. I was able to complete the 10FastFingers test at a rate of 107 words per minute with a mistake rate under 1? cause of the keyboard's sharp feel and ample travel. That's one of my highest marks ever and far better than my average of 96 wpm and 3 percent. Unfortunately, the ThinkPad L460's keyboard doesn't provide a backlighting option for individuals who struggle to see their keys in the dark.
The L460 sports a red TrackPoint pointing stick between its G and H keys, just like the majority of other ThinkPads. The small red nub made it incredibly accurate to navigate the desktop, click on icons, and highlight text. Best of all, I never had to remove my hands from the home row, which allowed me to work more quickly.
The L460 also offers a 3.9 x 2.2-inch touchpad for individuals who dislike pointing sticks. The button-free pad provides generally precise desktop navigation, although it occasionally jumps and the pointer gets caught, forcing me to pick up my finger and swipe again. On the plus side, multitouch actions like three-finger swiping and pinch to zoom worked perfectly.
Nearly all the ports a business user may need are included on the ThinkPad L460, including a VGA connection for projectors and older monitors. A tiny DisplayPort, Ethernet, VGA, a Kensington Lock slot, and two USB 3.0 ports are located on the left side. The third USB 3.0 port, an optional smart-card reader, and the 3.5mm audio connector are all located on the right side. The SD Card reader is located on the front lip. Unfortunately, there isn't a Thunderbolt 3 or USB Type-C connector for the newest accessories.
Both in a dark room and under the fluorescent lights in my office, the 720p webcam captured vivid, detailed images of my face. The images had some visual noise and splotches, as with most laptop cameras.
The ThinkPad L460's review configuration, which included a Core i5-6200U CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD, provided excellent multitasking and productivity performance. I was able to navigate between projects and work on this review without experiencing any slowness, even with having more than a dozen tabs open and a 1080p video playing in another window.
On Geekbench 3, a synthetic exam that evaluates overall performance, Lenovo's laptop earned a respectable 6,245 score. That places it slightly behind the average for 14-inch laptops (6,475) and the Lenovo ThinkPad T460 (6,708) with a Core i5-6300U processor, while the Latitude E7470 (6,059) and Toshiba A40-C (5,846), both of which have the same CPU as the L460, performed worse.
Our spreadsheet macro test, which includes matching 20,000 names with their addresses in OpenOffice Calc, was completed by the L460 in only 4 minutes and 32 seconds. That pace is much quicker than the category average (5:52), comparable to the Latitude E7470 (4:30), and faster than the Tecra A40-C. (4:30). The T460 (4:13) was 19 seconds faster, though.
4.97GB of mixed-media files were transferred by the laptop's 256GB SSD in under 32 seconds. That is a rate of 157.1 MBps, considerably above the Latitude E7470's 132.3 MBps, the hard drive-powered Tecra A40-C's 137.5 MBps, and the category average of 137.5 MBps (27.9 MBps). However, the Thinkpad T460 was somewhat quicker (175.5 MBps).
The ThinkPad L460's built-in Intel HD 520 graphics make it strong enough to view films and perform basic media editing, but we wouldn't suggest using it for gaming or 3D modeling. On the artificial test 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited, which gauges graphics power, Lenovo's laptop received a score of 62,267. That is better than the category average (56,655), the Latitude E7470's rating (59,801), and the Tecra A40-C's performance (54,373) but falls about 5% short of the T460's score.
Depending on which of its three detachable batteries you select, the ThinkPad L460 may operate for a considerable amount of time on a charge. The laptop performed admirably on the Laptop Mag Battery Test, which involves continuous Wi-Fi browsing, lasting 12 hours and 51 minutes thanks to its high-capacity battery, which has six cells and can store 72 watt-hours of power. That is significantly longer than the category average (8:22), the Latitude E7470's time (9:16), and the Tecra A40-C's display, by more than 4 hours. But thanks to its large battery, the ThinkPad T460 lasted an incredible 17 hours and 4 minutes.
The L460 achieved just a meager 4 hours and 16 minutes with its three-cell battery, compared to a robust 9 hours and 31 minutes with the medium-capacity battery, which has six cells but 48 watt-hours of energy. You should unquestionably choose the 72-watt-hour unit given that both six-cell batteries only add 0.4 pounds to the chassis and the high-capacity unit costs only INR 1225 more.
The L460 utilizes Lenovo's Power Bridge technology, which joins the laptop's external battery with a three-cell internal battery, just like the T460 and a number of other ThinkPads. Since a battery is constantly present inside, you may change the detachable one without turning off your computer. You can go a fairly long way if you wish to carry extra batteries in your backpack.
Lenovo includes a few helpful utilities and a little bit of bloatware on the ThinkPad L460 out of the box. Hardware scans are carried out by Lenovo Solution Center, which also offers comprehensive system information and access to help sources. You may fine-tune your network card, touchpad, camera, and other important subsystems using Lenovo Settings. Lenovo Companion offers many of the same features as Solution Center, including system health checks and links to the manufacturer's knowledge base and discussion forums. Using SHAREit, Wi-Fi file transfers between your devices are simple. Additionally, the laptop has a few unnecessary apps like Candy Crush Soda Saga, Flipboard, and a tile that directs you to the PicsArt Photo Studio page in the Windows Store, a free image editor.
The ThinkPad L460 is supported by a typical one-year "depot" warranty from Lenovo, under which the company will cover return postage. For an additional fee of INR 1500 to INR 47,290, you can purchase on-site service and accidental damage insurance or extend the warranty for up to five years. Check out Lenovo's performance in our Best and Worst Laptop Brand Ratings and Tech Support Showdown.
The ThinkPad L460 costs INR 56,530 at launch. You get a Core i3-6100U CPU, 1366 x 768 screen, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB hard drive for that amount. In addition to a fingerprint scanner and smart card reader, our INR 86,260 evaluation setup includes a Core i5-6200U CPU, 1920 x 1080 non-touch display, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD.
You may select a Core i3 or i5 CPU, a hard drive or SSD, the desired battery size, and the quantity of RAM if you buy your laptop straight from Lenovo. We strongly advise setting with the 1920 x 1080 screen (INR 4084 option), which adds just INR 1225 to the cost, and the high-capacity battery (INR 4000 option).
The 14-inch ThinkPad T460 from Lenovo is quite similar to the 14-inch ThinkPad L460, except it is lighter, slimmer, and has a battery life that can last up to 5 hours longer. Additionally, it includes a little more upscale look, a backlit keyboard that is available, and the choice to equip with a Core i7 CPU. However, depending on setup, the T460 also costs roughly INR 9800 more. A device with the same specifications as the INR 56,530 entry-level L460 costs INR 66,087 instead (Core i3, 1366 screen, 4GB, 500GB). A T460 with the identical configuration as the L460 under consideration costs INR 96,630.
The ThinkPad L460 is a fantastic option for small businesses or productivity-focused customers on a budget because of its sturdy frame, crisp screen, wonderful typing experience, and extended battery life. The L460 is worth the price of admission only for its top-of-the-line keyboard. We recommend the ThinkPad T460 if you have the extra money to spare because of its more upscale appearance, lighter chassis, and longer battery life. The ThinkPad L460, on the other hand, ought to be near the top of your list if you're searching for a potent 14-inch business laptop at a reasonable cost.