Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 3

The Lenovo Thinkbook Plus Gen 3 is the first laptop of 2023 to actually wow me. Manufacturers have been boring me to tears with their dreary-gray clamshell notebooks, lame-o Chromebooks, and black business workstations. Where are the innovation, thrill, and drama?

I need novelty! It’s what gets me going

Just as I was at my wits end with this endless landslide of lackluster laptops, the Lenovo Thinkbook Plus Gen 3 landed on my doorstep and it just invigorated me from head to toe. This Lenovo beauty has two displays in one laptop. No, that’s not exactly a novel feature with laptops like the Asus ZenBook Pro 14 Duo OLED (its secondary display is propped up between the main display and keyboard), but it’s the first time I, as a reviewer, have had the privilege of reviewing a dual-display laptop.

The Thinkbook Plus Gen 3 has a beautiful main 17.3-inch, 3K display. It’s ultra-wide AF with a dazzling 21:10 aspect ratio. (I don’t think I’ve ever reviewed a laptop with a 21:10 aspect ratio!) And the secondary display is a sight to behold — it looks like someone shoved the keyboard to the left, cut a rectangle into the deck, and dropped in an 8-inch tablet for maximum productivity. As someone who’s constantly cross-referencing different documents on Google Docs and Sheets, this dual-display setup has boosted my workflow beyond my wildest expectations.

But I won’t lie to you. On the downside, this laptop has sent me running to Lenovo’s support folks more than any other unit I’ve reviewed. The secondary display can be a bit buggy, and it’s not the most intuitive panel to use, but its quirks and peculiarities are tolerable so far.

Aside from the whimsy second display, there are other aspects of this laptop that deserve a stern side-eye. Without further ado, let’s dive into the good, the bad, and the ugly.