This Lenovo Laptop Is the One To Get for SMBs

Lenovo ThinkPad 13 (2017)

Starting at $699; $745.99 as tested

- Joel Santo Domingo

For a small business or sole proprietorship, you need a business laptop that offers durability, reliability, and staying power. The Lenovo ThinkPad 13 offers those things with timeless style. The second-gen model retains the light weight, solid connectivity, durability, and comfortable keyboard of the previous iteration and adds a faster seventh-generation Intel Core i3-7100U processor, a fingerprint reader, and a battery that lasted more than 12 hours in our tests. It’s our top pick for SMB-focused laptops.

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The new ThinkPad 13 looks very much like the 2016 model it replaces, though it’s matte-black instead of silver. The top lid is made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic rather than aluminum; both models use plastic in the body. (Another model is available with a silver aluminum lid and updated components, sans fingerprint reader.) The ThinkPad 13 measures 0.78 by 12.69 by 8.77 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.13 pounds—just a hair thicker than last year’s version, to accommodate the fingerprint reader. It’s approximately the same size as the Dell Latitude 13 3000 Series 2-in-1 (3379) convertible laptop and less than a quarter-pound lighter.

Like most ThinkPad laptops, the ThinkPad 13 has passed MIL-STD 801G durability tests for factors such as high altitude, humidity, high and low temperature, mechanical shock, rapid temperature change, blowing sand intrusion, and vibration. It also has to pass other tests, including dropping the laptop onto its corners, grabbing and lifting the system by its screen, and even pouring a bit of liquid on the keyboard. This rigorous testing and these certifications ensure that the ThinkPad 13 can handle most work environments—an office, a coffee shop, or outdoors on a hotel pool deck.