The ThinkPad P53 is still a traditional mobile workstation that does not pay a lot of attention to current trends of slimmer and slimmer cases and bezels. As a result however, the case is very robust, there are a lot of ports, upgrading is easily possible and the hardware is very powerful, particularly in the graphics department.

On the exterior, not a lot has changed compared to the ThinkPad P52 from the previous year, but there have been some changes under the hood. The main selling points are more powerful graphics cards (Quadro RTX 4000 & 5000), which are usually reserved for larger 17-inch workstations. Here, some criticism is warranted, since customers do not know which version of the graphics card to expect. Neither Nvidia nor Lenovo state the fact that the slower 80-watt version is built into the system. Lenovo probably relies on the slower variant of the RTX 4000 as well. All in all, the graphics performance is still impressive regardless.

Bright 1080p panel, excellent input devices and a ton of performance: The ThinkPad P53 is a very well-rounded product with no real weaknesses. The only thing we are able to criticize is the cooling solution that could be slightly better optimized for combined CPU & GPU loads.

The cooling solution is not perfect either. We like the defensive fan control, which prevents the fans from spinning even after short stress periods. However, the cooling solution is unable to keep up during combined CPU & GPU loads, resulting in reduced processor performance. While quiet fans are good, users who choose high-end components in this price class probably want them to be able to unleash their maximum potential. We are convinced that the cooling solution is capable of being more effective, even if it results in more fan noise. We can only guess how well other configurations of the P53 perform at this point in time. We expect the models with smaller GPUs in particular (such as the RTX 3000 or T series) to make better use of the CPU.

Similar to many current ThinkPads, Lenovo's P53 has received significant upgrades to its display options. While the base configuration still includes an IPS panel with 300 cd/m², a better and more importantly brighter 1080p model is now available. Furthermore, Lenovo offers two high-resolution displays (a 4K IPS or a 4K OLED panel), which ensures that all users find the model they are looking for.

These criticisms are somewhat nitpicky, since the ThinkPad P53 does not have any real weaknesses and deserves its good overall score.