Conventional desktop PCs oblige you to find desk space for a tower, a monitor, and speakers. However, all-in-one (AIO) systems combine all that into a single unit, making them ideal for space-starved workspaces. Lenovo's ThinkCentre M90a Gen 5 targets corporate offices with a mainstream-size 23.8-inch screen and more performance than most users will likely need, thanks to a desktop-grade Intel Core i7 CPU. This AIO starts at $1,113, but our review configuration costs $2,093 as configured on Lenovo's website or, at this writing, $1,834 at CDW. While its ports are difficult to find by feel, this business desktop excels in nearly every other aspect, earning our Editors' Choice award for midrange business all-in-one PCs.

Configurations and Design: Strictly Business

From the jump, all of Lenovo's ThinkCentre M90a Gen 5 configurations house desktop-grade, 14th Gen Intel Core i-series processors. This is significant because most other AIO PCs opt for laptop-grade silicon instead due to limited room for cooling. The $1,113 starting configuration includes an Intel Core i3-14100 chip with 8GB of memory and a 256GB solid-state drive. This basic configuration does not include a touch screen.

Jumping past the several possible customizations and configurations in between, our high-end review unit features an Intel Core i7-14700 CPU with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD for $2,093 on Lenovo's website. This configuration also includes the following optional features: a rewritable DVD drive, a Wi-Fi 6E radio, a Bluetooth 5.3 radio, and a height-adjustable stand with tilt. CDW had the same configuration discounted by almost $300 at this writing, but these relative prices may have fluctuated, depending on when you read this.

Like other all-in-one desktops, the ThinkCentre M90a Gen 5 could be mistaken for just a monitor by the casual observer. At 14.6 by 21.2 by 1.95 inches, it's slightly taller than a typical display because of the speaker grille underneath the panel.

The all-black plastic exterior feels well-made. Its understated (or drab, depending on your outlook) appearance blends into an office or other environment where attracting attention isn't the goal.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

Our unit came with Lenovo's upgrade UltraFlex V stand, which provides a tilt range of -5 to 70 degrees, plus height adjustment. It's more versatile than the base stand, which tilts only -5 to 20 degrees, at a fixed height. The Full Function Monitor Stand combines a range of -5 to 20 degrees with height, pivot, and swivel adjustments. Since the ThinkCentre uses a standard VESA mount, you can purchase various aftermarket options and mount it as you prefer.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

The M90a lacks convenient front-mounted ports, so you must navigate the sides and back to connect peripherals. You'll find a 3.5mm audio jack, three 10Gbps USB Type-A ports, and an optional SD card reader on the right side. Two buttons here turn off the microphone and switch the screen to input mode, allowing it to function as a monitor for an external device. Meanwhile, our unit's optical drive, a tray-load DVD burner, sits on the left edge.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

The remaining ports are around the back. Here, you'll find three 5Gbps USB Type-A ports, a 10Gbps USB Type-C connection, and an Ethernet jack. Lenovo also includes an HDMI 1.4-in/HDMI 2.1-out combo port and a DisplayPort output for connecting external video devices. The power plug sits further to the right, and all cables can route through the display stand.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

Using the Lenovo ThinkCentre M90a Gen 5: A Decent Working Experience

I'd consider myself fortunate if my employer provided me with a ThinkCentre M90a Gen 5. Although its 1,920-by-1,080-pixel display resolution isn't the sharpest, it's a safe and reliable option for business use. Given the 23.8-inch diagonal, most users likely won't need to scale up text size, a benefit for older apps that might not respond to scaling. It also performs well for screen sharing on Zoom or Teams.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

Although the screen isn't exceptionally bright, its anti-glare coating delivers a well-saturated picture free of reflections. While our model doesn't include touch functionality, it is available as an option.

However, the 1080p webcam above the display disappoints with its grainy picture. The speakers below the display are simply average, producing clear but flat sound. Bass notes in Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield" lack definition, and the volume is only sufficient for personal listening. The preinstalled Dolby Access app provides an audio equalizer with a dynamic mode that automatically adjusts the sound based on streamed content—switching to movie mode when I launch YouTube, for example. However, I can't notice significant differences compared with music mode, which I used for most of my testing.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

On a day-to-day basis, the ThinkCentre's cooling fan blends seamlessly with office or household background noise. The fans remain unobtrusive and free from distracting noise or vibration, even when the system is under stress.

Lenovo includes Windows 11 Pro as standard and bundles a basic USB keyboard and mouse. The Lenovo Commercial Vantage app provides system information, updates, diagnostics, and a user manual. The standard warranty includes three years of on-site service.

Testing the Lenovo ThinkCentre M90a Gen 5: One Potent AIO

As a recap, the ThinkCentre M90a Gen 5 loaner we tested is the most powerful model Lenovo offers; other versions come with a Core i3-14100 or a Core i5-14500 CPU.

Among business-grade models, this AIO competes with models like the Dell OptiPlex All-in-One Plus (7420) and the HP EliteOne 840 G9, which feature similar specifications. We won't make strict pricing comparisons here since the configurations do vary a bit, and most of these business-grade systems are purchased in volume via channel partners.

In our performance charts, the ThinkCentre will face its consumer-oriented cousin, the Lenovo IdeaCentre 27 AIO. The other systems in our benchmark charts include the Apple iMac (2024, M4) AIO, the Asus NUC 14 Pro mini PC, and the MSI Pro DP21 14M business mini PC. While these last two aren't all-in-ones, they could be mounted behind a monitor to act as one. (We'd have compared the Dell and HP business AIO models mentioned above, but they were tested under our previous testing regimen and returned to the respective companies.)

Productivity and Content Creation Tests

Our primary overall benchmark, UL's PCMark 10, puts a system through its paces in productivity apps ranging from web browsing to word processing and spreadsheet work. Its Full System Drive subtest measures a PC's storage throughput. 

Three more tests are CPU-centric or processor-intensive: Maxon's Cinebench 2024 uses that company's Cinema 4D engine to render a complex scene; Primate Labs' Geekbench 6.3 Pro simulates popular apps ranging from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine learning; and we see how long it takes the transcoding tool HandBrake 1.8 to convert a 12-minute clip from 4K to 1080p resolution.

Finally, workstation maker Puget Systems' PugetBench for Creators rates a PC's image editing prowess with various automated operations in Adobe Photoshop 2024.

The ThinkCentre performed admirably in PCMark's primary test, narrowly trailing the Asus, likely due to the latter's more modern processing architecture. It dominated the CPU tests, with its 65-watt, desktop-grade Core i7 chip significantly outperforming the laptop-grade processors inside the iMac, the NUC, and the IdeaCentre desktops. Despite having a theoretically more powerful Core i7-14700KF, the MSI scored lower, likely due to thermal constraints.

Gaming and Graphics Tests

We challenge each laptop’s and desktop’s graphics with a quartet of animations or gaming simulations from UL's 3DMark test suite. Wild Life (1440p) and Wild Life Extreme (4K) use the Vulkan graphics API to measure GPU speeds. Steel Nomad's regular (4K) and Light (1440p) subtests focus on APIs more commonly used for game development, like Metal and DirectX 12, in addition to Vulkan to assess gaming geometry and particle effects. (The 2024 iMac could not complete these benchmarks, so it's left off these charts.)

All these units use integrated graphics, making them suitable only for everyday tasks or basic 3D animations. While the ThinkCentre’s Intel UHD solution was a low performer in this category, falling far short of the newer Arc solution in the Asus unit and the IdeaCentre's AMD Radeon integrated graphics, its capabilities suffice for office work. The 14-inch MacBook Pro, using the same GPU as the iMac's, outstripped the ThinkCentre in Wild Strike Extreme and Steel Nomad Light. Simply put, don't come to this desktop for more than displaying your work and doing productivity tasks; the integrated graphics are as basic as display solutions come.

Display Tests

As with laptops, we use a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and software to measure the color saturation of each all-in-one desktop display—what percentage of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 color gamuts or palettes each screen can show—and its 50% and peak brightness in nits (candelas per square meter).

Neither Lenovo AIO's screen could match the palette and brightness of the deluxe Apple iMac's. The ThinkCentre's display isn't the brightest but matches the IdeaCentre in color coverage, with respectable results for Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 despite not being designed for creative-focused tasks. For the office crowd, this screen is perfectly adequate.

Verdict: A Reliable AIO for Business

Lenovo's ThinkCentre M90a Gen 5 is a convenient choice for business buyers. It takes up significantly less space than a traditional desktop and includes three stand options, along with VESA compatibility for added versatility. While its display may not be visually stunning, it provides a practical resolution and ample viewing space for its intended audience. Our only notable complaint is that its ports can be challenging to reach, a common issue with many all-in-one desktops. With so few drawbacks, the ThinkCentre M90a Gen 5 earns our Editors' Choice award for business AIOs.