Pros & Cons
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- Excellent build quality.
- Slim, ruggedized chassis.
- High-quality keyboard.
- Good-looking 15-inch 3K touch screen.
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- Dual-core processor and lower-end graphics card fall short on performance tests.
Lenovo ThinkPad W550s Specs
| Graphics Memory | 2048 |
| Graphics Processor | Nvidia Quadro K620M |
| Native Display Resolution | 2880 x 1620 |
| Operating System | Windows 8.1 Pro |
| Optical Drive | external |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-5600U |
| Processor Speed | 2.6 |
| RAM (as Tested) | 16 |
| Screen Size | 15.5 |
| Tested Battery Life (Hours:Minutes) | 6:44 (Standard), 17:21 (Supplemental) |
| Touch Screen | |
| Weight | 5.47 |
| Wireless Networking | 802.11ac (2.4+5.0 GHz Dual-band) |
The Lenovo ThinkPad W550s ($2,734 as tested) is a mobile workstation for those who need high-end performance in a package that's easy to carry and travel with. Outfitted with an Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia Quadro graphics, and an impressive 3K display, the ThinkPad W550s is a good blend of mobility and work-ready performance. The balance between the two, however, clearly favors portability, with excellent battery life and a slim, semi-rugged design, but its performance lags behind that of competitors, particularly the Editors' Choice Lenovo ThinkPad W540, which remains our top pick for performance seekers.
Design
Lenovo doesn't do flashy, at least not with its ThinkPad line, so there's no surprise at the black, boxy design of the laptop. Measuring 0.92 by 15 by 10.2 inches (HWD), and weighing just 5.47 pounds, the ThinkPad W550s is Lenovo's lightest and thinnest workstation to date, but it's also built to stand up to the rigors of a daily commute or regular business travel. It has a magnesium-alloy roll cage, a carbon-fiber-reinforced chassis, and stainless steel hinges, and is built to meet MIL-STD-810G standards, meaning it's designed to survive drops, shocks, vibration, and extremes in temperature.
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The W550s also gets an impressive 15-inch display with 3K (2,880-by-1,620 pixels) resolution. With an In-Plane Switching (IPS) panel, the display looks sharp and vibrant from most any angle, and it's a 10-digit touch screen, so it supports all of the gesture controls found in Windows 8.
The full-size keyboard has a 10-key numeric pad. Lenovo's AccuType keyboard designs are consistently among the best on the market, and this is no exception; the keys offer deep travel and comfortable levels of resistance. The system also has dual-inputs, with Lenovo's TrackPoint pointing stick in the center of the keyboard, and three extra buttons along the top of the touchpad, for right and left click, as well as a center scroll button. The touchpad itself has clickable zones in the lower right and left corners instead of discrete buttons.
Features
The ThinkPad W550s is well-stocked with work-ready features and connections. On the right of the system you'll find two USB 3.0 ports (one with continuous power for charging), and a mini DisplayPort.
