Lenovo makes some of our favorite laptops in every category, whether they're entry-level, gaming behemoths, or productivity monsters. And it's one of those latter versions that I'm feverishly typing on, the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 8. It's not quite the flagship ThinkPad X1 Carbon, but it's not supposed to be, as this device comes with optional Nvidia RTX PRO GPUs, making it a little heftier but able to do more when you need it.

I probably don't need to tell you that this has a best-in-class keyboard, or a haptic touchpad that's so accurate I sometimes forget I'm using a Windows laptop. And the classic TrackPoint nubbin is there, as befitting any ThinkPad worth the cash. This year, you can choose a 3.2K Tandem OLED display, and after using it for a few months, that's the one you should spring for.

About this article: Lenovo sent XDA a ThinkPad P1 Gen 8 for review. The company had no input on the contents of this article.

Price, specs & availability

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 8 is available now, starting from $1,699. That's not the unit you should go for, though, as it doesn't have the superb tandem OLED display. As reviewed, the ThinkPad P1 is $3,100 at current pricing, though I caution that Lenovo pricing fluctuates, and you could get a better or worse deal on the day.

With the same CPU, GPU, and display as our review unit, but with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD, the current price is $2,349, which is a very good deal in my estimation. And with a second M.2 slot open, it's easy to upgrade the storage yourself. CAMM2 is harder to upgrade, so it's worth increasing it to the maximum 64GB if you need it for your workflows.

Ignore the other display options — Tandem OLED is the one

I wish every laptop had this as an option

The ThinkPad P1 Gen 8 is stunning from every angle, if you're a big fan of the black and red ThinkPad colorway, that is. I particularly love that the dot on the "i" in ThinkPad on the outer lid is a red LED that indicates charging or sleep status. It's the level of attention to detail that you'd expect from a ThinkPad, and every other part of the laptop follows suit.

This is a laptop for the creators, the thinkers, the doers, and you get the tools necessary to do so. A full-sized SD Express 7.0 reader, HDMI 2.1, two Thunderbolt 5 ports, and one Thunderbolt 4 port, all with DisplayPort 2.1 and power delivery in case you need to recharge things or want to run multiple monitors without a dock. A fantastic 5MP webcam with IR for Windows Hello, and a speaker and mic setup that makes video calls bearable.

But the real star of the show is the new 3.2K Tandem OLED display. It covers 100% of sRGB and P3, and 95% of AdobeRGB out of the box, has a perfect 2.2 Gamma curve, one of the most uniform panels I've tested at under 2.0 DeltaE in most quadrants, but that's not the best part. It measured at 646.7 nits of SDR brightness, which is astonishing.

Most OLED displays have mediocre brightness levels, and you're never sure whether to run them near maximum because they're more efficient at mid-point, and there's always the worry about burn-in. With Tandem OLED, those worries are pretty much gone, as the two layers add up to better brightness and deeper color, without the heat and current problems that cause issues. It does mean a greater drain on the battery compared to IPS options, but it's worth it, and I don't want to go back to normal OLED screens.

The classic ThinkPad keyboard and touchpad never miss

One of the only laptop keyboards I can type on all day

The keyboard on ThinkPads is one of the best on the market, even on the lower-tier models. On this mobile workstation, the keyboard is class-leading and every bit as good as the one on the X1 Carbon. The responsiveness, key travel, and surface finish on the keys are all impeccable, and I'd be happy if all laptop keyboards were this good.

The other thing is that on 16-inch laptops, most manufacturers feel compelled to squeeze a numpad onto the keyboard, making everything cramped and off-center. Lenovo hasn't done that here, resulting in a centered keyboard area that has plenty of room for touch-typing.

The haptic touchpad is every bit as good, with precise control that is closer to the MacBook experience than any other Windows laptop I've used. Normally, I'll break out an external mouse for getting work done, but I haven't had to do that once on the ThinkPad P1. If you're doing extensive CAD or other 3D modeling, you'll want to use the ergonomic peripherals you normally use, but for reports or presentations, the input devices here are more than enough.

ThinkPads are made for getting things done

You've got plenty of power for productivity in this shell

I was excited to get testing on the ThinkPad P1, for one reason, and it wasn't the RTX PRO 2000. This is the first laptop I've used with CAMM2 memory, 64GB of it in this configuration, and I wondered how much that would affect scores.

I don't have a definitive answer on that, but the lower-tier Core Ultra 7 255H in this ThinkPad beat the HP ZBook X G1i with its Core Ultra 7 265H in pretty much every test, and the ThinkPad's thermal solution was quieter and kept the keyboard comfortable. It's simply a better mobile workstation, and I don't know why you'd choose anything other than the ThinkPad P1 if you need this kind of device.

Benchmarks are one thing, but I used the ThinkPad P1 as my primary device for weeks, and it kept up with everything I threw at it. Photo editing, number-crunching, dozens of Chrome tabs, nothing made it stutter or slow down. I don't often feel that I'll miss a laptop when it goes back to the manufacturer, but this is one that I will. The combination of style, screen, and superb performance is a trifecta that is hard to beat.

And for a mobile workstation, it has surprisingly good battery life. I clocked 7.69 hours using the Procyon productivity battery test, which is over three hours more than the ZBook X G1i managed. Sure, it's not the 25 hours that Panther Lake can manage, but for a powerful laptop this is a very good score.

Should you buy the ThinkPad P1 Gen 8?

You should buy the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 8 if:

• You value a good keyboard and touchpad
• You want the tandem OLED display (believe me, you do)
• You need a discrete GPU for number crunching

You should NOT buy the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 8 if:

• You want a thin-and-light laptop
• You need all-day battery life without a charger
• You want to play games on your laptop

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 8 has everything that you'd want from a mobile workstation. Plenty of power, decent battery life, and the space to increase storage with a second M.2 slot for carrying reams of data. Skip the IPS screens and go straight to the Tandem OLED option, it's worth every cent, and you'll have a device that will go the distance for some years now.

ThinkPads have long been the favorite of engineers and architects, and the ThinkPad P1 Gen 8 continues that proud tradition. Everyone knows that the ThinkPad branding means business, and with ISV certification from the professional apps you need to do your job, it will be one of the easiest decisions you make all year.