Ranking: Best workstation laptops tested by Notebookcheck

If you are looking for the most expensive Lenovo ThinkPad, you will quickly come across the Lenovo ThinkPad P1. This model series is Lenovo's luxury class for the workstation sector, and the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 8 is an absolute hit. The ThinkPad laptop is relatively thin and light, but still delivers very good performance. The quality of the chassis is excellent and the connectivity is high quality, with two Thunderbolt 5 ports. One weak point: the RAM is limited to 64 GB, which is not too little for a workstation, but still a limitation compared to other models.

No more "Precision". Dell came up with a new name for its 2025 workstation portfolio: Dell Pro Max. The largest and heaviest model in this series has an 18-inch diagonal screen and goes by the name of Dell Pro Max 18 Plus. Equipped with the most powerful mobile CPUs from Intel, Arrow Lake HX, as well as the professional Nvidia RTX Pro GPUs, the Pro Max offers extremely high performance, also thanks to a total of three fans. One weak point: The display resolution is limited, there is no resolution higher than WQXGA (2,560 x 1,600). Otherwise, the Dell Pro Max 18 Plus is an excellent workstation - if you can largely do without the mobility.

The Dell Pro Max Plus is available in an 18 inch and 16 inch versions. The smaller version, the Dell Pro Max 16 Plusswaps a little of the performance of its larger sibling for a little more mobility - aspects such as design and input devices remain the same, but there is also the option of a high-resolution 4K OLED screen. Overall, the Dell Pro Max 16 Plus is only inferior to the 18-inch model in a few aspects and thus also earns its place on the workstation best list.

ZBook Power becomes ZBook X, nothing else changes! But that's not quite true. Although HP has not changed the positioning of the new HP ZBook X G1i 16 compared to its predecessor, the ZBook Power 16, it does have a new interior, with Arrow Lake H and the RTX Pro 2000 Blackwell. Innovations that are worthwhile. Of course, as a mid-range model in the ZBook lineup, the ZBook X lacks some features, such as OLED displays, but the new model delivers excellent battery life and continues to offer great upgradeability.

The entire workstation segment is firmly in the hands of Nvidia graphics chips. But with the ZBook Ultra G1a 14 HP has launched a Gallic workstation that shakes up the status quo. True to its name, it is a compact 14-inch workstation that is equipped by HP with processors from the AMD Strix Halo series - and does without an Nvidia GPU. Instead, HP relies entirely on the integrated AMD graphics solution, the AMD Radeon 8060S. The result: very high performance in a compact and high-quality metal casing. The biggest disadvantage is the soldered RAM, but with up to 128 GB ex works, this should be bearable for many users.

With the Lenovo ThinkPad T16g Gen 3 lenovo has launched a new product series that combines the design of the ThinkPad P16 Gen 3 with GeForce GPUs. It is a traditional, i.e. rather bulky workstation that should offer high performance. In our test, the ThinkPad, which also boasts high upgradeability and good input devices as well as Thunderbolt 5, only partially fulfills this requirement, as it is limited due to the relatively small USB-C power supply. This results in deductions, even though it is still a good mobile workstation.

Inexpensive workstations are a contradiction in terms, but at least there are cheaper models. The Lenovo ThinkPad P16v Gen 3 is an example of this - for slightly fewer features, customers still get good performance at a slightly lower entry-level price than, for example, the P1 or P16 without a v at the end. A practical solution that only has a few clear weaknesses, but doesn't really excel either.

With the 2025 models, HP has adapted the naming system of its ZBook workstations to its EliteBook laptops for the office sector. The ZBook Firefly 14 thus becomes the HP ZBook 8 G1i 14. We tested the new model both with dGPU and with Intel GPU only, the model with Nvidia RTX Pro 500 Blackwell performs slightly better in the workstation tests. Overall, the ZBook laptop is a good compact entry-level solution, even if we lack an SD card reader.

With the Schenker Key 18 Pro schenker produces a mobile workstation in a large 18-inch format. The Key 18 Pro impresses with a good keyboard as well as high upgradeability and performance, and Schenker also installs a great 4K UHD display with a 200 Hz refresh rate. The disadvantage of all the performance that an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 means: The large laptop is quite loud under load, and the performance is also reduced in battery mode. Unpleasant: The lid sometimes creaks a little, which shouldn't really happen with a laptop that costs over 6,000 euros.

The ThinkPad P14s Gen 6 (AMD version) is Lenovo's most compact and lightest mobile workstation. This year, this model has been significantly upgraded, as Strix Point has found its way into this compact workstation laptop. The Ryzen AI 9 HX CPU impresses with its high performance and the ThinkPad laptop has great upgradeability as well as good input devices and a wide range of connectivity options. Weak point: As a pure AMD workstation, there is no dedicated GPU. Although the AMD Radeon 890M is not completely useless, it cannot keep up with dedicated GPUs.