ThinkPad T480 vs EliteBook 840 G5: 15 metrics compared

The ThinkPad T480 and the EliteBook 840 G5 are the two answers business buyers kept choosing in 2017-2018: Lenovo's do-everything workhorse against HP's corporate standard-bearer. Both are 14-inch machines, both shipped with 8th-gen quad-core CPUs, and both are now firmly in used-laptop territory at roughly the same money — around $410 in today's market. That makes the choice between them a pure spec-and-priorities question, and the catalog data breaks the tie more decisively than the spec sheets suggest.

ThinkPad T480 vs EliteBook 840 G5: specs compared

On raw compute the two are nearly inseparable — CPU scores of 41.6 (T480) against 40.8 (840 G5) reflect the same i5-8250U/i5-8350U class of processor. The real gap opens in graphics: the T480's optional GeForce MX150 discrete GPU scores 16.2 versus 6.8 for the EliteBook's integrated UHD 620, which is why the T480 also leads the gaming index (24 vs 22) and the overall performance index (34.9 vs 30.8). The EliteBook answers with the fundamentals corporate fleets care about: it is lighter at 1.5 kg versus 1.8 kg, and its 50 Wh battery doubles the T480's 24 Wh internal pack. Reliability scoring is close (29 vs 28) and both machines take up to 32 GB of RAM, so neither will hit a memory ceiling any time soon. Across the 15 metrics in our comparison the T480 takes 7 wins, the EliteBook 3, with 5 ties.

Gaming performance

Neither machine is a gaming laptop, but the difference is real. The MX150-equipped T480 clears the bar for esports titles and lighter AAA games at 1080p low settings — CS2, Dota 2, Rocket League and older single-player games are all playable. The EliteBook's UHD 620 is strictly an integrated solution: 2D games, retro titles and cloud streaming are its ceiling. If "occasional hotel-room gaming" is on your requirements list, the T480 is the only one of the two that qualifies.

Battery and portability

This is the EliteBook's strongest argument. Its 50 Wh battery is one of the best capacities in the entire used 14-inch class, good for a full working day of office load. The T480's 24 Wh internal battery looks weak on paper — though Lenovo's Power Bridge design lets you hot-swap an external pack, so real-world runtime depends heavily on which secondary battery the seller includes. At 1.5 kg versus 1.8 kg the 840 G5 is also the easier commuter, while the T480 trades that 300 grams for a stiffer chassis and the classic ThinkPad keyboard.

Which to buy in 2026

Both are excellent used buys at the ~$410 mark, but for different buyers. Take the ThinkPad T480 if you want the more versatile machine: discrete graphics, the better keyboard, easier upgrade access and the larger modding community. Take the EliteBook 840 G5 if your workload is pure office and battery life rules the decision — its 50 Wh cell and lighter body make it the better all-day text-and-video machine. Our overall verdict favors the T480 on breadth (7 axis wins), but the margin is earned almost entirely by the optional MX150: in configurations without it, the two machines are effectively equals and the EliteBook's battery wins the day.