Lenovo ThinkPad P16v Gen 2 review

The RTX 500 Ada story, fully resolved this time

The ThinkPad P16v Gen 2 (2024) at $1,408 runs the same generation of professional silicon as its P16s sibling — Core Ultra 7 155H, RTX 500 Mobile (Ada) 4GB, 96GB of RAM — but here the scoring pool actually resolves the card, and the sheet reads dramatically more complete for it.

Where it holds up

Reliability at 87 is top-quartile, the CPU score of 87.02 sits in the enthusiast tier, and the 96GB memory bank is 50 percent above the class median. The resolved axes are broad: overall performance 75.84 (high), office 96.83 (top), engineering CAD 74 (high), photo design 88 (top), gaming 57 (mid). The flag sheet is among the batch's fullest — Overwatch, Grand Theft Auto V and Rainbow Six Siege at recommended levels, Photoshop at minimum, Visual Studio Code at recommended, AutoCAD clearing its minimum.

Where it falls short

The peer comparison flags no single weakness, but the sheet has exactly one low band, and it should be stated plainly: portability at 30.1 — a thick, desk-leaning 16-inch chassis in a category median of 36. That is the cost of the fuller thermal envelope the resolved card enjoys. A steep 18 percent yearly depreciation rate is the second honest caveat.

Price and depreciation

No launch anchor is recorded; the class-derived rate computes to 18 percent per year — near this batch's steep end, as expected for recent professional silicon. At $1,408 with value at 57.55 (mid), the price is defensible against the resolved sheet in a way its unresolved sibling's is not.

Alternatives to consider

The P16s Gen 3 (listing 1883) at the same $1,408 keeps the same Ada card and 96GB in a more portable frame (42.1) but leaves the visual axes unresolved (0 matched entries). The P16v Gen 3 (listing 1886) at $1,760 steps up to the RTX Pro 1000 with a 95.71 performance index. And the ThinkPad P15v Gen 3 (listing 1881) at $901 remains the value anchor of the workstation shelf.

Bottom line

Fairly priced for the class. One of the two fully resolved workstation sheets in this batch — CAD at 74, photo at 88, a full recommended-level flag sheet including AutoCAD — with portability at 30.1 (the one low band, the price of the chassis) and a steep 18 percent curve as the honest trades.