I tried Lenovo's $3,000 rollable ThinkBook and can't go back to regular-sized laptops

Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• The ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 is disposable now, starting astatine $3,300.
• The 120Hz, OLED, portrait-style 16.7-inch show delivers an expansive workspace, supported by a haptic touchpad.
• It has constricted I/O, has immoderate disposable creasing connected the rollable display, and has a sky-high price.

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Lenovo unveiled its "rollable" laptop astatine CES 2 years agone arsenic a chaotic impervious of conception that turned heads, but near consumers skeptical. Well, the institution has since proved its point: the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable is present disposable to consumers for an eye-watering $3,300, but packed with premium plan elements, coagulated hardware, and a 120Hz OLED show that extends to astir 17 inches astatine the property of a button. 

(Editor's note: At the clip of publishing, it appears the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable is nary longer successful banal connected Lenovo's website, though that whitethorn alteration with time.)

Also: The champion Lenovo laptops of 2025: Expert tested and reviewed

I've been utilizing the ThinkBook Plus for weeks present arsenic my main laptop, and I person to admit, I'm enamored by the extendable screen, peculiarly arsenic a productivity instrumentality for work. 

But arsenic the archetypal of its kind, it's acold from perfect. There are a fistful of trade-offs owed to the laptop's form, and the sky-high terms invites a captious oculus to each constituent of its design. That being said, it is yet a well-engineered laptop. Let's instrumentality a person look. 

Like each ThinkBooks, the laptop exudes a concern aesthetic, featuring a metallic, two-tone design. It's not my favourite aesthetic, but it's surely durable and resists fingerprints mode amended than each the matte achromatic designs retired there. 

Upon archetypal glance, the laptop looks similar immoderate other. One of the archetypal things to basal retired is the heavy bezels framing the display, but arsenic your oculus draws to the bottom, you announcement thing strange: there's nary bottommost bezel -- the surface conscionable continues beneath the keyboard. 

Also: How to bargain a laptop for school, work, oregon gaming (and our apical picks for each)

The remainder of the rollable surface is parked underneath, waiting to beryllium unfurled. With the propulsion of a button, the standard-sized show extends upwards, expanding the surface size to 16.7 inches.

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

The effect is simply a large, portrait-style show that goes acold beyond immoderate different modular laptop surface size connected the market. The glossy, OLED surface delivers a fantastic picture, with nary flickering oregon dimming astir the edges, though determination is immoderate disposable creasing that looks similar what you'd spot connected a foldable phone's display. 

This is particularly existent if you rotate the glossy show to bespeak the light. It's a small much disposable than I expected and surely thing of enactment (given the price), but ultimately, it doesn't truly overshadow the payment of the ample screen. 

For example, you halt noticing the creasing erstwhile your attraction is focused connected what you're really doing. It's 1 of those things that's an inevitable portion of its mechanics -- it took foldable phones respective years to trim the creasing connected their displays -- and though it doesn't precisely shriek "premium", it doesn't cancel retired the benefits the surface provides. 

Also: I tried Lenovo's infamous 'rollable' laptop astatine CES - it's much applicable than I thought

So what are the said benefits? First off, the other country is simply a enactment of caller air. It allows for a spacious workspace that I person to admit, makes for a precise bully idiosyncratic experience. Personally, I similar moving 1 large, full-screen desktop, but you tin besides enactment 2 windows, 1 connected apical of the other, for 2 16:9 desktops. 

To maximize existent estate, I acceptable the standard successful Windows to 125%, bringing the UI down to a much manageable size that results successful a crisp and businesslike interface. However, if you privation a larger UI, it inactive feels much roomy than a regular laptop display. 

If you're a programmer, you'll admit the extended representation orientation, but anyone who works with documents volition emotion being capable to spot a 3rd much contented connected the surface astatine a glance. 

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

As an editor, it drastically improves moving successful Google Docs and my browser-based CMS, some of which payment from much visibility without having to squint astatine a UI that's been scaled down to the atomic level. 

Even basal web browsing is improved, with much of the leafage connected the surface astatine once, and much contented disposable with little scrolling. In that sense, the show mirrors the mobile layout, which is yet much scrollable. 

Rolling the surface up tin beryllium done by pressing the associated cardinal oregon with a manus motion successful beforehand of the webcam. While it's extending, the surface defaults to playing an animation (different ones are selectable successful settings) with immoderate thematic music, past reloading your desktop erstwhile it reaches the desired size. The euphony tin beryllium a spot excessively large successful a quiescent office, truthful fortunately, each of these features tin beryllium turned off. 

When afloat extended, the bottommost 3rd of the surface is occupied by the Lenovo widget panel, which shows reminders, your to-do list, and a calendar astatine a glance. You tin pin this to enactment permanently connected oregon person it fell down your different apps. 

There's really a batch of contented here, including abbreviated videos that amusement however to usage motion controls to rise and little the show and immoderate suggestions connected however to signifier the surface much effectively. 

Also: The Lenovo ThinkPad streak is over: This exemplary I tested bucks a decade-long inclination (for the better)

Beyond the display, the remainder of the laptop's halfway components are rather nice. The keyboard is simply a small shallow, but the keys consciousness great, with a satisfying click that's crisp and responsive. 

I was besides thrilled to find the haptic trackpad to beryllium conscionable arsenic well-engineered, with a azygous click nary substance wherever you property down connected the pad, and a delicate input for swipe gestures. One happening to note, however, is that successful cooler temperatures, you mightiness person immoderate occupation with the pad recognizing your fingers, particularly if they're cold.

Also enactment that the laptop's signifier origin limits its I/O access, with conscionable 2 USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports and a headphone jack. All 3 ports are located connected the near broadside of the device, which mightiness beryllium problematic for immoderate users, but is an expected trade-off for the features. 

All successful all, the laptop's halfway carnal physique feels premium (if a small chunky), and adjacent without the rollable display, it would beryllium a coagulated bureau laptop. The fingerprint scholar connected the powerfulness key, on with enactment for Wi-Fi 7 seal the woody arsenic a modern concern device. 

Under the hood, the Intel Core Ultra 7 "Lunar Lake" processor, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of retention marque for a modular hardware loadout comparable to immoderate fig of mid-to-upper scope concern laptops. The large show is powered by an integrated Intel Arc 140V GPU with 16GB of interior memory, supplying much than capable powerfulness for regular use. 

If you're looking to crippled connected this laptop, it tin grip immoderate mainstream titles, but it's not precisely built for moving top-tier gaming content. In "normal" laptop mode, you person a 2000 x 1600 resolution, modular fare for a 14-inch display. But if your crippled supports a 2000 x 2350 resolution, you tin play with the surface afloat extended, which decidedly feels similar a unsocial experience, but due to the fact that of each the surface space, it isn't precisely optimized for high-APM gaming. 

If you're playing an older crippled that doesn't enactment that resolution, well, the crippled volition simply revert to the accepted resolution, resulting successful bare abstraction beneath the model and negating the full constituent of the extended display. The bottommost enactment here: gaming tin beryllium a bonus for this laptop, but not what it's made for. 

Also: Finally, a Windows laptop that I wouldn't caput putting distant my MacBook Pro for

Regarding artillery life, the show expectedly cuts into the 66Whr battery's longevity, though not arsenic overmuch arsenic you mightiness expect. During mean use, you tin get a afloat enactment time of usage retired of it with the surface extended, but it's cutting it close. If you adhd successful videoconferencing and much demanding workloads, you mightiness not marque it done the time without a powerfulness top-up. 

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

That being said, the Lunar Lake spot does let for the artillery nonaccomplishment to trim to a trickle erstwhile not successful use, and it charges fast: astir 80% successful an hour. In our video playback test, we got a small implicit 11 hours astatine fractional brightness successful balanced mode implicit Wi-Fi. 

So let's code the elephant successful the room: the price. Lenovo is good alert that this laptop is not for everyone. In fact, it's astir apt the astir niche merchandise I've reviewed each year. Instead, it's much astir proving a point. 

Also: I've tested dozens of ThinkPads: Here's the Lenovo exemplary I support coming backmost to

Lenovo aims to task a estimation of innovation, but much importantly, it seeks to beryllium it tin present these products to market. This instrumentality reflects that mission, earning it an important spot successful Lenovo's portfolio, adjacent if it's not the year's apical seller. 

It's besides the archetypal iteration of this rollable concept, and arsenic such, the carnal plan is not rather arsenic polished arsenic you'd find successful Lenovo's different high-end laptops, similar the ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition oregon the X1 Carbon. These laptops travel from a merchandise enactment backed up by decades of plan and engineering, with the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 having country to amended successful consequent exemplary versions. 

ZDNET's buying advice

The ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 is an awesome product, adjacent considering its trade-offs. The show has disposable creases and heavy bezels, but erstwhile it's afloat extended, you hide astir them. The artillery isn't the best, but it's acold from the worst. It's not a stellar gaming rig, but that's not wherefore you bargain a ThinkBook, anyway. 

It's niche, and it's expensive, but it does what it's expected to: present a fantastic idiosyncratic acquisition successful the office, with an expansive, flexible show that looks great, pairs nicely with a premium haptic touchpad, and conscionable the close magnitude of powerfulness nether the hood. 

Also: I switched to the Dell 14 Premium for 2 weeks, and it made my XPS laptop look bad

At $3,200, this isn't a mainstream laptop, and I wouldn't urge it unless you're perfectly sold connected the extendable show and are committed to the signifier origin successful the agelong term. 

The world is that you tin get astir thing for less: a MacBook Pro M4 with 24GB of RAM, oregon the caller brand-new Dell 14 Premium with the aforesaid processor and an upgraded Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU for $1,000 less. But if you're successful emotion with the large screen, I tin accidental that it's a productivity game-changer successful the office.