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Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) vs Dell Pro Max 16 (2025)

Which Laptop Is Better?

Products

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024)
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025)

Tested using Methodology v0.8.3

Updated Jul 23, 2025 11:47 AM

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Tested using Methodology v0.8.3

Updated Aug 19, 2025 02:19 PM

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Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Picture
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Picture

Our Verdict

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024)

Dell Pro Max 16 (2025)

The Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) is better than the Dell Pro Max 16 (2025). Although the Lenovo uses older-generation components (Intel 14th Gen and NVIDIA Ada Generation), it can still provide more performance if you get a higher-end model with an Intel Core i7-14700HX and RTX4000/5000 discrete GPU. The Lenovo also has a more comfortable keyboard and higher-quality display options, including two 4k panels (IPS and OLED) with full P3 coverage.

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Variants

  • ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (21FA005AUS) (Storm Gray - 2.5k/RTX 2000/i7-14700HX/32GB/1TB)
  • ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (21FA0056US) (Storm Gray - 2.5k/i7-14700HX/RTX 1000/16GB/512GB)
  • ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (21FA0059US) (Storm Gray - 2.5k/i7-14700HX/RTX 1000/32GB/1TB)
  • ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (21FA0058US) (Storm Gray - 2.5k/i7-14700HX/RTX 3500/32GB/1TB)
  • ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (21FA0050US) (Storm Gray - 3.8k/i7-14700HX/RTX 1000/32GB/1TB)
  • ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (21FA0051US) (Storm Gray - 3.8k/i7-14700HX/RTX 2000/32GB/1TB)
  • ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (21FA0052US) (Storm Gray - 3.8k/i7-14700HX/RTX 3500/64GB/1TB)
  • ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (21FA004VUS) (Storm Gray - FHD+/i7-14700HX/RTX 1000/16GB/512GB)
  • ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (21FA0057US) (Storm Gray - FHD+/i7-14700HX/RTX 1000/16GB/512GB)
  • ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (21FA004WUS) (Storm Gray - FHD+/i7-14700HX/RTX 1000/32GB/1TB)
  • Pro Max 16 (D55TP) (Black - FHD+/Ultra 5 235H/16GB/256GB)
  • Pro Max 16 (42VDY) (Black - FHD+/Ultra 7 255H/16GB/512GB)
  • Pro Max 16 (362M3) (Black - FHD+/Ultra 7 255H/32GB/1TB)
  • Pro Max 16 (MC16250) (Black - FHD+/Ultra 9 285H/32GB/256GB)

Main Differences for
School

Threshold 

0.10

School 

7.7
7.3

Keyboard 
 

8.6
5.5

Portability 
 

5.1
6.6

Battery 
 

8.0
7.5

Brightness 
 

9.6
7.3

Full Comparison

Design

Style 
 

Style Photo  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Style Photo
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Style Photo

Form Factor 
 

Traditional (Clamshell)
Traditional (Clamshell)
Show Text 

Build Quality 
 

8.5
8.0

Build Quality Photo  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Build Quality Photo
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Build Quality Photo
Show Text 

Hinge 
 

9.5
7.0

Hinge Photo  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Hinge Photo
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Hinge Photo

Range 
 

185°
185°

Stability 
 

Good
Good

One Finger Lift 
 

Yes
No
Show Text 

Portability 
 

5.1
6.6

Dimensions Photo  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Dimensions Photo
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Dimensions Photo

Size 
 

16"
16"

Thickness 
 

1.3" (3.3 cm)
1.2" (3.2 cm)

Width 
 

14.3" (36.4 cm)
14.1" (35.8 cm)

Depth 
 

10.4" (26.5 cm)
10.1" (25.7 cm)

Volume 
 

193.7 in³ (3,173.5 cm³)
176.9 in³ (2,898.2 cm³)

Weight 
 

6.5 lbs (3.0 kg)
4.6 lbs (2.1 kg)

Charger Size 
 

14.3 in³ (234.6 cm³)
11.9 in³ (195.4 cm³)

Charger Weight 
 

1.1 lbs (0.5 kg)
0.8 lbs (0.4 kg)

Serviceability 
 

8.5
8.9

Internals Photo  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Internals Photo
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Internals Photo

Ease Of Access 
 

8.0
8.5

RAM Slots 
 

4
2

Storage Slots 
 

2
2

Replaceable Battery 
 

Yes
Yes

Replaceable Wireless Adapter 
 

No
Yes
Show Text 

In The Box 
 

In The Box Photo  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) In The Box Photo
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) In The Box Photo
Show Text 
Display

Screen Specs 
 

Display Photo  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Display Photo
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Display Photo

Resolution 
 

3840 x 2400
1920 x 1200

Aspect Ratio 
 

16:10
16:10

Pixel Density 
 

283 PPI
141 PPI

Panel Type 
 

IPS
IPS

Touch Screen 
 

No
No

Screen-To-Body Ratio 
 

78%
86%
Show Text 

Refresh Rate 
 

5.9
5.9

Motion Blur  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Motion Blur
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Motion Blur

Refresh Rate 
 

60 Hz
60 Hz

Variable Refresh Rate 
 

No
No
Show Text 

Contrast 
 

8.2
7.4

Contrast Photo  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Contrast Photo
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Contrast Photo

Native Contrast 
 

1,923 : 1
1,371 : 1
Show Text 

Brightness 
 

9.6
7.3

Maximum Brightness 
 

751 cd/m²
324 cd/m²

Minimum Brightness 
 

17 cd/m²
19 cd/m²
Show Text 

Reflections 
 

8.8
6.9

Reflections Photo Off  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Reflections Photo Off
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Reflections Photo Off

Reflections Photo Max  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Reflections Photo Max
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Reflections Photo Max

Screen Finish 
 

Matte
Matte

Total Reflections 
 

2.44%
6.42%

Indirect Reflections 
 

2.16%
5.2%

Calculated Direct Reflections 
 

0.29%
1.21%
Show Text 

Black Uniformity 
 

6.9
7.1

Black Uniformity Photo  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Black Uniformity Photo
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Black Uniformity Photo

Uniformity (Std. Dev.) 
 

1.389%
1.229%
Show Text 

Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy 
 

5.8
6.3

White Balance Screencap  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) White Balance Screencap
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) White Balance Screencap

Gamma Curve Screencap  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Gamma Curve Screencap
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Gamma Curve Screencap

Color Screencap  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Color Screencap
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Color Screencap

Avg. White Balance dE 
 

3.64
2.74

Avg. Gamma 
 

1.99
2.27

Avg. Color dE 
 

4.94
5.12

Avg. Color Temperature 
 

6,029.2 K
7,023.4 K
Show Text 

Color Gamut 
 

9.5
4.3

Gamut SDR  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Gamut SDR
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Gamut SDR

sRGB xy 
 

140.44%
65.8%

sRGB uv 
 

132.95%
56.67%

Adobe RGB xy 
 

89.82%
49.09%

Adobe RGB uv 
 

95.14%
48.91%

Gamut HDR  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Gamut HDR
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Gamut HDR

DCI P3 xy 
 

99.94%
48.81%

DCI P3 uv 
 

99.94%
45.44%

Rec. 2020 xy 
 

74.27%
35.02%

Rec. 2020 uv 
 

77.15%
33.11%
Show Text 

Flicker 
 

10
10

Flicker Graph  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Flicker Graph
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Flicker Graph

Flicker-Free 
 

Yes
Yes

Flicker Frequency 
 

No Flicker
No Flicker

Flicker Active Below 
 

0%
0%
Show Text 
Interface

Keyboard 
 

8.6
5.5

Keyboard Photo  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Keyboard Photo
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Keyboard Photo

Typing Quality 
 

8.5
6.5

Numpad 
 

Yes
Yes

Backlighting 
 

Adjustable
No

Key Switch Actuation Graph  

See details
See details

Operating Force 
 

64 gf
69 gf

Actuation Force 
 

33 gf
32 gf

Pre-Travel 
 

1.09 mm
1.08 mm

Total Travel 
 

1.61 mm
1.65 mm
Show Text 

Touchpad 
 

7.8
8.3

Touchpad Photo  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Touchpad Photo
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Touchpad Photo

Tracking Quality 
 

8.0
8.0

Size 
 

11.6 in² (74.8 cm²)
17.1 in² (110.4 cm²)

Material 
 

Glass
Glass

Dedicated Buttons 
 

3
No
Show Text 

Speakers 
 

8.6
6.0

Frequency Response Plot  

See details
See details

Max Volume 
 

81 dB SPL
80 dB SPL

Standard Error @ Normal Vol. (65 dB) 
 

5.2 dB
8.3 dB

Slope @ Normal Vol. (65 dB) 
 

0.6
-1.5

Bass Extension (Low-Frequency Ext.) 
 

375 Hz
446 Hz

Treble Extension (High-Frequency Ext.) 
 

20 kHz
14 kHz

Dynamic Range Compression @ Max Vol. 
 

1.2 dB
0.9 dB
Show Text 

Webcam & Microphone 
 

7.5
7.0

Webcam Video Sample  

Video Quality 
 

7.0
6.5

Resolution 
 

1080p
1080p

Position 
 

Top Center
Top Center

Privacy Cover 
 

Yes
Yes

Face Unlock 
 

Yes
No
Show Text 
Connectivity

Ports 
 

9.0
8.5

Ports Photo  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Ports Photo
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Ports Photo

USB-A Ports 
 

2
2

USB-C Ports 
 

3
2

Thunderbolt 
 

Thunderbolt 4
Thunderbolt 4

USB-C Charging 
 

No
Yes

USB-C Display Out 
 

Yes
Yes

HDMI 
 

2.1
2.0

DisplayPort 
 

No
No

3.5mm Jack 
 

Combo mic/headphone
Combo mic/headphone

Card Reader 
 

SD Express 7.0
MicroSD UHS 2

Ethernet 
 

No
Yes

Proprietary Port 
 

Lenovo Power Connector
No

Security Lock 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

Wireless Communication 
 

Wi-Fi 
 

Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)
Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)

Bluetooth 
 

5.3
5.3
Show Text 
Configuration

CPU 
 

Brand 
 

Intel
Intel

Model 
 

Core i7-14700HX
Core Ultra 9 285H

Core Count 
 

20
16

Thread Count 
 

28
16
Show Text 

GPU 
 

Brand 
 

NVIDIA
Intel

Model 
 

RTX 1000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU
Arc Pro 140T GPU

Dedicated/Integrated 
 

Dedicated
Integrated

VRAM Size 
 

6 GB
N/A

GPU Total Graphics Power (TGP) 
 

60W
N/A
Show Text 

RAM 
 

Capacity 
 

32 GB
32 GB

Modules 
 

2
2

Type 
 

DDR5
DDR5

Speed 
 

4,000 MHz
5,600 MHz
Show Text 

Storage 
 

Advertised Capacity 
 

1,000 GB
256 GB

Usable Capacity 
 

955 GB
164 GB

Drive 1 
 

SK Hynix HFS001TEJ9X162N
Micron 2550

Drive 1 Type  

SSD
SSD

Drive 2 
 

No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive

Drive 2 Type  

No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Show Text 
Performance

Geekbench 5 (Synthetics) 
 

9.9
9.5

Geekbench Image  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Geekbench Image
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Geekbench Image

CPU Single-Thread 
 

1,977 points
2,082 points

CPU Multi-Thread 
 

16,890 points
14,889 points

GPU Compute 
 

88,458 points
39,719 points
Show Text 

Cinebench R23 (CPU Rendering) 
 

10
10

Cinebench R23 Photo  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Cinebench R23 Photo
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Cinebench R23 Photo

Single-Thread 
 

2,098 points
2,082 points

Multi-Thread 
 

25,087 points
19,913 points
Show Text 

Blender (3D Rendering) 
 

9.5
9.1

Blender Image  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Blender Image
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Blender Image

CPU Render Time 
 

1.9 min
2.0 min

GPU Render Time 
 

0.4 min
N/A

GPU Render Time (Optix) 
 

12 s
N/A
Show Text 

Basemark GPU (Game Scene) 
 

9.3
6.1

Basemark Image  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Basemark Image
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Basemark Image

Overall Score 
 

90,770
25,786
Show Text 

Storage Drive Performance 
 

9.5
9.3

Storage Performance Image  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Storage Performance Image
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Storage Performance Image

Sequential Write Speed 
 

2,143.9 MB/s
1,485.3 MB/s

Sequential Read Speed 
 

4,992.9 MB/s
3,257.0 MB/s

Random Write Speed 
 

97.8 MB/s
89.7 MB/s

Random Read Speed 
 

55.7 MB/s
49.0 MB/s

Battery 
 

8.0
7.5

Capacity 
 

94 Wh
64 Wh

Battery Life (Web Browsing) 
 

10.1 hrs
9.2 hrs

Battery Life (Video Playback) 
 

6.3 hrs
7.8 hrs

Battery Life (Gaming) 
 

1.6 hrs
1.5 hrs

Charge Time 
 

1.9 hrs
2.4 hrs
Show Text 

Borderlands 3 
 

7.2
5.5

Borderlands 3 Graph  

See details
See details

Avg. FPS 
 

88 fps
35 fps

1% Low 
 

48 fps
25 fps

0.1% Low 
 

29 fps
15 fps

1% Low Delta 
 

9 ms
11 ms

0.1% Low Delta 
 

23 ms
38 ms

Avg. FPS On Very Low 
 

189 fps
75 fps
Show Text 

Civilization VI 
 

8.3
7.0

Civilization VI Graph  

See details
See details

Avg. FPS 
 

135 fps
57 fps

1% Low 
 

80 fps
37 fps

0.1% Low 
 

56 fps
36 fps

1% Low Delta 
 

5 ms
9 ms

0.1% Low Delta 
 

11 ms
11 ms

Avg. FPS On Minimum 
 

372 fps
173 fps

Avg. Turn Time 
 

7.21 s
7.44 s
Show Text 

Counter-Strike 2 
 

8.6
6.9

CS2 Graph  

See details
See details

Avg. FPS 
 

221fps
68fps

1% Low 
 

72fps
40fps

0.1% Low 
 

50fps
33fps

1% Low Delta 
 

9 ms
11 ms

0.1% Low Delta 
 

15 ms
16 ms

Avg. FPS On Low 
 

291fps
171fps
Show Text 

Shadow Of The Tomb Raider 
 

8.0
6.5

SOTTR Graph  

See details
See details

Avg. FPS 
 

115 fps
37 fps

1% Low 
 

72 fps
29 fps

0.1% Low 
 

33 fps
27 fps

1% Low Delta 
 

5 ms
8 ms

0.1% Low Delta 
 

21 ms
10 ms

Avg. FPS On Lowest 
 

172 fps
58 fps
Show Text 

Thermals And Noise 
 

6.4
7.4

Keyboard Temps Picture  

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024) Keyboard Temps Picture
Dell Pro Max 16 (2025) Keyboard Temps Picture

Keyboard Temp While Idle 
 

29 °C (84 °F)
32 °C (90 °F)

Keyboard Temp Under Load 
 

47 °C (117 °F)
41 °C (106 °F)

Fan Noise While Idle 
 

27.3 dBA
25.0 dBA

Fan Noise Under Load 
 

53.4 dBA
49.2 dBA

Power & Fan Control App 
 

No
Yes
Show Text 

Performance Over Time 
 

7.6
10

Performance Over Time Graph  

See details
See details

CPU Temp (Cinebench) 
 

92 °C
81 °C

CPU Perf. Loss (Cinebench) 
 

12% loss
0% loss

GPU Temp (Heaven) 
 

59 °C
57 °C

GPU Perf. Loss (Heaven) 
 

3% loss
0% loss
Show Text 
Additional Features And Software

Software 
 

Operating System 
 

Windows 11
Windows 11

Additional Software 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

Extra Features 
 

Biometrics 
 

Face Recognition and Fingerprint Sensor
No

RGB Illumination 
 

No
No

Touch Pen Support 
 

No Stylus Support
No Stylus Support

Secondary Display 
 

No
No
Show Text 

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 (2024)

Dell Pro Max 16 (2025)

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