Overview
I had both of these on my desk for a week, and they’re remarkably similar machines targeting the same buyer: the professional who wants a portable workhorse without paying flagship prices. The HP EliteBook 845 G11 () runs AMD Ryzen 7 PRO with 32 GB RAM. The Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 () uses Intel Core Ultra 7 with 16 GB RAM. Both weigh under 3.1 lbs, carry MIL-STD ratings, and ship with Windows 11 Pro.
Keyboard
The ThinkPad T14s has the best keyboard in any laptop. Period. Deep travel, crisp feedback, perfect spacing, plus the red TrackPoint so you never have to leave the home row. I typed on both all week and kept reaching for the ThinkPad. The EliteBook 845’s keyboard is very good, comfortable for all-day typing, but it just doesn’t have the same tactile response.
Winner: Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6. ThinkPad keyboard is legendary for a reason.
Performance
The EliteBook’s Ryzen 7 PRO 8840HS pulled slightly ahead in my multi-threaded tests, and the AMD Radeon 780M integrated graphics beat Intel Arc in light gaming and GPU-accelerated tasks. For typical business use (Office, browser, Teams), I couldn’t tell them apart.
Where I noticed the biggest gap was RAM. The EliteBook’s 32 GB gave me room to keep everything open. The T14s at 16 GB started feeling tight when I had a couple dozen tabs, Slack, and a VM running at the same time.
Winner: HP EliteBook 845 G11. More RAM, slightly faster in multi-threaded tasks.
Battery Life
The ThinkPad T14s gave me 10 to 12 hours of real productivity. The EliteBook 845 tapped out around 7 to 8 hours. That 3 to 4 hour gap is the difference between lasting a full workday unplugged and scrambling for a charger after lunch. I noticed it every single day.
Winner: Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6. Dominant battery life advantage.
Portability
The T14s weighs 2.83 lbs versus the EliteBook’s 3.09 lbs. Small difference on paper, but I could feel it after carrying one around all day. Both are thin and easily portable.
Winner: Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6. Marginally lighter.
Display
Both have 14” 1920x1200 IPS panels at 400 nits. I put them side by side and honestly couldn’t pick a winner. Both are sharp, bright, and perfectly fine for business use. Neither offers OLED at the base config. A genuine tie.
Winner: Tie
Connectivity
The T14s has Thunderbolt 4 ports (Intel platform). The EliteBook 845 has USB-C with DisplayPort but no Thunderbolt (AMD limitation). If you use a Thunderbolt dock, and most offices I’ve worked in do, this is a deciding factor.
Winner: Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6. Thunderbolt 4 support.
Enterprise Features
Both offer comparable enterprise management: vPro (Intel) versus AMD PRO, both have TPM 2.0, both run Windows 11 Pro, both offer optional WWAN. HP’s Wolf Security Suite is slightly more built out than Lenovo’s offering, but in practice IT departments can manage both equally well.
Winner: Tie. Both are enterprise-ready.
Price
The T14s is cheaper. But it ships with 16 GB RAM versus the EliteBook’s 32 GB. If RAM matters to your workload, the EliteBook’s the premium is worth it. If battery life and keyboard matter more, the T14s is the better deal.
Verdict
The Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 wins for professionals who prioritize the typing experience, battery life, and Thunderbolt connectivity. I’d pick it for most office workers without hesitation. The HP EliteBook 845 G11 is the better choice if you need 32 GB RAM or prefer AMD’s faster integrated graphics. Both are excellent machines. The T14s gets my recommendation because the keyboard and battery advantages affect every single day of use.