A Principled Technologies report: Hands-on testing. Real-world results.

Work where you want with
better system performance

Boost productivity andcollaboration efforts

Be more comfortable withcool surface temperatures

Based on longer battery lifeand higher SYSmark 25 overallratings while unplugged

Based on higher PCMark, SYSmark,
WebXPRT, and Procyon overall ratings

Based on similar or lower thermal
readings while operating under load

Improve your dayto-day experience
with Windows 11
Pro laptops

A real-world battery life, performance,
and thermal comparison of four current-gen
laptops preloaded with Windows 11 Pro
and four previous-gen laptops with
Windows 10 Pro
Windows laptop users use them in a variety of contexts—so
it makes sense to look at battery life and system performancefrom multiple angles. For this evaluation of the benefits
mainstream users could expect by upgrading to current-gen
laptops preloaded with Windows 11 Pro, we tested battery life
in five different scenarios and ran a series of industry-standard
benchmarks that measure productivity and content creation
capabilities. We also captured surface temperatures under load.
Our results show that mainstream laptop users can improve their
day-to-day experience by upgrading to current-gen Windows
11 Pro laptops powered by Intel® Core™ i5 or i7 processors.
We found that these laptops delivered longer battery life,
faster system responsiveness, and similar or lower surface
temperatures while running a compute-intensive application.
This report presents our findings through the lens of eight
fictional scenarios. Though we’ve made up the characters, theirsituations reflect real-world laptop user experiences.

For complete details on the PCs we tested and the tests we performed, see the science behind the report.
Improve your day-to-day experience with Windows 11 Pro laptops

April 2023 (Revised)Table of contents
Jump directly to results by clicking the buttons below.

Work where you want

How we tested

Longer battery life 

We used battery life, performance, and thermal tests to explore
real-world concerns for mainstream laptop users, whose needs aredifferent from those of professional creatives or dedicated gamers.

Boost productivity and expedite collaboration efforts
Higher PCMark 10 results 

We tested the following eight laptops:
Current-gen laptops preloadedwith Windows 11 Pro:

Previous-gen laptops with
Windows 10 Pro:• HP ProBook 450 G8with an Intel Core i5 processor,
16 GB of memory, 256 GB of
storage, and a 45 Whr battery• HP ProBook 450 G6
with an Intel Core i5 processor,
16 GB of memory, 256 GB of
storage, and a 45 Whr battery• HP EliteBook 850 G8with an Intel Core i5 processor,
16 GB of memory, 256 GB of
storage, and a 56 Whr battery• HP EliteBook 850 G5
with an Intel Core i5 processor,
16 GB of memory, 256 GB of
storage, and a 56 Whr battery• Lenovo® ThinkPad® X1 Yoga G6 • Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga G3
with an Intel Core i5 processor,
with an Intel Core i5 processor,
8 GB of memory, 256 GB of
8 GB of memory, 256 GB of
storage, and a 54 Whr battery
storage, and a 57 Whr battery

Speed day-to-day activities
Higher SYSmark 18 results 

Get a better user experience
Higher SYSmark 25 results 

Maximize web-browsing capabilities
Higher WebXPRT 4 overall scores 

Operate team productivity tools more effectively
Higher Procyon Office Productivity Benchmark results 

Better handle demanding workloads
Higher 3DMark scores • Lenovo ThinkPad T14
with an Intel Core i7 processor,
16 GB of memory, 512 GB of
storage, and a 50 Whr battery• Lenovo ThinkPad T480
with an Intel Core i7 processor,
16 GB of memory, 256 GB of
storage, and a 48 Whr battery

On all laptops, we first compared general battery life with the PCMark
10 benchmark. We also ran custom battery life use cases to measure
local video playback, streaming video, Zoom video conferencing, andweb browsing capabilities. Then, we compared general and specificuse case system performance using PCMark 10, SYSmark®, 3DMark®,
Cinebench R23, Blender, RedShift, WebXPRT 4, and Procyon®
benchmarks on these devices. We also conducted an extra roundof SYSmark 25 benchmark testing on the Windows 11 Pro laptops
to determine how enabling the VBS feature affected performance.
Finally, we compared surface temperatures while running a computeintensive workload on all eight devices:
For these comparisons, we selected the closest generational matches
available at the time of testing. Due to hardware available in themarket and component changes from generation to generation, we
could not match every component’s specs.

Get creative projects out the door faster
Higher single- and multi-core Cinebench R23 scores 

Speed scene renders
Higher Blender benchmark rendering results Speed 3D renders
Higher Redshift 3D Renderer scores Complete content creation projects in less time
Higher Procyon Photo and Video Editing Benchmark results 

Improve malware resistance without performance loss
Based on SYSmark 25 results with and without
VBS on Windows 11 Pro laptops 

Be more comfortable
Based on cool surface temps under load 

Improve your day-to-day experience with Windows 11 Pro laptops

April 2023 (Revised) | 2

Work where you want
Battery life is one of the first things buyers look at when they’re searching for any mobile device—but every laptop user
has different day-to-day battery life stressors, so we measured battery life using a benchmark as well as with multiple realworld scenarios.
Note: We purchased used previous-gen laptops that were approximately five years old. We recognize that the batteries of thoselegacy laptops were likely experiencing degradation due to age and use. As such, we are not claiming that the previous-gen
laptops, if new, would perform at these levels. Rather, we are saying that upgrading from heavily used laptops to current-gen
laptops with new batteries could increase the time you can work unplugged. For more information and to see the full specs oneach laptop, read the science behind the report.

Scenario 1: Get ahead while unplugged
Narayan, a senior financial analyst, is a strong contender for their dream position as the youngest
CFO in their company’s history. Part of the reason Narayan is so successful is that they use their HP
EliteBook 850 G5 running Windows 10 Pro to keep current with multiple business news programs,interview industry experts, and watch history documentaries to better predict future events. Our
tests show that after upgrading to the G8 running Windows 11 Pro, they should expect almost five
additional hours of battery life watching downloaded videos on a cross-country flight.

WORK WHERE YOU WANT WITH LONGER BATTERY LIFE

PCMark 10 battery life
Time (hh:mm) | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

8:54

G6 with Windows 10 Pro
G8 with Windows 11 Pro
G5 with Windows 10 Pro

9:12
4:27

G6 with Windows 11 Pro

15:49

G3 with Windows 10 Pro

8:30

T14 with Windows 11 Pro
T480 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
106.7% longer
battery life

6:07

6:30
4:02

Figure 1: PCMark 10 battery life results. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

Improve your day-to-day experience with Windows 11 Pro laptops

April 2023 (Revised) | 3

Local video playback while on battery
Time (hh:mm) | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

10:39

G6 with Windows 10 Pro

8:37

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

11:56

G5 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
71.6% longer
battery life

6:57

G6 with Windows 11 Pro

12:58

G3 with Windows 10 Pro

9:39

T14 with Windows 11 Pro

8:45

T480 with Windows 10 Pro

5:29

Figure 2: Local video playback battery life results. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

Streaming video while on battery
Time (hh:mm) | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

6:40

G6 with Windows 10 Pro

6:29

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

7:33

G5 with Windows 10 Pro

4:00

G6 with Windows 11 Pro

8:03

G3 with Windows 10 Pro

6:38

T14 with Windows 11 Pro
T480 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
88.8% longer
battery life

5:52
3:56

Figure 3: Streaming video battery life results. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

Improve your day-to-day experience with Windows 11 Pro laptops

April 2023 (Revised) | 4

Scenario 2: Hit the ground running
Tansy, a newly promoted marketing manager at a consumer goods company, is excited about her
new responsibilities. The first order of business is updating the aging Windows 10 Pro laptop she
got when she first started with the company four years ago. Our test results show that, by making a
gen-to-gen upgrade on any of the Windows laptops we tested, she could expect comparable or
longer battery life for unplugged Zoom brainstorming meetings and marketing collateral reviews.
She should also have more time to do market research during her outdoor lunch breaks or when
she’s watching her kids play soccer.

Zoom conference call while on battery
Time (hh:mm) | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

3:49

G6 with Windows 10 Pro

3:53

G8 with Windows 11 Pro
G5 with Windows 10 Pro

3:09
2:18

G6 with Windows 11 Pro

3:52

G3 with Windows 10 Pro
T14 with Windows 11 Pro
T480 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
36.3% longer
battery life

3:13
2:14
1:47

Figure 4: Zoom conference call battery life results. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

Web browsing while on battery
Time (hh:mm) | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

9:53

G6 with Windows 10 Pro
G8 with Windows 11 Pro
G5 with Windows 10 Pro

9:54
4:54

G6 with Windows 11 Pro

14:30

G3 with Windows 10 Pro

8:11

T14 with Windows 11 Pro
T480 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
101.7% longer
battery life

7:19

7:06
5:17

Figure 5: Web browsing battery life results. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

Improve your day-to-day experience with Windows 11 Pro laptops

April 2023 (Revised) | 5

The day-to-day user experience
Every user has unique day-to-day requirements, so we looked at system performance and responsiveness from many angles.
The general productivity benchmark results (pages 6 through 8) might seem like the only relatable results for non-creative
professionals—but the digital content creation-focused benchmarks (pages 9 through 13) offer important insights whether you
process images and edit videos or not. For example, higher multi-core scores here can translate to speedier response times on
financial analysis tools, demanding productivity apps, product development and design software, 3D modeling and rendering
programs, and graphics-intensive games.

Scenario 3: More time to chase down leads
Calvin is the inside sales manager for an up-and-coming technology service provider. He is
responsible for executing strategic direction, development, and customer base expansion. His teamrelies on Microsoft 365 productivity tools, access to online courses, and a customer relationshipmanagement (CRM) system to keep on top of trends and collect and analyze customer information.
Right now, they’re doing this on five-year-old laptops running Windows 10 Pro. Our tests show that
if Calvin and his team upgraded to current-gen laptops running Windows 11 Pro, they could expect
faster system response times, which can translate to faster task completion, a better user
experience, and more time to chase down leads.

BOOST PRODUCTIVITY AND EXPEDITE COLLABORATION EFFORTS

PCMark 10
Overall rating | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro
G6 with Windows 10 Pro

4,187

G8 with Windows 11 Pro
G5 with Windows 10 Pro

4,108
2,726

G6 with Windows 11 Pro
G3 with Windows 10 Pro

4,523
2,677

T14 with Windows 11 Pro
T480 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
68.9% higher
rating

2,677

4,674
2,871

Figure 6: PCMark 10 overall ratings. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

Stick with what works—only better
While Microsoft is supporting Windows 10 until 2025, Windows 11 has some new tricks up its sleeve. Thesechanges include “intuitive navigation” with easy-to-use organization and personalization tools; next-generation
antivirus and malware protection; and more productivity, accessibility, and gaming features.1

Improve your day-to-day experience with Windows 11 Pro laptops

April 2023 (Revised) | 6

PCMark 10 applications test
Overall rating | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

10,470G6 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
34.3% higher
rating

8,815

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

9,903

G5 with Windows 10 Pro

8,686

G6 with Windows 11 Pro

10,554G3 with Windows 10 Pro

7,854

T14 with Windows 11 Pro

11,279

T480 with Windows 10 Pro

9,083

Figure 7: PCMark 10 application test overall ratings. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

SPEED DAY-TO-DAY ACTIVITIESSYSmark 2018
Overall rating | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

1,509

G6 with Windows 10 Pro

1,287

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

1,452

G5 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
22.5% higher
rating

1,222

G6 with Windows 11 Pro

1,530

G3 with Windows 10 Pro

1,249

T14 with Windows 11 Pro

1,603

T480 with Windows 10 Pro

1,400

Figure 8: SYSmark 2018 overall ratings. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

GET A BETTER USER EXPERIENCESYSmark 25
Overall rating | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

1,242

G6 with Windows 10 Pro

1,040

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

1,194

G5 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
22.3% higher
rating

1,064

G6 with Windows 11 Pro

1,187

G3 with Windows 10 Pro

970

T14 with Windows 11 Pro

1,253

T480 with Windows 10 Pro

1,096

Figure 9: SYSmark 25 overall ratings. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

PCMark 10 is a comprehensive setof tests that reflect the varied PC
demands of the modern workplace.2

SYSmark 2018 is an application-based
benchmark that is geared toward officecentric user activities and reflects theusage patterns of business users.3

Improve your day-to-day experience with Windows 11 Pro laptops

SYSmark 25 measures the responsetime of business-oriented and mediacentric tasks using real applications
and simulated user input.4
April 2023 (Revised) | 7

MAXIMIZE WEB-BROWSING CAPABILITIESWebXPRT 4
Overall score on Microsoft Edge | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

193

G6 with Windows 10 Pro
G8 with Windows 11 Pro

188

G5 with Windows 10 Pro

149

G6 with Windows 11 Pro
G3 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
41.9% higher
score

153

193
136

T14 with Windows 11 Pro

221

T480 with Windows 10 Pro

164

Figure 10: WebXPRT 4 overall scores. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

OPERATE TEAM PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS MORE EFFECTIVELY

Procyon Office Productivity Benchmark
Overall rating | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro
G6 with Windows 10 Pro

5,539
4,168

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

4,865

G5 with Windows 10 Pro

4,611

G6 with Windows 11 Pro
G3 with Windows 10 Pro

5,300
3,950

T14 with Windows 11 Pro
T480 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
34.1% higher
rating

5,557
4,615

Figure 11: Procyon Office Productivity Benchmark overall ratings. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

WebXPRT 4 is a browser benchmark that compares theperformance of almost any web-enabled device.5

Improve your day-to-day experience with Windows 11 Pro laptops

Procyon Office Productivity Benchmark uses Microsoft
365 apps to measures aspects of day-to-day performancethat affect the business user experience.6
April 2023 (Revised) | 8

Scenario 4: The joy of learning
Gisele and Henry are human resource executives at growing companies, where they are bothoverseeing the development of inclusive, online employee training courses. Our tests show that
Gisele and her in-house creatives, who use Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga G6 laptops running Windows
11 Pro, should complete content creation, review, and iteration processes in significantly less timethan Henry’s team, who rely on Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga G3 laptops running Windows 10 Pro.

BETTER HANDLE DEMANDING WORKLOADS

3DMark: Fire Strike
Overall rating | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

3,612

G6 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
246.2% higher
rating

1,085

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

2,987

G5 with Windows 10 Pro

1,184

G6 with Windows 11 Pro

4,082

G3 with Windows 10 Pro

1,179

T14 with Windows 11 Pro

3,003

T480 with Windows 10 Pro

1,221

Figure 12: 3DMark Fire Strike overall ratings. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

3DMark: Time Spy
Overall rating | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro
G6 with Windows 10 Pro

1,400
458

G8 with Windows 11 Pro
G5 with Windows 10 Pro

1,251
474

G6 with Windows 11 Pro
G3 with Windows 10 Pro

1,491
481

T14 with Windows 11 Pro
T480 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
209.9% higher
score

1,290
495

Figure 13: 3DMark Time Spy overall ratings. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

3DMark benchmark measures 3D graphic renderingand CPU workload processing capabilities.
Improve your day-to-day experience with Windows 11 Pro laptops

April 2023 (Revised) | 9

GET CREATIVE PROJECTS OUT THE DOOR FASTER

Cinebench R23 (single-core)
Score | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro
G6 with Windows 10 Pro
G8 with Windows 11 Pro
G5 with Windows 10 Pro
G6 with Windows 11 Pro
G3 with Windows 10 Pro

1,357

1,321
957
1,366
892

T14 with Windows 11 Pro
T480 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
53.1% higher
score

1,029

1,560
1,051

Figure 14: Cinebench R23 single-core scores. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

Cinebench R23 (multi-core)
Score | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro
G6 with Windows 10 Pro

4,005

G8 with Windows 11 Pro
G5 with Windows 10 Pro

4,271
2,991

G6 with Windows 11 Pro
G3 with Windows 10 Pro

5,276
3,384

T14 with Windows 11 Pro
T480 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
72.5% higher
score

3,280

6,184
3,584

Figure 15: Cinebench R23 multi-core scores. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

Cinebench R23 is a popular benchmark that measuresa CPU’s rendering performance.
Improve your day-to-day experience with Windows 11 Pro laptops

April 2023 (Revised) | 10

Scenario 5: Making ends meet in the gig economy
Kalia is a recent art college graduate who is freelancing while she explores the country and decides
where she wants to settle down. She’s debating whether she should keep using the Lenovo
ThinkPad T480 her parents bought her when she started college—or spring for a new one. Our tests
show Kalia could complete 3D video editing projects in less time if she upgraded to the ThinkPad
T14 with a current-gen Intel Core i7 processor and Windows 11 Pro—an updated version of her
beloved ThinkPad T480. This change could enable her to take on new work and earn more money.

SPEED SCENE RENDERSBlender: Monster workload
Samples per minute | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

Up to
50.4% more
samples per
minute35.63

G6 with Windows 10 Pro

27.19

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

34.33

G5 with Windows 10 Pro

26.84

G6 with Windows 11 Pro

39.72

G3 with Windows 10 Pro

29.63

T14 with Windows 11 Pro

45.01

T480 with Windows 10 Pro

29.92

Figure 16: Blender Monster workload rendering results. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

Blender: Junkshop workload
Samples per minute | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro
G6 with Windows 10 Pro

15.43

G8 with Windows 11 Pro
G5 with Windows 10 Pro

18.11
15.26

G6 with Windows 11 Pro
G3 with Windows 10 Pro

19.89
13.18

T14 with Windows 11 Pro
T480 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
50.9% more
samples per
minute

18.89

25.52
17.34

Figure 17: Blender Junkshop workload rendering results. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

Blender benchmark workloads measure processor
and graphics rendering performance.
Improve your day-to-day experience with Windows 11 Pro laptops

April 2023 (Revised) | 11

Blender: Classroom workload
Samples per minute | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

Up to
50.9% more
samples per
minute13.63

G6 with Windows 10 Pro

10.79

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

13.51

G5 with Windows 10 Pro

10.89

G6 with Windows 11 Pro

17.29

G3 with Windows 10 Pro

11.63

T14 with Windows 11 Pro

18.90

T480 with Windows 10 Pro

12.52

Figure 18: Blender Classroom workload rendering results. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

SPEED 3D RENDERS

Maxon Redshift 3D RenderTime (hh:mm) | Less time is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

5:40

G6 with Windows 10 Pro

6:28

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

5:43

G5 with Windows 10 Pro
G6 with Windows 11 Pro
G3 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
18.8% faster
render time

6:50
(N/A. These X1 Yoga PCs did not meet the
Redshift benchmark system requirements.)

T14 with Windows 11 Pro
T480 with Windows 10 Pro

4:39
5:44

Figure 19: Maxon Redshift 3D Renderer benchmark scores. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

Redshift 3D Renderer loads a scene, renders it, and measures
the time it took to render, excluding certain CPU operations.
Improve your day-to-day experience with Windows 11 Pro laptops

April 2023 (Revised) | 12

Scenario 6: It’s not easy being extra cheesy
Frankie and Johni are competing pizza shop owners with a long-standing social media rivalry. Johnihas decided to up the ante (and boost audience engagement) with short, targeted video responses
to everything Frankie posts. Our tests show that, in addition to the productivity application benefits
we discuss earlier in this report, Johni could expect to render these potentially viral videos in far
less time if they upgrade from their older HP ProBook 450 G6 running Window 10 Pro to thecurrent-gen version running Windows 11 Pro.

COMPLETE CONTENT CREATION PROJECTS IN LESS TIME

Procyon Photo Editing Benchmark
Overall rating | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

4,888

G6 with Windows 10 Pro

3,512

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

4,568

G5 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
42.8% higher
rating

3,608

G6 with Windows 11 Pro

4,842

G3 with Windows 10 Pro

3,390

T14 with Windows 11 Pro

5,170

T480 with Windows 10 Pro

4,018

Figure 20: Procyon Photo Editing Benchmark overall ratings. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

Procyon Video Editing Benchmark
Overall rating | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro
G6 with Windows 10 Pro

1,669

G8 with Windows 11 Pro
G5 with Windows 10 Pro

1,319
1,025

G6 with Windows 11 Pro
G3 with Windows 10 Pro
T14 with Windows 11 Pro
T480 with Windows 10 Pro

Up to
90.8% higher
rating

964

2,010
1,053
1,232
1,173

Figure 21: Procyon Video Editing Benchmark overall ratings. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

Procyon Photo Editing Benchmark uses Adobe Lightroom and
Adobe Photoshop to compare photo editing performance.
Improve your day-to-day experience with Windows 11 Pro laptops

Procyon Video Editing Benchmark uses Adobe Premiere
Pro to compare video editing performance.
April 2023 (Revised) | 13

Improve malware resistance
Pre-pandemic, when most employees worked in the office, IT departments may have found it easier to ensure company-issued
laptops were free of spyware and malware during routine inspections and updates. Now that more people are remote, this kindof IT issue is harder to deal with. According to Mimecast’s 2023 State of Email Security Report, 75 percent of the organizations
surveyed experienced malware activity that spread from one employee to another in 2022.7

Scenario 7: Thwart malicious actors from gaining access without performance loss
Windows Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) adds an extra layer of protection against kernel-levelattacks, so Johanna, who uses her system for confidential work, wants to enable this additional
security feature on the new Windows laptop she’s shopping for. However, her friend has warned herthat enabling VBS will slow down her Windows 11 experience. What should she do? We found thatenabling the VBS feature on the current-gen laptops running Windows 11 Pro minimally affected
performance, which means Johanna can stop worrying about taking a performance hit and start
trying out keyboards.

SYSmark 25 with and without VBS on Windows 11 Pro laptops
Overall rating | Higher is better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with VBS enabled

1,242

G8 without VBS

1,242

G8 with VBS enabled

1,122

G8 without VBS

1,194

G6 with VBS enabled

1,191

G6 without VBS

1,187

T14 with VBS enabled

1,233

T14 without VBS

1,253

Improve
malwareresistancewith little or no
performancedifference

Figure 22: SYSmark 25 overall rating with and without the VBS feature enabled. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.

Extra data security
According to Microsoft, the Windows VBS feature provides stronger protections of vital system and operating
resources from kernel viruses and malware. Windows can use this “virtual secure mode” to limit and containthreats in a secure region of memory separate from the normal operating system.8

Improve your day-to-day experience with Windows 11 Pro laptops

April 2023 (Revised) | 14

Be more comfortable
Investing in laptops that contain higher-performing processors typically means your laptop can process more data, run morecompute-intensive applications and programs, and keep more browser tabs open at once. However, one potential side effect isthat the device generates more heat. For users who regularly rest their laptops on their laps while they’re working, this can be
uncomfortable. Plus, when laptops get too hot, their performance may suffer. To measure the thermal output of the laptops wetested, we took top and bottom temperature readings after we’d run the compute-intensive Cinebench R23 benchmark for 60
minutes on each laptop.

Scenario 8: Read before skipping this section
For this surface temperature comparison, we used the Cinebench R23 benchmark, which runs the
Cinema 4D application to stress the laptop processors. Other compute-intensive applications thatmainstream laptop users are more likely to use every day are demanding productivity apps,
financial analysis tools, product development and design software, and scientific simulation
programs—which is why these top surface (hand) and bottom surface (lap) temperatures should
matter to everyone.

Hottest top surface point temperature
Temperature (°F | °C) | Lower temps are better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

57.0°F (13.9°C)

G6 with Windows 10 Pro

55.0°F (12.8°C)

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

61.8°F (16.6°C)

G5 with Windows 10 Pro

65.3°F (18.5°C)

G6 with Windows 11 Pro

66.0°F (18.9°C)
79.3°F (26.3°C)

G3 with Windows 10 Pro
T14 with Windows 11 Pro

Up to
13°F cooler

71.7°F (22.1°C)

T480 with Windows 10 Pro

74.8°F (23.8°C)

Figure 23: Average temperatures after running Cinebench R23 (multi-core) for 60
minutes. Lower temps are better. Source: Principled Technologies.

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April 2023 (Revised) | 15

Hottest bottom surface point temperature
Temperature (°F | °C) | Lower temps are better

HP ProBook 450

HP EliteBook 850
Lenovo ThinkPad
X1 Yoga
Lenovo ThinkPad

80.0°F (26.7°C)

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

G8 with Windows 11 Pro

71.4°F (21.9°C)
74.3°F (23.5°C)

G5 with Windows 10 Pro
G6 with Windows 11 Pro

Up to
28°F cooler

74.4°F (23.6°C)

G6 with Windows 10 Pro

67.2°F (19.6°C)

G3 with Windows 10 Pro
T14 with Windows 11 Pro
T480 with Windows 10 Pro

95.9°F (35.5°C)
97.8°F (36.6°C)
95.5°F (35.3°C)

Figure 24: Average temperatures after running Cinebench R23 (multi-core) for 60
minutes. Lower temps are better. Source: Principled Technologies.

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April 2023 (Revised) | 16

Conclusion
We saw consistent improvements in battery life, system responsiveness, and performance that support upgrading to currentgen versions of your favorite laptops preloaded with Windows 11 Pro and Intel Core i5 or i7 processors. Mainstream laptop
users could potentially take advantage of longer battery life while working wherever they want, finish common and not so
common tasks in less time, run compute-intensive applications without worrying about surface temperatures, and enable the
VBS feature without stressing about a massive performance hit.

1. Microsoft, “Meet Windows 11,” accessed February 7, 2023,
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11.
2. UL Solutions, “PCMark 10 — The Complete Benchmark,” accessed February 7, 2023,
https://benchmarks.ul.com/pcmark10.
3. BAPCo, “SYSmark 2018,” accessed February 7, 2023,
https://bapco.com/products/sysmark-2018/.
4. BAPCo, “SYSmark 25,” accessed February 7, 2023,
https://bapco.com/products/sysmark-25/.
5. Principled Technologies, “WebXPRT 4,” accessed February 7, 2023,
https://www.principledtechnologies.com/benchmarkxprt/webxprt/.
6. UL Solutions, “Overview of UL Procyon Office Productivity Benchmark,” accessed February 7, 2023,
https://support.benchmarks.ul.com/support/solutions/articles/44002262462-overview-of-ul-procyon-office-productivity-benchmark.
7. Comparitech, “Malware statistics and facts for 2023,” accessed February 7, 2023,
https://www.comparitech.com/antivirus/malware-statistics-facts/.
8. Microsoft, “Virtualization-based Security (VBS),” accessed February 7, 2023,
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/device-experiences/oem-vbs.

Read the science behind this report at https://facts.pt/zDHm5Uy

Principled
Technologies

This project was commissioned by Microsoft.

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Principled®
Facts matter.

Technologies®

Facts matter.®

Principled Technologies is a registered trademark of Principled Technologies, Inc.
All other product names are the trademarks of their respective owners.
For additional information, review the science behind this report.

April 2023 (Revised) | 17