Lenovo Thinkpad A285 Specs, Price, and Best Deals

The Lenovo Thinkpad A285 is the latest addition to the Chinese manufacturer’s ThinkPad line of portable business-like notebooks. The almost 13-inch ThinkPad laptop is slim, lightweight (1.13kg; like the ASUS ZenBook 13 UX331) and will be joining other Lenovo PCs as the first set of Lenovo notebooks to sport AMD’s line of Ryzen PRO (Ryzen 3 Pro, Ryzen 5 Pro, and Ryzen 7 Pro) accelerated processing units (APUs).

The Ryzen PRO CPUs are AMD’s newly-introduced processors aimed to bring improved performance, enhanced security features, and processor longevity to business and commercial desktop PCs. The ThinkPad A285 was briefly announced earlier this year (May) but has been officially released in Japan by Lenovo.

“Our mission with AMD Ryzen processors is to deliver more performance, features, and choice to users. We’ve fulfilled this promise over the last year across the premium consumer desktop and notebook markets.”

Lenovo ThinkPad A285 Key Specifications

• Dimensions — 307.7 x 209.8 x 17.4 (mm) (H x W x D)
• Weight — 2.78 lbs (1.26 kg)
• Display — 12.5″ HD (1366 x 768) anti-glare OR 12.5″ FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS multi-touch, anti-glare, 220 nits
• Processor — AMD Ryzen™ 7 / 5 / 3 PRO Processor
• Operating System — Windows 10 Pro or Windows 10 Home
• GPU — AMD Radeon™ Graphics
• Camera — 720p HD camera with ThinkShutter and microphone
• Memory — 8 GB DDR4 2400 MHz (up to 16GB)
• Storage — 256GB PCIe SSD (up to 512GB)
• Battery — 45Wh (Up to 10.2 hours) + RapidCharge to 80-percent in 60 minutes
• Connectivity — 802.11 AC (2 x 2) + Bluetooth® 4.2
• Ports — 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C (Power Delivery, DisplayPort, Data transfer), 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C (Power Delivery, DisplayPort, Data transfer), 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 (one Always On), HDMI 1.4, MicroSD card reader, Smart card reader (optional), Microphone/headphone combo jack

Design

With a dimension of 307.7mm x 209.8mm x 17.4mm (12.1 x 17.4 x 0.7 inches), the ThinkPad A285 is one the thinnest business notebooks powered by a AMD Ryzen PRO processor.

Lenovo’s ThinkPads for one are particularly renowned to be sturdily built and durable; the A285 is perfectly in line with ThinkPad science of existence. Like it does with all other ThinkPad PCs, Lenovo says the A285 was tested against over 200 quality checks to ensure it runs properly in extreme conditions.

Opening the upper lid reveals the keyboard, touchpad and fingerprint reader. The arrangement of inner components on this Lenovo ThinkPad A285 is similar to the ThinkPad X380 Yoga. In fact, both PCs have identical red coloured (rubber) nipple mouse and touchpad placement & design. The X380 Yoga, however, trumps the A285 by having a unique keyboard with retractable keys.

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Being a business laptop, there are almost all the physical connectivity options (ports) you could possibly need. On the left: 1 USB-C, a ThunderBolt USB-C, USB 3.1, a HDMI port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. There is a (optional) smart card reader, another USB 3.1 port, and Kensington lock on the right.

In what can only be described as a weird placement and use of space, the Micro SD card slot is placed on the rear of the laptop. It’s a micro SD card slot; meaning it takes next to no space. And there’s a lot of available space on the left and right side to fit it. Why Lenovo chose to place it on the rear, I really cannot fathom.

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Display

The Lenovo ThinkPad A285 has a 12.5-inch display with anti-glare and 220 nits brightness but will sell in two different versions based on screen types. The less expensive version comes with a touchscreen with HD (1366 vs 768 pixels) resolution while the second version is also touchscreen enabled with a higher FHD (1920 x 1080) resolution. Lenovo, however, has plans to release a non-touch display version with FHD resolution later in the future.

Processor, Software Storage

About the internal configurations, the ThinkPad A285 is available in about three models. The first model comes with AMD’s Ryzen 7 Pro CPU alongside the Radeon Vega 10 GPU, also by AMD. A Ryzen 5 Pro processor and Radeon Vega 8 combo makes up the second (and cheaper) model while the last model comes with the AMD Ryzen 3 Pro APU and Radeon Vega 3 GPU on board.

Storage wise, users can choose from an 8GB or 16GB DDR4 RAM options with PCIe/NVMe SSD that maxes out at 512 GB. The ThinkPad notebook runs the Windows 10 Pro operating system out-of-the-box.

Battery

Keeping the Lenovo ThinkPad A285 up and running is a 45Wh battery which, depending on display panel type and processor configuration, can conveniently supply 7 to 10.2 hours of runtime. The Notebook also comes with a “RapidCharge” feature that charges the battery up to 80-percent in 60 minutes.

Lenovo ThinkPad A285 Price

Starting at $989.99 USD, the Lenovo ThinkPad A285 is available for purchase on Lenovo’s official store. Price will vary based on region and specs customization.