Smartphones have a habit of adopting terrible names. The "max" or the "pro", an iterative number or perhaps even a word that means nothing. But for this device, we see a naming strategy like some sort of heraldic offspring. The ThinkPad brand - once the darling of IBM - is smashed into ThinkPhone, while Motorola gets appended because Lenovo - parent company of both brands - was presumably not "phone-y" enough to make it fly.

We caught up with this brand Frankenstein at CES 2023 to see if, despite the name, there's any charm to it.

Design and build

• 158.78 x 74.38 x 8.26mm, 188.5g
• Carbon black, aramid fibre case
• MIL-STD 810H, IP68

The ThinkPhone by Motorola adopts some of Moto's design, with the cameras on the rear looking a lot like other Moto phones. But fusing in the ThinkPad design sees a carbon black finish with an aramid fibre weave, and that red dot on the i of Think.

The sides are squared, with a flat display on the front sporting a punch hole in the centre. On the left-hand side there's a programmable red key - designed to look like the classic red TrackPoint in the ThinkPad keyboard - and offering quick access to a range of features.

Although it's mostly an understated affair - perhaps understandable as this is designed for business rather than for consumer flair - but the frame is aircraft-grade aluminium, while there's MIL-STD 810H certification and an IP68 rating, so it's designed to be solid.

There are also dual speakers with Dolby Atmos output.

Display and hardware

• 6.6in OLED, 2400 x 1080, 144Hz, HDR10+
• Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, 8/12GB, 128-512GB
• 68W wired, 15W wireless, 5000mAh

The hardware loadout might surprise, as this isn't just a mid-range phone designed to fill the orders of companies the world over. Starting with the display, this pOLED panel offers 6.6-inches on the diagonal with a Full HD+ resolution, but also supporting many of the latest standards.

That means you get HDR10+, but it also supports up to 144Hz, which is normally reserved for the latest gaming phones. Perhaps you'll need that for quickly scrolling through massive data-rich spreadsheets, but it's more likely just the same panel as used in the Moto Edge 30 Ultra. First impressions seem pretty good, it's bright and vibrant. The display is also finished with Gorilla Glass Victus to keep it free of scratches.

On the hardware front, launching at the start of 2023, the ThinkPhone finds itself with hardware that was launched in the middle of 2022. It's not out of date, but it's not the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 that many consumer devices are just about to launch with. That shouldn't cause concern though, it will likely still offer flagship performance.

That's also suggested by the generous RAM and storage options: we don't expect this phone to be a slouch - it should be just as capable as any other flagship phone from late 2022. One area where the phone is well stacked is in the battery, with 5000mAh, while there's a 68W charger in the box that will also power the laptop. There's also support for 15W charging.

Serious software

We haven't had time to test the software, but the phone launches with Android 13, with a promise of 4 years of security updates. There's ThinkShield built-in, designed to keep your device secure, but there's also Moto Threat Defense, Moto Secure and Moto KeySafe.

But aside from security, there's the Think 2 Think solution, designed to make your ThinkPhone and your ThinkPad work seamlessly together. That will support instant connections between the two, a universal clipboard that both phone and PC can access, notifications that appear on your PC, with the app launching on your laptop when you click on it.

There's also support for drag and dropping files, the ability to open apps on your phone on your PC, the ability to use it as your webcam and an instant hotspot - so there's a huge range of support across these devices to make the experience more seamless.

Camera

• Dual camera system:
• Main: 50MP, f1/8, 1.0µm, OIS
• Ultrawide: 13MP, f/2.2, 1.12µm
• Front: 32MP, f/2.45, 0.7µm

The main camera on the ThinkPhone will look to use quad binning to combine pixels to give you better performance, while the optical image stabilisation will help to reduce handshake. We didn't test the camera, but this isn't one of Motorola's advanced camera systems, so we suspect the performance will be a little more mid-range than the rest of the phone.

There's support from an ultrawide to give you shooting options, while the front camera goes after the megapixels with a 32-megapixel sensor.

As we said, we didn't test any of these cameras, so we can't draw any conclusions from our brief time with the phone.

First impressions

The Lenovo ThinkPhone by Motorola offers a great range of specs: this isn't just a stock phone for business, there's actually some substance here. From the solid build with impressive protection through to the smart features for seamless working with your laptop, there's plenty to consider.

The hardware loadout places this phone as pretty much a flagship device from late 2022, although the camera is likely to be the weakest link when compared to bone fide consumer devices. Still, for many the ThinkPhone will be a novelty, a fun device that captures some of the spirit of the ThinkPad in phone form - and it's unlikely to be something you'll be looking to buy.

Your IT Director, however, might have other ideas…