If you’re at a budget, the ThinkPad E-series are the first in line if you want access to a TrackPoint. Let’s what’s new for the ThinkPad E590.

The processor options do not disappoint. You will be able to choose between the Intel Core i3-8145U, i5-8265U and i7-8565U. The fastest model has 4 cores, 8 threads, a base clock of 1.8 GHz, and a turbo clock of 4.5 GHz with a cache of 8 MB. Intel is tweaking the turbo boost to compete with AMD.

The integrated graphics will be a Intel UHD Graphics 620 and may offer small clock speed improvements over the last generation. The AMD RX-550X is a rebranded AMD RX-550 with the same memory configuration options and a 5-7% increase in performance.

There are still 2 SODIMM slots to fit DDR4 2400MHz modules, giving you a total of 32GB RAM.

2 basic display panel options are available. There is a Full HD panel at 250 nits, which is slightly higher than the basic 220 nits HD-panel.

The SSD will be only half as fast as the X1-series and the P-series, given that they only have 2x PCIe lanes dedicated to them. This will give a theoretical bandwidth of 16 Gb/s. Still fast enough right? You can either install two M.2 SSDs or one hard drive. Hardware level RAID configurations are not supported.

The Ethernet controller is made by Realtek, a R8111GUS.

The WLAN options do not include 802.11ax yet, which is understandable if the routers cost nearly as much as your laptop. The Realtek card is a RTL8822BE while the Intel card is a Intel Wireless-AC 9260. The Intel card supports Bluetooth 5.0, while the Realtek card uses Bluetooth 4.2.

The chassis uses the exact same dimensions. The ThinkPad E590 is roughly 19.9 mm thick, and weighs only 2.12 kg.

There are two colors available being black and silver. The display cover uses an aluminum, while the base is made out of PC/ABS plastic.

For smart card reader, you may want to look at the ThinkPad L-series or higher.

No ThinkShutter or IR camera is available for the ThinkPad E590.

Because of the higher clock speeds of the rebranded components while maintaining the same battery capacity, battery life is about 1 hour lower than its predecessor, the ThinkPad E580.