03 Dec
Blog

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook Review: OLED For Cheap

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook open on a table.

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook

RRP $ 500.00

"The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook brings OLED quality to a surprisingly affordable 2-in-1."

advantages

  • Acceptable productivity performance

  • Very long battery life

  • Excellent advertisement

  • Solid build quality

  • Payable

disadvantage

  • The display has the old school 16: 9 aspect ratio

  • Limited to WiFi 5

  • Stand add-on is impractical

Chromebooks don't often beat Windows in the market for implementing new technology, but Lenovo's IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook did just that. It is the first detachable tablet with OLED display, launched just before the Asus Vivobook 13 Slate, which is the first detachable Windows 11 tablet with OLED technology. The IdeaPad Duet 5 is based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7c Gen 2, an ARM chip, and is thus another first. It's a bigger tablet, but still an alternative to other low-cost devices like the Apple iPad and Microsoft Surface Go 3.

I tested the midrange configuration of the IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook, which costs $ 500 and includes the Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 and a 13.3-inch 1080p OLED display. I found the tablet to be way above its price and one of the best 2-in-1 tablets at this price point.

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The Asus ZenBook 14X OLED in its case.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The first thing you'll notice about the IdeaPad Duet 5 when you take a closer look is that the display is old-school, 16: 9. The laptop world is moving in the direction of larger displays, 16:10 or 3: 2, which is particularly useful for tablets that mimic a standard sheet in portrait format. In comparison, a 16: 9 tablet is longer and slimmer, making it less convenient to view documents and take notes with a pen.

The bezels of the IdeaPad Duet 5 are small on the sides and a bit thicker at the top and bottom. They're not huge for a tablet, and the IdeaPad Duet 5 is reasonably large considering the display. Compared to its closest Windows 11 competitor, the Microsoft Surface Pro 8 with its 13-inch 3: 2 display, the IdeaPad Duet 5 is almost an inch wider, while the Surface Pro 8 is almost an inch higher.

At 0.37 inches, Microsoft's tablet is thicker than the 0.28-inch of the IdeaPad Duet 5, but the Surface Pro 8 has its kickstand built in – more on that in a moment. Of course, the IdeaPad Duet 5 is significantly larger than the Apple iPad and Microsoft Surface Go, which are built around 10.2-inch and 10.5-inch displays. If you can take the size, the Lenovo is a viable competitor.

Another competitive tablet with a 12.3-inch 3: 2 display, the Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable is roughly the same size as the Surface Pro 8 thanks to the smaller bezels. In terms of weight, the IdeaPad Duet 5 alone weighs for the tablet 1.54 pounds, compared to the Surface Pro 8 at 1.96 pounds and the ThinkPad X12 Detachable at 1.67 pounds. The IdeaPad Duet 5 is not a small tablet, but it is manageable. Using the smallest tablets from Apple or Microsoft would save you about half a pound.

Close-up on the Asus ZenBook 14X OLED stand.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Now for this stand. As with the HP Chromebook x2 11, the IdeaPad Duet 5's stand is an add-on that clicks into place on the back of the tablet and is held in place by strong magnets. That makes the tablet thicker and impractical – it's another thing to carry around with you. The Surface Pro 8 and ThinkPad X12 Detachable are much more convenient to use with their built-in kickstand, although the version of the IdeaPad Duet 5 works just as well. It also holds the tablet upright without wobbling and extends just as far until the tablet rests almost flat on a surface. If you don't mind fiddling with another piece, then the version of the IdeaPad Duet 5 will be just fine. And let's not forget that this is a $ 500 tablet, while the Lenovo and Microsoft versions are more than twice as expensive when fully configured.

The IdeaPad Duet 5 is made of plastic, with the upper part of the back being a soft-coated version. It feels solid enough in the hand, and your first clue that it isn't made of a metal alloy like the other laptops I mentioned is that it doesn't feel as cold after a while. If you don't mind plastic gadgets, that's no real blow to the IdeaPad Duet 5 – especially given its price point.

Aesthetically, the tablet is a dark gray (Storm Gray) or blue (Abyss Blue) plate, with only the two-tone part on the back giving it a little pizzazz. Minimalist designs are pretty much the standard for tablets, however, with the Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable having the most exotic look.

There are two USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 ports, one on each side of the tablet (both can be used for charging).

The pogo pin connector on the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook for the detachable keyboard.

Connectivity is limited to two USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 ports, one on each side of the tablet – each can be used for charging – and a pogo-pin connector for the detachable keyboard. That's it. And yes, Lenovo has done without a 3.5mm audio jack. That's a huge disappointment in my book, and it's the first tablet I know that got disconnected.

You will be limited to bluetooth headphones which I consider liability. Speaking of wireless connectivity: the Snapdragon chipset limits the tablet to Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1. There's no always connected internet option like the HP Chromebook x2 11.

power

Asus ZenBook 14X OLED open on a table.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebooks use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 System-on-Chip (SoC), a slightly updated version of the same ARM processor used in the HP Chromebook x2 11. As far as I can tell, the only significant difference is a tiny speed threshold from 2.4 GHz to 2.55 GHz. Unsurprisingly, the IdeaPad Duet 5 performed similarly to the Chromebook x2 11. In other words, the ARM CPU could keep up with Chrome OS as long as I didn't open too many tabs in Chrome or too many Android apps were running in the background. I'm sure the 8GB of RAM and 128GB of eMMC storage had something to do with it.

We don't have all of the benchmarks available for Chromebooks, but the IdeaPad Duet 5 scored 599 in single-core mode and 1718 in multi-core mode in the Android Geekbench 5 app. That's just a tiny bit faster than the 590 and 1,689 of the Chromebook x2 11. It lags far behind faster Chromebooks like the Asus Chromebook Flip C536 with a Core i5-1115G4 that scores 1209 and 2849 points, and the Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 with a Core i5-1135G7 that hits 1,190 and 4,151. The IdeaPad Duet 5's score in the Speedometer 2.0 web benchmark was 47, just ahead of the Chromebook x2 11's with 45. In comparison, the Chromebook Flip CX5 achieved 163.

Overall, you will be satisfied with the performance of the IdeaPad Duet 5 as long as your productivity workflow is not too demanding. As I said, with a reasonable number of tabs and Android apps open, the tablet ran fine. However, if you exceeded that amount, things got noticeably slower. And limit yourself to occasional Android games – Asphalt 9, the Android game I use to test Chromebooks, was choppy and showed significant lag when I tried to run it on the IdeaPad Duet 5, which is a more usable gaming tablet .

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Close up on the Asus ZenBook 14X OLED display.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

From the moment I turned on the IdeaPad Duet 5, I could tell that something was different. OLED displays are so much more dynamic and eye-catching than IPS displays, and the 13.3-inch Full HD version of the IdeaPad Duet 5 is no exception. The colors were pleasant and natural, the contrast was deep with inky black tones, and the display was more than bright enough for all of my work environments.

My two complaints start with the 16: 9 aspect ratio, which, as mentioned earlier, isn't nearly as functional as 16:10 and 3: 2 displays in portrait mode, and it looked squashed too. It's not a deal breaker – many 16: 9 laptops and tablets are still made today – but it's far from ideal. Next, the Full HD resolution was just okay with a display size of 13.3 inches. A sharper screen would have helped, especially with text, and while black text showed up on a white background, they did it with a few pixels. A higher resolution display would have been nice too, but for $ 500, it's hard to complain about.

Close-up on the Asus ZenBook 14X OLED display without keyboard attachment.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Even so, most users will love this display. Even creatives looking for a Chromebook to view photos and videos will love the colors and contrast. This display will please everyone except the pickiest of pixel peepers and those who use a pen to take lots of notes.

Unfortunately, the sound does not do justice to the display despite four speakers radiating from the side. First off, there's not much volume even when it's all the way up, and worse, there's distortion that cuts out the little bass and makes a very tinny sound. The mids and highs are clear at about half volume, but the bass is missing. Overall, you'll want to use bluetooth headphones or speakers for anything but system sounds and the occasional YouTube video.

Keyboard and touchpad

Close up on the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook keyboard.

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook case with keyboard.

Lenovo includes a detachable keyboard with the IdeaPad Duet 5 that shares the same basic design as most keyboards – with one exception. It is attached to the tablet via magnets and connected via pogo pins, but unlike most keyboards, it has no way of supporting it at an angle. They're stuck when you lay it flat, which isn't nearly as comfortable. Thanks to the 13.3-inch display and the width it offers, there is plenty of key spacing and the keycaps are large and comfortable. The switches offer a lot of spring travel and have a snappy bottom movement. The keyboard feels great – if only Lenovo had built in an angle.

The touchpad is also good and big enough to be comfortable using the Chrome OS suite of multitouch gestures. The surface can be wiped comfortably and the buttons have a nice click without being too loud. The display is of course touch-enabled and supports an optional Lenovo Active Pen. One was not included with my test device, so I could not test the coloring with the IdeaPad Duet 5.

Battery life

OLED displays can sometimes be the death knell when it comes to battery life. But that's mainly because most OLED laptops use 4K resolution. The IdeaPad Duet 5 uses a 1080p screen and combines it with a Snapdragon processor with low power consumption. It also contains 42 watt hours of battery, a decent amount for this device – and more than the 32 watt hours found on the HP Chromebook x2 11. I was curious to see how long the detachable tablet would last on one charge.

I was positively surprised. In our web browser test, which ran through a number of popular and demanding websites, the IdeaPad Duet 5 lasted for 15.5 hours – an excellent score that beat the Chromebook x2 11's 12.75 hours. The 10.1 inch Lenovo IdeaPad Duet with its 27 watt hour battery and the MediaTek Helio P60T ARM processor lasted about 13 hours. In our video test replaying a local 1080p movie trailer, the IdeaPad Duet 5 achieved a whopping 21.75 hours – one of the longest-lasting devices we tested. It outperformed the 11 hours of the Chromebook x2 11 and the 12.5 hours of the IdeaPad Duet.

Simply put, the IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook will last you a full day while you still have some time to watch Netflix. Chromebooks with ARM CPUs should have great battery life, and the IdeaPad Duet 5 keeps that promise.

Our opinion

At $ 500, the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook is excellent value for money. You get adequate productivity performance and great battery life. The OLED display looks great too, even if it's not perfect.

Anyone looking for an affordable Chrome tablet that they can use for web browsing, email triage, and media consumption will find that the IdeaPad Duet 5 is a great choice.

Are there alternatives?

the HP Chromebook x2 11 is a close alternative with almost the same CPU and very similar performance. At the same time, the display is good, but not great, and the battery life is wasted. You can also get it for $ 100 less, albeit with half the space.

Another option is the Microsoft Surface Go 3. It's a Windows 11 laptop and it's smaller, but its build quality and performance are just as good, and it has its own great display. It's more expensive when you add the cost of the keyboard, but it's well worth it too.

After all, the Apple iPad is a good tablet, although it is also a bit smaller. You might want to stick with the entry-level model of $ 329 or risk spending a lot more. But it's faster thanks to a faster ARM CPU and a highly optimized operating system, and it has a great display. It's also thin, light, and well built.

How long it will take?

The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook could be made of plastic, but that doesn't mean it won't last for years. You'll also get a lot of performance out of Chrome OS for some time. The one-year warranty is fine for a $ 500 laptop.

Should you buy it?

Yes sir. The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 is fast enough for the price, which makes it a long-lasting secondary device with a beautiful display for media consumption. It's the best tablet you will find for the money.

Editor's recommendations



07 Nov
Blog

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro Review: Lovely Display Saves Day

Lenovo Ideapad Slim 7i Pro review

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro

RRP $ 1,420.00

"Despite a few flaws, the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro is one of the better new Windows 11 laptops you can buy."

advantages

  • Solid productivity performance

  • High resolution 90 Hz display

  • Great keyboard and touchpad

  • Simple but attractive aesthetics

disadvantage

  • Build quality is a little below average

  • Battery life is mediocre

Apart from the Surface devices, new Windows 11 laptops have so far been sparse.

Now there's Lenovo's IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro, one of the most anticipated newbies with Microsoft's latest operating system, and it promises to take advantage of Windows 11 with high-end components and a productivity-friendly 16:10 high-resolution display.

The IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro is said to be a prime example of the “Midrange Plus” lineup from Lenovo, which offers some of the same features that you will find in ThinkPads and a high quality finish that is nevertheless (relatively) affordable.

My configuration was $ 1,420, which is not that cheap. The $ 1,190 launch configuration is also in a confusing place. But in the end it all comes down to whether this is a good laptop for the money. Despite a few problems, the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro makes a promising start into the Windows 11 era of laptops.

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A Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro sits on a table, at an angle to the view of the back and lid.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

When I judge the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro as a premium laptop, I have to pick out a few nits in terms of build quality. It's made of machined aluminum, which is a good thing, but I found the lid a bit pliable and the keyboard deck and case base had some flexibility. That would be a suitable build quality for $ 1,000 or less, but at over $ 1,400, it's missing something. The HP Specter x360 14, for example, is only a few hundred euros more and is rock solid, while the Asus ZenBook 13 OLED is several hundred euros cheaper and more robust. However, the hinge on the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro is superb, making it easy to open the laptop with one hand while holding the display firmly in place.

The IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro has minimal bezels on the top and sides and a larger chin than the Dell XPS 13. An inverted notch on the top houses the cameras and adds a convenient opening for opening the lids. Together with the larger 16:10 display, the chin makes the laptop lower than it could be, while the side bezels keep it relatively narrow.

It's a well-sized laptop that is easy to carry around.

Overall, the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro is in line with other 14-inch laptops with 16:10 displays such as the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9. At 0.67 inches, it is thin, although not as thin as the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 with 0.59 inches. At three pounds, its weight is average for 14-inch laptops. The ThinkPad is half a pound lighter, however. Overall, the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro is a well-sized laptop that is easy to transport.

Aesthetically, the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro matches many newer laptops that use a minimalist design. It seems the more laptops I check, the more similar they look. The Ideapad is available in slate gray (my test device) or light silver. It has very simple lines and angles, a curved trailing edge and subtle logos that give it a very nondescript appearance.

As with so many similar laptops, including the Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1, it's an attractive laptop, but it won't stand out. The HP Specter x360 14, with its gem-cut design and bright accent colors, offers a much bolder design. Do you like the look of the IdeaPad? Probably, unless you want a laptop that makes a fashion statement. It certainly won't offend you.

Along the left side of the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro are two USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 ports (one of which is used for power supply).

Along the right side of the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro you can see a USB A 3.2 Gen 1 port and a 3.5 mm audio jack.

Connectivity isn't a strength. On the left you will find two USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 ports (one of which is used for power supply) and a USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port and a 3.5mm audio jack on the right.

Unfortunately there is no SD card slot or HDMI which is disappointing. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 take over wireless tasks.

power

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro sits on a table.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

My test device was designed for more powerful laptops with a 35 watt Intel Core i7-11370H CPU, the 11th. It's an interesting processor that divides the difference between, for example, an 8-core / 16-thread Core i7-11800H with 45 watts and a 28-watt 4-core / 8-thread Core i7-1185G7. The Core i7-11370H is a productivity CPU through and through – it's supposed to be fast enough to handle demanding productivity workflows, but it's not in the same league as processors, which are faster in creative applications.

The first thing to note is that Lenovo has included its Performance Optimization utility that allows you to switch between battery saving, smart cooling, and extreme performance modes. The utility only made a difference in two of our benchmarks, our Handbrake test, which encodes a 420MB video in H.265 and Cinebench R23. Both are CPU-bound, and this is where the utility had the biggest impact.

For example, in Handbrake it took the IdeaPad 202 seconds to complete in intelligent cooling mode and 155 seconds in performance mode. That's a significant difference, and in fact, it was almost the same as the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio with the same CPU in that laptop's performance mode. The same was true for Cinebench R23, where the IdeaPad's score jumped from 5,544 to 6,150, a more competitive result.

The IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro is a fast productivity laptop.

However, the utility made little to no difference in Geekbench 5, PCMark 10, and 3DMark Time Spy. But the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro also scores well in these benchmarks in intelligent cooling mode and is ahead of the U-series competitors and close to the Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 with its Ryzen 7 5700U and the Surface Laptop Studio in all but that 3DMark test. The fastest notebook in our comparison list was of course the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 with a Core i7-11800H. Upon closer inspection of the PCMark 10 benchmark, the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro did well in all tests, including Essentials, Productivity, and Content Creation.

All of this means that the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro is a fast, productivity laptop that can handle anything a typical user will throw at it. Put it in performance mode, which has the fans spinning up and a lot louder, and it can handle lighter creativity tasks better. It won't compete with the faster Intel CPUs or AMD's Ryzen 5000 series for developers, but it's better than the typical thin and light Intel laptop.

Geekbench (single / multiple) Handbrake
(Seconds)		 Cinebench R23 (single / multiple) PCMark 10 3DMark time spy
Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro (Core i7-11370H) 1578/5957 202 1514/5544 5149 1888
Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (Ryzen7 5700U) 1184/6281 120 1287/8013 5411 1247
Samsung Galaxy Book (Core i5-1135G7) 1401/5221 180 1361/5391 4735 1584
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 (Core i7-1165G7) 1327/5201 N / A 1469/4945 5147 1776
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio (Core i7-11370H) 1321/5131 179 1304/5450 5091 4266
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 (Core i7-11800H) 1520/7353 106 1519/10497 6251 6691
MSI Sumit E13 Flip Evo (Core i7-1185G7) 1352/4891 207 1360/4392 4872 1751

With Intel Iris Xe graphics, the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro is not a gaming laptop. The 3DMark Time Spy score is average and it only managed 22 frames per second (fps) at 1200p and epic graphics in Fortnite. This is in line with other Iris Xe laptops and means that the IdeaPad is best for older titles or newer titles with lower resolutions and graphics settings. Or just stick to casual gaming.

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Image of the display of the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Lenovo equips the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro with a 14-inch 16:10 IPS display in a so-called “2.8K” resolution at 2,880 x 1,800. It's a sharp and bright display with dynamic colors that aren't over-saturated and enough contrast to make black text appear on a white background. It also runs at 90 Hz (60 Hz is configurable), which makes movements and animations on the screen a little smoother. I found the display to be pretty good during my tests and when I wrote this review. There's also the option for a 2.2K (2,240 x 1,400) IPS display that runs at 60 Hz, which I haven't tested.

My colorimeter agreed with my impressions. The display was quite bright at 369 nits, above our 300 nits threshold, beating the 238 nits of the Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 for $ 1,000 and the 326 nits of the Samsung Galaxy Book for $ 900, the both real middle class are machines. The IdeaPad was also brighter than the 306 nits of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 for $ 1,885, and that's officially a premium laptop from Lenovo.

The IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro also has wider than average colors, with 80% AdobeRGB (72% closer to average) and 100% sRGB (95% is average), much better than the Inspiron 14 2-in-1's 52%. from AdobeRGB and 69% from sRGB and 48% and 64% of the Galaxy Book. The IdeaPad even beats the ThinkPad's 76% and 100%. These colors were also fairly accurate with a DeltaE of 1.65 (1.0 or less is excellent), compared to the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 with 1.8, the Galaxy Book with 2.41, and the ThinkPad with an even better 0 , 99. Finally, the IdeaPad's contrast was 1,340: 1, well above our preferred 1,000: 1 and much higher than the other three laptops I used for comparison.

Close-up of the webcam, screen and bezels on the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Those are excellent results for a laptop that was not explicitly designed for developers who demand even wider colors – although the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro's colors are certainly wide enough for the less demanding creative types. When searching our database, I couldn't find a current 14-inch laptop for the same money or more that had a better display – and most had significantly worse displays. The display also supports Dolby Vision High Dynamic Range (HDR), which makes it a great laptop for binding HDR content from Netflix and other streaming services. Lenovo charges a pretty penny for the IdeaPad, and the display helps justify the investment.

Sound is provided by two downward facing speakers under the front of the cabinet, and the sound was clear and bright. There was minimal bass as always. The only problem is that the volume was low even at full volume, but there was still a hint of distortion. You want headphones for Netflix and music, and sound quality isn't one of the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro's strong points.

Keyboard and touchpad

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro keyboard and trackpad.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro has the same keyboard design found on all Lenovo laptops that are not labeled as ThinkPad. It's roomy with large and comfortably shaped keycaps. The “TrueStrike” switch mechanism was adopted from Lenovo gaming laptops and offers a tactile feel. The switches are snappy, with a soft bottom movement that makes for a precise feel. There was also a lot of travel for this type of keyboard.

It's not quite as comfortable as HP Specter or Dell XPS keyboards, but it's close enough. Most people will love this keyboard.

The touchpad was large and took up most of the palm rest space. Kudos to Lenovo for using the larger display. The touchpad surface was smooth, with just enough friction for precise swipes, and the buttons made a healthy click without being loud. It's a Microsoft Precision touchpad, and so the usual Windows 10 multi-touch gestures were well supported. The touch display was responsive and welcome too.

An infrared camera and facial recognition have Windows Hello support, and it was quick and reliable. Lenovo has incorporated its user presence detection technology, which locks and hibernates the laptop when the user leaves the area, keeps the laptop unlocked when the user is in front of it even when the keyboard and touchpad are not in use, and the laptop automatically reactivated when the user returns from an absence. It can even pause a video when the user leaves. Overall, it's a handy system that works well, and I had to turn it off to run my battery tests unless I wanted to sit in front of the laptop for hours.

Battery life

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro sits at an angle on a table.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

With a 61-watt-hour battery and a high-resolution 14-inch display, the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro made me very curious about its battery life. I was also wondering how the 35 watt CPU would fare.

Initially, the IdeaPad was inconsistent in our web browsing test. When I first ran the test, the laptop only lasted 6.25 hours, which is a miserable score compared to the 10 hours or more we like to see from thin and light premium laptops. I ran it a second time and it lasted 7.75 hours. That's better, but still way behind the field.

The battery life is not a strength of the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro.

For example, the Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 lasted 12.9 hours in this test, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio lasted 10.5 hours. However, just as worrying as the short run time was the inconsistency. In our video benchmark, which runs through a local Full HD movie trailer, the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro managed 12.75 hours, which is a decent score that surpassed the 11 hours of the Inspiron but behind the 14 hours of the Surface Laptop Studio lagged behind.

In the PCMark 10 Applications battery test, which is the best indicator for the longevity of productivity, the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro lasted 9.25 hours. We didn't test the Surface Laptop Studio in this review and the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 wouldn't complete it, but the IdeaPad scores below average for thin and light laptops. Most last at least 10 hours, and some, like the MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo, can last 13 hours or more. In the PCMark 10 gaming battery test, the IdeaPad only lasted 95 minutes, which indicates that the laptop is maintaining its performance on battery power.

Overall, the battery life is not a strength of the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro. Whether it can last a full day at work depends on your workflow – if it's tough at all, have your charger with you just in case.

Our opinion

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro is positioned as a mid-range laptop, but priced like a premium device, and luckily it lives up to the latter. The build quality is a bit poor and the battery life mediocre, but the performance is solid and the display is excellent for this device class. It is a good looking laptop that is reasonably sized and attractive with a simple design.

The additional features, such as user presence detection technology, are welcome additions that add value. The IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro is a solid addition to the 14-inch clamshell market and is conquering a healthy niche for itself thanks to its outstanding display.

Are there alternatives?

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 is a great alternative if you're willing to spend a little extra cash. The display isn't that good, but the battery life is spectacular and the build quality is much better.

HP's Specter x360 14 is another solid option that is also a bit more expensive but gives you the flexibility of a 2-in-1, sleek design, and the option for an even better OLED display.

As always, the Dell XPS 13 is a great choice if you're willing to cut down on the size of the display (and chassis). It's fast, durable, and incredibly attractive and well built. Again, you'll be spending a little more, but it's worth it.

How long it will take?

The IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro could feel a bit more robust, but is built well enough to last for several years of typical use. Its components are up to date and are designed to keep Windows 11 running. As always, the industry standard one-year warranty is disappointing.

Should you buy it?

Yes sir. Offering great performance and a beautiful display, the IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro will meet most of the needs of the most demanding productivity user. Only the battery life stands out as a real minus.

Editor's recommendations



01 Sep
Blog

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 Review: Add Intel, Lose Speed

View of the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 laptop fully open and sitting at an angle.

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 in the test: It hurts when you choose Intel

RRP $ 735.00

“The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 lost performance and battery life in the transition from AMD to Intel. Add a bad display and it's hard to recommend. "

advantages

  • Solid build quality

  • Comfortable keyboard and touchpad

  • Good speakers

  • Active pen included

disadvantage

  • Inconspicuous achievement

  • Mediocre battery life

  • Unacceptable ad

I tested the AMD Ryzen version of the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 convertible 2-in-1 laptop last year and found that it offers a ton of performance for a very attractive $ 600 price tag. It didn't quite make our list of the best budget laptops, but it came close. This year I was given the chance to review the 2021 update which won't change much – most importantly, Intel is up to date this time around. I was curious to see how this version fares.

I tested the $ 735 mid-range configuration of the IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 with a Core i5-1135G7, which is the right Intel chip to compare to the Ryzen 5 4500U in the previous review unit. That's barely a budget laptop price point (though it doubles the memory over the AMD machine), and I found the Intel version to offer a lower value proposition than last year's model. You can get a Core i3 for the more attractive $ 570, but you're giving up half the memory and storage. In the end, it proves why AMD continues to lead the way in budget laptops.

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The IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 has essentially the same construction as the previous model, only this time fiberglass is mixed with the plastic in the lid to give it a more stable feel. The rest of the case is made entirely of plastic but still feels solid – more so than some premium laptops that use magnesium alloy to reduce weight. Compared to the budget-conscious and fairly flexible Asus VivoBook Flip 14, which uses plastic in the case and aluminum alloy in the lid, the IdeaPad Flex 5i feels like a million dollars.

The IdeaPad's hinge is surprisingly good too, it's loose enough to open with one hand, but stiffens when it reaches an upright position to keep it in place in clamshell, tent, media, and tablet modes and hold in place. Overall, the build quality of the IdeaPad Flex 5i exceeds its price.

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 folded into a tablet.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Image of the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 notebook folded back on the floor.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Image of the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 notebook folded back on the floor.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The 2-in-1 retains its dark gray aesthetic, with just a touch of chrome in the Lenovo logo on the lid and keyboard deck. It's a very understated look, with a few angles to give it a streamlined look, but otherwise avoids any bling or oomph. Lenovo's budget and mid-range laptops have been minimalist in design for a number of years, and the IdeaPad Flex 5i is keeping that trend alive. The Asus VivoBook Flip 14 is a little more dynamic in its appearance, but that doesn't mean it looks better – it actually suffers from a lime green border around the Enter key that breaks up its color scheme. I'd say the IdeaPad Flex 5i looks better than it costs, and it won't make you feel like putting it to sleep when you take it to a posh coffee shop.

Like last year's model, however, the IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 is larger than it should be. The display bezels are thin on the sides but large at the top, and the chin is huge. That makes it deeper than necessary. It's also quite thick at 0.82 inches and a bit heavy at 3.3 pounds. The Lenovo Yoga 7i 14 (about $ 200 more than the IdeaPad) is 0.69 inches and 3.09 pounds, while the Asus VivoBook Flip 14 is 0.72 inches and 3.31 pounds. If there is one area where the IdeaPad Flex 5i proves its low price, it is the oversized chassis.

Connectivity is solid, with a proprietary power connector (though my review unit came with a USB-C charger), a USB-C 3.2 port, a full-size HDMI 1.4b port, and a 3.5mm audio jack on the left, and two USB-A 3.2 ports and a full-size SD card reader on the right. Unfortunately, there is no Thunderbolt 4 support, which is disappointing even at $ 735. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 offer wireless connectivity.

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 right-hand USB ports and SD card port.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 USB ports on the right.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Charging port, micro USB port, HDMI port and headphone jack on the left side of the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

power

We praised the AMD version of the IdeaPad Flex 5 for its performance thanks to the Ryzen 5 4500U. That was impressive back then, but what a difference a year makes. That's now a previous generation chip, and the new Ryzen 5000 series processors are significantly faster – and the delta between the previous version and the current 11th generation Intel version is also less significant. My test device equipped the Core i5-1135G7 to go with 16 GB RAM and a 512 GB Solid State Drive (SSD), so that we can compare not only with the previous model from AMD, but also with current laptops.

Don't bother playing.

In all cases, except against the Acer Aspire 5 with its Core i3-1115G4, which was included for a bit of contrast, the IdeaPad Flex 5i could not convince. With the exception of the 3DMark Time Spy test, it was slightly slower overall than the previous AMD model, including our Handbrake test which encodes a 420MB video as H.265. In all of our benchmarks, it was also slower than the other Core i5 laptops on our list, especially the Lenovo ThinkBook 13s Gen 2. The difference isn't huge, but it is enough to place the IdeaPad Flex 5i in the lower end of our comparison group .

In real use, I didn't notice that the IdeaPad Flex 5i is a slow laptop. On the other hand, virtually all modern laptops are fast enough to run Windows 10 and basic productivity tasks like web browsing, Office apps, and the like without slowing down. When you need an extra boost in performance for heavy-duty multitasking or more intense tasks, you may notice a hiccup or two. I would rate the performance as acceptable for the price, but nothing to write home about.

Geekbench (single / multiple) Handbrake
(Seconds)		 Cinebench R23 (single / multiple) PCMark 10 3DMark time spy
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14
(Core i5-1135G7)		 1397/4301 213 1325/4411 4550 1026
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 2020
(Ryzen 5 4500U)		 1096/4543 160 n / A n / A 957
Asus VivoBook Flip 14 (Ryzen 5 5500U) 1102/5432 131 1180/7579 5191 1099
Lenovo ThinkBook 13s Gen 2
(Core i5-1135G7)		 1406/5379 178 1357/5502 4668 1511
HP Envy 14 (Core i5-1135G7) 1549/5431 204 1399/4585 n / A 1380
Acer Aspire 5 2021 (Core i3-1115G4) 1215/2544 300 1274/3128 3752 652

Don't bother playing. The IdeaPad Flex 5i is limited to the Intel Iris Xe graphics and didn't do very well even for that chip. The 3DMark Time Spy test wasn't great, only reaching 16 frames per second (fps) at 1080p and high graphics in Fortnite. You'll want to look your gaming needs elsewhere.

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Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 screen.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The second time I turned on the IdeaPad Flex 5i 14, I knew that the 14-inch Full HD IPS display (1920×1080) would be its biggest weakness. The colors seemed unusual, the screen had an unpleasant yellow-green cast and the contrast didn't blow me away. I don't often respond that badly to a display, but this one was disappointing. Note that the display is in the old school 16: 9 aspect ratio, as larger displays haven't gotten that advanced on budget laptops.

My colorimeter has largely confirmed this subjective experience. Initially, the brightness was low at just 231 nits, well below our preferred threshold of 300 nits. This means that the display may be difficult to see in bright overhead lighting. At 800: 1, the contrast was better than I expected (but again below our preferred level, 1000: 1). The colors were very narrow with only 49% of AdobeRGB and 65% of sRGB – midrange and premium laptops are around 72% and 95% or better – and the color accuracy was just okay with a DeltaE of 2.37 ( 1.0 or less is excellent).

Yes, budget laptops often save on the display. For example, the Asus VivoBook Flip 14 was remarkably similar with 230 nits of brightness, a contrast ratio of 720: 1, 50% AdobeRGB and 66% sRGB, and a color accuracy of 2.62. However, that doesn't change the fact that these displays are not pleasant to use even for simple productivity work and are nowhere near what creatives are looking for.

The sound was better, with upward-facing speakers flanking the keyboard on either side. The volume was more than acceptable with no distortion, and while the bass was absent, the mids and highs were clear. These speakers allow you to watch Netflix and listen to music, which is better than most budget devices.

Close-up of the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 stylus and speaker on the right.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Keyboard and touchpad

The IdeaPad Flex 5i has the standard Lenovo keyboard that you find on everything but the ThinkPad range. It's shallower than I'd like, but it has enough click and comfortable floor motion to allow precise typing. The generous key spacing and key size make this keyboard a good budget keyboard that is just a few steps behind great keyboards like the Specter line from HP and the Apple Magic Keyboard. Fast typists should get used to this keyboard quickly enough and familiarize themselves with it in a short time.

The touchpad is good too, with a decent size and a smooth and comfortable surface. The Microsoft Precision touchpad drivers enable the full suite of Windows 10 multi-touch gestures, all of which worked well. I have no complaints.

Image of the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14, with keyboard, trackpad and stylus.

Close-up of the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 trackpad and stylus.

The touch display was responsive and Lenovo includes an active pen with 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity. I found it pretty good for sketching (not that I'm an artist) and handwriting on the display, though the 14-inch display and overall mass of the 2-in-1 made it uncomfortable in tablet mode. Still, the pen in the box is a plus that few budget laptops can compete with. As an added bonus, take a close look at the materials included in the box and you'll find a tiny pen holder that plugs into a USB-A port and keeps the pen handy. This, of course, blocks both ports, so you'll have to remove the pin to connect a peripheral.

Finally, Windows 10 Hello support is provided through a fingerprint reader in the upper right corner of the keyboard deck. It was quick and reliable. Lenovo also outfitted the IdeaPad Flex 5i with its ThinkShutter privacy screen for the webcam – just slide it over it and the lens is physically blocked, giving you a touch of privacy.

Battery life

Image of an open Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 laptop lying on the floor.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The IdeaPad Flex 5i retains the 52.5 watt-hour battery of its predecessor, which, in combination with the Core i5 and the 14-inch Full HD display, made me wonder what longevity I can expect. The AMD model was just fine in terms of battery life and could potentially last a full day on one charge if you don't try too hard.

Overall, the battery life of the IdeaPad Flex 5i is disappointing.

According to our benchmarks, the Intel version is just below this all-day battery life threshold. It took us just 7.25 hours in our web browsing test, compared to the eight hours on the AMD version and 11.5 hours when looping our local Avengers test video, which took the AMD version 11 hours. So that's a hit, even though the web test gives a better idea of ​​productivity performance. The Asus VivoBook Flip 14 managed nine hours in the Internet surfing and 12 hours in the video test – certainly stronger values.

I also ran the PCMark 10 Applications battery test, which saw the IdeaPad Flex 5i last nine hours. That's only seven minutes less than the AMD version, but below the 10 or more hours we've seen as a minimum on most of the other laptops we tested. This is the best test of battery life, and the IdeaPad Flex 5i didn't do as well. It lasted almost two minutes in the PCMark 10 gaming battery test, which is about average for this test.

Overall, the battery life of the IdeaPad Flex 5i is disappointing. Like the AMD version, it can get you through a day of work if your workflow is easy, but doing real work without a plug-in can be a challenge.

Our opinion

For $ 600, the AMD version of the IdeaPad Flex 5 14 was a good bargain. At $ 735, with the main difference being a 512GB SSD versus a 256GB SSD, the latest IdeaPad Flex 5i isn't quite as attractive. It doesn't work that well and can't compete with some other laptops with the same CPU. The battery life is unimpressive and the display – albeit just as bad as on the previous version – is a real disappointment.

There are other laptops in this price range that are worth more for their money. The IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 lost its luster with the move to Intel, and I can't recommend much.

Are there alternatives?

The Asus VivoBook Flip 14 is about the same price and offers significantly better performance. The display and battery life aren't better, but at least you get a faster laptop that can handle more demanding workloads.

If you don't need a 2-in-1, the Asus ZenBook 13 OLED UM325UA is a great choice. It's only a few hundred dollars away from the IdeaPad Flex 5i, but it has much better performance, a beautiful and color-accurate OLED display, and a 1TB PCIe SSD. If your budget can handle it, the ZenBook 13 should be on your list.

Another 2-in-1 to consider is the HP Envy x360 13. It's an AMD machine too, and so much faster, and it has a much better display. It's a bit more expensive too, but well worth the extra money.

How long it will take?

The IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 offers a solid construction that should instill confidence after years of use. Its components are state-of-the-art, if not the fastest, so you can stay productive for just as long. You won't like the industry standard one year warranty.

Should you buy it?

No. Take the power of the AMD processor from its predecessor and add more than $ 100 in price, and the IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 isn't that big a bargain.

Editor's recommendations



01 Sep
Blog

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 Review: The AMD Ryzen 4000 Flagship

Lenovo Ideapad Slim 7 review 01

"The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 is a genre-bending laptop that does anything hard to beat for its price."

  • Incredible performance

  • Tiny footprint

  • Record battery life

  • Can handle light games

  • The screen is a little dark

  • Small palm rests

Disorder. It's not a word I idly use, but what AMD's Ryzen 4000 processors have been doing over the past eight months fits the definition. These chips offer the performance you previously paid dearly for, both in size and price.

So far, however, few laptops have been designed from the ground up to use these chips.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 should always be an example of how disruptive Ryzen 4000 can be. After many months of delay, the time has finally come to attempt a seemingly insurmountable task – being a laptop that can be ultra-slim, extremely powerful, and extremely affordable at the same time.

Have AMD and Lenovo just done the impossible?

design

The IdeaPad Slim 7 revolution is not broadcast high. It's not ugly, but it's also not attention grabbing. It's not far from Lenovo's current crop of conservative, dark gray laptops with rounded edges and an all-metal chassis. The design alone makes it difficult for you to pick this out of the wide range of similar looking laptops from Lenovo. It's reportedly offered in a possibly more eye-catching "Orchid" color option, but I haven't set my eyes on it yet.

In a sense, that's a shame. The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 surpasses our traditional laptop categories in many ways. This is a tiny laptop. It's only 0.58 inches thick, thinner, and slimmer than the MacBook Air. It weighs only 3.1 pounds and fits the 13-inch MacBook Pro – and yet has an 8-core processor like the gigantic MacBook Pro 16 -Inch. That is the unique offering of this fascinating laptop.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro is possibly the best size comparison. The IdeaPad Slim 7 is a little smaller in almost every dimension, if not by much, and even has the larger 14-inch screen. More importantly, these two laptops share a 25-watt processor. That's 10 watts more power than your standard 13-inch laptop, which contributes to the unique performance of these laptops.

You'll find a healthy selection of ports on the sides of the laptop. On the left side, the IdeaPad Slim 7 has two USB-C ports, HDMI and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. On the right side, the IdeaPad Slim 7 offers two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, the power switch and a micro SD card slot.

Since this is an AMD laptop, you won't get Thunderbolt 3, a proprietary Intel technology. However, USB-C is still a versatile port. Each USB-C port can be used for charging, connecting to a monitor, transferring files, and connecting peripherals. You can't power an external graphics card, but these ports are very powerful for this laptop.

My only real complaint is that you can't charge the laptop from the right as both USB-C ports are on the left. It defeats the point of USB-C's versatility.

performance

A 25-watt, 8-core processor in a small laptop is a fascinating requirement, but only if it can actually deliver significantly better performance. I started my tests with Geekbench 5 and Cinebench R20, two benchmarks that can give a comprehensive picture of the CPU's performance. The IdeaPad Slim 7 particularly impressed with its multi-core performance. Amazingly, Geekbench 5 Multi-Core was only 9% behind the much larger Dell XPS 15 with its 45-watt eight-core processor. In the meantime, it was 23% ahead of the 13-inch MacBook Pro (with a 10th generation Core i5) and 16% ahead of the Acer Swift 3 (with the Ryzen 7 4700U). No laptop in this size class has the cores and threads that fit the IdeaPad Slim 7.

For a more realistic test, I encoded a 4K video in Handbrake, with performance limited to the CPU. Here, too, the IdeaPad Slim 7 and its Ryzen processor with eight cores knocked out the competition. It even beat some 45 watt six-core laptops like the HP Envy 15 or the Asus ROG Strix G15.

(pullqutoe) For a laptop of this size, the IdeaPad Slim 7 belongs to its own performance category. (/ pullquote)

The only place the IdeaPad Slim 7 can't really compete with these larger laptops is in video editing. Normally I wouldn't try Premiere Pro on a laptop this small, but I had to try the IdeaPad Slim 7. It took an hour and 18 minutes to export a two minute 4K project to ProRes 422. The higher clock speeds and discrete graphics of larger laptops like the Dell XPS 15 or MacBook Pro 16-inch help them finish the same test in well under 10 minutes.

This does not mean that the IdeaPad Slim 7 cannot be used for content creation workflows at all. If you are working with lower resolutions, less demanding codecs, or lighter applications, the IdeaPad Slim 7 should work just fine. It's just not a real replacement for one of those larger laptops. If portability isn't important, even a cheap gaming laptop like the Dell G5 SE can handle video editing far better than the IdeaPad Slim 7 for roughly the same price. For a laptop of this size, however, the IdeaPad Slim 7 belongs to its own performance category.

Interestingly, Lenovo also sells an Intel version of the IdeaPad Slim 7. But here's what you get: It's $ 150 more expensive, has half the memory, and only has a quad-core CPU. The only thing the Intel model has on its side is the Nvidia MX350 discrete graphics card, but AMD's built-in Radeon graphics outperform it. There's no reason to buy it through the AMD model.

Apart from the Intel variant, Lenovo does not offer any configurations. That could change in the future, but for now, this model with 8GB of RAM and 512GB SSD is the only option. I really wish a 16GB model was offered to pair it better with the high-core processor.

Game performance

You can play games on this laptop! Yes it's true and it's kind of a miracle. The Ryzen 7 4800U comes with eight Radeon graphics cores. This is easily the best discrete graphic I've ever seen on a laptop. It holds great promise for the future of AMD's Radeon graphics.

In the 3DMark Time Spy benchmark, it is 29% faster than the Dell XPS 13 with its integrated Intel Iris Plus graphics. It even outperforms discrete entry-level graphics such as the Nvidia MX350 in the Asus ZenBook Duo. The result is decent low-end performance in modern games.

These are easily the best discrete graphics I've ever seen on a laptop.

Take Fortnite, for example. As long as you keep the graphics settings at medium or below, the games play pretty smoothly. You'll find it hard to get up to 60 frames per second (fps) without tweaking the 3D resolution slider a bit. For the first time, however, Fortnite can be played without any problems with built-in graphics.

A less GPU-dependent game like Civilization VI will perform even better. The IdeaPad Slim 7 struggled to keep up with the Ultra settings, but averaged 45 fps on Medium. That's still a long way from what 15-inch laptops with discrete graphics can do, but again, you can play Civilization VI without having to resort to low graphics settings. This is really impressive for a laptop with no games.

The only real competition the IdeaPad Slim 7 has in this form factor is the GTX 1650 version of the Razer Blade Stealth. While you can get better frame rates on this computer, it's also far more expensive.

Keyboard and touchpad

This keyboard is not my favorite. The trip feels very short and the buttons have a muddy bottom effect. I prefer the Dell XPS 13, MacBook Air, or HP Specter x360. It didn't take me long to get used to it, however, and I like the curved shape of the keycaps.

The keyboard backlight doesn't have its own key, but Fn + Space is a solid replacement. The backlight is very bright – to the point where I would like a lower brightness setting.

My main problem with the keyboard is its location. The keyboard is farther from the screen than most laptops to make room for the speakers and ports. The result is less space for the touchpad and palm rests underneath. If you have small hands you're fine, but those palm rests were too small for me so I had to dig the edges of the chassis into my palms. It's not a comfortable position to type in for a long time. Laptops like the Samsung Galaxy Book Flex also suffer from this problem.

The touchpad performs better and offers a smooth tracking surface and enough space for swipes and gestures with two fingers. The click feels solid, although it's a little louder than I'd like it to be.

Battery life

When comparing AMD with Intel, there was no clear winner in terms of battery life. Until now. I don't know if it's the big 60 watt battery or the efficient 7 nm processor, but the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 is an absolute champion when it comes to battery life. This can disappear from the wall all day – and a few more.

In our lightest test of repeating a local video file until it died, the IdeaPad Slim 7 lasted over 18.5 hours. This is one of the best times I've seen on a laptop that isn't a Chromebook or ARM-based laptop.

The real record was set in our web browsing test. The IdeaPad Slim 7 lasted over 16 hours here, which was only surpassed by the Qualcomm-powered Lenovo Flex 5G. That's an insane lifespan for a load.

As my daily driver, I found that the IdeaPad Slim 7 could easily survive a whole working day despite my heavy multitasking, music streaming and countless open apps.

Display and speaker

If the IdeaPad Slim 7 has one notable flaw, it is the screen. It uses a 14-inch 1080p panel that does the job, but not with a lot of grace. The screen is a bit dark and only reaches 247 nits. This is both the 300 nit threshold that I like to see in laptops and the result of strong glare. When watching a movie with dark scenes, the first thing to do is to turn off any light in the room. The contrast is the only bright spot at 1,370: 1.

The display is also a slight shade of green, although it is adequate in terms of gamut and color accuracy. Unfortunately, a 4K 100% AdobeRGB model for professionals is not offered.

I was pleasantly surprised by the speakers. You're right on the keyboard deck, pointing at your ears – which does wonders for the clarity of the audio. These still don't replace a decent bluetooth speaker, but for the occasional music or video watching, they get the job done.

Our opinion

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 may not be the true flagship AMD wants. Its screen is lackluster and the design is far from remarkable. Thanks to its fantastic performance, long battery life and impressive integrated graphics, the IdeaPad Slim 7 surpasses the possibilities of small laptops.

Are there alternatives?

There are many Ryzen 4000 laptops out there that aren't as powerful as the IdeaPad Slim 7 but are available at a cheaper price. The most obvious option is the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14, which is not as powerful but is a lot cheaper. The HP Envy x360 13 is another good example of a cheaper AMD laptop with a little less performance.

If you're willing to pay a few hundred more dollars, the Dell XPS 13 is a better designed laptop. Performance and battery life can't quite keep up with the IdeaPad Slim 7, but the small form factor and better display make it worth the additional cost.

How long it will take?

The IdeaPad Slim 7 should last at least three or four years, which is normal for laptops. Due to the limited configuration options, you may want to upgrade the memory or memory yourself in the future, but everything is soldered up.

Lenovo offers a standard one-year warranty. You are on your own past.

Should you buy it?

Yes. It's the best laptop you can buy under $ 1,000.

Editor's recommendations




27 Jun
Blog

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 Review: AMD Nails It Again

Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5 14 Review Ryzen 01

"The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 offers incredible value and solid performance with few compromises."

  • Exceptional performance for an affordable laptop

  • Comfortable keyboard and touchpad

  • Active pen included

  • Excellent value for money

  • Solid speakers

  • Mediocre display

  • Boring look

Laptops with AMD's Ryzen 4000 chips seem too good to be true. The specifications are incredibly powerful and cheaper than Intel's.

Take the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14, for example. It is the latest in a range of Ryzen-based budget laptops. This comes with a Ryzen 5 4500U with six cores and 16 GB RAM and costs only $ 600. Due to the technical data alone, a better performance value for the price is hard to imagine.

Is there a catch?

design

The IdeaPad Flex 5 is a plastic laptop. Lenovo calls it "normal" plastic at the top and "stable PC / ABC" at the bottom. Aside from the chemistry lesson, this means the laptop case is relatively sturdy. Don't expect it to be as robust as a unibody MacBook Pro or even the Lenovo Yoga C640 for $ 600. The lid, the keyboard deck and the case back are all somewhat flexible. However, it is not outrageous. Low prices and flexible laptops no longer necessarily go hand in hand.

Another indication of the budget status of the Flex 5 is its stature. It's pretty thick at 0.82 inches and heavy at 3.3 pounds. Compare that to the Yoga C640 at 0.67 inches and 2.98 pounds and the HP Specter x360 13 at 0.67 inches and 2.88 pounds. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga is available at 0.59 inches and 2.99 pounds. The display bezel of the Flex 5 is also not tiny, especially at the top and bottom, which means that the entire case is also more extensive. No matter how you cut it, this is not a small 2-in-1.

It's a rather nondescript design that doesn't catch the eye – like many Lenovo laptops lately.

The hinge of the Flex 5 is firm. The small wobble when moving the laptop does not distract excessively. Most importantly, the tight hinge allows for smooth transitions through the various 2-in-1 modes, including clamshell, tent, media and tablet. The 14-inch display and the resulting housing obviously result in a rather large and unwieldy tablet. You just don't want to try holding a 3.3-pound tablet in one hand for too long.

Aesthetically, the IdeaPad Flex 5 is an attractive dark gray all around. The only chrome is the border around the Lenovo logo on the lid and the keyboard deck. Ultimately, it is a rather nondescript design that – like many Lenovo laptops lately – is not noticeable, but still looks good. The Specter x360 13 with its gem design is at the other end of the attention-grabbing spectrum, and the Yoga C640 is very similar in aesthetics to the IdeaPad.

An advantage of the Flex 5's thickness is that it offers a good level of connectivity. There are two USB-A 3.1 ports, a USB-C 3.1 port, a full-size HDMI 1.4 port, and a 4-in-1 SD card reader. Although Thunderbolt 3 is missing, many will appreciate the inclusion of some of these older ports that come in handy. Wireless connectivity is still limited to Wi-Fi 5 and not the newer Wi-Fi 6 standard, and Bluetooth 4.2 is on board.

performance

The IdeaPad Flex 5 doesn't look like a cheap laptop and doesn't work like one either. The Ryzen 5 chips from AMD keep proving that it is one of the best bargains. In this case, the Ryzen 5 4500U comes with six cores and six threads. It's the same chip that you can find in other cheap laptops like the Acer Swift 3 for $ 650. This option used the Ryzen 7 4700U CPU with eight cores and eight threads for the power supply. Interestingly, the processor performance of the Flex 5 is quite competitive with this chip.

First, it did well in the synthetic Geekbench 5 benchmark, reaching 1,096 in the single-core test and 4,543 in the multi-core test. In the multi-core test, it was 20% faster than the Acer Spin 3, a similar Intel Core i5 notebook. It is clear that the AMD chips perform well when multitasking, even though they have two fewer threads.

The IdeaPad Flex 5 is an extremely fast laptop for only $ 600.

Speaking of which, I then ran our handbrake test, which encodes a 420MB video as H.265 and uses as many cores and threads as a CPU has to offer. The Flex 5 took just over two minutes to complete the test, just eight seconds longer than the Swift 3. The Surface Book 3 13 took four minutes. Compared to the Dell XPS 13, a very fast laptop with the Core i7-1065G7, the Flex 5 was finished in 38 seconds less.

The fantastic performance of the Flex 5 is supported by 16 GB of RAM, which is surprising with such an inexpensive computer. All of this results in an extremely fast laptop for only $ 600, which is characterized by high productivity in multitasking and migration by demanding tasks such as photo and video editing. The laptop slows down when measured with Intel Core i7 laptops that have more threads, especially 45-watt parts. Compared to the typical Intel CPUs that you see in laptops at this price, AMD rules apply.

The Flex 5 also includes built-in AMD Radeon graphics, which according to 3DMark are slightly faster than Intel's Iris Plus graphics. That means you can get a little boost in creative apps that can use the GPU and play light games with lower resolutions and graphics settings. A game like Rocket League plays decently, but anything that is more intense will suffer.

Battery life

The IdeaPad Flex 5 has a battery capacity of 52.5 watt hours, which is not much for a 14-inch laptop. I therefore had little hope of longevity.

The Flex 5 was an average performer. In our web browser test, it took eight hours compared to the Yoga C640 with its CPU with lower performance of over 10.5 hours. The Acer Swift 3 lasted six minutes less than the Flex 5, suggesting that the AMD Ryzen CPUs aren't the most energy efficient. The Dell XPS 13 with a 1080p display and the Core i7-1065G7 lasted 11.5 hours.

For a lower load, I looped a local video clip, and the Flex 5 lasted 11 hours. That's not a bad thing, but it's far less than the spectacular 23 hours of the Yoga C640 and the powerful 14.5 hours of the XPS 13. Last, I took the machine through our most demanding battery test, the Basemark Web Benchmark. This replicates battery life in heavier applications. It took three and a half hours, similar to laptops like the Yoga C640.

No, it's not a leader in battery life. Unlike many budget laptops of the past, however, the IdeaPad Flex 5 should survive most of a working day on a single charge.

display

So far nothing on the IdeaPad Flex 5 screams "cheap". Then there is the display.

It's not that this display is bothering you when you work or even watch movies. Actually, this display would have been pretty good five years ago. Although the contrast is not as high as with better displays, black text is displayed on a white background without major quality problems. And colors may be limited and inaccurate when measured with a colorimeter – as creative types do – but they are neither unnatural nor do they interfere with everyday image viewing and web browsing. This isn't a terrible display, it just doesn't go well with the performance that this affordable laptop can offer.

However, according to my colorimeter, Lenovo had to use a cheaper panel. It is a 1080p IPS display, but it has a narrow color gamut (only 47% of AdobeRGB and 63% of sRGB). The screen is limited to only 242 nits of brightness, and even the contrast is low at 770: 1. It's a glossy screen, so glare issues may occur in brighter environments.

The lackluster picture quality is a shame. Otherwise, the Flex 5 would have been a powerful little photo editing device. We have seen the same panel in many budget laptops, but there are notable exceptions like the Lenovo Yoga C640.

And the audio was a plus, with high-profile speakers next to the keyboard that offer a lot of volume without distortion. The bass was missing as always, but mids and highs were good for music and occasional YouTube videos. You can even bathe Netflix with these speakers as long as you listen.

Keyboard and touchpad

If you've used one of Lenovo's yoga or IdeaPad keyboards, you're familiar with it. It's relatively flat with a lot of space and a precise mechanism, which means that it disappoints those who travel a lot but can otherwise be serviced. I was able to type fast enough at full speed, and although it is nowhere near the Magic Keyboard of the much more expensive MacBook range or even the Specter x360 13's second-best (in my opinion) keyboard, it's a solid keyboard that most works users will enjoy.

The touchpad is also comfortable and of average size for a modern Windows 10 laptop. It supports Microsoft's Precision Touchpad drivers and provides smooth and precise Windows 10 multi-touch gestures. No complaints there.

As a 2-in-1 device, the Flex 5 naturally has a touch-capable display that works as usual. Lenovo also includes an active stylus that supports 4,096 pressure sensitivity levels. This makes it a great option for anyone who wants to illustrate the display or take detailed notes. Many inexpensive 2-in-1 devices either do not include the pen (the Yoga C640 is an example) or do not support it. It's a real plus if it's in the box.

Finally, Windows 10 Hello login without a password is supported by a fingerprint reader in the upper right corner of the keyboard deck. It's fast and accurate, and again a bonus for a $ 600 laptop. However, there is no infrared camera for facial recognition.

Our opinion

The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 is a spectacularly fast laptop for $ 600 with a build quality that finally deserves the price. The configuration is impressive too – you don't often get a 256GB PCIe SSD and 16GB RAM for nearly that price. If your goal is a budget performer, this is a great laptop.

However, the display is disappointing, which means that all of the power that might target creative types is wasted. This is a shame and holds the Flex 5 back.

Are there alternatives?

The Lenovo Yoga C640 is a bit smaller, has a much better battery life, and a better display. It also costs $ 600, but offers less storage space and a much slower CPU.

For just $ 50 more, you can choose the even faster Acer Swift 3. It is well built, looks good, and is the fastest budget notebook we've tested. But it also has a mediocre display.

For the same price, consider considering a Chromebook route. The Google Pixelbook Go for $ 650 is an excellent choice, with an excellent display and portability.

How long it will take?

The Yoga IdeaPad Flex 5 is durable enough to last as long as you'd expect from a $ 600 machine. And it's fast enough to keep up with your workflow for years. There is no Thunderbolt 3 support, so expansion is limited, but this is expected at this price. The 1 year warranty is typical and disappointing.

Should you buy it

Yes. The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 is a very competent, affordable laptop that demonstrates the strength of AMD processors.

Editor's recommendations




25 May
Blog

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Review: Astounding 2-in-1 Value

Lenovo Ideapad Duet Review 06

"The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet offers tremendous value for everything this affordable 2-in-1 tablet can do."

  • Outstanding build quality

  • Lighter than the iPad

  • Enormous value

  • Long battery life

  • Narrow keyboard layout

  • The whole package is a bit chunky

  • Mediocre performance

Google's Pixel Slate was promising. It was a 2-in-1 tablet with the flexibility of the Surface Pro, accompanied by the fullness of the Android app ecosystem. For one reason or another, the product was discontinued less than a year after its launch. It was such a failure that Google announced it would finally leave the tablet market and compete for products like the $ 400 Surface Go 2 from Microsoft and the $ 329 iPad from Apple in the lower price segment.

Now Lenovo is filling the hole that the Pixel Slate has left. The IdeaPad Duet is a compact 10.1-inch tablet with a starting price of $ 279. The best part? The stand cover and keyboard are included for this price. This is an attractive price for anyone looking for a tablet. Can the Duet for Chrome OS do what the Pixel Slate couldn't?

design

The Duet is in itself as slim a tablet as you would expect. It's 0.28 inches thick compared to the Microsoft Surface Go 2 at 0.33 inches and the base iPad at 0.29 inches. This is quite thin and makes it pleasant to hold the duet in one hand. The duets are also characterized by impressive build quality, with a combined metal and plastic case that feels solid and is exceptionally light at just £ 0.99. The Surface Go 2 costs £ 1.2 and the iPad £ 1.07.

Things change a little when you add the rear stand cover and keyboard. In this case, the duet, 0.71 inches thick and 2.03 pounds thick, gets pretty chunky. It's thicker and heavier than the Surface Go 2 with built-in stand and $ 130 type cover, and the iPad with $ 159 smart keyboard. Note that both the Duet and Surface Go 2 solutions include a touchpad, but not the iPad. You'll need to upgrade to the much more expensive iPad Pro and add the magic keyboard to include a touchpad in the keyboard cover.

The Duet is also an attractive tablet in its ice blue and iron gray color scheme, which is transferred to the fabric cover on the stand cover (at least the gray). It's a conservative design that's neither boring nor fancy, and ends up right in the goldilocks zone with good looks.

One disappointment is the only USB-C port that serves as the only connection. There's no 3.5mm audio jack and no included adapter – that's a shit that limits you to connecting headphones or speakers via Bluetooth. This is an area I wish it hadn't followed the example of the iPad. There is also no SD card slot, another disappointment. Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 ensure that you are connected wirelessly.

Keyboard and touchpad

As already mentioned, the Duet comes with a stand cover and a removable keyboard in the box, which makes the tablet an enormous value. With Surface Go 2 and iPad, spend at least $ 130 more to get the same functionality. The question is, what is the quality of these components?

The stand cover is attached to the back of the tablet with an amazingly strong magnet that makes for a surprisingly safe combination. The stand reaches up to an impressive 135 degrees. This fits the Surface Go 2 and leaves the tablet lying in a comfortable angle for coloring. It also holds the tablet at a good angle on a flat surface. However, like most detachable tablets, it's awkward in a round.

You'll spend hundreds more on a Surface Go 2 or iPad to use the same functionality.

The keyboard itself is a little less impressive. It is connected to the tablet via pogo pins and other magnets. It's safe to say the key spacing (the distance between the center of each key) is a healthy 18mm and the travel is 1.3mm. The layout still felt tight – especially the tiny punctuation marks on the right. However, the key mechanism was clicking and quiet, which is great. In contrast to Microsoft's award-winning Type Cover, the keyboard of the Duet cannot be supported at an angle, so that only the flat option is available.

The glass touchpad performs better. It is inevitably rather small due to the overall dimensions of the tablet, but it works smoothly and has a satisfactory click. Moving and using Chrome OS multi-touch gestures felt natural and precise. Then remove the back cover and keyboard and you get a slim tablet that is great for swiping through websites and reading e-books and other documents. The touch display reacts and everything feels natural again. You can pick up an active pen as an optional purchase.

There is a lot of value here. You'll spend hundreds more on a Surface Go 2 or iPad to use the same functionality – and value is the real story. The keyboard isn't perfect, but the fact that Lenovo includes it in the duet's low price makes things far more palatable.

Display and audio

Lenovo rates the display at 400 nits. Although I can't measure it with my colorimeter due to a lack of Chrome OS support, the screen seems bright enough for everyone except to work outdoors in direct sunlight. The colors of the display seem to be sufficient for internet surfing, productivity work, and watching Netflix, but they're probably not wide and not accurate enough for professional photo editing. And that's fine, because you don't want to work that way on this tablet.

You can get a better display on other tablets. The aspect ratio of 16:10 enables comfortable use in portrait format, and the resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 is sharp on the 10.1-inch panel. The larger 10.5-inch display of the Surface Go 2 with 3: 2 and 1,920 x 1,280 only offers a slightly higher resolution, but the difference is not noticeable. For comparison: The 10.2-inch 16:10 display of the iPad offers a much sharper resolution of 2,160 x 1,620 and a brightness of 500 nits.

The duet's audio is fine. There are two first-class speakers above the display that produce a decent sound that is sufficient for occasional YouTube videos or melodies. However, you should connect Bluetooth headphones or an external Bluetooth speaker.

performance

The Duet is based on a MediaTek Helio P60T processor with eight cores and has 4 GB RAM. Storage is eMMC, which is common for Chromebooks, but not as fast as a solid-state drive. It can be configured with 64 GB for $ 279 and 128 GB for $ 299. It's clear that double the storage is worth the $ 20.

In terms of synthetic benchmarks, the first test I ran was Geekbench 4 (Geekbench 5 is probably not available for the Duet due to the processor). The duet scored 1,376 in the single-core test and 5528 points in the multi-core test. This is almost the end of our database, especially the single-core test, which is outperformed by older Intel Pentium processors. Next, I ran the Tachometer 2.0 test to see how well the MediaTek CPU performed on web-related tasks compared to the Intel alternatives. The duet scored 27 points in the test, which puts it at the bottom of our ranking. Again, you need to look at older Intel Pentium processors to get the same performance.

This isn't the fastest Chrome OS device I've used. By far not.

This isn't the fastest Chrome OS device I've used. By far not. For example, the Asus Chromebook Flip C436 achieved a much faster 97 with a relatively inexpensive 10th generation Intel Core i3 processor. The Chromebook Flip C436 was also much faster subjectively. Where the duo sometimes lagged behind when several Chrome tabs were open and some Android apps were running in the background, the Asus did not miss a beat. The difference is noticeable.

However, this does not make the duet perform poorly. Ultimately, I found it more than fast enough for the tasks I can imagine it to be: surfing the web, quick notes and changes with the Android version of Microsoft Office apps, and watching YouTube videos and Netflix. It would be an excellent device for children and could even work well if brought to college. Chrome OS really helps here as it is so thin and light compared to Windows 10, but I will find that the Apple iPad is a bit smoother than the Duet.

The Duet can run Android games, but they're not as smooth as some other Chrome OS devices. A more demanding title like Asphalt 9 sometimes showed some choppiness, and you won't see that with the iPad. If gaming is important to you, consider Apple's tablet.

Battery life

Being a slower and more energy efficient CPU – because that's another important aspect here – has its advantages. Although the Duet only has a battery capacity of 27 watt hours, which is fairly light, it showed excellent battery life.

For example, the duet in our most demanding Basemark web benchmark test lasted an impressive eight hours. This is one of the longest periods we've seen in this test, and it's much longer than the Surface Go 2 or iPad.

In our web browser test, the duet lasted almost 14 hours, which in turn is an excellent score and is more than three times as long as the Surface Go 2. This laptop will have to get you through a day and a half or more of work in front of you. If you want to watch videos, you are less impressed by the duet. We managed to go through our local Full HD Avengers trailer for 12.5 hours, which is good but not great. The Surface Go 2 managed around an hour less, which is the only battery test that it could keep up with the Duet.

Chrome OS

A tablet is only as good as the software that runs it, and Chrome OS has come a long way. Thanks to the new software update, Chrome OS can now be run much better on a tablet than it was just a few weeks ago.

When you remove the tablet, the Duet automatically switches to Chrome OS tablet mode. In tablet mode you get some additional gestures, e.g. For example, swipe up to see all apps running, and swipe up and hold to open the app drawer. In the "Running apps" view, you can drag apps left and right to use Chrome OS's split screen view. Finally, Chrome has a new feature for showing open tabs. Switch to tablet mode and the tabs will disappear. They are replaced with a thumbnail view that you can access by tapping a number icon that indicates how many open tabs you are running.

All of these features are fluid enough to use, and they improve Chrome OS on a tablet like the Duet. It's more than what Windows 10 offers in tablet mode. More importantly, you can run Android apps for touchscreen devices directly from the Google Play Store. They run without problems and – apart from games – with a lot of performance as long as not too many apps are open at the same time.

Of course, Chrome OS iPadOS, which was developed exclusively for tablets, cannot withhold a candle. They don't have that many gestures at their disposal, and iPad apps tend to be more elegant and refined than many Android alternatives. Still, the Duet is a functional and usable tablet, and I can see that it takes a few minutes from my iPad.

Our opinion

The IdeaPad Duet is an OK tablet for the price. That said, if your budget is tight and you really want a Chromebook, the Duet will meet your needs without killing you.

But throw in the included stand cover and keyboard and suddenly the duet is a serious value. You'll spend hundreds more on another tablet to get the same functionality, and that makes the Duet a very attractive option indeed.

Are there alternatives?

It is obvious which products are most likely to compete with the IdeaPad Duet, and I compared them in this review. The Microsoft Surface Go 2 is the Windows 10 competitor. It costs about $ 100 more and has great options for Type Cover and Surface Pen that make it even more expensive. If you'd rather run Windows 10 than Chrome OS, Surface Go 2 is the natural alternative.

Then there is the entry-level Apple iPad for $ 329. There is no pen support that puts it behind the duet for anyone who wants to write or draw on the display, and the keyboard is an expensive addition. Here, too, it depends on the choice of operating systems: If you want iOS instead of Chrome OS, the iPad is the obvious choice.

If you're looking for Chrome OS, but would rather use a Clamshell laptop, the $ 650 Pixelbook Go is probably your best bet. Yes, it's more expensive, but you get a better display, an excellent keyboard, and an overall improvement in build quality.

How long it will take?

Chrome OS is pretty efficient and is updated regularly. Therefore, the duet should take a while to become obsolete. And its physical construction should keep it well beyond the one-year warranty.

Should you buy it

Yes. At $ 279, the Duet is a bargain with the included stand cover and keyboard. You can even use it as a second or third device to surf the Internet more than enough. If you need something very portable to search a document, the Duet can do it too.

Editor's recommendations