29 Jun
Blog

Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 Review: What $410 Can Buy You

Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 review 14

"The Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 is the best Chromebook you can buy for under $ 500."

  • Responsive keyboard

  • Impressive performance

  • Great value for money

  • Under three pounds

  • Bad touchpad

  • Mediocre display

Chromebooks are getting more expensive every year. They also grow in quality. Display, performance and design improve. They're far from yesterday's cheap Chromebooks.

The Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook tries to be the best of both worlds. At $ 410, it captures the original spirit of highly affordable laptops, yet offers an Intel Core processor, a 1080p screen, and a solid appearance.

Lenovo has struck the balance carefully, but not without a few hiccups on the way.

design

I'm not looking for anything special in a laptop under $ 500. I want modern. I want thin and light. I want a solid build quality. And bonus points if it doesn't look gaudy or plastic.

The Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 performs better than most Chromebooks at this price. The color "graphite gray" is initially subtle. Although each surface is made of plastic, it feels firm and well built. The hinge is firm and resists shaking, even when you tap and swipe on the touchscreen.

I have a few minor complaints. The bezels are large – especially the chin. The 360 ​​degree hinge provides additional space under the screen. It is hard to miss on such a small laptop. Premium chromebooks like the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook or the Asus Chromebook Flip C436 have the thin frames we see on Windows laptops, but they're about twice as expensive. It's a problem that the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 solves by using a slightly larger 16:10 aspect ratio.

Despite the frames, the Chromebook Flex 5 comes in a portable package. It's less than 3 pounds and 0.7 inches thick, and just a bit bigger than a MacBook Air. Options like the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook or Google Pixelbook Go are much smaller – but price tags aren't.

Most Chromebooks under $ 500 are bulky 15-inch laptops, which is a shame. The Chromebook Flex 5 fills this gap.

The Chromebook Flex 5 offers a standard selection of ports, at least for a modern Chromebook. On the right side there is a USB-C 3.1, a USB-A 3.1, a headphone jack and a microSD card slot. The other side contains another USB-C port and a Kensington lock. Unfortunately, only the right side can be used to charge the device.

As it is a 2-in-1 device, the Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 has a volume rocker and a power switch in addition to the connections. The volume rocker is mushy and difficult to distinguish, which is a little frustrating. You'll use the volume control on the keyboard a lot more often, but that's no excuse for lousy keys.

Display and speakers

The Flex 5 Chromebook doesn't have the best display in the world. It is a 13.3-inch IPS LED display with a standard resolution of 1,920 x 1,080. It has a slight shade of green, which makes pale skin tones look sick.

It only brightens up to 250 nits. This is bright enough for home use, but if you stand under strong office light or sit next to a window, the glossy screen can cause strong reflections. A matte screen may have made the screen look cheap, but avoided this problem.

I've seen a lot worse on Chromebooks, but options like the Google Pixelbook Go or the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook do much better. The software on my colorimeter doesn't work in Chrome OS to measure color accuracy, but the Flex 5 Chromebook is probably not accurate enough for creative people. For what a Chromebook is made for $ 410, the screen does the trick.

The Flex 5 Chromebook has a set of upward-facing speakers that flank the keyboard on both sides. The placement is good, but they are as thin as laptop speakers. The Pixelbook Go is far superior in this category.

Keyboard and touchpad

The Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 offers a pleasant typing experience. This is the typical Chrome OS layout outside of the oddly shortened left and right arrow keys. But the keycaps are big, the journey is long and the keystrokes respond. Lenovo has even installed a backlight with five brightness levels. I felt at home.

The touchpad is a different story. It's big enough, but of below average quality. The plastic, structured surface leads to skipping and sloppy tracking. Inexpensive touchpads like this slow down my workflow and make detailed tasks such as text selection difficult. The click mechanism is also quite stiff and loud. As my daily driver, the touchpad was the only hurdle to usability that I kept tripping over. I'm not shocked by the price, but I was hoping to be surprised. The switch back to a Google Pixelbook Go felt heavenly in comparison.

The Flex 5 Chromebook has a 720p on-screen webcam that can be serviced for occasional zoom calls.

performance

Many cheap Chromebooks use slow MediaTek or Intel Celeron processors. Not the Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5. It offers an Intel Core i3-10110U processor of the latest generation of Intel chips. This is a full 15-watt processor, while many other Chromebooks use an 8-watt processor. More performance means more potential performance, and the Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 offers.

Other Chromebooks that use this 10th generation Core i3 are usually much more expensive, such as the Asus Chromebook Flip C436 for $ 800. The Flex 5 corresponds to this processor in multi-core scores in Geekbench 5 and is 18% faster than the Google Pixelbook Go.

The two cores and four threads it offers may not sound impressive, and 4 GB of RAM may not. But it feels quick. Chrome OS works on this hardware regardless of how many tabs you have open. This can best be measured in a test like the Tachometer 2.0, which measures JavaScript performance. In web applications, the Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 is as fast as a quad-core Core i5 Windows 10 laptop. This is important because it is almost exclusively what you use this Chromebook for.

You can of course run Android apps on the Flex 5. 3D games like the mobile racing driver Asphalt 9 Legends were played smoothly. However, the integrated graphics cannot even start a match from PUBG Mobile. As strange as it may sound, your phone will perform better. Many of these Android apps are still not well optimized for the 16: 9 aspect ratio and a cursor. However, this is a problem with Android app emulation in Chrome OS in general, not the fault of the Flex 5.

A processor with higher performance has one disadvantage. Heat. The Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 is not a fanless device like the Pixelbook Go. Open a few YouTube videos, Slack, Spotify, and about a dozen websites – that's enough to hear the fans spinning and the keyboard warming up. I never had the feeling that the fans were turning prematurely or too often.

The laptop also has 64 GB of eMMC storage. It's not a ton of capacity – and not as fast as a solid-state drive. Unfortunately, both have become the standard for Chromebooks. As long as you do most of the things in the cloud, 64 GB shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Battery life

The Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 offers decent battery life. It has always been a Chromebook strength and budget laptop deficit. These two properties meet in the Flex 5, a laptop has a better battery life than most at this price.

On average, it took me about six to seven hours of my daily workload. Not quite enough to get through a full day's work, but close.

It's not a Pixelbook Go – or even the current Lenovo Yoga C640 – but it should take you most of a working day. In our browsing test, I zeroed the battery through a selection of websites. The Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 lasted almost eight hours. Playing videos took a few hours longer, and I looped a video clip until it died.

Our opinion

The Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 is one of the cheaper Chromebooks you can buy. It is characterized by excellent performance, excellent battery life and solid build quality. The touchpad is not great, and neither is the screen. It's not a no-compromise laptop, but this $ 410 Chromebook is still one of the best laptops you can buy under $ 500.

Are there alternatives?

The 14-inch Asus Chromebook C425 is worth considering. It doesn't have such a powerful processor, but it looks impressive and only costs $ 443. The Google Pixelbook Go costs a little more, but it remains my choice for the best Chromebook you can buy.

If you're looking for a Windows laptop with a similar price tag, the Acer Swift 3 is a good choice. The $ 399 model is equipped with an 8th generation Intel Core i3 processor, 4 GB RAM and a 128 GB SSD.

How long it will take?

The Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 should last four or five years. Google extends software updates to older Chromebooks for many years. The warranty is a one-year limited warranty.

Should you buy it

Yes. If you are looking for a laptop under $ 500, the Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 is one of the best you can buy.

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




10 Jun
Blog

Lenovo Yoga C640 Review: The Ultimate Student Laptop?

Lenovo Yoga C640 Review C740 01

Lenovo Yoga C640 Review: The Ultimate Student Laptop?

"The Lenovo Yoga C640 is a killer value for students and budget laptop buyers."

  • Great battery life

  • Clean, portable design

  • Excellent ad for the price

  • Enormous value

  • Solid build quality

  • The keyboard is a bit flat

  • No Thunderbolt 3 port

You don't have to spend more than a thousand dollars on your next laptop. This is especially true if you are a student or a person who prefers office apps.

Lenovo apparently agrees, as its new Yoga C640 for $ 600 is specifically targeted at this target group. This is a very attractive price for a laptop that makes few compromises.

Unlike its adventurous predecessor, the Yoga C640 is a proven Intel laptop with a 10th generation Intel Core i3 processor, 8 GB RAM and a 128 GB SSD. Did Lenovo make the best laptop you can buy at this price?

design

The Yoga C640 has a fully aluminum construction that does not do justice to the low prices. There is a small piece of flex in the keyboard shelf and on the bottom of the case, and there is no flex on the lid. It doesn't quite match the build quality of some other Yoga models, like the much more expensive Yoga C930.

The lid can be opened almost with one hand, with only a little friction lifting the chassis floor off the surface of the desk. However, this is a 360-degree convertible 2-in-1, which means that the display changes from clamshell to tent, media and tablet modes. The tight hinge ensures that the display stays in place in all of these modes.

The Yoga C640 feels more elegant and modern than most $ 600 laptops.

Like many yogas today, the aesthetics are pretty conservative. It is a gray color in gunmetal without bling. There is no chrome stitch on the laptop, except for a small stain that surrounds the logo. It won't be noticed in a crowd, especially not compared to laptops like the Specter x360 13 from HP, the "Look at me!" Compared to the $ 650 Acer Swift 3 with its typical silver chassis, the Yoga C640 seems to me to have a more elegant and modern design. The same is true compared to the $ 560 HP Pavilion x360, which isn't as refined and slim as the Yoga C640.

The Yoga C640 is not the smallest 13-inch notebook. At first, the bezels are not huge, but not as small as the Specter x360 13 or the Dell XPS 13. This makes the case a bit larger than that of very small 13-inch laptops. However, the Yoga C640 is quite thin. It measures 0.67 inches thick, which is identical to the Specter x360 and only slightly thicker than the XPS 13. The Yoga C640 weighs 2.98 pounds compared to the HP at 2.88 pounds and the Dell at 2.8 pounds. Portability is comparable to these high-end laptops, although they are much cheaper.

The Yoga C640 receives the same type of privacy screen for the webcam that adorns the ThinkPad line. This is called TrueBlock Privacy Shutter and works similarly. Simply slide it over to physically block the webcam. I prefer the HP button on the Specter x360 13, which turns the webcam off electronically and hackers don't have anything in the system they can access if you want to turn off the 720p webcam.

Connectivity is mediocre even for a budget microlight. There are two USB-A 3.1 ports, a USB-C 3.1 port and a 3.5 mm audio jack. There's no Thunderbolt 3 port – not that we're expecting one for this price – and no microSD card reader, which is disappointing. Wireless connectivity is also a step back with Wi-Fi 5 (instead of the newer Wi-Fi 6 standard) and Bluetooth 5.0.

Keyboard and touchpad

If you like the typical Lenovo Yoga keyboard, you will love the Yoga C640. As always, it has a lot of space and a crisp mechanism. The trip is a little too flat for my taste, but I consistently hit about 90% of my usual 90 words per minute or so. I still prefer the keyboard of the HP Specter x360, and the new Magic keyboard of the latest Apple MacBooks is my absolute favorite.

Thanks to the Microsoft Precision touchpad drivers and a smooth and comfortable surface, the touchpad also works well. It's not a big touchpad, but it takes up most of the available space under the keyboard for a modern, efficient design.

As with all 2-in-1 devices, the display is touch sensitive and as precise as expected. Lenovo has added support for its active pen with 4,096 pressure sensitivity levels (the pen itself is an option for $ 69). This is acceptable at this price, and although I haven't had a chance to test the coloring on the Yoga C640, I suspect it will be as good as the rest of the Yoga line.

Windows 10 Hello login support without a password is provided by a fingerprint reader in the top right corner of the keyboard deck. It is very accurate and fairly quick – I never had to swipe again to log on to the Yoga C640. Once again, Lenovo has built a valuable feature into an affordable laptop.

display

One area where budget laptops are often neglected is the display quality. And that makes sense – manufacturers have to cut costs somewhere in order to fit in a cheap price range. After so much good news with the Yoga C640, I approached the display test with some concern.

As it turns out, I shouldn't have worried. According to my colorimeter, Lenovo chose an average display, that is, an average display for premium laptops. For a $ 600 laptop, it's excellent. The colors weren't particularly wide at 73% of AdobeRGB and 96% of sRGB, but they're suitable for everyone except the most demanding photo and video editors.

The contrast was very good at 1040: 1, which is above our preferred threshold of 1000: 1, and the color accuracy was excellent for an inexpensive laptop at 1.07 (anything below 1.0 is considered excellent). The ZenBook 13 UX333's display had slightly more colors and contrasts, but the Yoga's display was more accurate, even though creative people wouldn't like it. The brightness was her weak point at 242 nits. I like it when displays in brightly lit environments reach at least 300 nits for good graphics.

Still, the Yoga C640's display is comfortable for both productivity work and watching Netflix. The latter was made more pleasant by audio, which as usual had little bass, but was loud and clear and had clear mids and highs. You want to connect headphones to get the best music quality. However, you can flip the display and enjoy Netflix bingeing without having to worry about connecting an external sound.

performance

If you switch from the Qualcomm 650 ARM CPU of the C730 to an Intel Core processor, you can expect a leap in performance. The dual-core core i3 is the entry-level model in the current core product line from Intel and does not quite correspond to the four standard cores that you see in premium laptops. However, Windows 10 runs faster than an ARM CPU and doesn't give up compatibility with older desktop applications and peripherals.

I couldn't make a direct objective comparison between the two processors because not all of our benchmarks are run on ARM. I ran Geekbench 4 on the Yoga C640 and it doubled the performance of the Yoga C630 in the single-core test and was more than 30% faster in the multi-core test. With 4,670 single-core and 8,750 multi-core values, the Core i3 is far behind the next level of the core CPU, the Core i5, which achieved over 15,000 points in the multi-core test. A laptop like the Lenovo Yoga C740 equipped with the Core i5 is significantly faster with more demanding workloads and multitasking.

The Yoga C640 will be fast enough for office workers and students.

The Yoga C640 took almost 6.5 minutes to complete our handbrake test, which converted 4K video at 420MB to H.265. The Yoga C740 ended 2 minutes faster. Our previous low-cost laptop, the Asus ZenBook UX333, was completed around the same time with its 8th generation Core i5. Suffice it to say that this entry-level Yoga C640 is not suitable for heavy-duty applications.

While it's far from the fastest laptop I've tested, I found it fast enough for my usual work. For ordinary office workers and students, the Yoga C640 is fast enough to keep up with their work. Note, however, that you can upgrade to a 10th generation quad-core Core i5 and a 256GB SSD for just $ 170 more while keeping the laptop's budget and increasing performance and storage significantly. This is around $ 100 less than the comparable ZenBook UX333 (8th generation).

Note that if you are a player, this is not the right laptop for you. You're limited to Intel UHD graphics, which let you play older titles with lower resolutions and graphic details, but choke on modern things.

Battery life

Next is the battery life, the main strength of the predecessor of the Yoga C640. This year's model still has the same battery life of 60 watt hours and has a CPU that may be less efficient on paper. So I was looking forward to seeing how it was compared in our standard battery tests.

The results were fascinating. First, the Yoga C640 took around 3.5 hours in our demanding Basemark web benchmark test, which loads the CPU, an average score for a Windows 10 laptop. The Yoga C630 lasted almost 9 hours, a spectacular score. The benchmark was slower, but it shows that ARM CPUs can consume power even under stress. The ZenBook 13 UX333 took almost 5 hours to complete this test, making it a longer-lasting option for demanding jobs.

With a single charge, you can watch amazing videos on the Yoga C640 for 24 hours.

In our web browsing test, which is a good indicator of overall productivity longevity, the Yoga C640 took about 10.5 hours, an hour behind the Yoga C630. Again, the Yoga C640 did a good job on a Windows 10 laptop – for example, it surpasses the 8 hours of the Acer Swift 3 – but it's not in a completely different class. When I ran our video test, where a 1080p Avengers trailer was looped until the battery showed that the Yoga C640 shocked me. It ran just over 23 hours, the best score we saw in this test. This even exceeded the very expensive Dell Latitude 7400, our previous leader, by a full 80 minutes.

The bottom line: if you want to watch videos on the Yoga C640, you can do that for almost 24 hours, which is remarkable. When you do standard productivity work, you get a whole day of work with the laptop.

Our opinion

The Lenogo Yoga C640 is an excellent laptop for $ 600 and a very good budget option for $ 770 if you upgrade to a Core i5 and 256 GB of storage. It's well built, has great input options, offers good productivity performance and superior battery life for the price, and looks good too.

In fact, it is so good that it replaces the Asus ZenBook UX333 as our favorite affordable laptop. The fact that you get the flexibility of a 2-in-1 for less money is just the icing on the cake.

Are there alternatives?

The ZenBook UX333 is a competitive option if you only need a Clamshell laptop. Hopefully Asus will update it to 10th generation CPUs as it is limited to 8th generation parts.

If you can spend more money, the HP Specter x360 13 is a great 2-in-1 alternative. It's faster, has a better display option with its OLED panel, and is one of the hottest laptops ever.

If you are looking for a laptop with a 360 degree hinge, I recommend the HP Specter x360. It's small and nifty like the Dell XPS 13 and a little cheaper.

If you're a MacOS fan, you can consider the new MacBook Air. It's faster, has the superb Magic keyboard, and comes as close to the budget as you'll find in the Apple range.

How long it will take?

Thanks to up-to-date components and a solid construction, the Yoga C640 lasts as long as you need it. The only real limitation is the lack of Thunderbolt 3 support, but you can't expect this high-speed sport for just $ 600. As usual, the 1-year warranty is standard and disappointing.

Should you buy it

Yes. The Yoga C640 is an uncomplicated laptop set at an attractive price.

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




16 Apr
Blog

Lenovo Yoga Smart Tab Review: Flexible and Smart

Lenovo Yoga Smart Tab Rating 2 hands on 4 of 21

"As the name suggests, this Android tablet proves to be intelligent and flexible with many useful functions."

  • Built-in stand

  • You can hang it up

  • Works as a smart home hub

  • Google Assistant built in

  • The YouTube dashboard is broken

  • Unbalanced weight

The Lenovo Yoga Smart Tab is an Android tablet that really stands out from its competitors. It offers a number of useful functions in a 10.1-inch device, including a versatile stand, Google Assistant, Smart Hub functions and much more. Here you can see how intelligent the Yoga Smart Tab really is.

design

Yoga Smart Tab hangs on a wall

Where most tablets need outside help in the form of covers or stands, the Yoga Smart Tab is designed to do everything you need. It has a built-in stand that pops out to watch films at the push of a button and can be adjusted to the desired angle. It also has a support to make typing easier when it is on a flat surface. You can even hang it on a wall with the stand if ever needed.

Since there are speakers on one side of the tablet, holding is a bit cumbersome, especially in portrait mode, as it is heavier on one side than the other. It's also a bit chunky which made my arm tired. It weighs 581 grams. The Galaxy Tab S6 weighs 420 g and the Amazon Fire HD 10 504 g. That doesn't seem to make much difference, but if you hold a tablet in your hand for an hour or two, every little bit counts.

The 10.1-inch FHD IPS screen (1920 x 1200) is very clear and shows no major distortions when viewed from different angles. The colors are vivid and when looking at photos it almost seemed like I was looking at a high quality print.

software

The Yoga Smart Tab is smarter than a regular tablet because it has a special Google Assistant mode and a variety of skills. Opening the tablet stand automatically activates the Google Assistant environment mode. The tablet turns the constantly on display into an intelligent screen that shows the weather, your agenda, entertainment, memories and much more. Most tablets don't have environmental mode access, so this is a great additional feature.

I really like the ambient option because it's even more useful than your average Android tablet.

If you don't want all that jazz on your screen, you can also use the feature to turn your tablet into a photo frame or remote control for your Google Assistant-compatible smart home devices. I really like the ambient option because it is even more useful than the average Android tablet. In addition, it has 360-degree far-field voice recognition, so Google Assistant can hear you no matter where you are in the room.

Audio quality

Yoga Smart Tab speaker

Another feature that distinguishes the Yoga Smart Tab from other tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 is the fact that it has speakers on both sides of the screen. The two JBL HiFi speakers and Dolby Atmos support do a pretty good job.

If you turn up the volume all the way, it loses its quality.

The bass is nice as long as you don't want it to knock too hard or to listen at full volume. If you turn the volume all the way up, it loses quality. This can be a problem if you enjoy listening to YouTube videos on your tablet, although most tablets have this problem.

performance

Yoga smart tab screen

The Yoga Smart Tab also has a literal Smart Tab. You drag the tab to the right and a YouTube dashboard opens. While this is practical, it is also incorrect. Sometimes I wasn't able to play videos on the dashboard (I just saw the sinking circle of doom). However, when I opened the actual YouTube app, the videos played perfectly.

The screen's performance was excellent. Scrolling, navigating, and opening apps went smoothly without the lag you see on some tablets. However, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 processor and 4 GB of RAM, it's not a good choice for graphics-intensive games. Many 3D titles will stutter and hesitate.

The battery life on the tab is decent. It can take up to 11 hours if you only surf the Internet and offers up to 10 hours of video playback. This is comparable to the battery life of the Galaxy Tab S6.

Our opinion

The Lenovo Yoga Smart Tab may not be perfect, but it is a reliable, dual-purpose device that combines the smart display with a tablet. Thanks to its versatile stand and smart home hub functions, it is more useful than many tablets on the market. Otherwise, the screen and sound are on par with the competition. The only real downside is the unbalanced feel and extra weight when you hold the Smart Tab.

Are there any better options out there?

Perhaps. It just depends on your needs. If you're looking for an excellent Android tablet, the Galaxy Tab S6 is hard to beat. However, one thing that the S6 doesn't have is the Google Assistant environment mode feature. This means that it cannot be used as a hub for your smart devices like the Yoga Smart Tab. If the hub was not so interesting for you, you can choose the S6. If the price matters, the Yoga Smart Tab is around half the price of the S6 at around $ 300.

How long it will take?

The Smart Tab is very well made and I think it will go the distance because it is made of aluminum instead of just plastic. It also comes with a one year warranty.

Should you buy it

Yes, if you have many smart home products compatible with Google Assistant, this tablet is a good choice.

Editor's recommendations




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