This Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 is a performance device with features that will delight productivity, even though its battery life falls short of our expectations. Adobe Premiere-level graphical tasks. Other luxuries include a Thunderbolt 3 connector, facial & fingerprint biometrics, Dolby Atoms audio, and support for Wi-Fi 6. The IdeaPad Slim 7’s battery life fell a bit short of what we had hoped for, and despite being pleasantly small, the laptop’s conservative design won’t impress anyone.
The Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5 functions, seems, and feels like a high-end laptop with a low price tag since it is powered by an AMD Ryzen processor. Lenovo accomplished a lot with this laptop, from the look, adaptability, and performance of the convertible to the addition of a pen. The Lenovo Flex 5 is without a doubt among the best 14-inch laptops since it combines outstanding capabilities with a price that won’t break the bank.
Along with having a top-notch design and plenty of ports, the Flex 5 also has excellent thermals, keyboard, and gaming capabilities. The laptop’s Ryzen 5 4500U hexa-core processor speed, which turns this foldable into a super-powered device well capable of handling everything is thrown at it, deserves a lot of credit for its superb performance.
| Lenovo Ideapad Slim 7 | Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5 | |
| Display | 14.00-inch | 13.00-inch |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen | Intel Core i7 |
| RAM | 16GB | 16GB |
| Storage | 256GB SSD | 256GB |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon R7 M265 | AMD Radeon R7 M265 |
| Weight | 1.5 lb | 1.35 lb |
| Battery Capacity | 45mAh | 35mAh |
Design:
The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 lives up with a slim profile, but aside from a tiny “Lenovo” branding on the side, the lid of the laptop is made of metal and is slate gray in color. In other words, don’t anticipate the Slim 7 to attract any jealous glances. The lip along the top border of the lid, which makes it simpler to pry the laptop up with your fingertip, is still something we love. More of the same is seen when the lid is opened, with a glass trackpad and a slate-gray, spill-resistant keypad and palm rest. With a somewhat thicker bottom bezel, the 14-inch screen is encircled by relatively small side and top bezels.
The lid can open all the way to a 180-degree angle thanks to a long, flat hinge, which may be useful if you want to flip the screen for a slideshow and PowerPoint presentation. For this laptop, Lenovo chose a basic, elegant design, & the Flex 5 really nails it. Despite being entirely made of plastic and available in Graphite Gray to Diamond Gray, this foldable is strong and well-made. When you flip the cover open, the lid and base flex a little, offering a hint as to how cheap the laptop is, but not enough to cause you to become alarmed. Speaking of the lid of this laptop, if it isn’t handled carefully, the paint can start to chip a little. Lenovo equipped the laptop with feet made of rubber on the bottom for a more firm hold when set on a table.
The Flex 5 has strong 360-degree hinges that enable smooth switching between the convertible’s laptop, tent, stand, & tablet modes. The laptop’s glossy 14-inch screen is visible when you open the lid, and it is surrounded by bezels of a reasonable size. The laptop’s webcam is located in the top bezel. The chassis and palm rest of this device are thankfully made of soft-touch plastics, which greatly enhances the pleasure of using the laptop. Speaker grilles are arranged along the entire length of the robust, roomy keyboard deck. Additionally, a sizable Precision touchpad is present underneath the keyboard deck.
Display:
The Lenovo Slim 7’s 14-inch full-HD display, which has a brightness rating of 300 nits, appeared clear and bright to my eyes. While testing the laptop indoors, I often maintained the brightness setting down between 70 and 80 percent; turning the intensity up to 100 percent made the display uncomfortable bright. Although its shiny appearance made it difficult reading in bright sunshine, the display was still easy to see outdoors when covered by an umbrella.
The LCD (in-plane switching) display on the Slim 7 sports a display with a customarily wide viewing angle. When seen from the sides or above, the screen just very slightly darkens. I had minimal trouble reading the content in a Word document that was displayed on the screen, even when I was about 90 degrees away from it. The Lenovo Flex 5’s touch screen is the one significant gap in its defense. Regular users might not even notice or care, but creative users are going to find the Flex 5’s panel’s insufficient color rendition to be a little disappointing.
The lack of upgradeability choices on the laptop makes this situation much more desperate. With regard to image and video editing, the Flex 5’s FHD display reproduces only 62% of the pantone color spectrum & 46% of the Adobe RGB spectrum, which are not incredibly spectacular results. Additionally, the screen isn’t very bright (271 nits), which will present a significant functional difficulty in rooms with strong lighting.
Despite all of that, the contrast on this screen is fairly decent, and the viewing angles are consistent, making information visible from all directions. This leads us back to our original assessment, which was that while this screen performs admirably for routine computing chores, it falls short for jobs requiring the development of content.
Keyboard & Speakers:
The keyboard on the IdeaPad Slim 7 is comfortable to type on. Keystrokes feel quick and springy and the keys themselves have considerable of travel, making them ideal for frequent typists. Even better, your keyboard is rather silent so you won’t disturb others nearby. Hotkeys are also provided for the Calculator app, Task View, Windows 10 settings, airplane mode, mic mute, and Windows 10 setting Window lock. There are no hotkeys for media playback.
In general, Lenovo laptops have excellent keyboards, and this particular model is no different. The Flex 5’s keyboard is still rather good even though it falls short of the requirements set by that in the ThinkPad range. The illuminated keyboard provides a comfortable typing experience and is a major advantage in our book. The keys seem a little mushy, which we attribute to the slightly limited key travel, although they demand a significant amount of actuation power to register. The fingerprint reader positioned beneath the keyboard deck saves you from having to type credentials to access the laptop.
The touchpad, which is positioned below the mouse deck, is responsive to pre-programmed Windows navigation movements and is smooth and accurate in its tracking. However, occasionally when using it, we heard a rattling sound. The touchscreen on the laptop is also swift, accurate, and responsive, however it attracts a lot of fingerprints.
Ports:
When it comes to ports, the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 pretty much has them all covered, including (on the left side) a few that we hardly ever see at this price range: Thunderbolt 3 or a pair of 4K displays. A full HD port, a combo headphone jack, and a USB-C charging port are also located on the left side. A microSD card reader and two USB Super Speed 5Gbps Type-A connections are located on the right. We would have loved SuperSpeed 10Gbps, but let’s not get greedy.
Performance:
The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 delivered on our expectations for productivity power thanks to its quad-core Core i5 Ice Lake Chipset and discrete graphics. The Slim 7 excels at supporting multi-core CPU loads for extended periods of time and has adequate graphical power to satisfy content makers. It does Office and regular PC tasks with ease. Despite this, the IdeaPad Slim 7 performs better in terms of battery life and is more in the middle of the field when it comes to providing short spurts of power.
There are numerous options available for the Lenovo Flex 5. AMD Ryzen 5 4500U a processor, 8GB of RAM, & 256GB SSD are all included. There are several variants available in addition to this one that have an AMD Ryzen 7 CPU or an Intel Core i3 or i5 a processor, up to 16GB of RAM, and a maximum of 512GB SSD.
When fully equipped, the Lenovo Flex 5 is clearly overkill for typical computing work. The Ryzen 5 4500U microprocessor, outpacing the majority of its rivals and garnering remarkable scores. This convertible is a performance beast for everyday home and office tasks, and when we tested it out with more demanding tasks like video and image editing, 3D image rendering, gaming, & video transcoding, we were more than happy with the results and performance.
Battery:
Using the built-in Windows Movies & TV app, we loop a 4K video to test a laptop’s battery life. With headphones plugged in, we set the volume to 50%, the screen brightness to about 250 nits. The outcome here is decidedly mediocre for the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7. Although the laptop’s approximately 10.5-hour battery life seems impressive at first glance (keep in mind, however, that the battery will discharge considerably more quickly while CPU-intensive activities).
Lenovo claims that the 52 WH battery in the Flex 5 has a 10 hour battery life. That estimate is accurate, but only when the computer is performing activities that need little battery life, including online browsing and multimedia playback. Expect the laptop to last between 8 and 9 hours when constantly utilized for more difficult tasks. Everything suggests that this computer is a reliable all-day choice.
In addition to a touchscreen and speedier burst performance, we would have liked the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 to have a longer battery life. Even so, the IdeaPad Slim 7 offers an outstanding array of work capabilities for the money thanks to its Core i5 Ice Lakes CPU, discrete MX350 graphics, fingerprints and face biometrics, Thunderbolt 3 connector, and Atmos sound, provided you don’t mind doing without all-day battery life.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Does the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 advantage its cost?
The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 is appropriate for use in a classroom. It is extraordinarily portable and frivolous, and the building is acceptable. The model with the Ryzen 5 4500U microchip performs well for multitask and light productivity, and the battery lasts a full day of regular use.
Lenovo Flex 5 vs. HP Pavilion: Which is superior?
For the majority of uses, the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 is superior to the HP Pavilion. The Lenovo is built more robustly and has a softer keyboard and webcam.
The best Lenovo IdeaPad Flex, which one?
The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i is suitable for use in a classroom. Because of its light and thin construction, it feels sturdy and is portable. It includes a snappy touchpad, a comfy keyboard, and a sharp display with enough space for multitasking.