Lenovo IdeaPad | Flex 5 14-inch Lenovo Laptop: The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 is much higher than its weight. This $600 2-in-1 convertible laptop provides better computing than many competing customers. It also boasts excellent hardware connections, a robust frame, and a comfy keyboard. Although the 14-inch Flex 5 display could be brighter and drop a few ounces, it certainly provides an excellent screaming value and a fantastic computer.
Lenovo IdeaPad | Flex 5 14-inch Lenovo Laptop
More Versatile Than A Clamshell
The 360-degree Flex 5 is flexible compare to the usual palpable laptop. By plying the hook to 180°, the notebook is like a tent, it’s like stainless steel, or even it is entirely flat to fold and use as a tablet on the keyboard section.
Flex 5 does not have this versatility. Lenovo has been a pioneer in 2-in-1 convertible laptops and offers a few laptop models of this kind at different price levels. However, as a 360° hinge needs to be robust, it often leads to a thicker chassis. Usually, the cheaper convertible which Lenovo and many other laptop manufacturers sell. The Flex 5 is 8.6 inches (HWD) in weight and measures 0.82 by 12.7 to 3.3 pounds, making it slightly unportable.
Some premium 2-in-1 designs, like the 13.3-inch HP Elite Dragonfly (2.2 pounds) and the 13.4-inch Dell XPS 13 2-in-1, are substantially smaller and lighter (2.9 pounds). However, these are significantly more expensive than the Flex 5—often around $1,500 for a moderately powerful configuration. That is why the Flex 5 is so intriguing to customers looking for a workhorse laptop. By increasing your thickness and weight by just a few ten-inch, you can save a lot of money and receive a lot of computer power for your work.
Chassis Design
Aside from a more relax chassis design, the Flex 5’s fourth-generation AMD Ryzen “Renoir” CPU options allow it to deliver such a strong balance of pricing and performance. Our evaluation device includes a 2.3GHz AMD Ryzen 5 4500U processor with an AMD Radeon graphics processor integrate, 16GB of RAM, and a 256GB solid-state drive. The Ryzen 5 4500U benchmarks comparably to many Intel Core i7 CPUs in more costly laptops. Thanks to it for six dedicated processor cores (multi-threading is not enabled on this chip’s cores). It’s a significant step forward for mobile computing.
Flex 5 can be configured for even more power with an 8-core Ryzen 7 4700U processor. As an optional upgrade, Lenovo provides a larger 512GB SSD. The most expensive Flex 5 setup is still only $800.
This laptop is so cheap that our review configuration, which is only available on Amazon. That is continuously sold out at the time we wrote this. Aside from the outstanding bargain, coronavirus-related manufacturing delays, and general problems around. that debut of a new CPU family are likely to have contributed to the Flex 5’s propensity to be out of stock. It’s worth considering one of the Lenovo.com configurations if you can increase your budget by or above $100, which is still fantastic prices and may be more readily available.
A Soft-Touch Chassis with A Lot of Connectivity
The chassis of the Flex 5 is a little bulky, but it’s not unsightly. Lenovo employs a one-of-a-kind soft-touch plastic coating on the sides and keyboard deck, making the laptop comfortable to hold. In addition to its rival Lenovo’s mainly silver designs, the Graphite Grey color scheme is particularly fascinating and makes the computer darker and more comfortable. If you prefer a lighter hue, the Flex 5 is also available in Platinum Gray.
The laptop can charge via the USB-C connector. Also, Lenovo offers an AC adapter with a USB-C socket, making the particular power port obsolete. There is only one USB-C connector available on the laptop; it would be worth asking if you could instead replace the AC-style barrel adaptor. Thus, while using the USB-C ports, you can charge the computer.
USB 3.1 Gen
There are USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A ports on the right edge, which is a rare occurrence on ultraportable laptops these days, and handy for connecting one of the multiple devices that have not yet been converted to USB-C. An SD full-size card reader is also available on the right, along with the power button Flex 5. Lateral power buttons are much easier to use if the laptop is supplied like a stacker but don’t push the controller in a coincidence when holding the Flex 5 on its sides.
Wireless connectivity is available via Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.2. The most recent Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) standard is not supported. However, it is not required for a laptop in this price range. The 802.11ac standard is more than enough for most household Wi-Ficonfigurations.
The brighter Screen on The Flex 5
Aside from the very bulky chassis, the Flex 5’s main notable drawback is its screen, which has a somewhat weak backlight certified for only 250 nits of brightness. So to watch in a daylight-lit living room, I had to crank the screen brightness up to maximum. The display is suitable for darkened homes, but it may be less visible in well-lighted places, such as offices.
The display is a full HD (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) IPS touch screen that accepts Lenovo Digital Pen input. The pen, an optional accessory, has 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity and two configurable buttons, unlike the integrated digital cells offered with premium 2-in-1. Lenovo Yoga C940 and Samsung Galaxy Book Flex make it a full digital stylus. Integrate cells are significantly thinner and less comfortable for long sketching sessions. But they are considerably less likely to misplace because they are store and recharge in a built-in slot.
HD Webcam
Above the Flex 5’s screen is an HD webcam with a fixed-focus lens that shoots 720p video. Unfortunately, in my tests, the image quality was pretty noisy and occasionally washed out, which is standard for laptop webcams. At the same time, the camera lacks infrared sensors for facial recognition. Also, it does include a built-in physical privacy shutter for added peace of mind when not in use. Finally, to avoid using tedious passwords, You can use a keyboard fingerprint reader instead of face recognition to log into your Windows account.
The illuminated keyboard’s key switches are remarkably stable, resulting in a comfortable and enjoyable typing experience. It’s based on Lenovo’s premium ThinkPad keyboards, with a few minor tweaks. The Ctrl key is the left of the Fn key in the lower-left corner, rather than the other way around. The left & right arrow keys are full-height, while the up and down arrow keys are half-height. The touchpad is a tad hard for my liking, but it tracks well.
The two 2-watt stereo speakers provide sufficient audio quality for Skype conversations. Unfortunately, when using the Flex 5 in “A”-frame or tablet mode with the keyboard deck facing away from you, sound may be deflected and silenced due to the massive speaker grilles surrounding the keyboard. However, due to the Flex 5, Lenovo includes a one-year guarantee and mail-in (rather than on-site) support to handle issues.
The Flex 5’s Main Strength is Computing Muscle.
Computing performance is rarely one of the essential qualities of an ultraportable laptop, especially one at a reasonable price. Even the most costly ones have enough power to handle basic chores like web browsing. But they are rarely up to complicate jobs like 3D gaming or video processing. The Flex 5 is an exception, thanks to its Ryzen 5 processor and Radeon graphics. The majority of its competitors, including the Asus VivoBook S15, the Lenovo Yoga C640. Also, the Lenovo Yoga C740 features Intel Core i3 or Core i5 CPUs. The detachable hybrid tablet Microsoft Surface Go 2 is powered by an even more modest Intel Core m3 processor.
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