Summarized
The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 convertibles with AMD Ryzen 5 4500U hexacore or Ryzen 3 4300 quad core are fast and perform well even under long-term load. In addition, they have a good battery life and a screen with good viewing angles and a high contrast. Depending on the version, the screen brightness can be disappointing; because Lenovo uses different panels. The housing is made of plastic, but feels sturdy.
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Final verdict
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If you’re a staunch reader of our Laptop Best Buy Guides, you’ve seen Lenovo Yoga models regularly over the years. In that line, Lenovo offered interesting convertibles, which stood out for their good hardware at a relatively low price. Until last year, you could tell from the Yoga name that it was a flexible notebook with a screen that can be turned 360 degrees. This year Lenovo has changed its naming convention; there are now laptops that are called Yoga, but are not flexible. The manufacturer is now placing the affordable convertibles in its IdeaPad series, with the addition of Flex.
In previous years, Yoga laptops with an Intel processor were often the best choice. They had one better battery life than AMD variants. However, that was before AMD released its 7nm laptop processors. There are now and Lenovo is putting them in its Flex models, which are again attractively priced. We take a look at two Flex variants with AMD processor, one with a Ryzen 3 4300U quadcore and a version with a Ryzen 5 4500U hexacore.
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Housing and connections
The IdeaPad Flex 5 is about 21mm thick and weighs about 1.5kg. That makes it quite a bulky device for a 14 “convertible. This is partly due to the screen edges, which are not very thin at the top and bottom. An advantage of the somewhat thicker housing is that there is enough space for USB-A. ports.
Lenovo makes the Flex 5 models from plastic, with a matte finish. Only the Lenovo nameplates, which are located on the inside and outside of the case, are made of metal. Despite the use of plastic, the housing feels quite sturdy. The screen is not easy to warp and the housing around the keyboard only springs back when you press it hard. The hinges are fairly stiff, so you can place the screen firmly in all kinds of positions. Only at the back is an air outlet and the bottom has a grille through which the fan can draw in air.
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Lenovo provides the Flex 5 with three USB 3.0 connections, two of which are USB-A ports and one USB-C port. The USB-C connection can also be used to charge the laptop, although Lenovo does not include a USB-C charger. The supplied power adapter uses a proprietary connection. On the right is a full SD card reader and on the left you will find an HDMI port. That is an HDMI 1.4b connection, so a 4k screen cannot be controlled at 60Hz. This is also not possible via USB-C, because there is no support for displayport alt-mode.
At the top of the screen is a 720p webcam with a physical slide, so you can cover the camera. The speakers are incorporated next to the keyboard. They deliver a decent volume and are great for video calling, for example, but if you want to enjoy music or a good movie or series, then it is better to use headphones or external speakers.
Keyboard and touchpad
The keyboard has keys with the distinctive rounded shape found on many Lenovo laptops. The keys don’t have a lot of travel, but they do have a pleasant touch. You can easily type long pieces of text on it. The keys also have adjustable backlighting and the capslock key has its own LED, so you can see when it has been activated.
Lenovo provides the IdeaPad Flex 5 with a Precision Touchpad with drivers integrated in Windows 10. This makes multi-touch gestures work smoothly. The surface of the touchpad is quite smooth, which allows for precise control. The Ryzen 3 version does not have a fingerprint scanner; it is included in the more expensive models with Ryzen 5 processor. The scanner is then on the right, just below the arrow keys.
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