The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i stands out as a dependable, swift, and sturdy 2-in-1 laptop considering its cost. The version we examined was priced at $900 (N810,000), a truly advantageous deal given its noteworthy performance, reliability, and adaptability. In addition, its appearance exudes a more premium quality than its actual price tag suggests.
Despite belonging to Intel’s 13th-generation lineup, the current, and sporting one of Intel’s slower mobile processors, the IdeaPad Flex 5i manages to keep pace with the rapid previous-generation i7 H-series chips from Intel. Furthermore, this laptop offers a comprehensive array of ports to cater to your practical needs.
Of particular note is the impressively responsive touchscreen, a critical aspect of any 2-in-1 laptop. Although the screen’s brightness fell a bit short of our expectations, this only becomes problematic in terms of glare when used outdoors on exceedingly sunny days.
For a richer, more layered audio experience, resorting to headphones is recommended; the Flex’s speakers produce a tinny and comparatively lower sound output when contrasted with something like a 5th-generation iPad Air.
Specifications
- Price as configured: $900 (N810,000)
- Processor: Intel Core i5-1335U, 10-core/12-thread (2 performance, 8 efficient) ), max clock speed 4.60GHz
- Graphics: Intel Iris Xe (80 EUs)
- RAM: 16GB LPDDR4 4267MHz (Soldered)
- Storage: 512GB PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 2242 SSD
- Display: 14-inch (1920 × 1200), 60Hz, IPS LED-backlit touchscreen with stylus support
- Ports: 1 x Thunderbolt 4, 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x 3.5 mm headphone jack, 1 x SD card slot
- Connectivity: Wireless Wi-Fi 6 2×2 AX, Bluetooth 5.1
- Battery: 3-cell, 52.5Wh
- Weight: 3.1 pounds
- Dimensions: 12.3 × 8.9 × 0.69 inches
- Warranty: 1-year courier or carry-in
- Special features: Windows Hello fingerprint reader
Good battery life
The Flex 5i employs a 52.5Wh battery, a size that might be considered small, but it aligns with the average for a 14-inch laptop. In terms of its longevity on a single charge, it competes favorably with laptops of comparable size and price, such as the Acer Aspire Vero.
In our assessment, the laptop remained functional for 7 hours and 49 minutes, allowing you to get through almost an entire workday without needing to plug it in. Naturally, in real-world usage, you’d seldom need to go this extended period without at least closing the laptop or placing it in sleep mode.
While the battery life might not appear impressive if you intend to use the laptop unplugged frequently, there’s a positive aspect: the Flex 5i incorporates Rapid Charge Boost. This feature can grant you an additional two hours of battery life with just a 15-minute charge. Based on our observations, this functionality seems to deliver on Lenovo’s claims, though your actual battery performance will be influenced by your specific activities.
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