The Lenovo Flex 5 15 81CA0008US is a new 2 in 1 convertible laptop that has the potential to become your main computer. And while still being budget friendly, the 2017 Flex 5 brings quite a few improvements over last year’s model, including an 8th generation Intel processor, and a solid state drive.

Design and Features

The Lenovo Flex 5 15 has a clean modern look, with a chassis that mixes polycarbonate, plastic and aluminum.  Although the design does not scream premium, the device is built solidly. The Lenovo Flex 5 has a thickness of 0.8 inch, and weighs 4.4 pounds. Lenovo did a good job in reducing the screen bezels, which helps reduce the dimensions of this 15 inch laptop. The Flex 5 can be a good companion if you need a laptop that you can carry around easily.

The Lenovo Flex 5 has 360 degrees hinges, and you can flip the screen around to use the laptop as a tablet. But unless you have very strong arms, you won’t find yourself using the Flex 5 in tablet mode very often, as this laptop has a 15.6 inch screen and weighs more than 4 pounds.

The touch pad on the flex 5 has a great size and very good sensitivity. The flex 5 also comes with a backlit keyboard, which strangely does not come with a numeric keypad as Lenovo usually does on their 15 inch models. However, the typing experience is smooth and the keys have a decent travel distance.

As for ports, the flex 5 has 2 USB 3.0 (with one port that supports charging ability), 1 USB type C, HDMI, card reader and a combo headphone jack. The Flex 5 also comes with a fingerprint scanner, which a cool feature to have with Windows Hello.

Screen and Audio

Lenovo equipped the Flex 5 a gorgeous 15.6 inch IPS screen, with a resolution of 1920X1080 pixels (UHD display versions also available). If you’re looking for a laptop with an IPS screen that offers great colors and generous viewing angles then the Flex 5 is a very good choice. Having an IPS panel is particularly important if you need a laptop for graphic design or for multimedia purposes. It has a glossy finish however, which helps protect the panel, but it’s not very good for using outdoors because it’s prone to reflections.

When it comes to the audio department, the Flex 5 has two speakers underneath the chassis. The sound quality is very good, and the fact that the speakers are located at the bottom helps amplify the sound if the laptop is sitting on a hard surface.

Performance and battery life

The Flex 5 takes advantage of Intel’s latest 8th generation Core i5-8250U Processor, together with 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB solid state drive. The i5-8250U processor has a score of 7572 on CPU benchmark, and has a base clock speed of 1,6Ghz, but can go up to 3.4 GHz for applications that need more power. Using the laptop while having 20 tabs open in Google chrome shouldn’t be a problem on the Flex 5. The RAM is also upgradable up to 16GB. The reviewed Flex 5 model comes with Intel UHD 620 integrated graphics, and thus has no ambition in being a gaming computer. You can however get the Flex 5 with an Nvidia GT 940MX, which is an entry level graphics chip for light gaming.

Battery life is within the category average, and Lenovo promises about 8 hours of use.

Lenovo Flex 5 specifications:

Processor: Intel Core i5-8250U
Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620
Memory: 8GB (Up to 16GB DDR4 at 2,133MHz)
Single storage: 256 GB, SSD
Screen resolution: 1,920 x 1,080 Touch (IPS)
Audio: 2x speakers
Connectivity: Wireless AC 1×1 ( + Bluetooth 4.1)
Ports: 1x Headphone / Microphone combo
1x HDMI 1.4a
2x USB 3.0
1x USB Type C
1x SD card reader, Fingerprint reader
Cameras: 720p webcam
Backlit keyboard: Yes
Battery: 52.5Wh, 8 hours
Dimensions:
(in inches)
0.78 x 9.72 x 14.33 (inch)
Starting weight: 4.4 pounds (15.6 inch)
Color: Onyx Black

 

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