The latest Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5 has received remarkable upgrades that poses a question if it is a good choice for college students. Let’s find out everything about this notebook computer!

Quick Overview – Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5

Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5 brings a lot to the table at a mid-range Laptop. It has features like a fingerprint reader which has become essential to safeguard your data. While it comes with a basic graphic performance, you can invest in graphics cards. Many third party providers have provided upgraded versions at feasible pricing as well.

For the operating system, you get Windows 10 Home. It has quite a minimalist design with lack of bevels and more screen coverage. It utilized an SSD instead of a Hard drive disk, and came with Wi fi 6. As it is a 2 in 1 laptop, you can bend it or ‘flex’ it as you like. There is a backlit keyboard to further add to the user convenience. With USB C, you get extensive battery life with Ideapad Flex 5. According to Balwinder from SeaWallalife, Lenovo Flex 5 is considered a #1 choice for students within budget.

Display

Regardless of the model specifications, you get the standard 14 inch display size with Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 with touch display capabilities. However, for the 1080p IPS Display, it has a lower color gamut that one would expect. Thus, it isn’t the best in class for display, still gets the job done. It enables touch in tablet mode without compromising the screen size. So you get a bigger tablet in general.

So, for college students, it meets the requirements of entertainment through the media. There’s no slack in performance here. Although there are some laptops with 15.6 inch display, Ideapad Flex 5 14 inch display is quite sufficient.

Graphics Performance

Once again, if it is an Intel version, you get Intel UHD integrated graphics and Integrated AMD Radeon Graphics for AMD processors. However, it does support Nvidia GEforce 940mx.. So, you can get an upgrade in the future if you want to invest in the future.

If you’re a gamer, you can invest in these to increase the graphic output to become a mid-level gaming console.

Processor

Flex 5 offers multiple processor choices . However, it will impact the overall performance and specifications as well. From the older Intel Core i3 processor, you have an upgrade to at least 10th gen i5 processor. On the other hand, you have AMD Ryzen 3 4300u or AMD Ryzen 5 4500u processors.

As you have plenty of processor support, you easily get computing memory at around 2.4 Ghz, making it more than sufficient for multi-tasking that a student might require.

SSD Analysis

Lenovo Flex 5 does take a blow in the SSD capabilities. Almost every model comes with a 128GB SSD, but you can upgrade it up to 512GB SSD. It also comes with an SD Card reader to meet other storage requirements.

As we live in a world of cloud storage, even the low 126GB might suffice, unless you’re looking for extensive gaming.

Connectivity Options

You have access to 2×2 Wi-Fi (802.11 ax) and BlueTooth 4.2 with 2 USB-A Ports (USB 3.0), 1 USB Type C Port and HDMI. There is a 4-in-1 card reader and an audio jack.

Is The Lenovo Flex 5 A Good Laptop?

You can get almost everything done with this. It has around eight to 11 hours of battery life that works well for an entire college day. You can use it for web browsing, assignments, and studies. It can boost to be a high gaming and entertainment unit, if you desire. For a college student who is building their life as they go, it is quite a decent choice.

Which Is Better Lenovo Flex Or Yoga?

Lenovo Yoga is an old generation laptop that does put up a good fight compared to the standard Lenovo Flex 5 model, but loses. Lenovo Flex uses DDR4 ram while Yoga has DDR3 RAM, which is enough to put it behind. Lenovo Flex also comes with 8th Gen Core i5 or 10th Gen Intel Core i7 7500u while Yoga is stuck with 8th Gen Core i5 and 6th Gen i7. Additionally, Flex has a bigger screen. However, if you’re under budget, then Yoga can pack some higher storage specifications and much more at similar pricing like 512GB ssd instead of 128GB SSD of Flex.

Is Lenovo Flex 5 Touch Screen?

Yes, Lenovo Flex 5 comes with a touch display which enables users to use it in more than one manner. However, it seems that the touch is not best-in-class. It is better to use this laptop like a standard laptop for performance.

Is Lenovo Flex 5 RAM Upgradable?

Yes, as evident by the current upgrades, it is quite possible to upgrade the ram. The standard Lenovo Flex 5 came with 4 GB RAM, but it received an 8GB RAM With the latest model. More importantly, you can upgrade it up to 16GB without any problem, making it quite efficient in that process.

Bottom Line

The Flex 5 2 in 1 is quite a compelling choice with its minimalist and light design and a wide assortment of features. Whether you are looking for something in budget, or plan to go full-throttle with a mid-level laptop, it will suffice for any college student and even a professional. Thus, making it an overall good choice and value for money.

This is my favorite budget laptop.  great price on Amazon.  I like it because not only is it fast but you can add a second hard drive.  In the following article I will walk you through the upgrade.  

Starting at $400 with an Intel processor or $350 with an AMD chip, the 15.6-inch Aspire 5 is only 3.8 pounds (1.7 kg) and 0.7 inch thick (18 mm). That combination of size, weight and price, isn’t easy to find with a 15.6-inch display. By comparison, the Acer E 15 had the same screen size, but was more than 5 pounds (2.4 kg) and just over an inch thick (30 mm). It also started at roughly the same price and was similarly configured. You do lose things like an SD card reader, a VGA display output and a DVD drive, but chances are it’s only the card reader that matters to more people at this point, if anything.

The $530 configuration I tested, the A515-54-51DJ, bumps that base model’s processor from a dual-core Intel Core i3 to a quad-core i5, and doubles the memory to 8GB and storage to 256GB — well worth the extra money. And, if you’re able to spend about $100 more, you can get it with a new 10th-gen Core i5, entry-level Nvidia MX250 discrete graphics and a 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD. That’s a lot of performance for everything from day-to-day basics to simple photo and video editing to gaming on low to medium settings.

All the performance, none of the glory
Like any budget-friendly laptop worth its salt, Acer puts most of your money toward good internal components and not into things like an all-metal chassis or an ultrabright high-res touchscreen. For example, my Aspire 5 had a similar configuration to Lenovo’s premium Yoga C930 two-in-one. Performance is about the same between the two but the Yoga is twice the price. What’s more, you can pop the Aspire’s bottom off and add more memory or increase storage on your own, something fewer and fewer premium models will let you do.

The Acer is mostly plastic, though it’s capped with a thin sheet of aluminum to class it up a bit. Unfortunately mine ended up with a slight dent at the top of the display, which also made it a little too easy to peel the bezel off from around the screen (it snaps right back into place). That’s not likely to happen on a pricier model, but hey, it does make the Aspire more serviceable at least. My point is, the build quality is fine for what you’re paying, but don’t expect the durability of a premium laptop.