Lenovo IdeaPad 3 Review (Testing + Comparison)

You must make some difficult choices if you’re looking for a cheap laptop. When comparing a sea of computers that all appear similar, it might be difficult to strike a balance between a limited budget and a feature set that mainly comprises the requirements. So, it’s a pleasant relief when you find a noteworthy cheap laptop like the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14. A full HD display, a durable frame, and a comfy keyboard are just a few features of this 14-inch laptop.

These features are all brought together by excellent performance and some unexpected pleasures for the price. It receives our most recent Editors’ Choice designation for low-cost Windows laptops.

So much for the characteristics of the IdeaPad 3 14; how does it compare directly to other laptops in its class? We tested the Asus VivoBook S14, the Dell Inspiron 15 (3511), the HP Pavilion x360 15, the more expensive Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 13, and the MSI Modern 14, our previous Editors’ Choice winner for the best budget laptop.

These machines’ CPU and GPU configurations are identical, and they all employ an Intel processor and graphics package. Therefore their performance levels are comparable.

Lenovo IdeaPad 3 Review

Design And Screen

The tiny 14-inch screen on the IdeaPad 3 has a 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution and is reasonably bright and clear. The viewing angles and maximum brightness aren’t particularly excellent, and the bezels around the display are bigger than those on the best laptops available, but this is a laptop that you need to judge in proportion to its price and the money it costs; we were extremely impressed.

The Lenovo IdeaPad 3’s display is reliable whether you’re surfing the web, writing an essay, or just relaxing and watching movies on your preferred video streaming service. Since it is so inexpensive, you wouldn’t expect a touchscreen to be included. While the 16:9 aspect ratio isn’t as good as 16:10 for papers and webpages, we discovered from a quick YouTube binge that it does work well for video content.

Of course, Lenovo has been around for a while, and that experience is evident in the IdeaPad 3’s sturdy construction and comforting feel. You get the idea that this laptop will endure forever because the screen hinge seems strong, and the exterior plastic casing feels tough. You won’t have to worry about it breaking in half, say if the youngsters manage to get a hold of it.

The Lenovo IdeaPad 3’s typing performance merits mention. Although it lacks a full-sized keyboard with a number pad, it is excellent: the key presses feel soft yet solid, the keys are evenly spaced, and the function keys at the top offer the normal selection of shortcuts (for volume, brightness, and so on). We can live without the lack of keyboard illumination because the trackpad feels robust and snappy despite being somewhat small.

The privacy barrier on the webcam directly above the monitor is another wonderful element that gives you further peace of mind once your day’s worth of video calling is through. You have several options for connecting peripherals and other devices to your laptop, including three USB-A ports, an SD card slot, an HDMI-out port for an external monitor, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

The Lenovo IdeaPad 3 appears to be the low-cost laptop that it is. It is a sturdy portable computer, but it’s also lightweight and easy to carry around the house or office at 1.6 kilos (3.5 lbs). This laptop hits the perfect spot between providing you loads of display to look at without sacrificing mobility unless you require something incredibly compact or a lot of screen real estate. Despite the inexpensive cost, we anticipate it will last you several years.

Performance

Our IdeaPad 3 review model was equipped with a 10th-generation Intel Core i3-1005G1 processor, which isn’t the best or fastest Intel chipset but is more than capable of doing several common computing chores.

Because of the laptop’s integrated Intel UHD Graphics G1 setup, graphically demanding operations like high-end image and video editing is out of scope. Still, it works just fine for the majority of computer-related jobs that the majority of us perform.

You wouldn’t want to try running Windows 10 on anything less than the 4GB of RAM and 128GB of SSD internal storage that the review device had, but you can get by with this configuration.

On the Lenovo IdeaPad 3, we tested web browsing, emailing, and playing media, and each task moved along at a respectable pace. However, if you try to overstuff the laptop with many open applications or browser tabs, you can experience issues.

It is important to note that the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 was exceptionally silent during our testing, with the fans only infrequently firing up when the laptop was under stress. Keep in mind that the computer ships with the restricted Windows 10 S Mode enabled; you can switch to the full version of Windows 10 for free in about a minute, but you lose some performance and security advantages.

The IdeaPad 3 generally performed smoothly and well when running applications and websites. The built-in Dolby audio system won’t be winning any prizes soon. Still, it’s better than you might anticipate for a laptop at this price and is more than sufficient for brief bursts of music or for the dialogue and sounds that accompany movies and TV shows. As a media player, the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 met our expectations.

If you’re willing to dim the screen, you’ll get more time between charges. We were observing a battery life of 3–4 hours with normal, undemanding use, but if you’re happy to dim it a little, you’ll get more time between charges.

This laptop won’t last all day without a power source, but it will work fine for a train ride or an afternoon at a coffee shop. Of course, other laptops have considerably longer battery lives, but they also cost more.

In our test, two hours of video streaming with the screen at its brightest reduced the battery’s capacity from 100% to 75%, indicating a total of 8 hours of video viewing if you don’t use the laptop. That’s not that bad at all, and if all you’re doing is viewing videos, you can get through the day.

Editor’s Rating:
4.5

Testing

PCMark 10, a benchmark test that replicates several Windows apps to provide an overall performance score for office operations, is the first benchmark test we run. A score between 4,000 and 5,000 on this test is unmistakably indicative of high achievement. The IdeaPad 3 14 separates from the pack and displays significant numbers, while most of the pack stays close to the centre.

We lacked sufficient data to include PCMark 10’s Full System Drive storage subtest, which gauges the boot drive of the laptop’s throughput and software load time. (That test cannot be performed on some low-cost laptops due to insufficient RAM or insufficient storage.)

The IdeaPad 3 14 was able to complete the test and received a score of 1,321, which, while not the best we have seen for an SSD-equipped laptop, is more than sufficient to outperform the current company in terms of productivity.

The next test involves transcoding videos using the HandBrake 1.4 app, an open-source program for changing multimedia files’ resolutions and formats. We don’t anticipate much from budget laptops on this score because they typically utilize inferior CPUs with fewer cores, which makes converting video files a CPU-intensive chore.

Even while you wouldn’t likely perform any major multimedia work on a cheap laptop, the IdeaPad 3 14 wouldn’t be a horrible option if you did. The IdeaPad 3 14 dominates the competition on this test, placing the VivoBook S14 in a distant second despite the 10-minute completion time.

We now transition to the Cinebench R23 benchmark, a multi-core test designed to put a processor’s cores and threads to the test while keeping CPU performance in mind. The IdeaPad 3 14 comfortably outperforms its rivals. Thus the six cores of the Ryzen 5 5500U come in useful.

Finally, the Geekbench test, another CPU stress test designed to mimic real-world activity, ends our productivity tests. Though slightly, the IdeaPad 3 14 has the highest ratings in this area. The 13-inch Samsung Galaxy Book Pro is within reach. Overall, in every productivity test, the IdeaPad 3 outperforms the opposition.

Product Comparison

Lenovo IdeaPad 3 Connect with ease using Bluetooth 4.1, up to 2×2 Wi-Fi 5, three USB ports, and HDMI, Keep your privacy intact with a physical shutter for your webcam. You’ll enjoy privacy right at your fingertips. VivoBook S14 has8GB DDR4 RAM and 512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD and Metal chassis and 16mm z height. Lenovo IdeaPad 3 is ideal because has great performance.

Final Verdict

The Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14 is a top-notch, high-performing cheap laptop. First and foremost, consider the cost of the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 before weighing any other factors. While we believe the screen and battery life could be improved, other factors such as overall usability, typing comfort, available connectivity, and the Intel Core processor inside the laptop give it high marks. You should put this on your shortlist if you’re looking for an inexpensive laptop.

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