At a look
Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Good CPU for the price
- Decent worth on sale
- A 2-in-1 at a standard laptop computer value (however solely on sale)
Cons
- Too costly at MSRP
- Display is dim and shiny
- Heavy and thick
- Speakers positioned improper for 2-in-1 mode
- Pen prices additional
Our Verdict
The Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1 is a 16-inch convertible PC that ought to have a decrease MSRP. If you catch it on sale, you possibly can rating an informal 2-in-1 expertise for a standard clamshell laptop computer value. But professionals in search of a critical drawing or note-taking expertise ought to look elsewhere.
Price When Reviewed
This worth will present the geolocated pricing textual content for product undefined
Best Pricing Today
Price When Reviewed
$1,099
Best Prices Today: Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1
The Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1 is a budget-focused 16-inch 2-in-1 PC — not less than that’s the pitch. You get a touchscreen and a 360-degree hinge so you possibly can watch Netflix in mattress, learn on it like a pill, and do different tablet-type duties. It prices round as a lot as a standard clamshell laptop computer, however provided that it’s presently on sale.
The pricing story is messy. This machine is okay on the $649 sale value I see it for proper now, however not on the $1,099 retail value Lenovo suggests. It does usually appear to be on sale, which is how the PC market goes: Retail costs usually really feel like they’re set excessive to offer the looks of additional worth when a laptop computer is often discounted.
At a sale value ($649 as I’m scripting this), the IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1 delivers stable worth. At full value, it doesn’t.
Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1: Specs
The Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1’s CPU is its finest {hardware} function. The Intel Core Ultra 7 255U CPU is quick for this class, and mixing it with 16 GB of LPDDR5x-8000 RAM is a brilliant transfer. This is extra CPU and quicker RAM than you’d usually see in a PC on this class.
The remainder of the {hardware} isn’t too spectacular. The Intel graphics listed below are gradual — far behind Intel’s extra spectacular Lunar Lake {hardware} and the graphics you’d discover on a Qualcomm Snapdragon X-powered ARM PC. And the NPU right here is simply too gradual for Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC options, so all of the discuss it “unlocking the power of AI” is generally advertising and marketing.
There’s additionally no Thunderbolt or USB4 right here, and the wi-fi {hardware} is restricted to Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2.
- Model quantity: Lenovo IdeaPad 5 2-in-1 16IAL10
- CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 255U
- Memory: 16 GB LPDDR5x-8000 RAM
- Graphics/GPU: Intel graphics
- NPU: Intel AI Boost (as much as 12 TOPS)
- Display: 16-inch 1920×1200 IPS show with contact display and 60Hz refresh charge
- Storage: 512 GB PCIe Gen4 SSD
- Webcam: 1080p webcam
- Connectivity: 2x USB Type-C (1x USB 5Gbps, 1x USB 10Gbps), 2x USB Type-A (USB 5Gbps), 1x HDMI 1.4b, 1x combo audio jack, 1x microSD card reader
- Networking: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
- Biometrics: IR digital camera for Windows Hello
- Battery capability: 57 Watt-hours
- Dimensions: 14.02 x 10.03 x 0.72 inches
- Weight: 4.41 kilos
- MSRP: $1,099 as examined
The Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1 is a laptop computer that solely is sensible when you notice the $1,099 MSRP isn’t its actual value.
Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1: Design and construct high quality
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
The 16-inch Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1 has a plastic backside and an aluminum high cowl. Available in Luna Grey or Cosmic Blue, it’s a traditional laptop computer design.
The greatest drawback is how heavy and chunky this machine is. With a weight of 4.41 kilos and a thickness of 0.72 inches, this isn’t the sort of 2-in-1 machine you’d wish to stroll round holding. If you’re watching Netflix in mattress and have it resting in your lap, I can see it. If you will have it mendacity flat in your desk, I get it. But it’s not a really moveable 2-in-1 expertise.
Aside from that, the construct high quality feels effective however not “premium.” The hinge feels stable. While there’s a little bit of flex to the keyboard deck when you press down on it (only a bit), that’s no shock because it’s plastic.
Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1: Keyboard and trackpad
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
The Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1 has a full-size keyboard full with a quantity pad and white backlighting. It’s serviceable, however key journey feels on the shallow aspect for a laptop computer with 0.72 inches of thickness. It jogs my memory of keyboards I’ve used on thinner laptops. I don’t know if I’d name it mushy, precisely, however it’s actually not snappy. If you do a number of typing and a crisp keyboard expertise is necessary to you, this most likely isn’t the laptop computer I’d suggest.
The trackpad feels a bit on the small aspect for a 16-inch laptop computer with a keyboard deck this massive, however it’s not far off. It’s a reasonably common trackpad. It’s responsive sufficient once I transfer my finger over it, however the click-down motion is on the loud aspect — I feel most individuals would like a quieter click on.
Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1: Display and audio system
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
The Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1 has a 16-inch IPS show with a 1920×1200 decision and a 60Hz refresh charge. For a 16-inch laptop computer that prices $649 on sale, that’s not too unhealthy.
Since this can be a 2-in-1 machine, it has a touchscreen. It additionally helps pen enter, however this machine does not embrace a pen. That’s bought individually.
The show could be very dim at as much as 300 nits of most brightness. That’s an issue because the coating is shiny to allow that contact display. This show could be very vulnerable to reflections, and it doesn’t have sufficient brightness to overpower them. In a vivid sunlit room (or, even worse, outside), the reflections shall be an issue. For Netflix in a darkish room, it’s not an issue.
I don’t usually obsess about shade accuracy in shows, however artists usually think about 2-in-1 machines for drawing. It’s price noting that this isn’t the kind of high-end show with fastidiously tuned shade accuracy that you simply’d need when you had been doing graphic design.
The audio system are loud sufficient, however there’s practically no bass right here. They don’t sound notably good. And that’s in clamshell mode! If you set this 2-in-1 PC in tent mode, the audio system shall be firing away from you. If you set it in face-down mode, the audio system shall be muffled. They’ll be firing into the floor underneath the PC. This machine seems like a clamshell laptop computer that Lenovo put a 360-degree hinge on. It wasn’t designed as a 2-in-1 for media.
Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1: Webcam, microphone, biometrics
The Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1 has a 1080p webcam, and it’s effective. It’s not a premium expertise. In my workplace, on a bright-but-cloudy day, even that pure lighting led to a loud image. The colours don’t look notably lifelike. It’s higher than the poor-quality 720p webcams I see on some funds laptops, nonetheless. It does have a bodily webcam shutter change, which is nice to see.
The microphone setup right here is nothing to jot down dwelling about, both. It works, and it does job of canceling out background noise. But it didn’t choose up my voice with notably crisp audio high quality. These are serviceable for on-line conferences, however not spectacular.
This machine does have an IR digital camera for Windows Hello, so you possibly can sign up together with your face simply by opening the laptop computer. That’s nice to see.
Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1: Connectivity
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
Connectivity-wise, the Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1 seems like a funds laptop computer. This machine has quantity of ports, however they’ve lower-tier specs. You don’t get any Thunderbolt or USB4 ports, and the HDMI port right here is HDMI 1.4b relatively than HDMI 2.1.
On the left aspect, this machine has an HDMI port and two USB Type-C ports together with a combo audio jack. On the correct aspect, it’s bought two USB Type-A ports and a microSD card reader. Since the laptop computer expenses by way of USB Type-C, meaning you’ll at all times be plugging the charging cable into the left aspect. A USB Type-C port on all sides would’ve been nicer.
The Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1 helps Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, which feels a bit dated. Qualcomm Snapdragon X laptops across the $1,099 value level (or much less) assist Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4, so it will be good to see Lenovo doing extra right here. I’ve seen extra laptops omitting Wi-Fi 6E assist and going for Wi-Fi 6.
Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1: Performance
The Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1’s energy is its CPU efficiency. It does really feel like Lenovo splurged on the CPU in comparison with the whole lot else on this machine. Perhaps they bought deal from Intel. In day-to-day desktop utilization, the IdeaPad delivers a handy guide a rough expertise.
As at all times, we ran the Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1 by way of our standard benchmarks to see the way it performs.
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
First, we run PCMark 10 to get an concept of total system efficiency. With an total rating of 7,058, the Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1 machine delivered stable efficiency and didn’t carry out like a funds laptop computer. That’s stable for $649 and table-stakes for $1,099. The pricing recreation makes this machine tough to evaluate.
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
Next, we run Cinebench R20. This is a closely multithreaded benchmark that focuses on total CPU efficiency. It’s a fast benchmark, so cooling underneath prolonged workloads isn’t an element. But, because it’s closely multithreaded, CPUs with extra cores have an enormous benefit.
With a Cinebench R20 multi-threaded rating of 4,787, this machine beat Intel Lunar Lake-powered machines just like the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 and the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1. Lunar Lake methods are extra energy environment friendly, have a lot greater efficiency, and so they can really run Windows 11’s Copilot+ PC AI options. But they battle with multithreaded efficiency as a result of Lunar Lake’s decrease core rely.
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
We additionally run an encode with Handbrake. This is one other closely multithreaded benchmark, however it runs over an prolonged interval. This calls for the laptop computer’s cooling kick in, and plenty of laptops will throttle and decelerate underneath load.
This machine accomplished the encode course of in 1,348 seconds, which is about 22 and a half minutes. It’s an inexpensive outcome, however this machine isn’t a pace demon in comparison with high-end laptops, simply stable for its class.
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
Next, we run a graphical benchmark. This isn’t a gaming laptop, however it’s nonetheless good to examine how the GPU performs. We run 3Dmark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU efficiency.
With a 3DMark Time Spy rating of two,439, the built-in Intel graphics right here didn’t impress. That’s a disgrace, as it will make this machine extra helpful for gentle gaming. The spectacular Intel Arc graphics present in Lunar Lake machines haven’t made their option to different Intel methods but.
Overall, the Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1 delivered stable efficiency for a $649 laptop computer however not what you’d wish to see on a $1,099 laptop computer. Whether you’ll be pleased with it depends upon how a lot you paid.
Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1: Battery life
The Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1 has a 57 Watt-hour battery, which is on the low aspect. Battery life is okay, however not notably spectacular for a laptop computer in 2025.
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Steel on repeat on Windows 11 with airplane mode enabled till the laptop computer suspends itself. We set the display to 250 nits of brightness for our battery benchmarks, which meant cranking the brightness approach up. This is a best-case state of affairs for any laptop computer since native video playback is so environment friendly, and actual battery life in day-to-day use is at all times going to be lower than this.
The Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1 lasted for 619 minutes on common earlier than suspending itself. That’s a bit underneath 10 and a half hours. A bigger battery would give this machine extra endurance, however this machine is already so heavy, and a bigger battery would additionally make it heavier — that’s not excellent.
Many 2-in-1s are designed to be light-weight moveable machines with lengthy battery life to allow them to be used as tablets for drawing. This machine delivers cheap battery life, however it’s not going to maintain going and going like fashionable 2-in-1s with Intel Lunar Lake or Qualcomm Snapdragon X CPUs.
Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1: Conclusion
The Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1 is a laptop computer that solely is sensible when you notice the $1,099 MSRP isn’t its actual value. That full value is foolish.
At $649, you’re getting a 16-inch 2-in-1 machine with a 360-degree hinge for not rather more than a standard 16-inch clamshell laptop computer. You can have the 2-in-1 expertise and even take pleasure in pen enter when you purchase a pen individually.
But the show, weight, battery life, and lack of an included pen imply this isn’t a 2-in-1 expertise supposed for artists who care about critical shade replica. It’s additionally not for staff who desire a pen-friendly gadget they will carry round all day.
It’s respectable as an informal 2-in-1 expertise. However, the place of the audio system is an actual drawback. This machine could also be good for video streaming in convertible mode, however you’ll need headphones to listen to what you’re watching.