Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i review: A deceptively good deal

Price When Reviewed

$829

Best Prices Today: Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i is a funds 16-inch laptop computer you would possibly discover for beneath $500. With a good CPU, an aluminum chassis, a 1TB SSD, and 16GB of RAM, it’s a superb worth at that value. However, the complete MSRP is supposedly $829. If you see this laptop computer at its full retail value, it doesn’t make as a lot sense. As I’m wrapping this evaluate up, you may get it for $429.

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: Specs

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i has an Intel Core 5 210H CPU. I’m not an enormous fan of those chips, which I see popping up on plenty of laptops currently. These are primarily based on Intel’s older Raptor Lake structure and so they use extra energy and run hotter.

They lack the neural processing unit present in newer Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm Snapdragon X chips, so you possibly can’t get these Copilot+ PC AI options Microsoft is spending a lot time on. It additionally has a really gradual built-in GPU that comes far behind what different fashionable laptops are able to, so this machine isn’t perfect for even informal gaming.

This machine’s 16GB of RAM feels nice on the $429 mark. The 1TB solid-state drive additionally feels extraordinarily beneficiant at that low value level. Lots of laptops are dearer and have smaller SSDs.

• Model: Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i 16IRH10R
• CPU: Intel Core 5 210H
• Memory: 16GB DDR5-5600 RAM
• Graphics/GPU: Intel Graphics
• NPU: None
• Display: 16-inch 1920×1200 IPS show with 60Hz refresh price
• Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD
• Webcam: 1080p webcam
• Connectivity: 2x USB Type-C (USB 5Gbps), 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 facial recognition
• Battery capability: 60 Watt-hours
• Dimensions: 14.03 x 9.87 x 0.67 inches
• Weight: 4.08 kilos
• MSRP: $829 as examined ($429 on sale)

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: Design and construct high quality

Foundry / Chris Hoffman

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i has stable construct high quality. This machine has an aluminum chassis — no plastic — which makes it really feel unexpectedly premium for a funds laptop computer. At 4.08 kilos, it’s slightly on the heavy aspect, however it’s a 16-inch machine.

Our evaluate mannequin got here in a “Luna Gray” colorway, and it’s a really normal Lenovo laptop computer design with good rounded edges. It seems to be good, and using steel as an alternative of plastic means there’s no bizarre creaking or flex right here.

The machine’s hinge feels extraordinarily stable, a lot in order that I want two fingers to open the laptop computer correctly. It doesn’t transfer round as I kind on it. The chassis feels designed and manufactured with extra care than producers usually put into laptops that value lower than $500.

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: Keyboard and trackpad

Foundry / Chris Hoffman

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i has a full-size keyboard with a quantity pad, and it feels affordable to kind on. It’s not the snappiest keyboard, the keys really feel slightly “rubbery” after they backside out. But I can kind quick on it with none downside, and there’s good typing suggestions.

This machine’s trackpad is affordable, though it’s maybe a tad on the small aspect for a 16-inch laptop computer. The floor is responsive to slip your finger over. The click-down motion is a tad loud — not perfect when you’ll be clicking your trackpad in a quiet room with different folks round — and it doesn’t really feel as satisfying as trackpads with clickier, crisper motion. But it’s an inexpensive trackpad, particularly for a sale value round $429.

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: Display and audio system

Foundry / Chris Hoffman

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i has a 16-inch IPS show with a 1920×1200 decision. It’s good and massive and appears tremendous, though it received’t blow your thoughts. It has a regular 60Hz refresh price, which is nothing unusually quick.

At as much as 300 nits of brightness, this show is on the dim aspect. Thankfully, as a result of this isn’t a contact display, this machine has a matte show and never a shiny one. This makes it extra proof against reflections — 300 nits of brightness on a shiny show is an actual downside in difficult lighting situations, however 300 nits on a matte show isn’t as unhealthy. Still, this isn’t the perfect machine to be used outside or in brilliant daylight given the low most brightness.

This machine’s audio system are loud sufficient, however they’re flat and the audio isn’t wealthy. There’s little or no bass, even for laptop computer audio system. I like to recommend headphones or exterior audio system.

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i has a 1080p webcam. It’s slightly noisy, and it made me look pale and never notably lifelike in a sunlit room on a cloudy day. While it’s higher than the 720p webcam you discover on many cheaper laptops, it’s not notably spectacular. It does have a bodily webcam shutter swap, which is nice to see.

The microphone setup on this machine is okay. It has good noise cancelation, however the speech it picked up was muffled. It’s usable for video conferences, nevertheless it’s not notably high-end.

This machine has an IR digital camera for Windows Hello, so you possibly can signal into your PC along with your face simply by opening your laptop computer. It doesn’t have a fingerprint reader.

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: Connectivity

Foundry / Chris Hoffman

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i has variety of ports. On the left aspect, this machine has two USB Type-C ports (USB 5Gbps), a combo audio jack, and an HDMI 1.4b port. On the appropriate aspect, it has two USB Type-A ports (USB 5Gbps) and a microSD card reader slot.

This laptop computer costs through USB Type-C, so that you’ll at all times be plugging the charging cable in on the left aspect.

The ports are on the decrease finish by way of specs: You don’t get Thunderbolt or USB4 right here, and that is HDMI 1.4b as an alternative of HDMI 2.1. This is okay for $429, however not perfect at $829.

This machine helps Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. There’s no assist for Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 7, or newer variations of Bluetooth right here.

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: Performance

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i delivered tremendous efficiency in desktop apps: Web browsers like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, productiveness instruments like Word, and media apps like Spotify. While the Intel Core 5 210H relies on a considerably dated structure, it’s fashionable sufficient. And most fashionable CPUs at the moment are fairly snappy, particularly when paired with an SSD and 16GB of RAM.

We ran the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i by our standard benchmarks to see the way it performs in additional element.

Foundry / Chris Hoffman

First, we run PCMark 10 to get an thought of general system efficiency. With an general PCMark 10 rating of 5,697, the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i is slower than higher-end laptops however put up good numbers towards the Acer Aspire Go 15, a machine I assumed was a superb worth.

At its present value as I’m ending this evaluate, the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i matches the Acer Aspire Go 15’s sale value. It’s a greater decide if you could find it on sale — with a sooner CPU and higher efficiency.

Foundry / Chris Hoffman

Next, we run Cinebench R20. This is a closely multithreaded benchmark that focuses on general CPU efficiency. It’s a fast benchmark, so cooling beneath prolonged workloads isn’t an element. But, because it’s closely multithreaded, CPUs with extra cores have an enormous benefit.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i racks up a multithreaded Cinebench R20 rating of 3,849. That’s far forward of the Acer Aspire Go 15, a machine I assumed was an important deal. You don’t want this sort of multithreaded efficiency for light-weight pc use, so this machine will ship extra efficiency than many want for a funds laptop computer.

Foundry / Chris Hoffman

We additionally run an encode with Handbrake. This is one other closely multithreaded benchmark, nevertheless it runs over an prolonged interval. This calls for the laptop computer’s cooling kick in, and plenty of laptops will throttle and decelerate beneath load.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i accomplished the benchmark course of in 1,703 seconds, which is over 28 minutes. That’s undoubtedly on the slower aspect in comparison with many laptops, however this machine isn’t designed for lengthy CPU-heavy duties.

Foundry / Chris Hoffman

Next, we run a graphical benchmark. This isn’t a gaming laptop, nevertheless it’s nonetheless good to verify how the GPU performs. We run 3DMark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU efficiency.

With a 3DMark Time Spy rating of 1,181, this machine won’t be appropriate for light-weight gaming or skilled apps that use the GPU. This older Intel built-in graphics may be very gradual.

Overall, the Lenovo IdeaPad 5i delivered spectacular efficiency for a $429 value and middling efficiency for a $829 machine. The most important downside would be the GPU efficiency, so chances are you’ll need to keep away from this machine if you wish to play video games.

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: Battery life

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i has a 60 Watt-hour battery. That’s not the most important battery, and this Intel Meteor Lake-based Core 5 210H chip isn’t essentially the most environment friendly CPU. While battery life is okay, it received’t essentially get you thru a workday.

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 this show’s brightness manner up. This is a best-case situation 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 Slim 5i lasted 636 minutes on common earlier than suspending itself — that’s about ten and a half hours. It’s not horrible. But, since real-world use the place you’re utilizing apps and connecting to the web will probably be decrease, this machine will possible not be capable to make it to the 8 hour mark for most individuals. Plan to plug it in recurrently.

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i: Conclusion

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i is an effective funds laptop computer. There’s nothing notably unhealthy right here — other than the GPU efficiency — and a few components of the expertise are legitimately nice. For a funds laptop computer, an aluminum chassis, 1 TB SSD, and Core 5 210H CPU is unbelievable. At a $429 value level, it’s glorious.

But is that this actually a $429 laptop computer? Laptop producers need to have it each methods. They usually set a excessive MSRP to allow them to promote a machine at a deep low cost, making it appear to be an particularly whole lot. But then they need reviewers to evaluate the machine at its sale value and never its really helpful retail value.

The actuality is that B&H Photo Video’s web site says there’s a “limited supply” on the $429 value and that it’s a “holiday savings” value, so you may even see a a lot greater value sooner or later once you learn this evaluate.

The backside line is that the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i is a wonderful laptop computer for beneath $500, however it is best to in all probability look elsewhere at $829.