Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ITL05: Quiet, affordable office laptop

With the IdeaPad 3 15ITL05, Lenovo has a simple 15.6-inch office laptop in its lineup that doesn't make too much of a dent in the wallet with a price of just under 400 Euros (~$454). High-quality case materials shouldn't be expected at this price level. Unsurprisingly, Lenovo has opted for a plastic case (color: silver gray).

The built-in Core i3-1115G4 processor (Tiger Lake) provides enough performance for office and internet applications. It's supported by 8 GB of RAM (dual-channel mode; 4 GB module + 4 GB onboard). Expanding memory is possible. A 256 GB NVMe SSD in the M.2-2242 format serves as the system drive. Alternatively, M.2-2280 models can also be installed. In principle, the laptop still has room for a 2.5-inch storage drive. However, since our review sample doesn't come with a SATA slot, it's not possible to retrofit such a unit.

Lenovo has equipped the laptop with a relatively small-capacity battery (35 Wh). As a result, the runtimes aren't particularly impressive: With a WLAN runtime of just under 5:30 hours, the laptop clearly lags behind today's possibilities. The display (Full HD, IPS) scores points with a matte surface, stable viewing angles, and an acceptable color reproduction. However, brightness and color-space coverage need some improvement.

The IdeaPad 3 comes preinstalled with Windows 10 Home in S mode. Users should take advantage of the free upgrade to the full version of Windows 10 Home. Otherwise, only applications from the Microsoft Store can be used. Upgrading to Windows 11 is also possible.

Our review of the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ITL05 provides more information as well as many benchmark results.