Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKBRN (8250U, MX150, FHD) Laptop Review

Wireless communication is taken care of by the Wi-Fi module Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377, which also supports Bluetooth (4.1). According to its specifications, its maximum gross transfer rate is 433 MBit/s. During our measurements, the Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKB reached an average rate of 325 MBit/s (sending) and 294 MBit/s (receiving). This means that we did not measure a rise in performance compared to the device's predecessor. If you want to transfer a lot of data, you had better use the Ethernet port. This offers a maximum of 1000 MBit/s and is a lot faster.

The Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKB is equipped with a fingerprint sensor, which is integrated into the right side of the wrist rest. After a quick set-up, you can use your fingerprint to log in to Windows. The device also features a Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0) and a space reserved for a Kensington Lock.

The Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKB is equipped with a 6-row chiclet keyboard (no backlighting), which is worked into the top of the base unit. The keys are nicely sized at 16 x 15 mm (~0.63 x 0.6 in) and have a good grip thanks to their slightly roughened surface. We were also happy with the size of the arrow keys (left/right), although the up/down keys have to share the space of one key. The individual keys have short travel and a noticeable pressure point, although we would have preferred this to be more pronounced. As we mentioned in the section about the case, the base unit gives way a little in the center of the keyboard, but this did not bother us while typing. Even fast typing does not produce too much noise - only the space bar rattles a little, which is clearly audible while typing.

The touchpad (ClickPad) has the same color as the rest of the device and is well dimensioned at 10.5 x 7 cm (~4.1 x 2.8 in). This makes the input quite suitable for inputs via gesture control, which can be individually configured via the setup menu of the pad. Thanks to the smooth surface, the cursor navigates quickly. The touchpad is very exact and our inputs were registered precisely, even at the edges and corners of our test unit. The mouse keys are incorporated into the bottom half of the touchpad. They make a loud click sound when pressed, but this did not bother us too much.

The matte Chi Mei display has a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Combined with a screen size of 15.6 inches, this translates into a pixel density of 141 ppi. Both the Lenovo's display brightness (194 cd/m²) and its contrast ratio (512:1) are far below our expectations. A device in this price range should offer a panel with significantly higher luminosity. The brightness distribution of 84% is also not really enough. The previous model was also equipped with the same panel and we were just as disappointed with it then. Unfortunately, Lenovo has not dealt with the issue, so the current test unit has to accept just as many minus points as its predecessor. Luckily, we did not notice any clouding on our test unit, and although there is some PWM flickering to regulate display brightness, this happens at a high frequency (25770 Hz) and should not cause any problems in everyday use.

The Chi Mei panel cannot improve its ratings in terms of color display: The DeltaE 2000 deviations of 12.5 (gray scales) and 11.8 (ColorChecker) are very far from the ideal value (DeltaE below 3). The TN panel also suffers from a noticeable blue cast. Calibrating the screen improved these results significantly and you can download our ICC profile above, as usual. The Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKB reaches slightly better results than its competition in terms of color space coverage: 62.7% of the sRGB color space and 40.1% of the AdobeRGB color space. Nonetheless, these results are not good enough for professional image processing.

The Intel Core i5-8250U is a very energy-efficient quad-core processor with a base clock rate of 1.6 GHz. In turbo mode, this SoC can reach up to 3.4 GHz for a short time, which creates a significant increase in performance. Our test unit holds a good position in the middle ranks of our comparison field and lies right next to the HP Pavilion 15. The Intel Core i5-8250U cannot keep up with its competition in the Cinebench R15 Multi benchmark. The compact cooling system soon reaches its limits and CPU speed is throttled shortly after the beginning of the test. The Asus VivoBook 15 did a significantly better job here. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that the Intel Core i7-8550U in the top configuration will offer a better performance. In direct comparison to its predecessor, equipped with the Intel Core i5-7200U, the CPU performance has improved dramatically.

We appreciate the fact that Lenovo has used an SSD for this device. The storage device from Ramaxel offers 256 GB of storage and communicates via a SATA interface. The documented performance of the 2.5-inch SSD is fine, and the SSD clearly plays a big part in the smooth system performance. We did not notice any long waiting periods during the entire time of testing. We were disappointed by the missing second slot, however, which could have been used to add a second storage device. While we did find a place marker for an M.2 SSD, it was just that - a place marker. We would recommend looking closely at the included storage devices at purchase, as Lenovo also offers the IdeaPad 320-15IKB with an SSD and HDD.

The Intel UHD Graphics 620 mainly takes care of image display, which takes a big load off the processor. But the Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKB also offers a dedicated graphics card (Nvidia GeForce MX150) with its own VRAM (2 GB of GDDR5). This replaces the predecessor (GeForce 940MX) and offers significantly improved 3D performance. The 3DMark benchmarks confirm this improvement and show that the GeForce MX150 offers a similar performance to the GeForce GTX 950M. The Acer Aspire 7 has a significant advantage here due to the better GPU.

The measured case temperatures are similar under load and during the Witcher 3 test, although we measured a peak of 51.1 °C (~ 124°F) during the gaming test. Under full load, the case heated up to a maximum of 49.7 °C (~ 121.5 °F). The Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKB performs best of all comparison devices as its temperatures are nice and low while idling with an average of 23 °C (~ 73.4 °F). Things look quite different on the inside, however. We measured peaks of 85 °C (~ 185 °F) around the CPU during our stress test, and the GPU reached a maximum of 78 °C (~ 173.4 °F). Despite the relatively high temperatures, the Intel Core i5-8250U managed to keep its base clock rate of 1.6 GHz stable. The GeForce MX150 reacted a little differently and clocked at 1075 MHz under constant load, which is a little below its base rate (1469 - 1532 MHz). Therefore, the results of the second run of the 3DMark 11 were a little worse at 4122 points. As the stress test simulates an extreme scenario, you should not encounter any noticeable restrictions during normal use.

Lenovo has placed the two stereo speakers towards the front of the bottom of the base unit. With a maximum of 77.1 dB(A), they produce a decent volume. However, the sound lacks bass, and mids and highs predominate. The Dolby Audio software lets you choose between various predefined sound profiles. We would recommend using headphones or external speakers for a better sound experience.

The new version of the Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKB turns out not to be quite as energy-efficient as its predecessor. It treats itself to 4 - 8.3 watts while idling, which is a relatively good result in this comparison field. Under average load, the IdeaPad based on the Kaby Lake refresh CPU is rather sparing at 37.3 watts. We did also measure peaks of 75 watts, although this soon stabilized at around 65 watts. We measured an average of 47.5 watts by the end of the stress test. While gaming, the notebook consumed 52 watts. The compact power supply offers a maximum of 65 watts. We believe that Lenovo could have included a stronger power supply, but due to the limitation, the battery still did not lose power when it was under full load.

The new IdeaPad 320 still only has a small 30-Wh battery. Other comparison devices can do significantly better. Only the Asus VivoBook 15 has an even shorter battery runtime in our practical Wi-Fi test. We had to criticize the same thing about the previous model. A 15.6-inch device should manage 5 to 6 hours of battery runtime. We also checked the 3D performance on battery. The result is a little lower than before (4009 points in the 3DMark 11).