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MagyarLenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 laptop review: Quiet, efficient, and slow convertible
11.6-inch laptops are the smallest common laptop size today. Smaller laptops have become rarer after the netbook hype subsided. 11.6-inch laptops, however, still play a role especially in the educational sector and in the ultra low price segment. An example of this: The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05, that we'll be testing today. The low-end focus quickly becomes apparent not only in terms of the price (329 Euros, ~$372), but also in the specifications: Intel Celeron N4020, 4 GB RAM, LCD with HD resolution (1366x768) and 64 GB eMMC memory. By the way, the Lenovo Flex 3 doesn't have a fan, which is usual for devices with this kind of configuration, but still rare for laptops overall.
For comparison we use the Acer TravelMate Spin B1, the Asus E203MA and the BMAX MaxBook Y11. All of these 11.6-inch laptops are fanless and based on the Intel Gemini-Lake series. The Acer and the BMAX are also convertibles like the Lenovo, whereas the Asus is a normal laptop.
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 78.1 % | 07/2020 | Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 Celeron N4020, UHD Graphics 600 | 1.1 kg | 17.5 mm | 11.60" | 1366x768 | |
| 77.3 % | Acer TravelMate Spin B1 B118-G2-RN-P7ED Pentium N5000, UHD Graphics 605 | 1.5 kg | 23.3 mm | 11.60" | 1920x1080 | ||
| 76.8 % | 04/2019 | Asus E203MA-FD825TS Pentium N5000, UHD Graphics 605 | 980 g | 16.9 mm | 11.60" | 1366x768 | |
| 74.9 % | 03/2020 | BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 Celeron N4100, UHD Graphics 600 | 1 kg | 14.4 mm | 11.60" | 1920x1080 |
Case & Features: No USB-C
As you can expect from a notebook in this price range, the materials of the Lenovo laptop are of the cheap variety: The case of the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11 is completely made of plastic. In the area around the keyboard as well as on the display back, the plastic is smooth with a silvery brushed look. In contrast, on the sides and bottom it is matte gray and a bit roughened. Visually contrasting are the black Lenovo lettering, the dark gray keys and the display's black border, which is made of glass.
In terms of build quality, the Lenovo notebook is on a good level for this price range. The display and base can only be twisted slightly. When the back of the display is pressed, it gets a bit dented in and pressure on the panel is also passed on directly. You shouldn't put too much strain on the display. At least the display hardly wobbles at all; the 360-degree hinges have a good grip on it.
Regarding connectivity, there is unfortunately no USB-C port. For a laptop in 2020 that is basically a no-go, as you have to do without universal power supplies and docking stations. At least both USB ports support the USB 3.0 standard and there is also a microSD card slot.
You can save yourself the trouble of unscrewing the Lenovo laptop. It can't be upgraded in any way. The M.2 port for the SSD is not available on the model with eMMC memory.
Connectivity
| SD Card Reader | |
| average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| Average of class Convertible (17.7 - 209, n=30, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Acer TravelMate Spin B1 B118-G2-RN-P7ED (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
| Average of class Convertible (22.6 - 263, n=29, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Asus E203MA-FD825TS (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 microSDXC 64GB) | |
| Acer TravelMate Spin B1 B118-G2-RN-P7ED (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Networking | |
| iperf3 transmit AX12 | |
| Average Intel Wireless-AC 9560 (309 - 1350, n=182) | |
| Acer TravelMate Spin B1 B118-G2-RN-P7ED | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 | |
| Asus E203MA-FD825TS | |
| iperf3 receive AX12 | |
| Average Intel Wireless-AC 9560 (288 - 1390, n=183) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 | |
| Acer TravelMate Spin B1 B118-G2-RN-P7ED | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 | |
| Asus E203MA-FD825TS | |
Connectivity: Mediocre input devices
Due to the small format, the keyboard doesn't come in full size, and some keys are significantly smaller. You should also note that the rounded chiclet keys with short stroke use the ANSI layout with a single-line enter key. All these factors contribute to the fact that the keyboard takes some getting used to in comparison to larger laptops and desktop keyboards. The typing feel itself is fine, as the pressure point is defined and the keyboard doesn't give way.
There is no digitizer pen in the Lenovo Flex 3 11. The 10-point touchscreen works flawlessly and provides a good alternative to the ClickPad sitting underneath the keyboard. The plastic touchpad has a cheap look, including a loud, slightly rickety click mechanism. At least you can control the cursor fairly precisely and quickly.
Display: Low-resolution IPS panel
There are two 11.6-inch display choices for the Lenovo Flex 11 laptop: An HD panel (1366x768) and a Full HD screen (1920x1080). Both panels are based on IPS technology and both are glossy touchscreens with a glass panel in front of the screen. The other specifications (brightness 250 cd/m², 45% NTSC color space) are also identical.
The built-in HD display meets the brightness specification fairly accurately with an average of 258 cd/m². The competitors achieve similar brightness values. For today's standards, 250 cd/m² is at the lower end of the acceptable range. This also applies to the measured PWM frequency: 250 Hz is already quite low and potentially headache-inducing. At least PWM only occurs at less than 60% of brightness, but it is still a point of criticism.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 76 %
Center on Battery: 270 cd/m²
Contrast: 1385:1 (Black: 0.195 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 3.98 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.95, calibrated: 4
ΔE Greyscale 2.57 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
67% sRGB (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
43% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
46.93% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
67.7% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
45.35% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.3
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 N116BCA-EA1, IPS LED, 1366x768, 11.6" | Acer TravelMate Spin B1 B118-G2-RN-P7ED LM116LF3L02, IPS, 1920x1080, 11.6" | Asus E203MA-FD825TS AUO225C, TN LED, 1366x768, 11.6" | BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 LC116LF3L01, IPS, 1920x1080, 11.6" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 46% | -21% | 38% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 45.35 | 68.7 51% | 35.75 -21% | 62.4 38% |
| sRGB Coverage | 67.7 | 94.6 40% | 53.8 -21% | 93.4 38% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 46.93 | 69.2 47% | 36.94 -21% | 64.2 37% |
| Response Times | -43% | 26% | 2628% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 38 ? | 41 ? -8% | 41 ? -8% | 36.1 ? 5% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 25 ? | 31 ? -24% | 10 ? 60% | 30.4 ? -22% |
| PWM Frequency | 250 ? | 5 ? -98% | 20000 ? 7900% | |
| Screen | 2% | -85% | -45% | |
| Brightness middle | 270 | 295 9% | 235 -13% | 258 -4% |
| Brightness | 259 | 260 0% | 227 -12% | 248 -4% |
| Brightness Distribution | 76 | 78 3% | 93 22% | 94 24% |
| Black Level * | 0.195 | 0.44 -126% | 0.26 -33% | |
| Contrast | 1385 | 534 -61% | 992 -28% | |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 3.98 | 3.98 -0% | 11.73 -195% | 7.1 -78% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 8.46 | 8.25 2% | 18.8 -122% | 14.8 -75% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 4 | 3.73 7% | 1.3 67% | |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 2.57 | 4.63 -80% | 12.64 -392% | 9.6 -274% |
| Gamma | 2.3 96% | 2.3 96% | 2.61 84% | 2.148 102% |
| CCT | 6332 103% | 6727 97% | 14819 44% | 10313 63% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 43 | 62 44% | 34 -21% | |
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 67 | 94 40% | 54 -19% | |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 2% /
2% | -27% /
-59% | 874% /
506% |
* ... smaller is better
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 25 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 14 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 11 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows relatively slow response rates in our tests and may be too slow for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 55 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (21.1 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 38 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 20 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 18 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 51 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.1 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM detected | 250 Hz | ≤ 60 % brightness setting |  |
The display backlight flickers at 250 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) Flickering detected at a brightness setting of 60 % and below. There should be no flickering or PWM above this brightness setting. The frequency of 250 Hz is relatively low, so sensitive users will likely notice flickering and experience eyestrain at the stated brightness setting and below. In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 17263 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
The contrast ratio of 1385:1 contributes to the good image quality and compensates a little for the poor color-space coverage. A result of 67% of the sRGB color space, however, naturally makes serious image-editing impossible.
The Lenovo laptop would theoretically be predestined for outdoor use with its compact size. However, the glossy display surface as well as the too low brightness ruin that experience.
Performance: The absolute minimum
For the Lenovo notebook there are three Celeron CPUs and a Pentium Silver processor from Intel to choose from: Celeron N4000, N4120, N4020 and the Pentium Silver N5030. The Celeron-CPUs are accompanied by the Intel UHD Graphics 600 while the Pentium is equipped with the UHD Graphics 605. There is no choice when it comes to RAM, in each case 4 GB of DDR4-2400 memory is soldered - i.e. the absolute minimum. There are two mass storage variants: 64 GB eMMC (soldered) or 128 GB in the form of an M.2-2242 SSD.
Processor
The Intel Celeron N4020 is a dual-core processor based on the Gemini Lake architecture. In the past, these processors ran under the name "Atom". The Celeron has a typical maximum power consumption of six watts and clock rates in the range of 1.1 to 2.8 GHz. Other CPUs can be compared with the Celeron in the CPU comparison list.
Instead of six watts, the processor in the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 can consume up to eight watts. The two cores then clock at 2.6 GHz, whereby the temperatures slowly increase during the Cinebench test. No throttling can be observed in the Cinebench loop, but it probably couldn't be avoided that the clock rate drops at some point under hours of load. The CPU performance is very weak overall. In principle, this applies to all comparable devices, but the Lenovo laptop scores the worst here.
The full performance is also available in battery mode.
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 -mmt1 | 7z b 4
Geekbench 5.5: Single-Core | Multi-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
| Cinebench R15 / CPU Multi 64Bit | |
| Average of class Convertible (110.1 - 2889, n=63, last 2 years) | |
| Asus E203MA-FD825TS | |
| Acer TravelMate Spin B1 B118-G2-RN-P7ED | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 | |
| Average Intel Celeron N4020 (110.1 - 144.1, n=2) | |
| Cinebench R15 / CPU Single 64Bit | |
| Average of class Convertible (68.6 - 287, n=60, last 2 years) | |
| Asus E203MA-FD825TS | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 | |
| Acer TravelMate Spin B1 B118-G2-RN-P7ED | |
| Average Intel Celeron N4020 (68.6 - 78.9, n=2) | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 | |
| Cinebench R20 / CPU (Multi Core) | |
| Average of class Convertible (242 - 6954, n=61, last 2 years) | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 | |
| Average Intel Celeron N4020 (242 - 316, n=2) | |
| Cinebench R20 / CPU (Single Core) | |
| Average of class Convertible (149.8 - 755, n=60, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 | |
| Average Intel Celeron N4020 (149.8 - 175, n=2) | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 | |
| Blender / v2.79 BMW27 CPU | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 | |
| Average Intel Celeron N4020 () | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 | |
| Average of class Convertible (193 - 1059, n=57, last 2 years) | |
| 7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4 -mmt1 | |
| Average of class Convertible (3946 - 6493, n=58, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 | |
| Average Intel Celeron N4020 () | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 | |
| 7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4 | |
| Average of class Convertible (24505 - 72400, n=58, last 2 years) | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 | |
| Average Intel Celeron N4020 () | |
| Geekbench 5.5 / Single-Core | |
| Average of class Convertible (319 - 1981, n=61, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 | |
| Average Intel Celeron N4020 (319 - 475, n=3) | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 | |
| Geekbench 5.5 / Multi-Core | |
| Average of class Convertible (663 - 14016, n=61, last 2 years) | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 | |
| Average Intel Celeron N4020 (663 - 858, n=3) | |
| HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 / 4k Preset | |
| Average of class Convertible (0.73 - 20.1, n=60, last 2 years) | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 | |
| Average Intel Celeron N4020 (0.73 - 0.92, n=2) | |
| LibreOffice / 20 Documents To PDF | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 | |
| Average Intel Celeron N4020 () | |
| Average of class Convertible (42 - 121.5, n=57, last 2 years) | |
| R Benchmark 2.5 / Overall mean | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 | |
| Average Intel Celeron N4020 () | |
| Average of class Convertible (0.4102 - 1.013, n=57, last 2 years) | |
* ... smaller is better
System performance
The weak benchmark results continue in the system performance. Even in everyday life, the Lenovo Flex 11 sometimes has to pause for thought.
| PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated v2 | 1811 points | |
| PCMark 10 Score | 1521 points | |
Help | ||
DPC latencies
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 | |
* ... smaller is better
Mass storage
This Lenovo Flex 3 includes 64 GB of soldered eMMC memory, which not only makes our tests difficult, it is also extremely slow. The eMMC memory should have a good share in the poor system performance result.
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 SanDisk DA4064 | Acer TravelMate Spin B1 B118-G2-RN-P7ED Kingston RBUSNS8180DS3128GH | Asus E203MA-FD825TS SanDisk DA4064 | Average SanDisk DA4064 | Average of class Convertible | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 | 127% | 3% | 6% | 1012% | |
| Write 4K | 38.16 | 68 78% | 38.28 0% | 38.1 ? 0% | 135 ? 254% |
| Read 4K | 13.1 | 26.58 103% | 12.14 -7% | 18.1 ? 38% | 60.3 ? 360% |
| Write Seq | 214.1 | 405 89% | 220.2 3% | 222 ? 4% | 2392 ? 1017% |
| Read Seq | 269.9 | 440 63% | 262 -3% | 277 ? 3% | 2760 ? 923% |
| Write 4K Q32T1 | 46.61 | 121.7 161% | 45.72 -2% | 45.7 ? -2% | 360 ? 672% |
| Read 4K Q32T1 | 51.6 | 129.8 152% | 61 18% | 56 ? 9% | 455 ? 782% |
| Write Seq Q32T1 | 155.6 | 465.8 199% | 167.1 7% | 153.7 ? -1% | 3148 ? 1923% |
| Read Seq Q32T1 | 203.2 | 548 170% | 211.5 4% | 204 ? 0% | 4598 ? 2163% |
Continuous power reading: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
Graphics card
The performance of the integrated Intel UHD Graphics 600 turns out just as weak as the rest of the system. It is just enough for showing YouTube videos and desktop display, but not more. Even older games hardly run smoothly on this graphics chip.
| 3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance GPU | |
| Average of class Convertible (471 - 40768, n=59, last 2 years) | |
| Acer TravelMate Spin B1 B118-G2-RN-P7ED | |
| Asus E203MA-FD825TS | |
| Average Intel UHD Graphics 600 (410 - 854, n=27) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 | |
| 3DMark - 1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics | |
| Average of class Convertible (365 - 29684, n=60, last 2 years) | |
| Acer TravelMate Spin B1 B118-G2-RN-P7ED | |
| Average Intel UHD Graphics 600 (307 - 637, n=21) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 | |
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 589 points | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Score | 345 points | |
Help | ||
| low | med. | high | ultra | |
| BioShock Infinite (2013) | 22.7 | |||
| Dota 2 Reborn (2015) | 26.5 | 12 | 5.8 | 5.8 |
| X-Plane 11.11 (2018) | 6.15 | 5.35 | 4.98 |
Emissions & Energy: Quiet & efficient
Noise emissions
Because of the lack of a fan or other noise sources like a mechanical hard drive, there are no noise emissions in the Lenovo Flex 3 11IGL. We also didn't notice any coil whine.
Temperature
The Lenovo Flex 3 11IGL laptop barely gets hot under load; we measured a maximum of 41.4 °C on the bottom.
After a while during our stress test, the power consumption got limited to six watts. The CPU temperature did not exceed 68 °C. However, the clock rate started to fluctuate during testing, which of course is the only way to lower temperatures without an active fan.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 37.4 °C / 99 F, compared to the average of 35.3 °C / 96 F, ranging from 19.6 to 55.7 °C for the class Convertible.
(±) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 41.4 °C / 107 F, compared to the average of 36.8 °C / 98 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 25.6 °C / 78 F, compared to the device average of 30.2 °C / 86 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are cooler than skin temperature with a maximum of 27.4 °C / 81.3 F and are therefore cool to the touch.
(±) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 28.1 °C / 82.6 F (+0.7 °C / 1.3 F).
Speakers
The speakers could be louder and they lack bass, but otherwise they are quite tolerable for a very cheap laptop. That's because they don't tend to distort and at least the highs and mids are balanced.
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 audio analysis
(-) | not very loud speakers (71.1 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 18.6% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (9.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 4.7% away from median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (10.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 0.9% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (3.8% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (20.1% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 48% of all tested devices in this class were better, 6% similar, 46% worse
» The best had a delta of 6%, average was 21%, worst was 57%
Compared to all devices tested
» 47% of all tested devices were better, 8% similar, 44% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Asus E203MA-FD825TS audio analysis
(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (78.4 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 23.2% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (10% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | higher mids - on average 7% higher than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (8.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 7.8% higher than median
(+) | highs are linear (6.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (25.1% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 82% of all tested devices in this class were better, 4% similar, 14% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 19%, worst was 53%
Compared to all devices tested
» 74% of all tested devices were better, 6% similar, 21% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Energy consumption
The consumption in idle is very low with a maximum of 4.6 watts. The maximum consumption of 14.3 watts also shows that the Lenovo Flex 3 is an extremely energy-saving notebook.
| Off / Standby |   0.2 / 0.27 Watt |
| Idle |  2.4 / 4.5 / 4.6 Watt |
| Load |
12.8 / 14.3 Watt |
    
| |
Battery life
Despite the very small internal 37.5 watt hour battery, the Lenovo Flex 3 11IGL05 achieves the best battery life in our comparison, just over nine hours in the Wi-Fi test. In this area, the low power consumption absolutely pays off.
| Battery Runtime - WiFi Websurfing | |
| Average of class Convertible (329 - 981, n=60, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 | |
| Acer TravelMate Spin B1 B118-G2-RN-P7ED | |
| Asus E203MA-FD825TS | |
| BMAX MaxBook Y11 H1M6 | |
Pros
Cons
Verdict
A fanless convertible could also be a high-end laptop, but the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 can be found at the other end of the spectrum. This Lenovo laptop is optimized for the lowest possible price, which reflects in its inner values.
The Gemini Lake processor based on Atom, the 64 GB eMMC memory as well as the 4 GB RAM - each performance relevant component itself already delivers results that border on "too slow". Taken together, they definitely are, so the equally slow graphics chip is hardly of any consequence. It might have helped if you could at least swap in an SSD and upgrade the RAM. But unfortunately both the RAM and the eMMC memory are soldered and for an SSD upgrade there is no slot.
Our impression of the display is predominantly positive. Although the HD resolution is restrictive and the color-space coverage inadequate, neither should matter too much considering the intended use of this Lenovo laptop. More importantly the IPS panel delivers a stable image from every viewing angle. Also positive: The Lenovo Flex 3 11IGL05 runs completely silent and doesn't even get warm. Additionally it runs very efficiently, which results in a good battery life. The speakers also surprise positively. On the negative side, there is no USB-C port.
Too slow: The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 does not convince us due to its slow components.
Can we recommend the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05 in this configuration? No. Even if it is cheap, the performance is simply too poor. However, the slightly more expensive model with SSD could be worth considering if you are looking for a cheap laptop for school or university.
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 11IGL05
-
07/01/2020 v7 (old)
Benjamin Herzig
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