Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IRU8 review: Affordable 14-inch convertible with Thunderbolt 4
The 2023 IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 is this year's update to the 2022 IdeaPad Flex 5 14IAU7. It swaps out the 12th gen Alder Lake-U Core i5-1235U processor on last year's model for the 13th gen Raptor Lake-U Core i5-1335U while the rest of the laptop remains unchanged. Thus, we recommend checking out our review on the 2022 model to learn more about the physical features of the IdeaPad Flex 5 14.
Our test unit is a middle configuration with the Core i5-1335U, 16 GB RAM, and 512 GB SSD for approximately $900 USD. All configurations at the moment come with a 1200p IPS touchscreen. AMD versions of the IdeaPad Flex 5 14 are also available with the Ryzen 5 7530U or Ryzen 7 7730U instead.
Competitors include other affordable 14-inch convertibles like the Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1, Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14, Asus VivoBook Flip 14, or HP Pavilion x360 14.
More Lenovo reviews:
Potential Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
81.9 % v7 (old) | 08 / 2023 | Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 i5-1335U, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.6 kg | 17.4 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1200 | |
82.4 % v7 (old) | 08 / 2022 | Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 i5-1235U, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.6 kg | 17.4 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1200 | |
84.5 % v7 (old) | 08 / 2023 | Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 R5 7530U, Vega 7 | 1.6 kg | 18.6 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1200 | |
82.2 % v7 (old) | 06 / 2023 | Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 i5-1335U, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.6 kg | 17.99 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1200 | |
80.7 % v7 (old) | 08 / 2020 | Asus VivoBook Flip 14 TM420IA R7 4700U, Vega 7 | 1.6 kg | 18.2 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
81.8 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2021 | HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.5 kg | 19.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 |
Case
SD Card Reader
SD Card Reader | |
average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 (PNY EliteX-Pro60 V60 256 GB) | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 microSDXC 64GB) | |
Asus VivoBook Flip 14 TM420IA (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 microSDXC 64GB) | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 (PNY EliteX-Pro60 V60 256 GB) | |
maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 (PNY EliteX-Pro60 V60 256 GB) | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 microSDXC 64GB) | |
Asus VivoBook Flip 14 TM420IA (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 microSDXC 64GB) | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 (PNY EliteX-Pro60 V60 256 GB) |
Communication
Interestingly, Lenovo has swapped out the Intel AX201 on last year's model for a RealTek RTL8852BE likely to trim down on costs. The RealTek module performs slower as shown by our chart below, but transfer rates are otherwise steady and reliable. The target audience of casual home users or students will likely not notice the difference.
Networking | |
iperf3 transmit AX12 | |
Asus VivoBook Flip 14 TM420IA | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng | |
iperf3 receive AX12 | |
Asus VivoBook Flip 14 TM420IA | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng | |
iperf3 transmit AXE11000 | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
iperf3 transmit AXE11000 6GHz | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 6GHz | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 |
Webcam
Maintenance
The bottom panel is easily removable to show no major internal differences between the 2022 and 2023 models.
Display
There are no changes to the display this year or even other panels to choose from. The limited sRGB coverage is unfortunate but otherwise typical for the budget convertible category as shown by the table below.
|
Brightness Distribution: 86 %
Center on Battery: 335.2 cd/m²
Contrast: 1156:1 (Black: 0.29 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 7.49 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.93, calibrated: 2.17
ΔE Greyscale 6.9 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
41.1% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
58% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
39.8% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.17
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 LEN140WUXGA, IPS, 1920x1200, 14" | Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 LEN140WUXGA, IPS, 1920x1200, 14" | Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 LG Philips 140WU2, IPS, 1920x1200, 14" | Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 BOE CQ NV140WUM-N41, IPS, 1920x1200, 14" | Asus VivoBook Flip 14 TM420IA BOE NV140FHM-N49, IPS, 1920x1080, 14" | HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng Chi Mei N140HCA-E5B, IPS, 1920x1080, 14" | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Display | 1% | 11% | -2% | 2% | 8% | |
Display P3 Coverage | 39.8 | 39.6 -1% | 44.4 12% | 38.5 -3% | 40.47 2% | 42.7 7% |
sRGB Coverage | 58 | 59.6 3% | 64.4 11% | 57.3 -1% | 60 3% | 63.7 10% |
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 41.1 | 41 0% | 45.8 11% | 39.8 -3% | 41.81 2% | 44.2 8% |
Response Times | -20% | 18% | 3% | -40% | -10% | |
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 30.2 ? | 37.6 ? -25% | 19.6 ? 35% | 29 ? 4% | 36.4 ? -21% | 32 ? -6% |
Response Time Black / White * | 19.3 ? | 22 ? -14% | 19.3 ? -0% | 19 ? 2% | 30.4 ? -58% | 22 ? -14% |
PWM Frequency | ||||||
Screen | 36% | -10% | -5% | -14% | 29% | |
Brightness middle | 335.2 | 356.8 6% | 231.8 -31% | 249 -26% | 272.5 -19% | 269 -20% |
Brightness | 316 | 339 7% | 216 -32% | 235 -26% | 260 -18% | 241 -24% |
Brightness Distribution | 86 | 90 5% | 87 1% | 85 -1% | 88 2% | 82 -5% |
Black Level * | 0.29 | 0.14 52% | 0.27 7% | 0.27 7% | 0.42 -45% | 0.11 62% |
Contrast | 1156 | 2549 121% | 859 -26% | 922 -20% | 649 -44% | 2445 112% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 7.49 | 4.39 41% | 6.59 12% | 5 33% | 4.65 38% | 5.68 24% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 22.25 | 14.61 34% | 16.83 24% | 8.32 63% | 17.78 20% | 9.61 57% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 2.17 | 2.19 -1% | 3.94 -82% | 5.06 -133% | 4.34 -100% | |
Greyscale dE 2000 * | 6.9 | 3 57% | 4.5 35% | 2.86 59% | 4.4 36% | 4.95 28% |
Gamma | 2.17 101% | 2.24 98% | 2.17 101% | 2.19 100% | 2.2 100% | 2.17 101% |
CCT | 5988 109% | 7085 92% | 6110 106% | 6419 101% | 6984 93% | 6628 98% |
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 38.4 | 44.2 | ||||
Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 59.8 | 63.7 | ||||
Total Average (Program / Settings) | 6% /
20% | 6% /
-2% | -1% /
-3% | -17% /
-14% | 9% /
18% |
* ... smaller is better
The panel is poorly calibrated out of the box which is to be expected from a budget laptop. Color temperature is overly warm and color accuracy suffers because of it. Grayscale and colors would improve dramatically after a proper calibration with our X-Rite colorimeter, but highly saturated colors would remain inaccurate due to the narrow sRGB coverage mentioned earlier. Our calibrated ICM profile is available to download above for free.
Display Response Times
↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
---|---|---|
19.3 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 10.7 ms rise | |
↘ 8.6 ms fall | ||
The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 38 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is similar to the average of all tested devices (21 ms). | ||
↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
30.2 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 14.9 ms rise | |
↘ 15.3 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. » 36 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is similar to the average of all tested devices (33 ms). |
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
Screen flickering / PWM not detected | |||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 17146 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. |
Performance
Testing Conditions
We set both Windows and Lenovo Vantage to Performance mode prior to running the benchmarks below. For better or worse, the Vantage UI has been overhauled from the previous year and so owners will have to relearn all the new submenus and repositioned settings.
Processor
The 13th gen Core i5-1335U offers minimal performance benefits over the 12th gen Core i5-1235U in most scenarios. Its key advantage is faster Turbo Boost which can come in handy when launching applications or editing pictures, but the two CPUs otherwise perform about the same once their short-term Turbo Boost benefits run their course. As shown by the graph below, our CineBench R15 xT scores would drop 18 percent after the initial run since Turbo Boost clock rates are not indefinite.
Upgrading to the Core i7-1355U configuration is only expected to boost processor performance by just a few percentage points based on our time with the ThinkPad X1 Yoga G8.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
* ... smaller is better
* ... smaller is better
AIDA64: FP32 Ray-Trace | FPU Julia | CPU SHA3 | CPU Queen | FPU SinJulia | FPU Mandel | CPU AES | CPU ZLib | FP64 Ray-Trace | CPU PhotoWorxx
Performance Rating | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng |
AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U (5661 - 7809, n=11) | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng |
AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U (29483 - 43636, n=11) | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng |
AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U (1515 - 2278, n=11) | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng |
AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U (53839 - 60992, n=11) | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng |
AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U (3873 - 5008, n=11) | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng |
AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U (14376 - 20553, n=11) | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng |
AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U (31154 - 65997, n=11) | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 |
AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U (378 - 676, n=11) | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng |
AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U (2878 - 4214, n=11) | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng |
AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U (13584 - 41123, n=11) | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 |
System Performance
PCMark scores are ever-so-slightly ahead of last year's model by just a few percentage points. Interestingly, the competing AMD-powered Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 scores higher than our Lenovo despite the fact that our Core i5-1335U outperforms the Ryzen 5 7530U.
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
PCMark 10 / Score | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (5068 - 5600, n=11) | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Asus VivoBook Flip 14 TM420IA | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng |
PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (9828 - 11912, n=11) | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng | |
Asus VivoBook Flip 14 TM420IA |
PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 | |
Asus VivoBook Flip 14 TM420IA | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (6196 - 7261, n=11) | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng |
PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (5361 - 6164, n=11) | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Asus VivoBook Flip 14 TM420IA | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng |
CrossMark / Overall | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (1339 - 1599, n=11) | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 |
CrossMark / Productivity | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (1337 - 1638, n=11) | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 |
CrossMark / Creativity | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (1315 - 1620, n=11) | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 |
CrossMark / Responsiveness | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (1023 - 1868, n=11) | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 |
PCMark 10 Score | 5600 points | |
Help |
AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U (22417 - 60884, n=11) | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 |
AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U (23104 - 61555, n=11) | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 |
AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U (22936 - 72584, n=11) | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 |
AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Average Intel Core i5-1335U (78.6 - 112.8, n=11) | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
LatencyMon still shows minor DPC issues when opening multiple browser tabs of our homepage. Thankfully, 4K video playback at 60 FPS remains excellent with no dropped frames recorded.
DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14IRU8 | |
Acer Aspire 5 Spin 14 | |
Dell Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 | |
HP Pavilion x360 14-dy0157ng | |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14IAU7 | |
Asus VivoBook Flip 14 TM420IA |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
The 2023 model employs the same Samsung PM9B1 M.2 2242 NVMe SSD as on the 2022 model. Unlike the pricier PM9A1, the PM9B1 is a midrange PCIe4 x4 SSD offering transfer rates that are about half as fast which is still more than sufficient for a Core i5 U-series CPU. However, performance would still throttle after a few minutes of stress similar to what we observed on last year's model as shown by our DiskSpd loop test results below.