Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i 15-81Y400NESB
Specifications
Price comparison
Average of 3 scores (from 4 reviews)
Reviews for the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i 15-81Y400NESB
Source: PC Mag
Archive.org versionWhile Lenovo courts hardcore gamers with its Legion line, more affordable gaming laptops are available under the IdeaPad brand. The IdeaPad Gaming 3i (starts at $839.99; $989.99 as tested) is a wallet-friendly offering with the latest parts from Intel and Nvidia. (Lenovo will also sell an AMD-based version, which drops the "i" from the model name.) The 3i's physical build is solid, its keyboard is comfortable, and its CPU is up to the task, but its Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 GPU is a bit underwhelming. Comparable or lower-priced gaming rigs deliver the same or better graphics performance, while some slightly pricier laptops deliver substantially higher frame rates. The MSI Bravo 15 is a superior value at the same price point, while the Acer Predator Helios 300 is our pick at the top end of budget pricing.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 07/15/2020
Rating: Total score: 70%
Source: Laptop Mag
Archive.org versionOverall, the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i offers you strong performance, decent battery life and a comfortable enough keyboard in a package under $1,000. However, it might be tough to move past the dull display and the limited number of USB Type-A ports.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 07/04/2020
Rating: Total score: 70%
Source: The Verge
Archive.org versionIt’s easy to dismiss the IdeaPad Gaming 3’s faults when you consider its price, but the reality is Lenovo could have done a better job here. It’s great that it includes a powerful processor and high refresh rate display, but without a better graphics card, those benefits go to waste. Just being able to run games isn’t quite enough to recommend this as the gaming laptop to buy — even if it’s aimed at people on a strict budget. I’d either hold out for a deal on a more expensive option or consider Dell’s new $880 G5 15 SE, which features AMD’s comparable 7nm Ryzen 5 4600H processor and superior RX 5600M graphic chip.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 06/19/2020
Rating: Total score: 60%
Foreign Reviews
Source: Target HD
PT→ENPositive: Elegant design; great built quality; good price; nice gaming performance; big screen; decent ergonomics; good connectivity.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 08/10/2022
Comment
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile: Mid range dedicated graphics card for laptops based on the desktop GTX 1650 and therefore the Turing architecture (TU117 chip in 12nm FFN) without raytracing and Tensor cores. Available with 896 and 1024 shaders.
With these GPUs you are able to play modern and demanding games fluently at medium detail settings and HD resolution.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.
i7-10750H: A high-performance hexa-core processor designed for use in thicker laptops with room for better thermals. The Comet Lake-H processor is manufactured on the third-gen 14 nm Intel process and features a 24 EU UHD Graphics 630 iGPU clocked at 350 MHz to 1,150 MHz. The CPU cores run at 2.6 GHz (base clock speed) Boosting up to 5.0 GHz and the likely all-core Boost frequency is 4.3 GHz. Hyper-Threading is enabled, allowing two threads to run simultaneously on each core.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.
15.60":
15-inch display variants are the standard and are used for more than half of all laptops.
The reason for the popularity of mid-sized displays is that this size is reasonably easy on the eyes, often allows high resolutions and thus offers rich details on the screen, yet does not consume too much power and the devices can still be reasonably compact - simply the standard compromise.
» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.Lenovo: Lenovo ("Le" from English legend, novo (Latin) for new) was founded in 1984 as a Chinese computer trading company. As of 2004, the company was the largest laptop manufacturer in China and, after acquiring IBM's PC division in 2005, the fourth largest in the world. In addition to desktops and notebooks, the company manufactures monitors, projectors, servers, etc, and specializes in developing, manufacturing and marketing consumer electronics, personal computers, software, enterprise solutions and related services.
In 2016, the company ranked first in the world in computer sales. It still held it in 2023 with about 23% global market share. Important product lines are Thinkpad, Legion and Ideapad.
In 2011, it acquired a majority stake in Medion AG, a European computer hardware manufacturer. In 2014, Motorola Mobility was purchased, which gave Lenovo a boost in the smartphone market.
66.67%: This rating is poor. More than three quarters of the models are rated better. That is rather not a purchase recommendation. Even if verbal ratings in this area do not sound that bad ("sufficient" or "satisfactory"), they are usually euphemisms that disguise a classification as a below-average laptop.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.
