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MagyarRyzen 3 outperforming Core i3: Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 laptop review
The IdeaPad 3 family is home to bottom-of-the-barrel laptop models that are beneath the already inexpensive IdeaPad 5 and IdeaPad 7 families. If you're on a very tight budget, then the low starting prices of an IdeaPad 3 may seem attractive.
Our test unit comes with the quad-core Ryzen 3 5300U Zen 2 CPU, 8 GB RAM, 1080p IPS display, and 512 GB PCIe3 NVMe SSD for approximately $539 USD retail or even less when on sale. Higher-end SKUs may be available with the Ryzen 5 5500U or Ryzen 7 5700U and with more RAM or storage. Competitors to the IdeaPad 3 include other inexpensive consumer laptops like the HP Pavilion 15, Asus VivoBook F series, Dell Inspiron series, or the Acer Aspire 3 series.
More Lenovo reviews:
Potential Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80.4 % | 12/2021 | Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 R3 5300U, Vega 6 | 1.7 kg | 19.9 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
| 83 % | 07/2020 | Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 i5-1035G1, GeForce MX350 | 1.7 kg | 17.9 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
| 81.4 % | 01/2020 | Lenovo Ideapad S540-15IML i5-10210U, GeForce MX250 | 1.9 kg | 17 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
| 80.5 % | 10/2021 | Dell Inspiron 15 3501 i7-1165G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 2 kg | 19.9 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
| 81.2 % | 06/2021 | HP Pavilion 15-eg i7-1165G7, GeForce MX450 | 1.7 kg | 17.9 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
| 80.5 % | 11/2021 | Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS R5 5500U, Vega 7 | 1.8 kg | 18.6 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 |
Case — Cheap Looks
The keyboard deck and outer lid utilize brushed aluminum for improved aesthetics. However, the chassis exhibits both flexing and slight but audible creaking as well. Overall rigidity is slightly worse than the competing HP Pavilion 15 or Asus VivoBook 15 models.
Chassis size and dimensions are nearly identical to both the Pavilion 15 and VivoBook 15 meaning users won't be getting any weight or travel benefits by choosing the Lenovo. The Inspiron 3501 is notably larger and heavier than all three.
Connectivity — Neutered USB-C Port
Port options and positioning are both different than what you'll find on other IdeaPad laptops like the IdeaPad S340, IdeaPad 3 14, IdeaPad S540, or the IdeaPad 5 15. Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind is that the single USB-C port does not support Power Delivery or DisplayPort unlike the USB-C ports on most Intel laptops. Video output must be done via HDMI instead.
It's worth mentioning that we experienced power issues when attempting to connect our PNY Pro Elite external SSD to the USB-C port. We are unsure if this is specific to our unit or a more widespread problem.
SD Card Reader
The integrated SD card reader is slow. Transferring 1 GB of images from our UHS-II test card to desktop takes about 36 seconds compared to about half that on the Pavilion 15. The card reader is not spring-loaded either and so fully inserted cards will still protrude for potentially unsafe handling.
| SD Card Reader | |
| average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| Lenovo Ideapad S540-15IML (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 (AV Pro SD 128 GB V60) | |
| maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
| Lenovo Ideapad S540-15IML (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 (AV Pro SD microSD 128 GB V60) | |
Communication
Our configuration utilizes Wi-Fi 5 instead of Wi-Fi 6 likely to save on costs. Transfer rates are steady when paired to our Netgear RAX200 test router.
Webcam
Webcam quality is poor at only 1 MP. Furthermore, there is no IR sensor for Windows Hello support. A manual privacy shutter comes standard.
Maintenance — Easy to Open
The bottom panel can be easily removed with just a Philips screwdriver whereas many other budget laptops are typically more difficult to service. Users will see just one M.2 PCIe3 x4 2280 slot for storage, one WLAN slot, and one SODIMM slot to supplement the soldered 4 GB of RAM.
Accessories and Warranty
There are no extras in the box other than the AC adapter and paperwork. The usual one-year limited manufacturer warranty applies.
Input Devices — Spongy Clickpad
Keyboard
The backlit keys have short travel with relatively weak feedback when pressed especially when compared to the keys on a pricier ThinkPad or HP Spectre laptop. Key clatter is quieter than expected as a result of the soft feedback.
Touchpad
The clickpad is slightly smaller than the one on the 14-inch IdeaPad 5 Pro 14 (10 x 7 cm vs. 10.5 x 7 cm). Gliding is smooth at medium or higher speeds while the finger tends to stick at slower speeds for more accurate clicking. Unfortunately, clicking on the clickpad feels shallow and spongy with unsatisfying feedback.
Display — FreeSync and Touchscreen Support
The BOE CQ NV156FHM-T07 IPS panel can be found on no other laptop in our database. While its high contrast ratio of 1400:1 and reasonable black-white response times deserve praise, its colors are mediocre at best and nowhere near as vibrant as the displays on a Yoga model.
Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of the display is that it's also a touchscreen with FreeSync support which is almost unheard of for a sub $500 laptop. Such features will likely only appeal to a very small subset of the target audience.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 84 %
Center on Battery: 336.4 cd/m²
Contrast: 1402:1 (Black: 0.24 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 6.46 | 0.59-29.43 Ø5.2, calibrated: 2.09
ΔE Greyscale 5.6 | 0.57-98 Ø5.5
41.2% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
57.7% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
40% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.25
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 BOE CQ NV156FHM-T07, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60 | Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 AU Optronics B156HAN02.1, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60 | Lenovo Ideapad S540-15IML BOEhydis NV156FHM-N61 (BOE06FB), IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60 | Dell Inspiron 15 3501 BOE NV15N3D (Dell P/N: N39X1), IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60 | HP Pavilion 15-eg Chi Mei CMN1523, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60 | Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS Samsung ATNA56YX03-0, OLED, 1920x1080, 15.60 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | -5% | 57% | 0% | 9% | 119% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 40 | 37.63 -6% | 66.8 67% | 39.4 -1% | 42.9 7% | 99.9 150% |
| sRGB Coverage | 57.7 | 56.5 -2% | 86.5 50% | 58.7 2% | 64 11% | 100 73% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 41.2 | 38.88 -6% | 63.2 53% | 40.7 -1% | 44.4 8% | 96.7 135% |
| Response Times | -32% | -62% | -43% | 13% | 94% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 24.8 ? | 42 ? -69% | 49.6 ? -100% | 43 ? -73% | 22.8 ? 8% | 0.89 ? 96% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 28.4 ? | 27 ? 5% | 34.8 ? -23% | 32 ? -13% | 23.6 ? 17% | 2.31 ? 92% |
| PWM Frequency | 202 ? | 1000 ? | 26320 ? | 60 ? | ||
| Screen | -15% | 5% | 21% | -7% | 33% | |
| Brightness middle | 336.4 | 340 1% | 299 -11% | 271 -19% | 294.3 -13% | 401 19% |
| Brightness | 318 | 325 2% | 278 -13% | 263 -17% | 251 -21% | 403 27% |
| Brightness Distribution | 84 | 88 5% | 87 4% | 92 10% | 76 -10% | 98 17% |
| Black Level * | 0.24 | 0.27 -13% | 0.25 -4% | 0.15 37% | 0.26 -8% | |
| Contrast | 1402 | 1259 -10% | 1196 -15% | 1807 29% | 1132 -19% | |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 6.46 | 6.62 -2% | 4.32 33% | 4.83 25% | 4.08 37% | 3.24 50% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 19.75 | 21.05 -7% | 9.3 53% | 7 65% | 19.49 1% | 6.42 67% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 2.09 | 4.71 -125% | 2.58 -23% | 3.7 -77% | 2.13 -2% | |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 5.6 | 4.61 18% | 4.21 25% | 3.36 40% | 3 46% | 2.7 52% |
| Gamma | 2.25 98% | 2.74 80% | 2.39 92% | 2.56 86% | 2.21 100% | 2.14 103% |
| CCT | 5934 110% | 6262 104% | 6799 96% | 6764 96% | 6616 98% | 6374 102% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 36 | 57 | ||||
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 56 | 86 | ||||
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -17% /
-15% | 0% /
7% | -7% /
6% | 5% /
-1% | 82% /
65% |
* ... smaller is better
Color space is narrow at just 58 percent of sRGB compared to 90 percent or greater on pricier midrange or higher Ultrabooks.
The display is not well-calibrated out of the box as to be expected on most budget laptops. Color temperature, for example, is too warm. Calibrating the panel ourselves with an X-Rite colorimeter would improve average DeltaE values significantly as shown by our results below. Nonetheless, colors are still inaccurate at high saturation levels due to the limited color space mentioned above with Blue being the most notable offender.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 28.4 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 17.2 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 11.2 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 0.4 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 69 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (22.6 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 24.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 10.8 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 14 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 0.25 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 24 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (35.7 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 19409 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
Outdoor visibility is decent when under shade due to the reasonably bright 300 nit display. Just be sure to disable AMD Vari-Bright which is enabled by default through the AMD software or else maximum brightness will automatically lower when running on battery power.
Performance
Testing Conditions
Our unit was set to Extreme Performance mode via the pre-installed Lenovo Vantage software for the highest possible benchmark scores. We recommend users become familiar with both Vantage and the AMD Radeon software as many key system features and updates are toggled here.
Processor — Fast for a Ryzen 3
Raw CPU performance is excellent when considering that the Ryzen 3 is positioned as a Core i3 alternative. Its most striking advantage lies in its multi-thread performance which can be up to 70 to 80 percent faster than the competing Core i3-1115G4 since the Ryzen 3 5300U processor has double the physical cores. Raw multi-thread performance is actually comparable to the Core i7-1165G7 while single-thread performance is only about 25 percent slower.
Performance sustainability is excellent with no major throttling issues when running CineBench R15 xT in a continuous loop.
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 5.4: 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 5.4: 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
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 | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 3 5300U | |
| AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 3 5300U (3612 - 7014, n=2) | |
| AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 3 5300U (33606 - 37829, n=2) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 | |
| AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 3 5300U | |
| AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 3 5300U (51411 - 51454, n=2) | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | |
| AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 3 5300U (6687 - 6703, n=2) | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | |
| AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 3 5300U (17564 - 20109, n=2) | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 | |
| AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 3 5300U (19307 - 34964, n=2) | |
| AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 3 5300U (374 - 396, n=2) | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg | |
| AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 3 5300U (3199 - 3747, n=2) | |
| AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 3 5300U (16913 - 17037, n=2) | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS | |
System Performance
PCMark results are comparable to laptops running on the pricier Intel Core i7-1165G7 such as the Dell Inspiron 15 3501. The UI experience is just as smooth and buttery despite "only" running on a budget Ryzen 3 CPU.
| PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 3 5300U, AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000) (4136 - 4811, n=2) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | |
| Lenovo Ideapad S540-15IML | |
| PCMark 10 Score | 5006 points | |
Help | ||
| AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 3 5300U (31429 - 36092, n=2) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 3 5300U (34493 - 35443, n=2) | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 3 5300U (38563 - 40554, n=2) | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
| Average AMD Ryzen 3 5300U (97.1 - 113.5, n=2) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg | |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
LatencyMon shows no latency issues when opening multiple browser tabs on our homepage. 4K video playback at 60 FPS is perfect with minimal CPU and GPU utilization and no dropped frames.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices — Just One M.2 2280 PCIe3 x4 Slot
The 512 GB Samsung PM991a is an upper midrange PCIe3 x4 NVMe SSD with theoretical sequential read and write rates of 3100 MB/s and 1800 MB/s, respectively, according to Samsung's official specifications. However, the drive in our Lenovo is a bit slower with real-world read and write rates only approaching 2700 MB/s and 1600 MB/s, respectively. Performance appears to slow if stressed for long periods as shown by our DiskSpd Read Loop test below likely due to thermal reasons.
| Drive Performance Rating - Percent | |
| Lenovo Ideapad S540-15IML -8! | |
| Dell Inspiron 15 3501 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6 | |
| HP Pavilion 15-eg | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | |
| Asus VivoBook 15 KM513UA-L503TS | |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance — Much Better than UHD Graphics 620
Raw graphics performance is 30 to 50 percent faster than the Iris Xe G4 48 EUs as found on many 11th gen Intel Core i3 CPUs or approximately 2x faster than the common UHD Graphics 620. Though the speed boost is notable, it's still not enough to run most games well at resolutions greater than 720p. Upgrading to the Ryzen 7 5700U SKU with its more powerful Radeon RX Vega 8 will boost performance by about 30 percent over our Radeon RX Vega 6.
