Aesthetically, everything from chassis to keyboard gives the impression of being somewhat oblivious to the last decade of laptop design. Situating a port on each side of the chassis gives you total flexibility when you plug into the wall. PCMag Digital Group. You need a device with decent CPU and storage performance TechRadar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. The Flex 3's battery life is adequate. You can generally count on smooth video playback. Keyboard. Ultimately, it all comes back to that context. With excellent build quality and a 360-degree hinge, the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook ($339) is proof that capable, well-designed 2-in-1 Chromebooks don't have to be expensive (looking at you, $999 Google Pixelbook). Not only is the Flex 3 sturdy and good-looking, but it’s also without unnecessary heft and size. Size: 0.7 x 11.41 x 8.18 inches (17.8 x 290 x 207.8mm; H x W x D). Camera: 720p webcam Trendy and slick the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook most certainly is not. That’s not just a function of those bezels. The matte black plastic keys are rounded along the … The Flex 3 is no exception. If you can overlook this—perhaps you plan to keep your Flex 3 connected to an external monitor most of the time—it's worth a close look. A headphone jack and a receptacle for a physical lock to prevent someone from stealing the laptop round out the port selection. Lenovo says that the machine is … RAM: 4GB DDR4 45w USB-C charging The included USB-C charger juices the Ideapad 3 at 45W, the same as some high-end laptops. New York, PCMag, PCMag.com and PC Magazine are among the federally registered trademarks of Ziff Davis, LLC and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission. That’s true all-day battery life and it’s the kind of performance you’d never get from a budget system with a full fat Intel Core process. The Flex 3 also looks a little dated. It makes the likes of Google’s now defunct Pixelbook look incredibly expensive. The net result is not only a conspicuously old fashioned-looking device but also one that’s bigger than it might otherwise be. The smaller generally the better when holding tablet devices. The Flex 3 has a handsome almond-colored metal exterior, reasonably long battery life, and even an SD card reader to let you easily supplement its 64GB of internal storage. Visit our corporate site. The 1,366 by 768 pixel native resolution of the screen is likewise a reminder of an earlier era. The Flex 3's screen is also flanked by enormous black borders or bezels. Lenovo's 10-hour quoted battery life is a stretch, but not by much. Here's how the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook performed in our suite of benchmark tests: With a touchscreen and tablet capability that’s suitable for students or kids, the Flex 3 is truly versatile. There's even a volume rocker on the right edge, and Lenovo has replaced the traditional Chromebook power button in the upper right with a key that locks the screen. The lower chin, in particular, is enormous. Were this a Windows laptop or convertible, that would be enough to have us running for the hills. The Lenovo Chromebook Flex 3i is currently listed for $329.99 but is still unavailable for purchase. The stuttering and stalling is momentary rather than chronic. The Flex 3 also has plenty of input and output ports. Lenovo’s latest 2-in-1 convertible laptop, the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5, is hugely versatile, but a little short on memory. Compare IdeaPad Flex Series 2-in-1s The Flex 3 has a handsome almond-colored metal exterior, reasonably long battery life, and even an SD card reader to let you easily supplement its 64GB of internal storage. The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 Chromebook is a computer for people who occasionally find themselves wanting to scream at their laptop, asking why it won’t do what they want it to. Despite the 11-inch screen, it’s hardly the most portable 2-in-1 machine either. But it is fully functional and feels built to survive knocks and tumbles. If the sheer quality of the Flex 3 is surprising, its core specifications are less so. The immediate consequence is a device a full size larger than it would be with more modern bezels. It’s not the most elegant laptop out there, but it does the job surpr… The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 punches far above its weight. Clicks are precise, and there's little unwanted flex in the corners. In the charts below, I’ve included some alternative models at different price points. The keyboard surround will flex a little under the pressure of hard typing, if not enough to ruin the experience, and the inside of the IdeaPad 3 looks a little too much of a mish-mash. It shows off gently rounded corners and a not-quite-soft-touch black-plastic finish that manages to avoid looking or feeling chintzy. With the exception of the 360 degree hinge, that is. But it is small, it’s not terribly bright, and it’s pretty low resolution. We just wish the latter was located inside near the keyboard. Learn more about the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3i Chromebook (11”), a flexible 2-in-1 Chromebook with Intel® processors, Chrome OS, and long battery life. As the name suggests, the machine runs Chrome OS and is extremely portable. OK, this isn’t the sleekest or most elegant convertible device. © Alongside the Celeron chip is 4GB of system memory and just 64GB of eMMC-style storage. It’s solidly executed and marks a literal and metaphorical turning point around which the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook transitions to its strengths. However, it surely contributes to the fairly epic 16 hours-plus of video playback. It will be a close call and will probably boil down to which form factor and screen is preferred. But the best thing about the Lenovo Flex 3 Chromebook, revealed throughout my review period, is its battery prowess. Inside, the Flex 3 is available with just one set of computing components, and they’re pretty much exactly what we expect from a Chromebook at this price point. And a 360-degree hinge increases its versatility without adding extra bulk. All told, it’s a pretty unimpressive technical line up that represents a bottom-rung Intel-powered solution. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Lenovo Flex 3 15.6 Inch Touchscreen Laptop (Intel Core i7, 8 GB, 1TB HDD, Black) at Amazon.com. The Flex 3’s 11-inch panel is totally tragic. Please refresh the page and try again. Still, the large borders and the rather unimpressive display that they frame are really the only truly disappointing parts of this otherwise excellent Chromebook. If you want us to review it drop us a line and we might just bump it to the front of our reviews queue. The Lenovo Flex 3 features a Chiclet-style keyboard with plenty of space between keys to prevent excessive typos. In his spare time, he's written on topics as diverse as Borneo's rain forests, Middle Eastern airlines, and big data's role in presidential elections. Follow him on Twitter @branttom. Ideapad S Series: laptops for everyone. Not only does this Chromebook take … Flex Series. Neither are most this good-looking. You’re after a fantastic value 2-in-1 Chromebook You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time. Meanwhile, PCMark for Android Work and CrXPRT perform the same types of tasks but in an application downloaded from the Google Play store. © 1996-2020 Ziff Davis, LLC. Clearly less is sometimes more. Lenovo have changed the design of the Flex 3 a bit from the previous generation, most notably the hinges are now similar if not identical to the ones on the original Lenovo Yoga and the notebook can be flipped 360° instead of just 300° on the previous models, so … Lenovo supports the Flex 3 Chromebook with its standard one-year consumer-laptop warranty for parts and labor. This is a very solid feeling device, especially given the price point, with a remarkably rigid body. Sign up to get breaking news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more, plus the hottest tech deals! As a 2-in-1 convertible, the Flex 3 can be used as a conventional laptop, and it can also be propped up on a desk like an easel or tent. Graphics:  Intel UHD Graphics 600 Hardware. You need something with a great display Read Lenovo Chromebook 3 (11-Inch) Review Not only is the Flex 3 sturdy and good-looking, but it’s also without unnecessary heft and size. Really, the only difference I experienced in casual testing between the Flex 3 and the Core i7-powered Pixelbook was occasional sluggishness from the Flex 3 with more than a dozen browser tabs open. But not in a Chromebook. Lenovo launches new $230 Chromebook 3, $330 Chromebook Flex 3i 11.6-inch laptops With little fanfare, Lenovo refreshes the budget-friendly section of its Chromebook lineup with a … Weight: 2.64 pounds ( 1.2kg) Your subscription has been confirmed. It’s all too simple to accidentally bump it when switching between tablet and laptop modes. You value sleek, contemporary design Keep an eye on your inbox! The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook has some pretty epic borders around its 11-inch touch-capable display. The chassis is extremely rigid and the 360-degree hinge that allows this machine to transform into a tablet feels robust. MacBook Pro vs. MacBook Air: Which 13-Inch Apple Laptop Is Best for 2020? That Intel chip has decent video decoding chops, too, thanks to some dedicated hardware. That’s a dual-core chip derived from Intel’s low-power and low-cost Atom line of processors, rather than the premium high performance Core family. Processing power comes from an Celeron chip with Intel’s cheaper, lower power Atom-derived cores rather than high performance Core items. A graduate of Middlebury College, Tom also has a master's degree in journalism and French Studies from New York University. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Lenovo Flex 3 11.6" TouchScreen 2-in-1 Laptop PC - Intel Celeron processor 4GB DDR3L / 500GB HD / HD Webcam / WLAN 802.11b/g/n / Bluetooth 4.0 / Windows 10 at Amazon.com. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. A minor detail, perhaps, but you’ll occasionally be very thankful for it. As with so many Lenovo products, the Flex 5 is unassuming and understated. In addition to the 64GB of flash storage, they include an Intel Celeron N4020 processor with integrated UHD Graphics 600 and 4GB of system memory. Here is the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook configuration sent to TechRadar for review: We have the higher-specked version of the Yoga 300 for this test. The backlit keyboard looks nice and attractive. The only thing holding it back from excellence is the lack of a high-quality display—buyers on extreme budgets can't have everything. It’s full-function 2-in-1 with an 11-inch IPS display and excellent build quality. Lenovo Chromebook Flex 3, 2-in-1 11.6" Touch Screen Convertible Laptop, MediaTek MT8173C, 4GB Memory, 32GB eMMC Flash, Chrome OS, Bundled with TSBEAU 16GB Micro SD Card 【11.6" 10-point multitouch screen】Typical 1366 x 768 HD resolution. The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 punches far above its weight. More demanding web pages, such as Google Drive, do occasionally feel a little laggy. Lenovo. The entire laptop measures 0.7 by 11.4 by 8.2 inches (HWD) and weighs just 2.64 pounds, dimensions which make it competitive with 13-inch ultraportable laptops that cost $1,000 or more. Sub-$350 laptops are rarely this pleasing to hold in your hand. In all of these benchmarks, the Flex 3 came in significantly behind the more expensive and more powerful Acer, roughly equal with its non-Flex cousin, and comfortably ahead of the Chromebook Duet (which has an especially pokey Mediatek ARM processor). Mozilla Kraken: 2,109ms Read honest and unbiased product reviews … The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3’s Intel Celeron N4020 CPU is not normally something to show off about. However, the touch functionally is reasonably responsive. Otherwise, you’ll have to increase your budget to consider 2-in-1 Chromebooks like the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 or the Google Pixelbook Go. Sure enough, Lenovo has released yet-another Flex Chromebook but unlike the 13.3″ Flex 5, the new Chromebook Flex 3i is of the 11.6″ persuasion. Arguably, that’s not ideal for a device that also doubles as a tablet. Connectivity: 802.11AC (2 x 2) WiFi, Bluetooth® 4.2 The most obvious is the Flex 3’s 11-inch screen. Identity crisis aside, the Flex 3 11-inch (reviewed at $379, starting at $289) offers one of the best multimode experiences in the budget category, complete with helpful, intuitive software. The non-Flex version of the IdeaPad 3 Chromebook is priced similarly, while the Lenovo Chromebook 3 and the Lenovo Chromebook Duet are cheaper. The new Lenovo Flex 3 14 80R3000UUS is a one step update from its predecessor, one that we’ve reviewed in a previous article. But when you factor in price, the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook is both surprisingly effective and appealing. Apple AirPods Max vs Sony WH-1000XM4 vs Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700: how do they compare? 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