As capable as it is affordable, the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 (starts at $559.99; $735 as tested) sets the standard for 2-in-1 convertible laptops. It’s got the basics covered: a 14-inch screen, your choice of Intel or AMD processors, and a well-crafted 360-degree hinge that lets you prop it on a desk like a tent or an easel or flip it into tablet mode. Add reassuring build quality and a low price, and you get an Editors’ Choice award winner for best midrange convertible laptop.
A Convertible for the Rest of Us
The category pioneer, Lenovo knows how to make convertible laptops better than many other companies (and lots of other companies make them). But over the years since the first Yoga was introduced, the Chinese tech giant has broadened the category so significantly that it can be hard to make sense of all the options. The Yoga moniker shows up on premium consumer designs, but also a wide range of ThinkBook and ThinkPad business laptops. There are even one-off curiosities like the e-ink-equipped Yoga Book.
The laptop reviewed here belongs to a sensible middle ground of Lenovo 2-in-1s that bear the Flex moniker. They’re available in multiple screen sizes from 11 to 15 inches, but the 14-inch IdeaPad Flex 5i is arguably the sweetest spot. It’s not bulky, which means you can hold the laptop in one hand and rotate the screen or tap on it with your other hand. But it has enough screen real estate to make movie watching and spreadsheet editing possible on a cramped airplane tray table.
Different retailers sell various Flex 5i 14 configurations. Our unit is around $735 at Walmart, and sports a latest-generation Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU, 16GB of memory, and a 512GB solid-state drive. Those are generous RAM and storage amounts for the price. Other configurations include Core i3 or Core i7 processors and various memory and storage options. There are also versions with fourth- or fifth-generation AMD Ryzen processors. Note, however, that not even Lenovo itself sells all of the configurations—you’ll have to hit up the websites of retailers like Best Buy and Amazon to take stock of all your options. The scattered nature of IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 sales is unfortunate, but it’s a reflection of our COVID-impacted sales and production environment, with back-to-school bargain hunters competing for a limited supply of decent, affordable laptops.
A Moody Gray 2-in-1
Color options vary by retailer, too. Our review unit takes an uncontroversial approach, clad in dark Graphite Gray. I find it darker and moodier-looking than the bright silver tones of competitors like the HP Pavilion x360 15. There’s also a lighter Platinum Gray option, as well as a more striking Abyss Blue scheme if you’re fancying a pop of color. Whichever hue you choose, the chassis is clad in the same sturdy materials—anodized stamped aluminum for the top cover and a combination of polycarbonate and glass fiber for the base. It’s reassuringly sturdy to hold.
The Flex 5i 14 isn’t sleek, though. It measures 0.8 by 12.7 by 8.6 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.3 pounds, which just barely qualifies it as an ultraportable. The stylish, ultrapremium Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 measures just 0.56 by 11.7 by 8.2 inches and weighs 2.9 pounds, though it does have a smaller display. The 14-inch screen of our Flex 5i 14 review unit is mostly adequate, although it suffers from a few shortcomings common in the sub-$1,000 laptop category. I appreciate the glossy finish, which helps colors pop a little without unnecessarily reflecting glare from ambient lights. It’s a full HD (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) panel with a 16:9 aspect ratio, which puts it right on the money for the capabilities we expect at this price point. It supports touch input via the optional Lenovo Digital Pen; our configuration includes this digital stylus in the box, featuring 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity but lacking tilt detection. It’s fine for jotting quick notes or rough sketches.
The Flex 5i 14’s screen does suffer a bit from low color accuracy and a relatively dim backlight. It’s rated for 250 nits of brightness and just 45% of the NTSC color gamut. In our testing, the screen managed to display 64% of the sRGB gamut and topped out at 257 nits. At peak brightness, it’s perfectly viewable in a daylight-lit room, but viewability drops off quickly as you reduce the brightness.
HDMI Port Included
On the Flex 5i 14’s left edge, you’ll find a power port, an HDMI 1.4b video output, a USB Type-C port, and an audio combo jack. The USB-C port can be used to charge the laptop, and Lenovo includes an AC adapter with a USB-C plug, rendering the dedicated power port an anachronism. Cheaper configurations may come with a barrel-style AC adapter that connects to the dedicated port instead. That’s actually preferable, since you’ll be able to charge the laptop and use the USB-C port at the same time, and you can always swap in a different USB-C charger if you misplace the laptop’s cord.
On the right edge, there are two USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a rarity on ultraportable laptops these days, and handy for connecting one of the vast number of devices that haven’t yet moved to USB-C. The right edge also hosts a full-size SD card reader and the Flex 5i’s power button. Side-mounted power buttons are easier to use when the laptop is propped up like an easel, but be careful not to accidentally press the button when you grasp the Flex 5i on its sides. There are no Thunderbolt 4 ports, but we don’t expect one at this price.
It’s nice to see support for the latest Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) standard on the Flex 5i 14. Last year’s model lacked it, and like Thunderbolt ports, it’s not a requirement for a laptop in this price range. Bluetooth 5.0 wireless connectivity also comes standard, but there is no option to add an LTE or 5G modem.
In addition to inventing the 2-in-1 convertible, Lenovo is also famous for the typing comfort of its ThinkPad business laptops. Most non-ThinkPad models, including the Flex 5i 14, use some adaptation of the ThinkPad keyboard, with scalloped keys, sturdy switches, and generous travel distance. Two 2-watt speakers flank the keyboard, and a function row is at the top, with some rare shortcut keys. I appreciate Windows Snip & Sketch for taking screenshots and one-touch access to the Lenovo Settings app (F9). Below the keyboard, the touchpad is a bit small and stiff for my liking, but still tracks accurately.
The Flex 5i 14’s HD webcam offers predictably ho-hum video quality, with considerable graininess even in well-lit settings. But that’s par for the course even with more expensive laptops, and the Flex 5i 14 includes a nifty, unobtrusive built-in privacy shutter. Meanwhile, a fingerprint reader mounted beneath the right corner of the keyboard affords password-free logins via Windows Hello.
Testing the IdeaPad: Everyday Computing Is a Cinch
Performance from the 11th Gen Core i5 CPU is perfectly adequate for performing basic productivity tasks or streaming web videos. I never experienced even a hint of sluggishness while browsing with multiple tabs open or installing apps over the course of several days of testing. The generous 16GB of memory likely helps significantly in this regard; it’s the same capacity we typically see in 2-in-1 laptops that cost twice as much.
To quantify the Flex 5i 14’s performance, I compared its results in our benchmark tests with those of a few key competitors in the same price range. In addition to the Pavilion x360 15, I’m also including the Asus VivoBook S14 and the more business-oriented Lenovo ThinkBook 14s Yoga for comparison purposes. Here are their specs:
All these systems offer excellent performance in the Geekbench CPU test and PCMark 10 comprehensive productivity suite. While the Flex 5i 14 falls a bit behind the Core i7-based ThinkBook 14s Yoga, it still easily hurdles the 4,000-point mark that indicates excellent performance.
When it comes to storage performance as measured by PCMark 10’s Full System Drive benchmark, the Flex’s 512GB SSD easily outclasses the VivoBook’s drive. Some systems, including the Pavilion x360 15, fail to complete this wide-ranging set of real-world trace-based tests, which include launching complex apps like Adobe Photoshop and booting up Windows 10. (See more about how we test laptops.)
The Flex 5i 14 isn’t designed for more CPU-intensive tasks like 3D rendering in Maxon’s Cinebench, manipulating images in Adobe Photoshop, or transcoding 4K video using the open-source HandBrake app. The last trial represented a particular challenge, with the Flex finishing in last place, though it was more competitive in the image editing and 3D rendering trials.
The Flex 5i 14 also isn’t designed for 3D gaming. It uses the Iris Xe integrated graphics built into Intel 11th Generation laptop processors instead of a discrete GPU. As a result, it posted relatively low scores in our 3DMark and GFXBench game simulations.
But it’s not far behind the results of its competitors, most of which use the same graphics processor. It’s also worth noting that if, you play simple browser-based games like those represented by the relatively forgiving GFXBench Car Chase test, you can still expect decent frame rates in excess of 60 frames per second. You should also expect reasonable battery life from an ultraportable, even a sub-$1,000 one, and here the Flex 5i 14 does not disappoint. It lasted for nearly 13 hours in our video rundown test, which involves looping a locally stored 720p video file at 50% screen brightness with Wi-Fi turned off until the battery quits. This is something of a best-case scenario, and the Flex 5i 14’s combination of a dim display and capacious 52.5-watt-hour battery likely helped a lot.
Power, Flexibility, and Value
Lenovo’s IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 is exactly the sort of 2-in-1 convertible you’d expect from the company that pioneered this category. It’s a sensible machine that’s pleasing to use as a conventional laptop, or propped up for a presentation in easel or tent mode. The chassis is well-engineered, even if it’s not the sleekest or lightest around. And the processing power is decent, thanks in large part to the generous 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD of our test unit. You can do better if you venture north of $1,000—our top premium 2-in-1 pick is the HP Spectre x360 14, while the ThinkBook 14s Yoga is great for small and medium businesses. For around $700, though, it’s hard to beat this configuration of the Flex 5i 14, which claims our Editors’ Choice award for best midrange 2-in-1 convertible.
