Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook – Review 2020

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). 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 only thing holding it back from excellence is the lack of a high-quality display—buyers on extreme budgets can’t have everything. 

A Touch Screen on Tap

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. It can even be used as a tablet PC of sorts, with its keyboard folded completely underneath the screen. Google has made significant changes in the past few years to make the Chrome operating system work better with touch screens in tablets and 2-in-1s, making the added versatility of the Flex 3 well worth it for some buyers. 

Lenovo pioneered the 2-in-1 concept, and some of the excellent design from its more expensive models is apparent on the Flex 3. The hinge is sturdy, with very little bouncing when you tap the screen. The laptop’s chassis is also sturdy, with no flex anywhere on the base and a display lid that feels eminently sturdy. Sub-$350 laptops are rarely this pleasing to hold in your hand. 

Neither are most this good-looking. Lenovo painted the metal finish with an almond color, which helps the Flex 3 stand out in a sea of plastic and occasional gray-aluminum chassis that typically make up the budget-laptop set. 

Not only is the Flex 3 sturdy and good-looking, but it’s also without unnecessary heft and size. 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. The Pixelbook, for instance, is 0.4 by 11.4 by 8.7 inches and weighs 2.4 pounds. 

But…a Cramped, Dim Screen

Alas, if you think that Lenovo has stumbled upon some hidden exception to the rules of physics and economics to fit such high-end features into a tiny enclosure at a palatable asking price, think again. The Flex 3’s most significant compromise is its cramped, dim 11.6-inch HD display. Yes, you can touch it, but with a brightness of just 250 nits and a resolution below the 1080p (full HD) that we consider adequate for budget laptops, it’s not all that pleasing a panel to look at. 

The Flex 3’s screen is also flanked by enormous black borders or bezels. They give the laptop a decidedly early-2000s aesthetic when it’s open, since most modern laptops have extremely thin bezels that are sometimes difficult to see at all. Still, the large borders and the rather unimpressive display that they frame are really the only truly disappointing parts of this otherwise excellent Chromebook. In the top border, there’s a 720p webcam that offers reasonably crisp quality in good lighting conditions, since it matches the resolution of the display.

The Flex 3’s edges are further evidence of its clever design. It includes a power button on the right edge in lieu of one in the keyboard, which is handy for waking up the laptop when its keyboard is lying face-down on the desk. 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 Flex 3 also has plenty of input and output ports. You get two USB-C ports and two USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A ports, handy for connecting thumb drives and external keyboards. There’s even a microSD card reader, a key feature for Chromebook users who need extra local storage. Most Chromebooks have cramped internal drives, and the 64GB of eMMC flash storage in the Flex 3 is no exception. A headphone jack and a receptacle for a physical lock to prevent someone from stealing the laptop round out the port selection. 

Thanks to reasonably sturdy keycaps, keyboard quality is also above average for a budget laptop. Other than the aforementioned lock key, the Flex 3 sports the usual Chromebook layout, which is a bit different from that found on Windows PCs and Macs. There are extra-large Ctrl and Alt keys to make up for the lack of Windows or Command keys, and the top function row contains dedicated buttons for navigating back and forth between pages in the Chrome web browser. 

The Flex 3’s touchpad surprised me with its roominess and sturdiness. Clicks are precise, and there’s little unwanted flex in the corners. 

Meanwhile, wireless connections include 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2. There’s no support for the latest Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) wireless standard. 

Lenovo supports the Flex 3 Chromebook with its standard one-year consumer-laptop warranty for parts and labor. 

Testing the Flex 3: Average Chromebook Performance

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. 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. 

Chromebooks don’t need a ton of computing horsepower, since there are very few resource-intensive apps available for Chrome OS. The system also boots up quickly, in 10 seconds or less. 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. I don’t see this being a drawback unless you plan to connect an external display, since the Flex 3’s screen isn’t really large enough to accommodate that many tabs comfortably in any case. (See how we test laptops and Chromebooks.)

On our theoretical benchmarks, the Flex 3 performs about as expected for an entry to midrange Chromebook. In the charts below, I’ve included some alternative models at different price points. The non-Flex version of the IdeaPad 3 Chromebook is priced similarly, while the Lenovo Chromebook 3 and the Lenovo Chromebook Duet are cheaper. At the other hand of the spectrum is the Acer Chromebook Spin 713, an Editors’ Choice winner in the $600-plus price range. 

The charts show results on two categories of tests. JetStream and WebXPRT are browser-based benchmarks that show how well the Chromebook handles the types of web-based computing tasks that are the bread and butter of Chrome users. Meanwhile, PCMark for Android Work and CrXPRT perform the same types of tasks but in an application downloaded from the Google Play store. 

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). 

The Flex 3’s battery life is adequate. It lasted for a bit more than 10 hours in our video rundown test, which involves playing a locally stored video file with Wi-Fi turned off. That should get you through a day of occasional browsing, but it’s on the low end for a modern Chromebook.

A Slate of Strengths…and One Key Weakness

The Flex 3’s main strengths are its above-average build quality, attractive styling, and wallet-friendly price. With a generous range of ports, it should also appeal to people who plan to supplement their Chromebook’s internal storage and perhaps connect an external keyboard and mouse. And a 360-degree hinge increases its versatility without adding extra bulk. 

The Flex 3’s main drawback is its cramped, dim, low-resolution display, which keeps it from an excellent rating. 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. 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. 

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook Specs

Best Laptop Picks

Laptop Product Comparisons

Further Reading