While the Flex 5i Chromebook Plus’ screen quality and performance aren’t the strongest, it does most of what it can do on a lower budget. The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i has become a top Chromebook choice, offering a versatile 2-in-1 form factor with solid usability and a decent screen that strikes the best balance of price and performance. It never wowed like the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 and 714 or Google’s later Pixelbook Go. However, it’s always been much more affordable, which is important in the value-conscious world of Chromebooks.
At first glance, the latest version doesn’t look drastically different from its predecessors, but it’s one of two Lenovo Chromebooks to receive Google’s new Chromebook Plus moniker. That immediately tells you you’re getting a premium device with strong core specs, but the IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus goes a step further to make it an enticing option for small businesses.
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus: DesignLike the Acer Chromebook Spin 714 and Asus Chromebook Vibe CX34 Flip, the IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus is a 2-in-1 convertible laptop with a 14-inch screen and a 16:10 aspect ratio, giving you more vertical real estate at the expense of some horizontal real estate. Don’t get too excited about the aluminum lid — it’s the only part of the case that’s actually made of metal rather than plastic with a metal finish — but the construction feels good and solid, with barely any flex in the base and lid.
In fact, the Flex in the name refers to the flexibility of the design. This lets you use this Chromebook not only in standard clamshell laptop mode, but also fold the lid back to the base of the keyboard as a sort of oversized tablet, or use the lid as a support for the screen in tent mode, perfect for impromptu presentations or just viewing rather than working on it. Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus: DisplayThe screen is arguably one area where the cheaper IdeaPad Slim 3i Chromebook pulls ahead. Most of us would have liked the Flex 5i Chromebook Plus to have a higher 1920 x 1200 resolution and a more square aspect ratio; it makes the screen look a little larger and sharper than it actually is. However, the Slim 3i’s screen is brighter, hitting nearly 330 nits, while the Flex 5i only hits just under 300 nits. More importantly, it’s slightly more colorful. The Flex 5i covers 57.7% of the sRGB color gamut, while the Slim 3i can cover 61%. These results are fairly average, and contrast and color accuracy are similarly less than ideal. But in real-world use, whether streaming videos from YouTube and Netflix or spending a full day running productivity apps, the screen looks good. Text is sharp, contrast is decent, and image quality is good. As long as you’re not involved in color-critical design work or anything like that, It’s perfectly usable. Word processing? Spreadsheets? Business collaboration apps and email? You’re fine.
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus: Performance But the differences aren’t as big as you might think. The Flex 5i scored 1809 on the Geekbench single-core benchmark and 5020 on the multi-core benchmark, behind the Acer’s 1882 and 6568 and the Asus’s 1815 and 6292, but the two were very close on the Basemark 3.0 Web Application benchmark, with scores of 1237.88, 1244.59 for the Acer, and 1360.24 for the Asus. The differences were more pronounced on the 3DMark Wild Life benchmark, at 7041, 8826, and 7889, but that’s not a big deal for Chrome OS. In real-world, everyday use, the Flex 5i Chromebook Plus was responsive and quick, even if you had a dozen Chrome tabs open or were running Android apps. It’s not a speed champion, but it’s fast enough.
As for battery life, the Flex 5i Chromebook Plus lasted nearly 10 hours on our video-playback rundown test; that’s more than three hours less than the Spin 713 and nearly an hour less than the Chromebook Vibe CX34 Flip, but still a good result. Unless you crank the screen brightness to maximum, you can get through a workday without charging, which is more than enough for most users.
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus: Is it worth it?
The IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus falls short of the standard set by its Asus and Acer competitors in some areas. The screen isn’t bright enough, the colors aren’t vibrant enough, the overall feel isn’t premium enough, and the performance and battery life aren’t quite matched. Lenovo sells a slightly more expensive version with a Core i5 1235U and a larger 512GB SSD, but that doesn’t change the design, materials, Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus battery life, or screen.
But the key here is pricing. The Core i3 version tested has an RRP of £499, but can often be found for £399 or less. An equivalent version of the Asus Chromebook Spin 714 costs £699, and while we’ve seen it on sale for £100 less, that’s still a sizeable price difference. £200 off each laptop is worth considering when you’re on a tight budget. It also makes the Lenovo excellent value for money. You can still get an excellent, business-friendly Chromebook for this price.
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