If there's one thing you can take away from this Lenovo IdeaPad 3 review, it's one of them
best laptops
currently on the market, but not because of its flashy looks or powerful performance - but because it's not stupidly expensive. You really get the most bang for your buck with a Lenovo laptop.
Of course we've seen much faster and more sophisticated Lenovo laptops over the past few months, but if you're paying as little as possible for a . want to spend
cheap laptop
then the IdeaPad 3 is worth considering. In our detailed Lenovo IdeaPad 3 review, we explain exactly why.
You won't be able to play demanding games or launch your career in video production, but it has many strengths worth highlighting: It's great for everyday computer work and web browsing, den Dealing with email and spreadsheets, and you'll be happy with the TV and movie streaming too.
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Lenovo IdeaPad 3 review: design and screen
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(Image credit: Future)
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(Image credit: Future)
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(Image credit: Future)
The IdeaPad 3 sports a compact 14-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and is a reasonably bright and sharp screen. The bezels around the display are thicker than the best laptops out there, and the viewing angles and the maximum brightness aren't particularly top-notch, but this is a laptop you'll have to judge for its price - and for the money it costs we've been very pleased.
Whether you're surfing the web, writing an essay, or sitting back and watching movies from your favorite video streaming platform, the Lenovo IdeaPad 3's display keeps up. It doesn't exist as a touchscreen, but at this price point you would Don't expect that. While the 16:9 aspect ratio isn't as good as 16:10 for documents and web pages, it works very well for video content, as we found on a quick YouTube binge.
Lenovo has, of course, been in the laptop game for a long time, and that's reflected in the IdeaPad 3's solid build and reassuring tactile feel. The screen hinge feels sturdy, the plastic outer casing feels durable, and you get the impression that this is a laptop that will last and last. If the kids manage to get a hold of it, for example, then there's no need to worry that it breaks in half... probably.
It's worth noting the typing experience on the Lenovo IdeaPad 3. You don't get a full-size keyboard with a number pad, but otherwise it's excellent: keystrokes feel soft but firm, the keys are well spaced, and you get the usual array of Shortcuts on the function keys at the top (for volume, brightness, etc.). There's no keyboard backlight, but we can live with that, and while the trackpad is on the small side, it feels solid and responsive.
Another nice touch is the webcam's privacy shield just above the monitor, giving you extra peace of mind when your video calls are done for the day.Three USB-A ports, an HDMI-out port for an external monitor, a 3, A 5mm headphone jack and an SD card slot also allow peripherals and other gadgets to be connected to the laptop.
It's fair to say that the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 looks like it is: a budget laptop. At the same time, it's a well-built portable computer that, at 1.6 kilograms, isn't heavy to lug around the office or around the house Unless you need something really compact or a lot of screen real estate, this laptop hits the spot to give you plenty of display without sacrificing too much portability. Despite the low price, we'd expect it to last a few years .
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Lenovo IdeaPad 3 review: performance and features
(Image credit: Lenovo)
Our IdeaPad 3 review unit featured a 10th Gen Intel Core i3-1005G1 processor - by no means the latest or greatest Intel chipset, but definitely enough to help you with some everyday computing tasks. The integrated Intel UHD Graphics G1 setup means gaming and other graphically intensive tasks are beyond the laptop (think high-end image and video editing), but it's perfectly fine for most tasks most of us do with a computer.
The review unit we had came with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal SSD storage - you wouldn't really be trying to run Windows 10 on anything less, but you can get by even with that kind of spec. We tried on Surfing the web, sending emails, and playing media on the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 all went smoothly. However, if you really try to clutter the laptop with lots of browser tabs or lots of open applications, problems can arise.
Notably, during our time with it, the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 remained pleasantly quiet, with the fans only occasionally spinning up when the laptop was pressurized. Note that the computer has Windows 10 Restricted S mode enabled - you can in Switch to Windows 10 for free in about a minute, but lose some performance and security benefits.
In general, we found the IdeaPad 3 to run applications and websites smoothly and well. The integrated Dolby audio system won't be winning awards anytime soon, but it's better than you'd expect for a laptop at this price point, and it is more than adequate for a few quick bursts of music or for dialogue and audio accompaniment to movies and TV shows. We had no complaints with the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 as a media player.
We've seen a battery life of 3-4 hours with normal, undemanding use - that's with the screen set to maximum brightness. So if you like to dim a bit, you'll have more time between charges. This isn't a laptop that will last a full day without an outlet, but it will do for a train ride or an afternoon at a coffee shop. Of course, other laptops will give you a lot more battery life, but they also cost you more.
Two hours of uninterrupted video streaming - again with the screen at maximum brightness - dropped the battery from 100 per cent to 75 per cent in our test, which suggests around 8 hours of total video playback if you're not doing anything else with the laptop in the meantime. That's at all not too bad, and if you just watch videos you can do it from dawn to dusk.
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Lenovo IdeaPad 3 review: price and verdict
(Image credit: Future)
Based on our review so far, you might think the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 is a rather disappointing laptop - but given the price, it's all relative, and this computer is very affordable indeed. Check the embedded widgets on this page for the latest deals on the web, but it's usually available for under £400 now and at that price we're willing to put up with some hiccups.
Yes, you can pay more for a laptop with a sharper, brighter screen, longer battery life, and more powerful components, but when it comes to value and value, the IdeaPad 3 is hardly better - that's why we were we like as a budget choice in our
best laptops
list. As long as you understand what you get and don't get from the IdeaPad 3, it could be the right purchase for you.
With only 4GB of RAM, the laptop isn't really suited to stacking lots of images in Adobe Photoshop or trying to run anything other than the most basic of games, but the i3 processor and SSD storage ensure you'll get decent speeds for your daily computing tasks.We could very happily get through a workday with the IdeaPad 3, and it's light enough to be easily carried around.
The typing and trackpad experience is definitely worth mentioning again, as it's one of the best aspects of the entire IdeaPad 3 package. If you have a lot of essays, reports, or spreadsheets to work through, you'll find that the Lenovo laptop is great at the task has grown - it may not use the highest quality materials, but it feels durable and solid, and ready for extended work sessions.
Windows 10 keeps getting better, too, whether you stick with S mode on this laptop or not, and can work on slower components too. It's worth considering that you simply can't get a Mac laptop at this price point right now .Chromebooks are an option, of course, but if you install Google Chrome on the IdeaPad 3, you'll have everything that Chrome OS offers and then some.
When considering the Lenovo IdeaPad 3, you have to first consider the price and then consider everything else: while the screen and battery life both have room for improvement in our opinion, the notebook scores highly in terms of overall usability, the typing experience, the connectivity options you get, and the built-in Intel Core processor. If you're looking for a budget laptop, it's worth adding this to your shortlist.
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