[Review] Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i (82HS00R9US): For Students

With everyday users' computer needs in mind, Lenovo's IdeaPad Flex 5i lineup is a cost-effective solution for those needing an easy-to-use 2-in-1 laptop for both productivity and entertainment purposes with great performance and long-lasting battery life.

It's not a high-end laptop lineup and won't revolutionize the market. Still, it does a good job at offering a wide array of laptops that cater to those who are looking for something cost-effective yet don't want to give up on the convenience of turning your laptop into a tablet at any given point.

Having said that, it's time to dive deep into the most appealing specs of a highly regarded 14-inch convertible in this review of the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 82HS00R9US.

This particular model lands on the shelves with a discreet design, a 14-inch Full HD display, an 11th-generation Core i3 processor, and 128 GB of SSD storage, all for less than what it costs you to buy a new iPad. But will it measure up to your expectations? That's what we're here to find out since it's definitely not a laptop aimed at everyone. 

The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 82HS00R9US features a good-looking Graphite Gray chassis made out of anodized aluminum on the lid and polycarbonate for the base while weighing in at 3.3 pounds and measuring just 0.80 inches in thickness. Hence, it feels solid and lightweight at the same time.

Additionally, it comes with a sturdy dual 360° hinge that helps you fold the screen so that it can be used not only as a laptop but also as a tablet, as well as in portrait mode to fit every user's needs in both productivity and multimedia scenarios.

Essentially, it's a convertible through and through.

Moreover, it has a bezel-less 14-inch IPS screen with a Full HD resolution (1920 by 1080 pixels), and it's TUV-certified to reduce eye strain when spending long stretches looking at the screen. Color representation is correct and well within what we've come to expect within this price range but don't expect to get the picture quality of a high-end display because you'll be sorely disappointed. 

Also, as reported by some users, it's recommended mostly for indoor uses as it comes with just 250 nits of brightness which isn't sufficient enough to use under sunlight conditions. To place this in perspective, the latest MacBooks to hit the market pack 500 nits of brightness, and your run-of-the-mill mid-range laptop will offer anywhere between 300 and 400 nits of brightness.

Finally, the keyboard offers a proper response and is relatively comfortable when working with it for long stretches. One thing that we should point out is that the keyboard is not backlit. 

This is fairly common amongst affordable notebooks, more so when talking about convertibles which rarely feature a backlit keyboard regardless of the price range we're talking about. 

The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 82HS00R9US is powered by the 11th-Gen Intel Core i3-1115G4 processor. This CPU packs two cores, four threads, and 6 MB of SmartCache memory, reaching a burst frequency of up to 4.10 GHz via Intel's Turbo Boost technology.

This isn't a great processor. It'll get the job done on your average tasks, but as soon as you ask it to go above and beyond, with tasks like video editing or Full-stack coding, you're going to run into some performance issues. 

Furthermore, it features a discreet 4 GB DDR4 RAM. This amount of RAM coupled with a storage unit with 128 GB of SSD storage, solidifies the notion that we're looking at a Cloudbook that's also a convertible. In short, this is a laptop that's aimed at performing simple tasks since it neither has the horsepower (the CPU), nor the bandwidth (the RAM), to handle numerous tasks at a time. 

Essentially, you can count on the 82HS00R9US for low-key tasks like browsing the web, chatting with friends, editing spreadsheets, streaming videos, or listening to music but you really shouldn't expect this notebook to be able to handle numerous tasks at a time, nor should you expect to work on highly demanding tasks with this device because you'll be quickly disappointed. 

On that note, if you prefer a 14-inch convertible with higher RAM capacity, you can check out the ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5 CX5400FMA-DN388T-S as it features 8 GB RAM memory that you can upgrade up to 16 GB if you need to.

In a nutshell, this convertible is a suitable option for elderly citizens, students, small business owners who only need to work on a couple of cloud-based apps, bloggers and that's about it. Basically, anyone who's going to use it in a relatively simple way.

We would not recommend this set of specs to accountants who need to work on several spreadsheets at a time, nor to gamers who would suffer from the lack of a dedicated graphics card or programmers who would require more RAM to comfortably run virtual machines. 

Coming round to the connectivity department, the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 82HS00R9US comes with an HDMI 1.4b, a 4-in-1 SD card reader, a headphone jack, two USB-A 3.1 inputs, a single USB-C 3.1 port with Power Delivery support to charge the laptop, and an HD webcam with a shutter to keep your privacy protected.

Moreover, it features Wi-Fi 5 wireless technology, which was previously known as Wi-Fi 802.11ac before the Wi-Fi Alliance changed its name in order to make it easier to remember for users. It also comes with Bluetooth 5.0 support.

Alternatively, the ASUS VivoBook Flip 14 TP470EA-AS34T could be a better option as it comes with a Thunderbolt 4 port, a fingerprint reader, and Wi-Fi 6 instead of Wi-Fi 5.

Overall, we're quite impressed with the connectivity suite at hand. Typically convertibles feature a fairly limited set of connectivity options that don't go beyond a couple of ports and definitely do not include USB-A ports. Well done Lenovo, well done!

Moving onto the graphics department, we've got the Intel UHD Graphics integrated GPU meaning that you'll be able to play light games as well as stream multimedia content with no interruptions. It's your standard graphics card for mid-range laptops and will offer an average experience streaming content and the likes, but again it's not aimed at gamers. 

Regarding the battery life of the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 82HS00R9US, we've got a 52.5 Wh battery which delivers up to 10 hours of mixed usage with the screen brightness maxed at 150 nits, as well as up to 11 hours of Full HD video playback.

Furthermore, the fast charging functionality gives you 2 hours of extra battery life with just 15 minutes of charging.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 82HS00R9US reviewed today presents itself a solid option for those lightweight users looking for a device to get the job done without emptying out their bank accounts in the process. It's a great combo of laptop and tablet, offers a respectable Full HD screen and a set of specs that easily place it within the category of "Cloudbook" for lack of a better term. 

Ultimately, if you're looking to buy a laptop for a student or for yourself and you just want a laptop to type a few emails, stream movies on a 14-inch display and browse the web without spending a fortune then this is an excellent choice that you're not going to regret.

Buy Now!