This laptop has amazingly good build quality, and is very snappy to use. The achiles heel is that it only has 6 GB of RAM available to the OS, since it is capped at 8 GB non upgradeable, and 2 GB are dedicated to the integrated graphics. 8 GB would be OK if fully usable, but 6 GB is getting a bit tight these days due to the horrible new trend of desktop apps written in Javascript.
Apart from 8 GB instead of 16 GB RAM, this laptop is amazing, and I hope that Lenovo will continue to consider the AMD Ryzen processors instead of Intel processors for future laptops in this price range. The latest-gen Ryzen has excellent multicore performance. AMD's integrated graphics are also surprisingly good, especially considering that you get it for free from the processor. This computer should be able to run basically any AAA game released in 2013ish or before at high settings despite being an ultralight notebook with no dedicated graphics card. Before you ask, yes, it can run Overwatch or Fortnite at high settings well.
The SSD could maybe be a bit bigger in this age of cheap 3DNAND SSD's, but it is very fast. The computer boots up instantly and has very little post-startup lag, making the fingerprint reader very nice to have as login time would be the time bottleneck in getting started otherwise.
The screen is great, both as an HD screen and as a touchscreen. It is larger than any ipad and gives an amazing touch experience. I expected it to be a bit bulky, but the laptop has an evenly distributed weight and balances well despite its size, so the tablet + pen experience is great. Used the pen to try writing and solving some physics equations with subscripts and superscripts, and it worked great, better than my old early-gen surface.
If I were Lenovo and could change one thing, it would be switching up the motherboard to add more RAM while keeping the Ryzen. Although, running out of RAM isn't too bad with a fast SSD as the computer doesn't grind to a halt when swapping. Still, I'd be careful about installing too many tasks running in the background in order to keep the computer as snappy as it is when new. At this price level, this is the best offering out there imho for a 2 in 1 laptop. A microsoft surface tablet with similar performance would cost you twice as much.
While this is not as powerful or fast as my Dell gamer laptop, it's still pretty good. The Vine description has some things right and some wrong. One it says pen sold separately, but it comes with a pen, which is reflected on the product page. The product page specifies a lower screen resolution, but this is full HD 1080P like the Vine description says. One right, one wrong, but both good news. My high rating does not mean this doesn't have some downsides, but for price, performance and convenience this is a winner.
I used Cortana to set this up with voice and it understood me fairly well. I found the keyboard smaller and not as centered to use the QWERTY arrangement as naturally, I'm old enough that they still taught typing back in high school, and so I type by touch, as a software engineer, I'm fairly fast, but I notice when the home keys don't have the best position. I didn't like the lack of buttons by the track pad either. I surmised that double tapping it emulated a mouse, but it was a bit hard to work with. No problem even my Dell, I use an inexpensive USB wireless mouse and when at the desk a full size keyboard as well. The setup went well but for some reason trying to set up the Microsoft account since I have one it wouldn't take my email, and I couldn't seem to find a way to sign into my current account in the process. I registered for it offline, so I guess I won't get upgrades till I figure it out. It connected to my home network easily when I selected the wireless link, and entered my network PW.
I jumped on to the web, and set it to MSN which I use for news and events. I could easily jump arount to my favorite pages. I did notice it was slower than my laptop, but thats to be expected. Although my Dell has less solid state storage, it has a much faster CPU and graphics processor as it has a 4K video screen. Where this really shines is the battery power, I've two high end laptops, but they could almost act as space heaters at times, and if I unplug them they will barely make it to two hours run time, even with power conservation settings. I ran this for five hours and it still had about a third of the battery power left. It also has fast charge in 45 minutes I was back to 75 percent, and in 90 minutes had a full charge again. Those figure were while running BTW, so would be better if just left to charge alone. It does support full 1080P, so even with the small, but not too small screen things were clear and crisp. I connected up a popular streaming service and watches a movie and some anime. It performed nice.
I've said this before, but I don't know why they are called laptops, I put them on a table when sitting, and if lying back I put them on my tummy. I guess a tummy top would not be as catchy a phrase. This has an active pen and touch screen something my other laptops don't have and it's nice if you want to draw, or use various interactive apps. There is a security feature you can activate with your fingerprint, but I didn't set it up, but nice to have if you have nosey people around your house or office. Plus it might be possible for a hacker to remotely access you with a stolen PW, but probably would be foiled by having to enter a fingerprint. Cost is less than half my high end laptops, and this is more convenient, lighter, more battery power, and almost as good graphic performance. It may bog down a little with some online games, but it could play many of them as well. Sound is fair, but it might be better so add some small speakers when using at a desktop location. I can't tell how good the sound card is, but even the integrated sound on most systems are fairly good today.
The bottom line here is this is a laptop/tablet you can live with and won't bog you down, easy to transport, if used in business you don't have to drag your charger to the conferance room due to long battery life. Runs Windows 10 without a hitch as far as I could tell, and although more expensive than most straight tablets, it does more, stores more, performs most tablet features as well as home computer features, and is definately worth the money. Remember to get that wireless mouse though, those trac pads can drive you crazy. Recommended.
Just writing a quick review for anyone wanting to put Linux on this. I didn't find anything online about this model as to compatibility and took a chance when buying it. I'm using Ubuntu 19.04 and 99% of things seems to work out of the box. The network chip is a RTL8822BE, which seems to be both wifi and bluetooth. Both worked without any tinkering. The touchscreen works as well, including screen rotation and the included stylus. Tested with Gimp. All keyboard shortcuts seem to work, including the backlight. Microphone and camera work. The only thing I haven't gotten to work is the fingerprint reader. I haven't really played with it much though. It looks like it might be combined with the TPM, as I don't see a device for it.
To boot off USB, I had to press that Nova button thing to get into the BIOS to disable Secure Boot. F12 then brings up the boot menu. Fairly easy once I found something small enough to hit the button. Had to use a sewing needle.
So far, decent laptop. Looks pretty.
This is an excellent laptop that compares favorably to my two year old Surface Book. It looks high quality and sleek. Unfortunately the cover which is a brushed rubber/plastic seems to scratch easily. I got a scratch on it just opening the package. The other negative is that the power brick is big and clunky and the transformer is on the end. As a result it is an ugly wall wart that takes up too much space on the power strip.
Lets move on to the good stuff. The screen is clear and crisp, much better looking than I expected. It is also surprisingly easy to write on, the pen has a feel almost like writing on paper with a little bit of grab so the pen is not just sliding.
Setup was a breeze. This is the second Windows 10 computer that I set up in the last few months, and it seems to be getting easier and easier. In fact it was as easy to set up as a Mac. This is a big improvement from the way things used to be.
Charging is amazingly fast. It took less than an hour to get to 100% from when it arrived.
The keyboard is OK, not a lot of travel to the keys and I do make mistakes when typing on it. The touchpad is terrific. It seems as responsive to gestures as a Mac.
Overall the feel of the computer is very fluid and fast. This is the first AMD processor I've tried in a few years. At one time I ran an IT department and my experience with AMD was that the AMD machines tended to be a bit buggy and full of strange quirks. As a general rule I've avoided buying AMD. I won't know for a few months my full opinion on the AMD processor in this laptop, but my initial reaction is that the laptop is very fast and responsive. At this juncture I think it seems like a great value alternative.
The laptop comes without very little junkware on it, and gives you the alternative to download more, if you want it. The Lenovo app was more of a help than a hindrance. No written documentation came in the box. I guess everyone is expected to know the basics now. I did need a few minutes to figure out how to put the pen clip into the USB drive. I did not want to do damage to the hardware.
The laptop is very light and slim. About the same size as my surface book but the lid on this laptop is not as heavy.
The tablet function and bend over the back works. I prefer it to the Surface Book because I don't like removing the lid to use as a tablet.
All in all an excellent value and good laptop.
Bought this for my daughter as a college graduation gift. It’s now her favorite thing! I had to admit it is pretty awesome. AMDs APU combined with the 2-1 format provides a great mixture of speed and versatility. The pen feature is very responsive While she was writing and drawing. The whole digital paper like feature is new to me and was pretty cool to watch. Online gaming should be a breeze as well.
Feature Product
- Up to 8 hours of battery life with quick recharge technology to power your laptop computer up to 80% in just one hour.
- Comprehensive, built-in, ongoing protection with Windows 10 helps protect you against viruses, malware, and ransomware.
- Convenient TrueBlock privacy shutter allows you to physically close your PC's webcam whenever you're not using it.
- The included Active Pen lets you draw or take notes directly on the screen, anywhere you go.
- With a 1920 x 1080 full HD touch screen display and the powerful and efficient AMD Ryzen processor, you can work, stream, and game for hours, along with enjoying fast video and photo editing.
- Includes HDMI, USB-C, USB 3.1 inputs, fingerprint reader
Description
Featuring powerful and efficient AMD processing and a battery that lasts all day - Plus rapid recharging that can restore your battery charge up to 80% in just an hour - The Lenovo flex 14 Convertible touch screen laptop can help make your ideas happen. This multi-mode PC also has a physical Webcam Shutter for extra privacy, while the digital pen support (active Pen included) enables you to write or sketch directly onto the full HD 14" Display. Use your Flex 14 2-in-1 laptop in notebook computer mode for your everyday computing needs, fold it into tablet computer mode for drawing or touch screen interaction, or put it into tent or stand mode to binge your favorite streaming shows or Share a movie with friends. your Windows 10 enabled Lenovo Laptop comes with comprehensive, built-in security features, including firewall and Internet protections to help safeguard against viruses, malware, and ransomware. Family Options and parental controls will help you protect your kids online, keep track of their activities on the laptop tablet, and help set good screen time habits. Combining Fast processing speed and multimedia performance, The Lenovo flex 14 is a great laptop for a college student, gaming enthusiast, or for all types of everyday use.
The product works well but within the first week I had issues with the touchscreen where it wouldn't work and I couldn't find drivers online to try and fix it so I reinstalled windows which fixed the issue hopefully it doesn't happen in the future
I bought this laptop with the intention of being a good daily laptop and tablet. It is a very good product. I love the versatility of it.
Pro:
Very light weight
Good screen brightness
Backlit keyboard
Con:
Small battery
While this is a great product the box and packaging arrived already open doesn’t appear to have been actually used just unboxed I kept the item as hadn’t been used and glad I did it’s awesome for what I wanted it for
Great size for traveling or if you need to save desk space. I like that its a tablet and pc in one. However, when in tablet mode it does not go full screen. I get about a 1.5 inch black border across the top of the length of the screen. I cannot figure out why or how to fix it.
I also wish that being its 2019 that these things come with a bit more ram and disk space standard. Memory is cheap nowadays and having 8 mb ram and only a 256 hdd is way too small. Programs and other things are memory hogs and this just slows your computer down. This computer will be more for email, word-processing, internet browsing and the occasional netflix. Its not for gaming or photoshop because of the overall memory configuration in this.
the screen is sharp and has great color. The touch screen is very responsive and having the included pen to use is a great extra for many apps. This penn is battery powered so you don't have to worry about charging it up to use, just swap out the AAA single battery and you are back up and running.
Great thin profile, still has a little weight on this one though. Has one HDMI port, one USB-c, two usb 3.1 (but they don't have that blue color to low this). a memory card reader and a Novo button which is a small pinhole button that lets you go into complete recovery mode. There's no manual and you have to view it online.
Is this a nice 2 in 1...sure is, its a quick machine, runs on an AMD chip and a radeon graphics video chip. For most this will be a great machine especially that its a Lenovo but if you plan on doing any slightly heavy using i'd get a more powerful and more disk space machine.
The new Lenovo Flex is a "middle" tier laptop aimed for college and office use. It was easy to setup, and performed well. I was able to get the computer up running in an hour or so (with all the updates, and Office installation, etc). Overall it seemed like a good fit, and It would even play some basic games with ease.
The screen is a Full HD (1920x1080) display with very little bezel giving a relatively large view area. It is covered with a what looks like a reflective solid piece of glass, so there would be some glare, however the colors will look more vibrant. There is some black area below though, indicating it would be a better match for a 16:10 screen (1920x1200).
The trackpad is responsive, and the fingerprint reader works better than most other devices I tried. The keyboard is also well designed, making input a positive strength of this device. The physical "door" for the video camera privacy is also a nice touch (I normally use a piece of painters tape to manually shut it off in my other devices).
The system performance benefits significantly from the Samsung NVMe disk. It would boot up (and restore from full slumber) under 8 seconds to a responsive desktop. The 8 GB RAM is sufficeint for most lightweight tasks, however it is split between the CPU and the embedded GPU as a 6GB/2GB setting by default. Which leaves 6GB for the Windows operating system. So using photoshop for large images, or video editing would be a challenge.
I tried three different games on the device (after upgrading the AMD drivers):
- Heroes of the Storm at high settings clocked around 40-46fps range and was very responsive
- Pillars of eternity, even though was more of a 2.5D game put more stain on the system. At high settings it would only get 20-25fps
- The old but still great Skyrim ran between 30-40fps depending on amount of things on the screen
(All games were at full 1080p resolution).
This is actually better than what I expected. I initially tested the system with "Time Spy", and it got an abysmal mark of 761 (for a reference a simple gaming PC would at least got 3000). However I think that test does not correctly represent the system. Anyways for the games I was interested in it was usable.
Other than these there are a few final remarks I need to make:
- The WiFi is really fast. I got between 580 - 650 mbits connection, which was faster than all my other devices
- The hinge is a bit stiff, and cannot be opened by a single hand like the macbooks
- The tablet mode actually works well, however I would probably only use the "tent" mode when watching videos
- The antivirus trial prompts are annoying. I would recommend uninstalling it as soon as possible.
Overall the system components balance each other, and the very fast NVMe SSD takes the slack when RAM is constrained. Together the system is more than enough for causal use.
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