Despite the growing prevalence of smartphones, when it comes to taking notes in class or
getting some real work done on the go, nothing beats a solid laptop.
I appreciate versatility in my devices, and the Lenovo Flex 2-in-1 offers more versatility
than nearly any other laptop and does so at a price point that embarasses the competition.
Quick note: I bought mine second hand, so there are some minor imperfections in this
laptop.
Moving on.
The design of the laptop is subtle and classy.
With a dark, mostly plastic build, it won’t be winning any build quality awards, but it
looks and feels just fine.
The faux brushed aluminum keyboard deck looks nice, and is comfortable to rest your hands
on.
Let’s talk about what’s on that keyboard deck.
As I type this script, the keyboard is very comfortable to type on.
It took a bit of getting used to, but after a few minutes of typing, I found myself right
at home.
It has a nice layout with good key spacing, my only real complaint there is the cramped
arrow keys.
The keys have Lenovo’s signature curved bottom making them slightly easier to press.
They are fairly shallow but have decent enough key travel and have a nice response under
each stroke that’s tactile but not too loud.
The keyboard even features 2 backlight modes, which is great to have for typing at night.
Beneath that keyboard, the trackpad is smooth and sizable.
It’s no MacBook trackpad for sure, but it does use Microsoft's Windows precision drivers
which makes for pleasant, accurate tracking.
It also means you get access to vast gesture customization, like controlling three and
four finger taps and swipes for things like switching programs or adjusting the volume.
One note on that deck, it does get warm after extended heavy use.
The bottom right section of the laptop gets the hottest, which makes it uncomfortable
to rest your hand on and uncomfortable to write on with the screen closed, more on that
later.
Move to the top of the machine and you’ll find a 14 inch, 1080p display.
It’s a decent LCD panel with full touch support and a glossy coating.
Colors on this screen look good and touch is very responsive.
Obviously, it’s a $500 machine, (that’s half the cost of the stand for Apple’s professional
grade monitor), so I wouldn’t expect to do any hyper-accurate photo or video work
on it any time soon, but for casual use, it definitely gets the job done.
Below that screen is a sizable bezel, but I honestly don’t mind it much at all.
It elevates the screen a bit to make it more eye level when typing or using the device
in presentation mode.
Around the other three sides of the screen are some nice-looking, slim bezels.
They’re so slim, in fact, that this 14 inch laptop fits perfectly in a 13 inch MacBook
case, link in the description.
Back to the laptop.
Right above the screen is the webcam, right where it belongs.
(switch to webcam shot) That webcam is a surprisingly good 720p shooter.
It’ll do you just fine for the occasional Skype call, and I even use it to shoot timelapses
like this one if my phone is preoccupied and I’m in a pinch.
That Flex also manages to pack in a built-in digitizer for use with the included Wacom
stylus.
Packing 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity and powered by quadruple A’s, the Lenovo
Active Pen is a great addition to the laptop.
It’s perfect for taking notes in class, and even serves just fine for the occasional
sketch or doodle in Photoshop.
Unfortunately, there’s no place to store the pen in the laptop, unless you count the
embarrisingly stupid USB blocking adapter that Lenovo included, but it does stick to
the magnets at the keyboard base, so at least it won’t get lost while typing.
As for ports, the Flex packs plenty, everything I’d hope for short of Thunderbolt.
On the left, that means a barrel power jack, HDMI port, a USB 3 port that’s always on
for charging, a USB-C port, and a headphone jack.
Note that only the barrel power port, not the USB-C port, can be used for charging,
unfortunately.
On the right side, Lenovo doubles down with a locking hole, another USB 3 port, a full-sized
SD card slot, the side-mounted power button, and the microphone (*record on internal microphone*
which sounds like sh*t) Now, for the Flex’s titular feature, the
reason it really stands out from the crowd, the Flex, well, flexes.
(cool shot of me flipping it 360).
Instantly it transforms from laptop to backwards laptop?.
This one’s great for taking handwritten notes.
Flatten the screen completely, and it’s a chunky tablet, great for reading, annotating,
and drawing.
Flip it upside down and it's a tent, perfect for showing something to a friend or coworker.
The hinge is sturdy, and having this much versatility at such a low price point is amazing.
We’ve got to talk basic specs and performance, and surprisingly, the Flex isn’t bad in
that area either.
My particular model has an 8th gen Core i3 processor, 8 gigabytes of RAM, and a 128 gigabyte
PCIe SSD.
It’s certainly no gaming machine or editing workstation, but for most basic tasks, it’s
very snappy.
This model isn’t officially sold anymore, but Lenovo’s current models have even better
specs, some are even equipped with new, Ryzen processors.
Linus from LTT just did a video on that one, and let’s say he was very impressed.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfz46HXvPLc) As an added bonus, those new models include
a capacitive fingerprint scanner, which is definitely a nice touch.
That brings us to battery life.
The roughly 45 watt hour battery inside this thing is rated for up to 10 hours a charge.
In my experience, using it throughout the day with the screen at 75% brightness and
hibernating when not in use, it makes it through my school day, with a bit of juice to spare.
As I write this script at 10 o’clock after a long school day, my battery sits at 16 percent.
Not the greatest battery in the world, but as long as you charge it every night, you
won’t have to worry about it dying on you during the day.
As for basic, day-to-day stuff, the laptop’s a bit on the heavy side, weighing in at 3.68
pounds (*on screen* 1.67 kg).
The fans ramp up pretty loud sometimes, and it also uses strong magnets to hold it together
in its various modes.
These make the laptop difficult to open, especially with one hand, because there’s no lip to
hold on to, but on the bright side, it feels awesome to close.
The included charger is fairly compact, and juices up the device very quickly.
So let’s wrap this up.
For just around $500, (and cheaper on eBay), this laptop is one of the most versatile I’ve
ever seen.
It has no major compromises and is decent if not good or even great in every category.
If you’re on a budget and versatility is priority, I wholeheartedly recommend the Lenovo
Flex.
So that is my review of the Lenovo Flex, thank you for watching.
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For sake of transparency, I purchased this laptop from eBay and have not been compensated
in any way to make this video.
The opinions here are my own, and I’d love to hear yours in the comments below.