Lenovo IdeaPad 320S
A solid low-cost laptop, but there are big compromises made on overall usability
SCORE★★★☆☆ PRICE £249 (£299 inc VAT) from lenovo.com/gb
The cheapest model on test, the IdeaPad 320S still manages to look and feel a cut above your basic budget laptop. Particularly with our test version’s “snow white” finish. It might not have the metallic shell of more expensive rivals, but the mixed aluminium and plastic chassis feels solid, with a thick, robust hinge. This doesn’t provide the convertible options of Lenovo’s Yoga range, but it will allow the screen to fold back flat against your desk. At 1.7kg, it’s light enough to be lugged around, but you still get a 14in screen and decent connectivity, including a USB-C port. Note you can’t charge through this – you’ll need the proprietary charger.
It’s not long, however, before you spot the signs of that lower price. The keyboard layout is classic Lenovo – spacious and with everything just where you expect – but the key action is soft and keystrokes don’t always register. The touchpad is big, but not quite as smooth or responsive as on Lenovo’s own 520S. Our biggest concern, however, is the TN screen. We can live with the 1,366 x 768 resolution, but it’s dim, with a maximum brightness of 217cd/m2. Colour accuracy is similarly weak, and it only covers 55.3% of the sRGB spectrum. It’s fine for watching Netflix on the sofa – and the audio from the Harman Kardon speakers is powerful, if brash – but it isn’t a screen you’d want to work on all day.
Battery life is another indicator of this laptop’s budget origins, and the 320S survived just five hours and eight minutes in our looping video test.
You can find the 320S in a range of configurations, from the Pentium 4515U model tested here to Core i3-7100U and Core i5-7200U variants. Performance from the Pentium 4515U is predictably weak, and any efforts at using more demanding applications may be hampered by having just 4GB of RAM. Moving up the scale would be a wise investment, particularly as the Core i5 model can be bought with a Full HD screen, but expect to pay over our £600 budget for that. We would recommend moving instead to the IdeaPad 520S or – better still – one of this month’s award winners.