This is a review of Lenovo Flex 5 14″ 2-in-1 Laptop, 14.0″ FHD (1920 x 1080) Touch Display, AMD Ryzen 5 4500U Processor, 16GB DDR4 OnBoard RAM, 256GB SSD, AMD Radeon Graphics, Windows 10, 81X20005US, Graphite Grey.
This device is one of the convertible IdeaPad models that was introduced by Lenovo in April 2020.
The highlight of this device is, it is a 2-in-1 device. This means you can convert your laptop to a tablet or in a tent mode in just seconds. And it also features a touchscreen.
Let’s dive into this model.
Lenovo Flex 5 14 81X20005US Appearance
⭐ The 2-in-1 81X20005US 14″ model comes with a clean design with the rubberized textured cover. The design is very ideal for daily computing such as school, college, or office activities.
The weight on this graphite grey model is 3.63 pounds or 1.64 kg. It is 0.82 inches thick, you can easily throw this portable machine in your college bag, and be on-the-go. With this size, you won’t even realize you have a notebook in your bag.
This convertible laptop is made from plastic on the top part, and the PC-ABS (polycarbonate-ABS) for the bottom part. This material offers better durability and protection from any possible heat.
The overall product looks and feels nice and premium.
360° hinge
This 81X20005US has a nice sturdy 360° hinges. You can rotate the hinges to about 360° seamlessly. It’s a multi-purpose device. You can use it as a laptop, a tent-mode, a tablet, or a stand mode device.
81X20005US in a tent mode81X20005US Specs
For more technical specifications, read this page.
Display
The display of this 81X20005US notebook is a glossy 14″ 16:9 Full-HD 1920 by 1080 250nits IPS touch. The screen has fine and sharp color and a responsive touch feature.
Lenovo Flex 5 14 81X20005US touchscreenThe bottom bezel isn’t the thinnest, but it is in fact helpful if you use it as a tablet. The bezel helps your thumb to have a good grip on your tablet-mode notebook. The other side bezels are however very thin and give you more viewing space.
The 14-inch touchscreen screen is also compatible with Lenovo Active Pen stylus. You can use to draw, sketch, taking a quick note straight on your screen. The stylus is included!
720p Webcam with privacy shutter
On the top bezel of the display in the 81X20005US model, is a 720p standard laptop’s webcam, which has nothing exceptional. However, Lenovo includes the physical privacy shutter with the webcam enabling you to physically cover your webcam when necessary.
In other words, you don’t need to tape your webcam to have more privacy of yourself.
Backlit Keyboard
Typing experience with the keyboard of this 2-in-one Lenovo Flex laptop is good, but if you have not owned a Lenovo’s laptop before, you will need to get used to it, just like with any new keyboards.
The backlit feature on this keyboard is a big plus since it will help you type in the dimmer surrounding, very handy for home office.
There is also a fingerprint reader sensor on the keyboard deck of the 81X20005US, which is a nice feature to have and works very well with Windows Hello from Windows 10 without installing additional programs.
Speakers
The speakers on this 81X20005US are located on each side of the laptop, are fairly loud and crisp with stereo quality.
The audio quality is pretty decent for video conferences or watching movies, but if you want more, you can always use Bluetooth speakers or a headphone.
81X20005US Performance
The 81X20005US model comes with AMD’s Ryzen 5 4000 series, precisely, the 4500U, a 6-Cores/6 Threads 3MB L2 / 8MB L3 CPU with 2.3GHz base clock and max boost clock up to 4.0GHz. Due to its Cores and Thread numbers, this processor is a very efficient CPU to run multiple Windows programs, like streaming YouTube videos, editing photos, and other computing tasks.
Due to the integrated Radeon RX Vega 6 Graphics card, which paired with 16GB of RAM (without upgrading), and the SSD, this convertible laptop is capable to run some gaming titles. Of course, it won’t run heavy demanding games like a designed gaming laptop, but it is capable of some degree of gaming. Have a read about this gaming notebook that also packs AMD’s Ryzen CPU on this page if you really look for a specific machine to game.
Battery Life
Battery life is generally good, about 6-8 hours, though not as advertised (10-hours). It seems that the touchscreen and the backlit keyboard drain the battery life quickly. The good thing, however, you can charge it quickly, 80% power charge for about an hour.
Ports & Connectivity
This 81X20005US laptop comes with 1x USB-C (for fast data transfer and Power Delivery 3.0), 2x USB 3.1, a 4-in-1 Media Reader slot (supports MMC, SD, SDHC, and SDXC), 1x HDMI 1.4b, and a 3.5mm stereo audio combo jack.
The HDMI port of this device is a nice feature to connect your device to a supported external display.
FAQ
📌 Is the adapter to charge via USB-C included?
Yes, they include the 65W adapter to charge via USB-C.
📌 What's the keyboard shortcut to turn on the backlit of the keyboard?
Use the Fn + Spacebar.
Summary
If you are looking for a 2-in-1 convertible 14-inch laptop, this Lenovo 81X20005US is the best new device you can get for under 600 bucks (when this review was published, the price can change). For this price, it is an awesome convertible laptop and very well-featured. It’s also listed as Amazon choice products that indicates user’s satisfaction.
This laptop is worth thousands for having fast SSD, efficient new CPU, backlit keyboard, Fingerprint reader, 16GB of RAM out of the box, USB-C port, and “stylus”! I recommend this 81X20005US while it’s still available!
Anyone knows how to get this if you’re in Australia?
Can you install Linux in it?