Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Review

Specifications:

• Brand: Lenovo
• Model Name: IdeaPad 3 15IML05
• Screen Size: 15.6 Inches
• Colour: Platinum Grey
• Hard Disk Size: 256 GB
• CPU Model: Core i3-10110U
• RAM Memory Installed Size: 8 GB
• Operating System: Windows 11 Home
• Special Feature: Thin

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Introduction

The Lenovo IdeaPad 3 is the third iteration of the highly successful IdeaPad lineup from Lenovo. As with the previous models, this IdeaPad is meant to be a daily usage laptop focussing on providing the best workflow and overall light usage. Although the impressive specifications are able to handle some heavy workload, do not mistake it for a heavy-duty machine.

The IdeaPad is excellent at being an overall day-to-day laptop that you can use for either completing your work or chilling with NetFlix. It has all the bells and whistles without compromising on daily utility. Additionally, the battery is also good for watching movies and staying away from an electric outlet for a long period.

Let us take a closer look…

Design

The design of the new Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 is typical of the IdeaPad series. It features a grey plastic body referred to as ‘Platinum Grey’ by Lenovo. The lid of the laptop features a brushed aluminium feel although it is made of plastic. On opening the laptop, you are greeted by the familiar IdeaPad-shaped keys of the full-size keyboard. The keys themselves are a darker shade of grey as is the case with most IdeaPad models.

A single wide hinge cover gives the illusion of a single hinge. However, the actual hinge mechanism is divided into two parts situated at both ends of the hinge cover. The screen is also flanked by black narrow bezels on 2 sides, while the upper bezel is wider with the webcam with privacy shutter, located at the traditional place. The laptop weighs only 1.7 kg and the ‘slim’ in its name manifests with 19.9 mm thickness.

Performance

Since the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 comes with 10th Gen Intel Core i3 10110U, which is a 2 core 4 thread CPU with 4MB L3 cache and hence, performance is really good for the price. This CPU runs on 2.1 GHz base speed with Intel TurboBoost boosting the speed to 4.1 GHz whenever required. As a result, the laptop is able to perform well with basic tasks with the help of 8GB DDR4 RAM running at 2666 MHz. If you wish so, you can even upgrade the RAM to 12GB to ooze even more performance out of the laptop. Combining it with a 256GB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD helps in reducing the bootup and shut down times to mere seconds. Additionally, the integrated Intel UHD graphics is able to handle even lighter games for the kids.

Display

When it comes to the display, Lenovo has provided a 15.6” FHD (1920×1080) display that is crisp and viewable under direct sunlight, thanks to the antiglare treatment. It is good enough for watching movies and NetFlix; however, if you wish to have colour accuracy, it is not going to be the most vibrant for the task.

To keep the costs down, Lenovo has cut corners with the display, and even though it is good for the tasks it is meant for, the colour discrepancy would be apparent the moment you try editing some images or videos on this display.

Audio

As is expected from budget laptops, the speakers of Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 leave a lot to be desired. The bundled Dolby Audio mends some of the issues with the two 1.5 watt speakers such as providing better clarity output, however, it is still not a good pair of stereo speakers.

However, the Dolby Audio application shines when listening to the audio on headphones or earphones. If you are able to tune the audio to your liking, it can provide an HD quality surround sound experience even on a pair of budget earphones.

Input

As for the input, the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 has only 2 options: Keyboard and trackpad. The keyboard has decent key travel for typing comfortably. However, after long typing hours, you may have to take a break due to the mushy feel of the keys themselves.

Speaking of the trackpad, it is fairly large and is easy to navigate with the help of Windows gesture support. Gone are the days of difficult wonky gestures based on the hardware manufacturer of the trackpad. Windows gestures have made life easy for everyone who has been wanting to include gestures into their daily workflow.

Battery

The Lenovo IdeaPad also comes with a 45 Watt-hour Li-Po battery that can help the laptop run on battery for 3 to 5 hours depending on your usage. With the help of a little tweaking under the settings of ‘Q control’ software and utilising the Windows 11 battery saving features, the battery life can be extended to 8 hours.

However, since individual usage varies differently, we can safely assume that the laptop will be able to last for 3 to 5 hours on average daily usage. The 10th Gen Intel Core i3 as well as the NVMe SSD also play a major factor in improving the battery life of the laptop.

Connectivity

Lenovo has provided multiple standard ports in the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3. On the left side of the laptop, you will be able to observe the barrel plug for charging, a HDMI port, 2 USB 3.2 Type-A ports and a single USA 2.0 Type A port. The right has the SD card reader and the 3.5 mm combo slot for earphones and mic.

On the wireless front, the laptop comes with Bluetooth 5.0 and 2X2 WiFi 5 for lightning fast connectivity. Both of these options help us understand that the laptop is geared towards wireless connectivity primarily.

Why You should check Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3

Conclusion

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 is not a revolutionary laptop by any means. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Lenovo understands its consumers well and has provided all the necessary features required by an average laptop user while skillfully skipping certain additional options for keeping the costs down.

The IdeaPad lineup is aimed at the entry level laptop buyers after all and this budget-friendly laptop is not meant to be used by enthusiasts. Hence, we can surely recommend this laptop to anyone that needs a device for WFH or college or even just chilling with NetFlix.