Laptops have change into important instruments in our day by day lives, given how the gadget has developed from being a shared gadget in the home to a private one. With utilization at an all-time excessive because of work-from-home and learn-from residence use circumstances, nearly everybody in the home wants a laptop computer of their very own. For a lot of customers although, the utilization revolves round primary stuff like net searching and productivity-focussed duties, and these don’t actually require highly effective specs. And that is precisely the place Chromebooks are available. These Chrome OS-powered laptops supply the fundamentals at reasonably priced value factors, although Lenovo’s IdeaPad Flex 3i provides a twist to the story by including a touchscreen and convertible type issue to the combo. Let’s take a better look.
The Flex 3i comes throughout as a well-built, sturdy gadget from the get-go. Encased in a silver / gray physique, it’s fairly thick, and weighs round 1.25 kg. You’ll see Chromebook and Lenovo branding on prime of the lid, which, by the best way, wants each fingers to open. Opening the lid reveals the spacious keyboard and decently-sized trackpad. The speaker is top-firing and is positioned above the keyboard. The 11.6-inch IPS display screen affords HD decision (1,366 x 768) and 250 nits brightness, and is touch-enabled too. There are extensive bezels seen throughout it, and a webcam with a bodily shutter is current up prime. The webcam is a primary 720p one, however the bodily shutter is a pleasant contact, guaranteeing privateness.
In fact, since this can be a convertible, the display screen flips over 360 levels and folds flat over the bottom, enabling you to make use of the gadget as a pill, and in tent mode as effectively. The touchscreen is kind of responsive too, so no complaints there.
The connectivity choices on supply are fairly respectable. On the precise, you get a Kensington lock port, an HDMI 1.4, a USB 3.2 Kind-A, a quantity rocker and an influence key, whereas the left is residence to a different USB 3.2 Kind-A port, a microSD card slot, a headphone / mic combo jack and a USB 3.2 Kind-C port that helps PD 3.0 and DisplayPort 1.4. Twin-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth deal with wi-fi connectivity.
The keyboard on the IdeaPad Flex 3i Chromebook is good and spacious and doesn’t really want a lot getting used to. I believe the keys are a bit mushy, and there’s no backlighting, however aside from that, I discovered the keyboard good for the day-to-day typing work. The trackpad is respectable and responsive too, although I did discover that the mouse pointer generally is a bit jumpy generally. You’d discover that the highest row of keys, which often contains the operate keys within the case of Home windows laptops, has totally different buttons on this case. Other than devoted keys for again, ahead and refresh (that work in Chrome), you’d additionally discover keys to regulate brightness and quantity right here, amongst others.
The gadget runs Google’s Chrome OS as its working system. The OS is light-weight, and affords entry to Google’s go well with of apps, being particularly suited to primary duties like net searching and phrase processing by way of Google Docs. The latter can cache paperwork for offline use as effectively, so it’s not as if it’s good to be related to the web always to make use of the gadget. As well as, there’s the Google Play Retailer which offers entry to a plethora of Android apps and video games that may be downloaded and used on the gadget. Which means that the gadget can work effectively for many video calling platforms like Zoom and so on as effectively, aside from Google Meet, which comes preloaded. Do observe that not all Android apps can be found although. Additionally, utilizing Chrome OS does contain a little bit of a studying curve, particularly for those who’re used to platforms like Home windows or Mac OS, nevertheless it’s a small one, and it doesn’t take too lengthy to get used to.
Furthermore, I believe the IdeaPad Flex 3i’s trigger is helped by the truth that it has a touchscreen and a swivelling display screen that add to its usability, enabling hybrid utilization. If you’re not working, you should use it as a pill to browse, learn and store, or use it in tent mode to stream movies and exhibits. Value mentioning at this level that the display screen decision does appear low, and I want it’d have been sharper… thereby making the gadget even higher for streaming. And whereas the top-firing audio system are respectable for calls, the audio isn’t very wealthy.
With the laptop computer powered by Intel’s Celeron N4500 processor mated to 4 gigs of RAM, the specs appear par for the course for a Chromebook, particularly contemplating that Chrome OS doesn’t require heavy-duty {hardware} to operate. There’s 128GB of built-in eMMC storage as effectively. In day by day use, this {hardware} can deal with the same old productiveness and searching duties with relative ease, although there’s a slight stutter noticeable when you’ve got too many Chrome tabs or apps open at a time. In case your necessities are larger than this, maybe this isn’t the perfect machine for you. Talking of battery life, the IdeaPad Flex 3i final roughly 8 hours or so, give or take, with common utilization and display screen brightness set to 50 p.c. Charging it absolutely takes a bit over 2.5 hours, utilizing the bundled 45W adapter that encompasses a Kind-C connector. Different Kind-C chargers of comparable or larger wattage can be utilized as effectively.
Verdict
Whereas Chromebooks won’t supply the identical degree of flexibility as laptops working Home windows or Mac OS, particularly by way of software program and apps, they’re positively able to dealing with duties like net searching, video calling, writing, doc enhancing and so on. And for a big majority of customers, these comprise an enormous chunk of their day-to-day utilization. The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3i handles these effectively, topping it off with respectable battery life, a stable construct, a touchscreen and convertible type issue. It’s appropriate not only for college students, however can deal with WFH necessities as effectively, offered you’re effectively entrenched in Google’s ecosystem. For its asking value of Rs 30k, it will probably make for a good, reasonably priced choice to contemplate.
Editor’s ranking: 3.5 / 5
Professionals:
- Sturdy construct
- Versatile type issue
- Respectable battery life
- Good keyboard
Cons:
- Display might be sharper
- Extensive bezels
- Common speaker high quality