The keyboard is fairly nice with a great quantity of journey and nil flex within the keyboard deck. Curiously, Lenovo added a fingerprint reader that labored shortly each time I used it to log in. The trackpad, however, might use some work; it’s slightly mushy and requires a barely totally different quantity of strain to register clicks relying on the place I positioned my finger.
Surprisingly, the webcam on the IdeaPad Flex 5i is stable. It’s a transparent and crisp 1080p shooter that appears adequate in video calls, particularly contemplating the value. There’s additionally a built-in privateness shutter you may simply slide closed when it’s not in use.
The general construct high quality of the laptop computer is nice. There isn’t a number of flex within the chassis regardless of the place you apply strain, which is at all times a great signal whenever you’re coping with a 2-in-1, the place it’s possible you’ll be flipping the show backwards and forwards usually. It feels fairly dense as effectively, giving it a weighty presence that gave me confidence it wouldn’t break if it occurred to take a tumble.
Sadly, one main letdown is its audio system. I used to be hopeful after I noticed the pair of upward-firing speaker cutouts flanking the keyboard, however I used to be shortly disenchanted after I pulled up a YouTube video. The sound high quality is kind of skinny, making even essentially the most strong tracks sound weak. You possibly can simply clear up this difficulty by utilizing a pair of wireless headphones or earbuds, nevertheless it’s unlucky nonetheless.
Restricted Home windows
Maybe essentially the most perplexing choice with the IdeaPad Flex 5i is that Lenovo selected to ship it with Home windows 11 in S mode. In the event you’re unfamiliar, this model of Home windows 11 solely means that you can set up apps immediately from the Microsoft Retailer. Out of the field, you may’t obtain and set up something from the web, which caught me off guard after I instantly tried to put in Google Chrome upon first booting the laptop computer up.
Nonetheless, you can simply swap out of S Mode, which completely transforms the OS to Home windows 11 Dwelling. As soon as switched, you may set up apps and packages from anyplace, even when it’s technically much less safe than sticking with the Microsoft Retailer. It’s a simple sufficient course of, nevertheless it’s an annoying hurdle for anybody who doesn’t know what they’re entering into.
