Thanks for such an honest review. Shame that Lenovo launched this with a a screen of relative poor colour accuracy. This would stop me buying this particular chromebook. I look forward to your future reviews of other chromebooks.
My current aging chromebooks have given me a chance to declutter my digital life which I want to be as simple, safe and stress free as possible. Chromebooks used in conjunction with pixel phone, nest speakers, and nest doorbell have allowed me to achieve this. My pixel phone and chromebook(s) meet 95% of my photographic needs and is where I do all my photographic editing, the remaining 5% being video editing on linux using openshot. But even then video editing on a chromebook is moving forward and will mature nicely over time, So the answer to your comment is YES, it really is important to me!
Nice review and matches my experience. I've had this laptop for a month now and am really impressed. The screen is superb, and for all the things you did in your review, I've had no problems. The laptop is really nicely built, the keyboard and trackpad are excellent and the speakers okay - I have a small Bluetooth speaker next to it when playing music or for higher quality sound. I have no experience of using this playing games, using with any games controller or a streaming account. This laptop will work with any Bluetooth controller? Maybe some information about how to do this, what's compatible with it for newbies?
Will the minimum Chromebook Plus requirements change every year? Will a Chromebook Plus device retain that Plus status throughout its entire lifecycle?
I use a Chromebook for just about everything, although I do have a desktop for photo editing and other somewhat intensive tasks. That being said for me it's important that it have a fast Intel or AMD processor, a good keyboard, and at least a 2k screen that is very color accurate. There are some recent gaming chromebooks that meet these specifications and don't cost a fortune. They also have high refresh screens.
How is the hinge for the tablet? Is it sturdy? And does it get stuck in tablet mode when it should be in desktop mode? Best buy reviews are saying this is an issue.
@@Robosan4000 Bought it last week!. When I check Lenovo PSREF (Site where you can see all models and specs), it looks like you cant get fingerprint reader in USA?, and I live in the northern part of Europe, or you get it with the singapore version, etc. So I guess you might be living in one of the countries where you dont get fingerprint reader. (on PSREF site just click laptop, scroll down to ideapad section, and then flex and "IP FLEX 5 CHROME" (12th gen Intel), or the "IP FLEX 5 CHROME (plus)" (13th gen intel)
Actually it depends!, my northern europe version of this laptop has a real nvme with pcie 4.0 interface, but the american version (according to lenovo psref site) has eMMC 5.1 for some reason. Also mine came with a fingerprint reader and USI Pen in the package, while the american version lacks both. So.. it looks like the european version this time is better.
@@AndrewTSq yes I agree - in Europe (I'm in the UK) & I bought the Lenovo flex 5 Chromebook plus 14" IPS, i3 1215u, 8gb ram & 256mb SSD. Great device tbh. However there seems to be various options of this Chromebook which was confusing to work out the best to buy for my own needs. I found various screen sizes, some with backlit keyboards & some not, some with fingerprint scanner & some not. Some SSD & some eMMC. One model also had an OLED 15" display. To be fair though I had the same confusion buying my son's HP x360 a couple months ago as there are SO many different configurations with the hp x360 models too. All I can say is do a little research & double check exactly what is included in the model you're buying.
There are some more basic video editors availble for Chromebook. If you plan to use your computer for video editing mainly, I would suggest a Windows laptop with something like da vince resolve as a editor.
I'm looking to buy the 2024 model of the Flex 5, i5 Intel CPU. It's selling for £500 in Currys whilst the old i3 2023 model is £399. I own the Yoga book i9 duel screen which I love but a Chromebook is much faster to start up and get trading. Not many reviews on the i5 2024 Chromebook.
So I just ordered a Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 Chrome 14IAU7 Intel Core i3-1215U 8GB 256GB SSD (refurbished) from Best Buy $260. It's a 2022 model, and it has all the specs for Plus except possibly no IPS. I haven't been able to find out that yet. Does anyone know?
@@MoChuang343 I have the european version of this chromebook, and it has a real pcie 4 nvme drive formfactor 2242, (you can get up to 512GB) but the american version has a 128GB eMMC 5.1 according to Lenovo psref.
@@andyH_England that what we consumers don't want. We want longevity, also once the SSD R&W maxes out the device is going to be a e-waste. If upgradability is there, consumers can maximize the longevity of the device for years to come.
