Efficiency is lackluster however on par with the Asus ProArt, the one different Snapdragon Plus machine I’ve examined up to now. Compared to Snapdragon Elite methods, on common purposes and net work, anticipate a few 20 % efficiency drop and considerably extra on graphics-related duties, the place the IdeaPad runs at about half the framerate. Some Copilot+ PC options struggled, akin to translated Stay Captions, although the Cocreator AI picture creation system was moderately expedient.
I figured there could be a silver lining to the laptop computer’s sluggishness in that the IdeaPad would definitely show to have excellent battery life, however that sadly wasn’t the case. Whereas the ProArt pulled down a near-record 19+ hours of operating time, the IdeaPad mustered barely over 9 hours in my full-screen YouTube take a look at and below 12 hours on a second run-through. Which may be high-quality for entertaining the youngsters for the day, but it surely pales compared to most different Snapdragon machines.
One other concern: At 3.3 kilos and 22 mm thick, the IdeaPad 5x is somewhat gargantuan for its display screen measurement. I needed to scroll again to 2016 in my testing information to seek out one thing with a 14-inch display screen that was heavier. (That stated, some 14.4-inch methods launched since have additionally been on the beefy aspect.) The burden is noticeable, each on the lap and in the event you’re making an attempt to make use of it as a pill—although on the plus aspect, the system is lifeless quiet both manner. I couldn’t get the fan to register a lot as a hum, even below a stress-test load.
{Photograph}: Christopher Null
The worth nonetheless makes this laptop computer at the very least vaguely interesting, and on a price-performance stage, the numbers don’t look all that unhealthy. Nevertheless, some base stage of efficiency continues to be a requirement given how power-hungry fashionable purposes are typically, even on a price range machine, and at $850 the IdeaPad 5x isn’t so extremely low cost as to permit its drawbacks to be simply neglected.
