Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14" 81x20005us
Summary
I'll keep this short, this laptop is a buy.
At the time of this post, it goes for $599 on Amazon
Out of the box almost everything works. After installing Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, everything works except for the HDMI port. I think this has to do with the AMD AGPU and a driver is probably needed. I'll follow up with the fix once I have one if this is a software issue.
Other than that, this laptop is a buy. I didn't bother booting up into windows. I booted Ubuntu from a USB stick and installed it with secure boot and updated the MOK without issues.
Good
- USB-C Charging 65W adapter included
- 2 in 1
- Backlit Lenovo Keyboard
- AMD Ryzen 4500U 6 Core CPU
- 16GB RAM (Not Upgradeable)
- NVME SSD 256GB (Upgradeable)
- TouchScreen works out of the box in Ubuntu 20.04
- Web Camera (works with boltgolt/howdy facial unlock tool, I don't think it's IR)
- 2 X USB A 3.0 Ports
- SD card slot
- Glossy screen and bright enough for me
- Comes with Stylus
- Speakers are loud, good for YouTube Watching
- Good amount of screen real estate
- Fans quiet, near silent with Chrome open and playing YouTube in the backgroun
- Plastic material has a rough feel and grips well to my wrist
- Bezel around the screen is thin and not noticeable at all
- Performance is great and 6 cores and 16GB of ram is plenty
- 2 in 1 functionality works well
- In Tablet Mode, keyboard and mouse automatically disable
Bad
- USB C port does not support Video output must use HDMI)
- SD Card slot is half (maybe 1/4) depth so you need an adapter if you want full time slotted SD card
- .2lbs Heavier than a surface pro 4 with Keyboard, case, pen
- Ubuntu Screen brightness not working, screen only turns on or off using brightness control
- Stylus uses funky usb slot holder, just put the stylus in your bag.
- Sound doesn't have enough bass
- The keyboard is a good size but I noticed I my right index reaches a little more than usual for the 'Y' key, this could be due to using a Surface Pro 4 and Macbook 13" (or it's just in my head).
- Trackpad feels cheap, it's large but the clicking is loud and has a cheap click feel to it
- Fingerprint reader is a nice touch but it should just be on the power button or someplace above the function keys
- CPU SMT would have been nice, getting this to 12 threads would make it the ultimate buy
- Keyboard and trackpad do not disable when in tent or movie stand mode, this is probably an Ubuntu/Linux limitation.
- Screen won't rotate when in Tent mode, again probably an Ubuntu/Linux limitation.
- Screen does not rotate to portrait mode when converting to tablet mode, again probably an Ubuntu/Linux limitation.
- Webcam face detection using Howdy only works in well lit rooms.
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