Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5 (15) review – Wacom drivers and a 4K HDR display option

Often times, 15-inch 2-in-1 laptops are not really practical. They are heavy, difficult to handle, and just too spacious. However, they have one big advantage – a big touchscreen. So, if you need the touchscreen capability, and you want to work with a dedicated Pen, this would be a decent option, right?

Well, this should be the case with the Ideapad Flex 5 (15). It not only has a lot of screen real estate, but it comes with an optional Lenovo Digital Pen inside of the box. Additionally, it can be outfitted with the best ULV processors Intel provides – the 10nm Ice Lake chips. Moreover, the highest possible tier is the Core i7-1065G7, which has a pretty remarkable integrated graphics solution.

This should be helpful for all your hours of photo retouching and vector creating. Also, Lenovo provides two display options – a Full HD IPS one, as well as a 4K IPS panel with HDR and VESA certifications.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/lenovo-ideapad-flex-5-15/

Contents

Specs Sheet

What’s in the box?

Inside the package, we got a 65W power brick, some paper manuals, and an optional Lenovo Digital Pen.

Design and construction

As with any 15-inch notebook, the footprint is quite big for a convertible. However, the laptop also weighs 1.80 kg and has a profile of 17.9-20.9mm. Ultimately, this would be a perfect combination for a conventional device, but for a 2-in-1 – it feels a bit on the heavy side. In terms of build materials, the lid cover is made out of aluminum, while the rest of the notebook comes in a plastic shell. Its also worth mentioning that the base has some sort of a textured finish, which feels a bit grippy.

To no surprise, the lid doesn’t open with a single hand. Also, the hinges are not very stable in an upright position and you will have a hard time using the touchscreen like that. Thankfully, the display has a glass cover, which greatly increases the resistance to flex. By the way, the touchscreen and the Pen use Wacom drivers out of the box, and the HD camera has a privacy shutter.

However, the base provides a very different experience. It twists, the keyboard deck bends and it generally feels soft. Nothing unexpected, though. As we mentioned, it is entirely made out of plastic. As of the keyboard, itself, it has comfortable feedback, but the key travel is a bit too short. On the bright side, it features a NumberPad section, as well as a fingerprint reader.

Beneath the keyboard, you will find the Mylar touchpad. This term means that the material used for the surface is made out of a plastic sheet, which has very similar properties to glass. This gives the touchpad very nice gliding, while the tracking is also decent.

Instead of having its speakers firing downwards, the Ideapad Flex 5 (15) actually has its shooting towards the user. This leaves the bottom plate only home to the ventilation grill, while the hot air is exhausted from the back.

Ports

This notebook has its Power plug, HDMI 1.4b connector, USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, an audio jack on the left, as well as two USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports, and SD card reader on the right.

Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance

This device’s bottom panel is held in place by 9 Torx-head screws. As the saying goes, after undoing them, you need to pry the bottom panel with a plastic tool.

Since our unit is not equipped with a discrete GPU, there is only one heat pipe, which is relatively thin. Thankfully, the area of the heat sink is quite big, so cooling should not be a problem here.

On the downside, the RAM modules are soldered to the motherboard, so there are no upgrades possible in this aspect. The maximum capacity you can get is 16GB of 3200MHz DDR4 memory. However, there is one M.2 PCIe x4 slot for fast storage.

Battery-wise there is a 52.5Wh unit.

Display quality

Lenovo ThinkPad Flex 5 (15) is equipped with an IPS panel, model number AUO B156HAN02.5 (AUO25ED). Its diagonal is 15.6″ (39.62 cm), and the resolution 1920 х 1080 pixels. The screen ratio is 16:9, and we are looking at a pixel density of – 142 ppi, and a pitch of 0.18 х 0.18 mm. The screen turns into Retina when viewed at distance equal to or greater than 60cm (24″) (from this distance one’s eye stops differentiating the separate pixels, and it is normal for looking at a laptop).

Viewing angles are excellent. We offer images at 45° to evaluate image quality.

The measured maximum brightness of 287 nits in the middle of the screen and 292 nits as an average for the whole area, with a maximum deviation of 16% (top right corner). The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen is 6120K – slightly warmer than the optimal for the sRGB standard of 6500K.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective. In other words, the leakage of light from the light source.

Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color-sensitive work. The contrast ratio is good – 1200:1.

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The yellow dotted line shows Lenovo ThinkPad Flex 5 (15)’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers only50% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976.

Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.

We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.

Below you can compare the scores of Lenovo ThinkPad Flex 5 (15) with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).

The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.

The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions.

Response time (Gaming capabilities)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 24 ms.

PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.

Lenovo ThinkPad Flex 5 (15)’s display doesn’t use PWM to adjust its brightness levels. This means it is safe for long workdays, without presenting any strain in your eyes in this aspect.

Blue light emissions

Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light.

Conclusion

Lenovo ThinkPad Flex 5 (15)’s touchscreen IPS panel has a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, good contrast ratio, and a non-flickering backlight. Although it is safe for long periods of use, the panel has a relatively poor color representation, with only 50% of sRGB coverage, uneven luminance across the area of the screen, and color accuracy, which is worse than being color-blind.

Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for Lenovo ThinkPad Flex 5 (15) configurations with 15.6″ FHD IPS AUO B156HAN02.5 (AUO25ED).

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].

Read more about the profiles HERE.

Sound

Lenovo ThinkPad Flex 5 (15)’s speakers produce a sound with decent quality. However, its low tones have some deviations from clarity, while the mids and highs are clear.

Drivers

All of the drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/flex-series/flex-5-15iil05/downloads/driver-list

Battery

Now, we conduct the battery tests with Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits, and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with. This notebook’s 52.5Wh battery was able to last for 9 hours and a half of Web browsing and 7 hours and a half of video playback.

CPU options

The Ideapad Flex 5 (15) comes with a choice of three 10nm Intel Ice Lake processors. They are the Core i3-1005G1, Core i5-1035G1, and the Core i7-1065G7.

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 (15") CPU的变体

在这里，你可以看到市场上[系列]机型的CPU之间的大致比较。这样你就可以自己决定哪一个[系列]型号是最划算的。

注：图表显示的是最便宜的不同CPU配置，所以你应该通过点击笔记本的名称/CPU来检查这些笔记本的其他规格是什么。

GPU options

This means that the integrated solutions are the Intel UHD Graphics and the Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7. Additionally, this notebook can be purchased with a GeForce MX330 with 2GB of GDDR5 memory.

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 (15") GPU的变体

在这里，你可以看到市场上[系列]型号的GPU之间的大致比较。这样你就可以自己决定哪一个[系列]型号是最划算的。

注：图表显示的是最便宜的不同GPU配置，所以你应该通过点击笔记本的名称/GPU来检查这些笔记本的其他规格是什么。

Gaming tests

CS:GO	HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)	HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings)	HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings)
Average FPS	53 fps	29 fps	– fps

DOTA 2	HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)	HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings)	HD 1080p, High (Check settings)
Average FPS	82 fps	42 fps	21 fps

Temperatures and comfort

Max CPU load

In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering.

Average core frequency (base frequency + X); CPU temp.

Intel Core i5-1035G1 (15W TDP)	0:02 – 0:10 sec	0:15 – 0:30 sec	10:00 – 15:00 min
Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5 (15)	2.59 GHz (B+159%) @ 95°C	2.15 GHz (B+115%) @ 95°C	1.66 GHz (B+66%) @ 81°C
Lenovo Ideapad 5 (15)	2.46 GHz (B+146%) @ 84°C	1.95 GHz (B+95%) @ 76°C	2.06 GHz (B+106%) @ 74°C
HP Pavilion 14 (14-ce3000)	2.91 GHz (B+191%) @ 92°C	1.82 GHz (B+82%) @ 73°C	1.49 GHz (B+49%) @ 65°C
Dell Vostro 15 3591	2.09 GHz (B+109%) @ 75°C	2.09 GHz (B+109%) @ 84°C	1.77 GHz (B+77%) @ 85°C
Acer Aspire 5 (A515-55)	1.98 GHz (B+98%) @ 79°C	1.68 GHz (B+68%) @ 79°C	1.52 GHz (B+52%) @ 79°C
Acer Swift 5 Pro (SF514-54GT)	2.88 GHz (B+188%) @ 80°C	1.62 GHz (B+62%) @ 64°C	1.65 GHz (B+65%) @ 67°C
HP 340S G7	2.71 GHz (B+171%) @ 92°C	2.42 GHz (B+142%) @ 93°C	1.77 GHz (B+77%) @ 72°C
Dell Inspiron 5593	2.53 GHz (B+153%) @ 99°C	2.14 GHz (B+114%) @ 94°C	1.88 GHz (B+88%) @ 87°C
Dell Inspiron 17 3793	2.75 GHz (B+175%) @ 98°C	1.97 GHz (B+97%) @ 91°C	1.79 GHz (B+79%) @ 89°C

So, we ran this test at the Extreme performance preset, and these are the results we got. The cooling is surely one of the more modest ones out there. But as the synthetic benchmarks have proved, it happens to be just enough.

Comfort during full load

So the good thing is that while the fan is clearly audible, it is not too loud. Neither does the laptop get too hot to touch.

Verdict

Thankfully, the Wacom drivers seem to be working perfectly, which means that the laptop works great with its Lenovo Digital Pen. So, if you happen to be in need of a 2-in-1 device with a lot of real estate, the Ideapad Flex 5 (15) would do a decent job.

Yes, it’s a little bit heavier than what we would like, and its memory is soldered to the motherboard (which means no upgrades) but the overall experience is great. Also, using it in the “Extreme Performance” preset, we found it to perform extremely well. Also, if you have the budget, we would advise going for the Core i7-1065G7 and 16GB of memory option, as it would deliver the ultimate performance/longevity of the product.

Speaking of advice, the 1080p panel of this notebook is something that should be avoided. Lenovo ThinkPad Flex 5 (15)’s touchscreen IPS panel (AUO B156HAN02.5) has a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, good contrast ratio, and a non-flickering backlight. Although it is safe for long periods of use, the panel has a relatively poor color representation, with only 50% of sRGB coverage, uneven luminance across the area of the screen, and color accuracy, which is worse than being color-blind.

At least on the bright side, you get Wi-Fi 6 support, fast storage, an SD card reader on board, and decent battery life. So, despite the fact that the laptop comes with a lot of features, including an optional Pen inside the box, the poor 1080p panel just won’t deliver if you are hoping for something marginally close to professional. However, Lenovo also offers the Ideapad Flex 5 (15) with a 4K unit, which has HDR and VESA certificates. Additionally, one of the great options on the market is the ASUS ZenBook Flip 15 (UX563).

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/lenovo-ideapad-flex-5-15/