Lenovo IdeaPad S340 (15″) review – it definitely has something up its sleeve

As we promised, this is the last of a bunch of Lenovo devices we were able to get our hands on. However, we have substantial evidence that this laptop is actually going to present great interest in you – especially if you are into somewhat budget entertainment laptops that have decent power and great efficiency.

Moreover, now you have a choice – either you go for the Whiskey Lake processors by Intel, or you choose AMD’s latest Ryzen low-voltage solutions. Quite frankly, whatever you choose, you won’t be mistaken, however, we are going to show you the Intel system, because… we were able to get only it. By the way, the Ideapad S340 looks very similar to the Ideapad 330s, which may be considered as its predecessor, although in terms of build quality it can refer more to the Ideapad S540.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/lenovo-ideapad-s340-15/

Contents


Specs Sheet

Lenovo IdeaPad S340 (15") - Specs

  • Innolux N156HGA-EA3 (CMN15F5)
  • Color accuracy  7.5  2.9
  • HDD/SSD
  • up to 2000GB SSD + up to 1000GB HDD
  • RAM
  • up to 36GB
  • OS
  • Windows 10 Home, Windows OS, Linux, Windows 10 Pro
  • Battery
  • 52.5Wh, 36Wh, 3-cell, 52.5Wh, 3-cell, 42Wh, 3-cell, 30Wh, 2-cell
  • Body material
  • Plastic / Polycarbonate, Aluminum
  • Dimensions
  • 358 x 245 x 17.9 mm (14.09" x 9.65" x 0.70")
  • Weight
  • 1.80 kg (4 lbs)
  • Ports and connectivity
  • 1x USB Type-C
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • 1x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), Sleep and Charge
  • 1x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • HDMI
  • 1.4b
  • Card reader
  • SD, SDHC, SDXC
  • Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ac
  • Bluetooth
  • 4.2
  • Audio jack
  • combo audio / microphone jack
  • Features
  • Fingerprint reader
  • Web camera
  • HD
  • Backlit keyboard
  • optional
  • Microphone
  • Speakers
  • 2x 2W
  • Optical drive

All Lenovo IdeaPad S340 (15″) configurations

#CommissionsEarned

What’s in the box?

Inside the box, you are going to find a 65W charging brick, the laptop itself, as well as the usual paper manuals and warranty papers.


Design and construction

As we mentioned, the build quality of this laptop is not bad at all. It incorporates aluminum and plastic as building materials, while design-wise it follows the latest trends of bezel-less display. Additionally, it does so while hitting the scales at 1.80 kg (3.96 lbs) and stands at 17.9 mm of thickness – pretty impressive for a 15-incher.

Sadly, you won’t be able to open the lid using only one hand. On the bright side, the lid itself is resistant to heavy bending. What is not very resistant to bending is the base of the laptop.

It’s most susceptible to this type of force in its bottom half – the area between the keyboard and the touchpad as well as parts of the keyboard as well. Speaking of this, the keyboard has an average travel and its not very tactile. At least it is equipped with a backlight that has two levels of luminosity.

Okay, we’ve covered the keyboard but how about the touchpad? It supports Windows Precision drivers and has a good texture and somewhat swift response.

In a similar fashion to the L340 Ideapads, the laptop breathes fresh air from the pretty long grill on the bottom plate, while the speakers are located onto its sides. It exhausts the heat by its fan from in between the base and the lid of the device.

Ports

So, on the left side you have the barrel-style charging plug, then an HDMI connector, a USB Type-C 3.1 (Gen. 2) and an audio jack, while on the right you’ll see two USB Type-A 3.1 (Gen. 1) and, apparently Photographers would be happy – an SD card reader!


Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance

In contrast to the Ideapad L340 series, Lenovo has used Torx-headed screws for this one. Actually, they are a total of 10 of them, with one staying attached to the bottom plate after unscrewed. The last step you need to make is to pry the panel with a plastic pic, and you’re in!

Guys, we have to be honest, the cooling solution of this laptop doesn’t seem pretty effective. It only features one heat pipe and despite it is rather bulky for a business laptop, it undoubtedly provides less efficiency than what two heat pipes would. However, we’re going to check that out in the Temperature segment of this review.

Upgradability is pretty straightforward – there is one RAM DIMM for DDR4 memory, an M.2 NVMe-enabled slot and a 2.5″ SATA drive slot.

As of the battery capacity, Lenovo has equipped the laptop with a 52.5Wh unit, modeled around the internals of the chassis.


Display quality

Lenovo Ideapad S340 (15″) is equipped with a Full HD TN panel with a model number Innolux N156HGA-EA3 (CMN15F5). 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).

As expected from a TN panel – the viewing angles are terrible. We offer images at 45° to evaluate image quality.

The measured maximum brightness of 227 nits in the middle of the screen and 210 nits as an average for the whole area, with a maximum deviation of 12%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen is 6130K – warmer than the optimal for the sRGB standard of 6500K, which is not bad.
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 mediocre – 360:1.

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. Basically, 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 Ideapad S340 (15)’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers 54% 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 Ideapad S340 (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 = 11 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 Ideapad S340 (15) indeed uses PWM to adjust its brightness. However, it does so up until 56 nits and with a very high frequency, which makes it practically safe to use for long work periods.

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

Obviously, the Lenovo Ideapad S340 (15) doesn’t boast the best display in the market, mainly given its TN nature. This means it has horrible viewing angles, poor contrast ratio, and modest color coverage. On the bright side, however, it has quick reaction times and a comfortable backlight in terms of PWM usage.

Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for Lenovo Ideapad S340 (15) configurations with 15.6″ FHD TN Innolux N156HGA-EA3 (CMN15F5).

*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.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office Work

Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.

Design and Gaming

This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.

Health-Guard

Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.

Get all 3 profiles with 33% discount


Sound

Lenovo Ideapad S340 (15) has a good quality sound with Dolby Audio tuning. Its low, mid and high frequencies are clear of deviations.


Drivers

All drivers and utilities for this laptop are available here: https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/ideapad-s-series-netbooks/s340-15iwl/downloads (Intel version) / https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/ideapad-s-series-netbooks/s340-15api (AMD version)

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. Lenovo has put a 52.5Wh battery inside of this laptop.

It was able to go for 12 hours of Web browsing on battery, while video playback can go for 10 hours and a half.

In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.


CPU options

This laptop comes in two variants – with an Intel chipset and with an AMD one. The former embodies three CPUs – the dual-core Core i3-8145U, and the quad-core Core i5-8265U and Core i7-8565U. On the AMD’s quarters, there are two dual-core processors – the Athlon 300U, and the Ryzen 3 3200U, as well as two quad-core CPUs – the Ryzen 5 3500U and the Ryzen 7 3700U.

Lenovo IdeaPad S340 (15") CPU variants

Here you can see an approximate comparison between the CPUs that can be found in the Lenovo IdeaPad S340 (15") models on the market. This way you can decide for yourself which Lenovo IdeaPad S340 (15") model is the best bang for your buck.

Note: The chart shows the cheapest different CPU configurations so you should check what the other specifications of these laptops are by clicking on the laptop’s name / CPU.


GPU options

There are a total of 4 different integrated GPUs that you will get, depending on the CPU choice you make – the RX Vega 3, 8 or 10 from AMD and the Intel UHD Graphics 620. There is also the option for a dedicated GPU – the NVIDIA GeForce MX230.

Lenovo IdeaPad S340 (15") GPU variants

Here you can see an approximate comparison between the GPUs that can be found in the Lenovo IdeaPad S340 (15") models on the market. This way you can decide for yourself which Lenovo IdeaPad S340 (15") model is the best bang for your buck.

Note: The chart shows the cheapest different GPU configurations so you should check what the other specifications of these laptops are by clicking on the laptop’s name / GPU.


Gaming tests

cs-go-benchmarks

CS:GOHD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings)HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings)
Average FPS84 fps71 fps54 fps

DOTA 2HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings)HD 1080p, High (Check settings)
Average FPS77 fps58 fps51 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 i5-8265U (15W TDP)0:02 – 0:10 sec0:15 – 0:30 sec10:00 – 15:00 min
Lenovo Ideapad S340 (15″)3.13 GHz (B+96%)@ 80°C3.04 GHz (B+90%)@ 94°C1.93 GHz (B+21%)@ 66°C
Lenovo Ideapad L340 (15″)3.27 GHz (B+104%)@ 72°C1.99 GHz (B+24%)@ 60°C2.01 GHz (B+26%)@ 65°C
ASUS VivoBook S15 S5322.96 GHz (B+85%) @ 75°C2.95 GHz (B+84%) @ 90°C2.17 GHz (B+36%) @ 68°C
ASUS VivoBook S15 S5302.99 GHz (B+87%) @ 77°C2.99 GHz (B+87%) @ 87°C2.29 GHz (B+43%) @ 71°C
Lenovo ThinkBook 13s2.76 GHz (B+73%)@ 75°C2.74 GHz (B+71%)@ 84°C2.11 GHz (B+32%)@ 74°C
Lenovo ThinkPad T490s3.43 GHz (B+114%)@ 91°C2.69 GHz (B+68%)@ 91°C2.19 GHz (B+37%)@ 80°C
HP ProBook 450 G62.69 GHz (B+59%)@ 64°C2.53 GHz (B+60%)@ 68°C2.09 GHz (B+31%)@ 71°C

As you have probably seen from the synthetic benchmarks, this laptop performs really good. Especially given its 15W ULV hardware. However, we should note that in a head to head battle, Ideapad L340 (15″) performs better in terms of thermals. As you can see the beginning the more budget-oriented model goes around 150 MHz higher and 8C lower, while at the end of the test the difference is only 1C and clock-wise – less than 100 MHz. At the same time, it is clear to see that the Ideapad S340 is configured aggressively towards higher clock speeds in medium to short bursts, which is exactly the reason why it performs so well in benchmarks.

Real-life gaming

NVIDIA GeForce MX230GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 2 min)GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 30 min)
Lenovo Ideapad S340 (15″)1721 MHz @ 80°C1262 MHz @ 65°C
Lenovo Ideapad L340 (15″)1632 MHz @ 69°C1532 MHz @ 69°C
Lenovo Ideapad C340 (15″)1658 MHz @ 74°C1300 MHz @ 64°C

Here is where the poor choices when building the cooling really show. At the first checkpoint, despite the relatively high frequency of 1721 MHz, you can see the temperatures skyrocket to 80C. In order to handle that, the software needs to push the clock speeds all the way down to 1262 MHz, which is significantly lower than what we saw on the Ideapad L340 (15″). This means, the laptop is not suitable for extended periods of gameplay… not that it is a gaming device, but it always raises this question when a dedicated GPU is on board.

Verdict

We would like to start our resolution of this laptop with our appraisal for the great feel the Ideapad S340 (15″) gives you for the money you pay. It looks somewhat similar to the Acer Swift 3 in a way and is perhaps more suitable of a contender to the ASUS VivoBook S15 S530 than the Ideapad L340 (15″). Additionally, we would like to advise you to go for the IPS version of the display of this device, rather than the TN one.

As you would gain significantly better experience, especially if, unlike us, you have friends to watch a movie with or even play a hot seat game – both actions that require a wide viewing angle monitor. Nevertheless, the battery life of the Ideapad S340 (15″) is exactly what drives it towards success – we got 12 hours of Web browsing and 10 hours and a half of video playback.

Since we have got the TN version (Innolux N156HGA-EA3 (CMN15F5)), we did not expect any of the goodies of wide viewing angles, great contrast ratio, nor a very bright panel. However, it has fast reaction times and while it uses PWM, it has a high frequency, which is basically safe for extended periods of use.

Moreover, when you are connected to the wall, expect a great performance of this notebook. It manages to post one of the best (if not the best) scores for the Core i5-8265U we’ve ever managed to achieve in synthetic benchmarks. As we found out, though, on the GPU-side things go a little off balance. Since both of the chips are cooled by the same heat pipe and just one fan, it cannot sustain high frequency on the GPU core during gaming for example. This resulted in either high temperatures, or to balance out, the firmware starts throttling the GPU heavily in order to compensate and lower the temps.

Last, but not least, the input devices are decent – surely neither the keyboard nor the touchpad was the best we’ve tested but they are above average. By the way, we have to note that some corners were cut with the build quality of the base, as it bends when you press it slightly harder than usual. In addition to that, we think Photographers will be happy with the port selection, while on the screen, we need a couple of days to get results from our lab. Stay tuned!

Pros

  • Complemented by aluminum in its build
  • Thin and light design
  • Great battery life
  • Features an SD card reader and a backlight to its keyboard
  • One of the highest performing ULV laptops


Cons

  • Has some thermal issues when graphics load is applied (MX230 version)
  • Its base is not very stable
  • Poor color coverage, contrast ratio and viewing angles on the TN panel (Innolux N156HGA-EA3 (CMN15F5))

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/lenovo-ideapad-s340-15/

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Gio Lats
Gio Lats
4 years ago

Hi, very nice review. Do you know which display uses the S340 with the 15” IPS version? Is the BOE0700 or the B156HAN02.1?

Dragan
Dragan
4 years ago
Reply to  Gio Lats

Mine came with the ugly TN panel and I changed it with B156HAN02.1 HW0A. It’s not IPS but AHVA.

Nikunj kumar
Nikunj kumar
4 years ago

Please update the display details of s340 TN pannel

hanys
hanys
4 years ago

hello, i just got this laptop (15″, 512gb ssd, 8265u, mx250, 52.5wh). And there is no way i can get more than 5 hours from the battery… how did u set up the laptop to last that long?

Dragan
Dragan
4 years ago
Reply to  hanys

S340 15 with Kubuntu … the battery last no more than 4 hours. Display @ 20-30% brightness. I don’t believe 12 hours is possible…

Dragan
Dragan
4 years ago
Reply to  hanys

Ok , I figured it out . My system is with KDE plasma + ubuntu. The problem was the nvidia video card. By default it’s on performance mode … and stay on this mode even in idle…. Just disabled the nvidia, restart and with integrated intel i got 8-9 hours of battery life.