But one of the nice things about the 15.3-inch screen is that Lenovo hasn’t tried to squeeze in a number pad. No, no. Just a standard keyboard layout with a centered touchpad and enough room for your wrists. And yet, it doesn’t feel like an overly bulky laptop either. The width and depth dimensions are almost identical to the 15-inch MacBook Air, and it’s only about 0.16 inches thicker. It’s definitely a portable and travel-worthy device.
And this is where the remaining compromises are surprisingly few and very middle-of-the-road. One of the first things I test with budget laptops is the touchpad. Cheap Windows Laptops have notoriously awful touchpads, and it’s one of the important parts of a laptop that can’t be spelled out in the specs. I’m happy to report that the IdeaPad Slim 5x has a better tracking surface than most other laptops at this price. The performance is much better than on the HP OmniBook 3 or OmniBook 5. It is certainly more responsive than the Asus Vivobook 14. I would say it is more or less comparable to Dell 14 Plus compared to last year, although this laptop has received a price increase in recent months. Clicking noise is my only real complaint about the IdeaPad Slim 5x’s touchpad. It’s too strong. I’ll take a responsive surface over a quiet click any day, but if you work in an office with coworkers, it might annoy them.
Photography: Luke Larsen
I was also surprised by the sound of the speakers. They didn’t blow me away, but compared to the average set of speakers in an average Windows laptop at this price, they are impressive. Of course, even a 13-inch MacBook Air undoubtedly feels fuller and bassier, but these are at least usable. The webcam doesn’t fare as well. This is really only sufficient in good lighting.
It only gets better
The Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Plus isn’t an M5 killer, that’s for sure. Despite the GPU improvements this time around, the Apple M5 is still in a different league. But Qualcomm is closing the gap in terms of CPU performance, although the M5 remains the undisputed champion. I’d say this is a bigger issue in laptops designed for performance, but here it’s not as much of an issue. You don’t buy $850 to become a full-time video producer, AI addict, or esports player. For the things the IdeaPad Slim 5x is designed for, it excels.
My normal workflow involves juggling a multitude of work apps, dozens of browser tabs, and probably streaming music and video simultaneously. The X2 Plus didn’t miss a beat. I came away convinced that there is more performance than most people will need. This is particularly impressive since the X2 Plus is a step below the more powerful X2 Elite (or X2 Elite improved), which partly explains why Qualcomm and Lenovo were able to lower the price.
The display is also an aspect of this laptop that surprised me. It’s brighter and more colorful than most laptops at this price, and the addition of a touchscreen is convenient. While I generally don’t like matte screens, the IdeaPad Slim 5x’s more subtle anti-glare coating makes this screen feel premium and clear, without the heavy glare.