Lenovo - Lenovo Ideapad 320S-14IKBR

Lenovo

Lenovo Ideapad 320S-14IKBR: an affordable and convincing ultraportable

Aprox. 520€

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Offered at less than € 500, this entry-level version of the Lenovo Ideapad 320S looks on paper very interesting: 14-inch screen, neat design, latest generation Intel Core i3 processor, 128 GB SSD ... It was enough for us to order and test it ...

Our review

Construction

The Ideapads follow each other and look alike. This entry-level model is quite close to another 320S tested a few weeks ago. So there is a particularly sober gray chassis - dressed on the hood of the brand logo - and hardened plastic everywhere. The finish is very correct and the screen hinge seems to be resistant to repeated opening. Nothing very "premium" in this PC, but it is not what we ask anyway. The screen frame is quite thin, but the upper and lower margins remain particularly visible, causing the screen occupancy rate to fall to 68%. For comparison, the 320S under Core i5 reaches 81%.

The keyboard is one of the strong points of this model, thanks to a particularly long stroke and keys of good size and well spaced. Typing is very pleasant and you can type long texts without fear of typos. The touchpad sounds a bit hollow and often lacks responsiveness. Nothing too serious here, but it probably should have been given a little more attention to manufacturing.

Connectivity side, again, the Ideapad 320S goes to basics, but does the job. There is indeed a USB 2 Type-A port, a USB 3 Type-A port, a USB Type-C port, an HDMI output, an SD card reader, as well as a mini-jack combo jack. Classic, effective, even if you start to worry about the presence of a USB 2 port in 2018.

The management of heat and noise is almost flawless. The components inside heat little and the chassis did not exceed 40.8 ° C just above the keyboard and 43.9 ° C in the area below. These hot spots remain very localized and the ventilation remains very discreet (below 37 dB, therefore almost inaudible unless you approach your ear near the PC).


Screen

This "Core i3" version of the Ideapad 320S opts for a 14-inch mat screen displaying a resolution of 1366 x 768 px. First observation that is obvious when you turn on the PC: the panel is undoubtedly TN type, which is not really good news for viewing angles, very limited with this technology. It is also not very good for contrast and colorimetry. We thus note a maximum brightness of only 250 cd / m² and, above all, a contrast ratio which does not exceed 280: 1. Readability is therefore very average. The gamma curve is for its part fairly correct, generally stable over the entire spectrum, a sign of a correct gray gradient.

Unfortunately, the screen sinks as soon as we assess its colorimetry. This slab is simply not calibrated. We note a delta E of 13 and a color temperature which rises to 10 155 K. Knowing that the delta E represents the difference between the colors requested and the colors displayed - and that it is considered to be very good below 3 -, you will understand that the rendering is far from being faithful. Same thing for the very high color temperature, which results in a gray gradient which strongly draws towards blue (the ideal value to be reached being 6,500 K).

To finish on a slightly more positive note, note the relatively correct remanence for a PC of this range, noted here at 14 ms.


Performances

Entry level PC par excellence, the Ideapad 320S integrates an Intel Core i3-8130U processor (2 cores, 4 threads, frequencies between 2.2 and 3.4 GHz), 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB storage in SSD format. A modest configuration, but a priori sufficient for office automation or surfing the web.

In practice, the 8th generation Core i3 integrated in this model delivers honorable performance, much higher than that of a Pentium or a Celeron, and not far behind a Core i5. The processor is struggling with 3D computing, but fast enough for all that is file compression, audio conversion or video. Our various benchmarks reveal a performance score of 67.

Of course, this model is not made for video editing that is a little heavy or sharp photo editing - if only because of the strawberry colorimetry of the screen -, but it is still more than enough for a wide variety of everyday tasks.


Mobility / Autonomy

The Lenovo 320S undeniably falls into the category of "ultraportable" PCs, but it is not the smallest in its category. Despite a fairly well optimized screen frame, it measures 33 cm wide, 23 cm deep and 1.9 cm thick. The weight of 1.7 kg is quite high. The small charger allows you to easily transport the whole in a bag.

Side autonomy, the 320S struggles to rise above the mass. Our streaming autonomy test (Netflix in Chrome, screen brightness at 200 cd / m², headphones plugged in) thus ran for 5:53. By playing on energy saving, it is in any case possible to use it for about 6:30.


Audio

The audio part of the Ideapad 320S is doing well, although, as often, the qualitative difference between the headphone output and the speakers is significant. Listening through headphones is therefore very pleasant, thanks to good output power and a completely acceptable distortion rate.

The speakers are located on the sides of the chassis, which is sometimes disabling, for example when you put your hands on either side of the keyboard to hold the laptop. The rendering generally lacks power, but listening is not unpleasant, despite a fairly nasal rendering of the voices. Note that we noticed a slight distortion of the sound when we press and hold the touchpad.


Conclusion

If you are not looking at the quality of the screen, this Lenovo Ideapad 320S in 14 inch version and Core i3 can be an interesting purchase. It is indeed a well-built ultraportable PC, enduring enough and delivering sufficient performance for office automation. Too bad the quality of the display has not been more careful.


Specifications