Lenovo Flex 2 14 review: A good multi-mode laptop
Lenovo is known for its Yoga multi-mode devices that allow consumers to
use a single device in different ways. While the Yoga devices are
high-end, the company introduced the Flex range last year, to offer
flexible notebooks at a comparatively lower price. Unlike the Yoga, the
Flex notebooks do not bend 360 degrees but can turn up to 300 degrees.
The Flex 2 is the second iteration of the Flex devices.
We have been using the Lenovo Flex 2 14 and try to find out if it's a good mid-range laptop in our review.
Build & design
In terms of design, Lenovo Flex 2 14 takes cues from Lenovo's IdeaPad series. At about 2kg, the dual-mode convertible is not very lightweight. Our unit featured a grey coloured top lid sporting a matte finish, slightly tapered at the edges. The lid also has a silver Lenovo logo at the top left. The rear of the bottom panel also sports the same finish.
There are two rubber supporters placed strategically at the bottom of the hinge to raise the height of the bottom panel eliminating the possibility of friction with the display panel. There are two rubber feet to prevent the notebook from slipping.
The other side of the bottom panel features the keyboard and trackpad and there are two more rubber protectors on the hinge to guard the keyboard panel while using the device in the stand mode.
Lenovo Flex 2 offers a large number of connectivity ports. On the right side of the keyboard panel, there are 2 USB 2.0 ports and an SD card reader. On the left side you'll see an Ethernet port, an HDMI port, a USB 3.0 port, and a 3.5mm headset jack, in addition to a charging port.
Hinge and dual-mode
There's a hinge that facilitates the dual mode feature of the laptop, allowing the display panel to move up to 300-degrees. Unlike the Yoga series, the hinge is not very subtle and sticks out as an almost-tubular structure attached to the bottom panel.
The hinge performs its job well and holds the display panel tightly at all angles (till 300-degrees) without constricting movement.
The device can be used as a regular laptop or as a touch screen computer in the stand mode. The stand mode is good for using touch applications, watching a video or for showing presentations. The device doesn't officially support the tent mode though it's technically possible.
The flexibility to use the device as a standing touchscreen device in addition to usual laptop mode gives the Flex 2 an edge over similar laptops in the same price range.
Keyboard
Lenovo Flex 2 14 comes with an island/chiclet style keyboard with well-spaced keys offering a great typing experience. It features special keys for controlling screen brightness, volume and other features. You can opt for a backlit keyboard as well.
The trackpad also performed well and offered support for touch gestures. The trackpad is not as smooth as the one on Apple's MacBooks but better than most Windows laptops we've used.
Display
Lenovo Flex 2 comes with a 14-inch touch screen (1366x768p). For a device which is designed to be used as a standing touch screen in addition to a notebook, the Flex 2's screen is not that great.
While we're okay with Lenovo putting a low resolution,720p panel as it's a mid-range device, the display has very narrow viewing angles and colours appear washed out when not viewed head-on.
Having said that, it offers good brightness levels and offers great touch response.
Overall, the display is one of the weaker points of the device.
Software
Our review unit came with 64-bit Windows 8.1 and we updated it to Update 1, the latest version of the OS that features power and search buttons, ability to pin Modern UI apps to the taskbar, and boot directly to Desktop, among others.
Windows 8.1 Update 1 offers a better desktop experience and streamlines Modern/ Windows 8 apps with desktop apps.
Lenovo also bundles additional software with the laptop, including Lenovo Cloud Storage, Phone Companion, Camera man, Photo Master, Lenovo Companion, and VeriFace Pro, Cyberlink PhotoDirector and PowerDirector among others.
The Phone Companion is an interesting app that connects the laptop to your Android phone and lets you access calls, messages and content on the smartphone from your PC. The phone app has to be downloaded via an APK and is not available in the Play Store but once you configure it, the feature works well.
There's also a Hightail app for storing and transferring large files on the cloud.
These apps can be easily uninstalled if you don't require them.
Performance
Lenovo Flex 2 is powered by a 1.7GHz Intel Core i3-4010U processor with integrated graphics and 4GB RAM. In terms of performance, the laptop is good for moderate use and for web browsing, casual games and multimedia, and for apps like office suites, and imaging editors, among others. Browsing websites with multiple open tabs in Google Chrome and playing casual games, was smooth. Even graphics-heavy games run fine with occasional lag and frame drops.
The laptop also runs Modern UI apps without any problems.
The Flex 2 doesn't offer a very good battery life. In our tests, the laptop lasted about 4-5 hours while using Microsoft Word, a picture editor, a music streaming service and playing some YouTube videos, keeping the screen at full brightness. In our video look test, it lasted about 3.5 hours.
While we don't endorse benchmarks, the Flex 2 scored 1671 in PCMark8 (Creative conventional) and 1833 in PCMark 8 (Home conventional) tests, and 466 in Novabench. The Pavilion X360 scored 30,016 in Icestorm 1.2 tests of 3DMark while the Cloudgate test crashed.
The laptop has an HD front webcam, which is good for video chats.
The laptop's stereo speakers feature Dolby Advanced Audio V2 technology and offer loud sound output but lack bass. Heat dissipation is well taken care of and the touchpad and the keyboard never get warm.
Overall, the base variant of the Flex 2 offers decent performance and is well-suited for day-to-day tasks and casual gaming.
The laptop comes with a hybrid drive with 500GB hard disk and 8GB flash memory for faster access to system files.
Verdict
At a price of Rs 41,990, the Lenovo Flex 2 14 is a good all-rounder. Even if you don't use the multi-mode feature, the laptop offers a good feature set, decent performance, comfortable keyboard and smooth trackpad, and a variety of preloaded apps at a mid-range price. The only disappointing things are the display (due to narrow viewing angles) and sub-par battery backup.
We have been using the Lenovo Flex 2 14 and try to find out if it's a good mid-range laptop in our review.
Build & design
In terms of design, Lenovo Flex 2 14 takes cues from Lenovo's IdeaPad series. At about 2kg, the dual-mode convertible is not very lightweight. Our unit featured a grey coloured top lid sporting a matte finish, slightly tapered at the edges. The lid also has a silver Lenovo logo at the top left. The rear of the bottom panel also sports the same finish.
There are two rubber supporters placed strategically at the bottom of the hinge to raise the height of the bottom panel eliminating the possibility of friction with the display panel. There are two rubber feet to prevent the notebook from slipping.
The other side of the bottom panel features the keyboard and trackpad and there are two more rubber protectors on the hinge to guard the keyboard panel while using the device in the stand mode.
Lenovo Flex 2 offers a large number of connectivity ports. On the right side of the keyboard panel, there are 2 USB 2.0 ports and an SD card reader. On the left side you'll see an Ethernet port, an HDMI port, a USB 3.0 port, and a 3.5mm headset jack, in addition to a charging port.
Hinge and dual-mode
There's a hinge that facilitates the dual mode feature of the laptop, allowing the display panel to move up to 300-degrees. Unlike the Yoga series, the hinge is not very subtle and sticks out as an almost-tubular structure attached to the bottom panel.
The hinge performs its job well and holds the display panel tightly at all angles (till 300-degrees) without constricting movement.
The device can be used as a regular laptop or as a touch screen computer in the stand mode. The stand mode is good for using touch applications, watching a video or for showing presentations. The device doesn't officially support the tent mode though it's technically possible.
The flexibility to use the device as a standing touchscreen device in addition to usual laptop mode gives the Flex 2 an edge over similar laptops in the same price range.
Keyboard
Lenovo Flex 2 14 comes with an island/chiclet style keyboard with well-spaced keys offering a great typing experience. It features special keys for controlling screen brightness, volume and other features. You can opt for a backlit keyboard as well.
The trackpad also performed well and offered support for touch gestures. The trackpad is not as smooth as the one on Apple's MacBooks but better than most Windows laptops we've used.
Display
Lenovo Flex 2 comes with a 14-inch touch screen (1366x768p). For a device which is designed to be used as a standing touch screen in addition to a notebook, the Flex 2's screen is not that great.
While we're okay with Lenovo putting a low resolution,720p panel as it's a mid-range device, the display has very narrow viewing angles and colours appear washed out when not viewed head-on.
Having said that, it offers good brightness levels and offers great touch response.
Overall, the display is one of the weaker points of the device.
Software
Our review unit came with 64-bit Windows 8.1 and we updated it to Update 1, the latest version of the OS that features power and search buttons, ability to pin Modern UI apps to the taskbar, and boot directly to Desktop, among others.
Windows 8.1 Update 1 offers a better desktop experience and streamlines Modern/ Windows 8 apps with desktop apps.
Lenovo also bundles additional software with the laptop, including Lenovo Cloud Storage, Phone Companion, Camera man, Photo Master, Lenovo Companion, and VeriFace Pro, Cyberlink PhotoDirector and PowerDirector among others.
The Phone Companion is an interesting app that connects the laptop to your Android phone and lets you access calls, messages and content on the smartphone from your PC. The phone app has to be downloaded via an APK and is not available in the Play Store but once you configure it, the feature works well.
There's also a Hightail app for storing and transferring large files on the cloud.
These apps can be easily uninstalled if you don't require them.
Performance
Lenovo Flex 2 is powered by a 1.7GHz Intel Core i3-4010U processor with integrated graphics and 4GB RAM. In terms of performance, the laptop is good for moderate use and for web browsing, casual games and multimedia, and for apps like office suites, and imaging editors, among others. Browsing websites with multiple open tabs in Google Chrome and playing casual games, was smooth. Even graphics-heavy games run fine with occasional lag and frame drops.
The laptop also runs Modern UI apps without any problems.
The Flex 2 doesn't offer a very good battery life. In our tests, the laptop lasted about 4-5 hours while using Microsoft Word, a picture editor, a music streaming service and playing some YouTube videos, keeping the screen at full brightness. In our video look test, it lasted about 3.5 hours.
While we don't endorse benchmarks, the Flex 2 scored 1671 in PCMark8 (Creative conventional) and 1833 in PCMark 8 (Home conventional) tests, and 466 in Novabench. The Pavilion X360 scored 30,016 in Icestorm 1.2 tests of 3DMark while the Cloudgate test crashed.
The laptop has an HD front webcam, which is good for video chats.
The laptop's stereo speakers feature Dolby Advanced Audio V2 technology and offer loud sound output but lack bass. Heat dissipation is well taken care of and the touchpad and the keyboard never get warm.
Overall, the base variant of the Flex 2 offers decent performance and is well-suited for day-to-day tasks and casual gaming.
The laptop comes with a hybrid drive with 500GB hard disk and 8GB flash memory for faster access to system files.
Verdict
At a price of Rs 41,990, the Lenovo Flex 2 14 is a good all-rounder. Even if you don't use the multi-mode feature, the laptop offers a good feature set, decent performance, comfortable keyboard and smooth trackpad, and a variety of preloaded apps at a mid-range price. The only disappointing things are the display (due to narrow viewing angles) and sub-par battery backup.
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