Lenovo ideaPad Lenovo Laptop ideaPad Slim 3 AMD Ryzen 5 8540U Review

A decent budget laptop with a modern Ryzen 5 CPU and a handy touchscreen, but it's held back by only having 8GB of RAM. It's fine for basic tasks, but look elsewhere for gaming or heavy multitasking. Worth considering only if the touchscreen is a must-have at this price.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 is a solid, no-fuss laptop for everyday work. It's got a modern AMD Ryzen 5 chip and a decent 512GB SSD, all wrapped in a fairly portable 15-inch chassis with a touchscreen. For under $700, it's aiming to be the reliable workhorse you don't have to think about.

It's not built to wow you with specs or design. This is a practical machine. Our data shows it scores best for general use, business, and student tasks, but it's not a gaming rig or a creative powerhouse. Think of it as the dependable sedan of laptops.

The AMD Ryzen 5 8540U is a capable 6-core CPU that sits right in the middle of the pack. It'll handle your daily multitasking, web browsing, and office apps without breaking a sweat. The 512GB SSD is also about average, so it's fast enough for booting up and loading programs. The big limitation is the integrated AMD Radeon 740M graphics, which lands in a disappointing 18th percentile. It's fine for video streaming and very light photo editing, but that's it. The 8GB of RAM is another weak spot, ranking near the bottom. It's enough for basic tasks today, but it might feel cramped in a year or two.

At $689, the value is a bit of a mixed bag. You're getting a current-gen processor and a touchscreen, which is a good combo for the price. However, the decision to pair it with only 8GB of RAM in 2024 is a real head-scratcher and hurts the long-term value. For the same money, you can often find competitors with 16GB of RAM, which is becoming the new standard. It's a decent deal if you need a touchscreen and are on a strict budget, but you're making a compromise on future-proofing.

This sits in a crowded field. Compared to a base model Apple MacBook Air (M1 or M2), the IdeaPad is cheaper and has a touchscreen, but the MacBook will feel much faster, last longer on battery, and have a better build quality. Against other Windows laptops like the ASUS Vivobook or HP Pavilion lines around $700, you'll often find models with 16GB of RAM and similar specs, making them a smarter buy. The IdeaPad's main advantage is that specific touchscreen-and-Ryzen combo at this price point, but you're giving up RAM to get it.

Skip this if you plan to do any gaming, video editing, or run demanding software. The weak GPU and low RAM make it a poor choice. Also, if you're a power user who keeps dozens of browser tabs open, the 8GB of RAM will choke quickly. Look for a laptop with 16GB of RAM and a dedicated GPU instead.

Buy this if you need a straightforward, affordable Windows laptop for web browsing, documents, and streaming, and you really want a touchscreen. It's a good fit for students or home users with basic needs. Just go in knowing the 8GB of RAM is its biggest flaw.