Lenovo IdeaPad S340 15.6" Laptop Review
The Lenovo IdeaPad S340 is a budget laptop with serious compromises. It's cheap, but the 8GB RAM and slow performance make it hard to recommend for most people.
Overview
The Lenovo IdeaPad S340 is a budget-friendly 15.6-inch laptop with an AMD Ryzen 7 processor. It's got a touchscreen and is fairly lightweight, but you're looking at some serious compromises to hit that low price point.
Performance
The Ryzen 7 CPU lands in the 23rd percentile, so it's not exactly a powerhouse. It'll handle basic multitasking, but don't expect miracles. The Vega 10 GPU is in the 38th percentile, so light gaming or photo editing is its absolute ceiling. The 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD are also on the low end, ranking in the 10th and 12th percentiles respectively.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Affordable price point. 76th
- Includes a touchscreen. 71th
- Fairly lightweight for a 15.6-inch laptop.
- Reliability score is decent at the 75th percentile.
Cons
- Only 8GB of RAM, which is low for 2024. 17th
- Tiny 256GB SSD fills up fast. 22th
- Mediocre CPU and GPU performance. 27th
- Screen quality is poor, ranking in the 16th percentile. 29th
Specifications
Full Specifications
Processor
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 |
Graphics
| GPU | Radeon Vega 10 |
| Type | discrete |
Memory & Storage
| RAM | 8 GB |
| Storage | 256 GB |
Display
| Size | 15.6" |
| Resolution | 1920 (Full HD) |
Connectivity
| HDMI | 1 x HDMI |
| Wi-Fi | WiFi 5 |
| Bluetooth | Yes |
Physical
| Weight | 2.2 kg / 4.9 lbs |
| OS | Windows 10 |
Value & Pricing
At around $480, it's cheap. But you get what you pay for. The specs are barebones and performance is mediocre across the board. It's only a good value if your budget is extremely tight and your needs are incredibly basic.
vs Competition
It's in a totally different league than competitors like the MacBook Pro or gaming laptops. A more direct rival would be a basic Chromebook or an older refurbished business laptop. Compared to something like an ASUS Zenbook, the S340 feels dated and underpowered. You're trading all performance and future-proofing for a lower upfront cost.
| Spec | Lenovo IdeaPad S340 15.6" Laptop | Apple MacBook Air 13-inch MacBook Air - Apple M5 chip with 10-core | ASUS ZenBook ASUS - Zenbook 14 14" FHD+ OLED Touch Screen | Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro Samsung - Galaxy Book5 Pro - Copilot+ PC - 14" 3K | MSI Prestige MSI - Prestige 13”AI+ - Ukiyoe Edition 13.3"OLED | Microsoft Surface Laptop Microsoft 15" Surface Laptop Copilot+ PC (7th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 | Apple M5 | Intel Core Ultra 9 Series 2 | Intel Core Ultra 7 Series 2 | Intel Core Ultra 7 258V | Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-84-100 |
| RAM (GB) | 8 | 24 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 |
| Storage (GB) | 256 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1024 |
| Screen | 15.6" 1920x1080 | 13.6" 2560x1664 | 14" 1920x1200 | 14" 2880x1800 | 13.3" 2880x1800 | 15" 2496x1664 |
| GPU | AMD Radeon Vega 10 | Apple M5 10-core | Intel Arc Graphics | Intel Arc Graphics | Intel Arc Graphics | Qualcomm X1 |
| OS | Windows 10 | Mac OS | Windows 11 Home | Windows 11 Home | Windows 11 Home | Windows 11 Home |
| Weight (kg) | 2.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1 | 1.7 |
| Battery (Wh) | - | - | 75 | - | - | 66 |
| Compare | Compare | Compare | Compare | Compare |
| Product | Cpu | Gpu | Ram | Port | Screen | Compact | Storage | Reliability | Social Proof |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lenovo IdeaPad S340 15.6" Laptop | 31.6 | 44.1 | 17.4 | 41.9 | 27.3 | 29 | 21.7 | 75.6 | 70.6 |
| Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M5 chip Compare | 82.9 | 20.6 | 68.5 | 57 | 79.4 | 90.6 | 72.3 | 94.8 | 90.2 |
| ASUS ZenBook 14" Compare | 89.2 | 66.6 | 94.1 | 99.3 | 75.6 | 84.5 | 72.3 | 55.8 | 97.4 |
| Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro Galaxy Book5 Pro 14" 3K Compare | 69 | 66.6 | 86.9 | 90.7 | 93.5 | 84.9 | 72.3 | 75.6 | 96.5 |
| MSI Prestige 13”AI+ Ukiyoe Edition 13.3"OLED Compare | 65.7 | 66.6 | 86.9 | 98.4 | 90.6 | 95.5 | 72.3 | 55.8 | 88.1 |
| Microsoft Surface Laptop 15" Compare | 98.6 | 42 | 86.9 | 96.8 | 86.2 | 53.7 | 84.7 | 75.6 | 99.4 |
Verdict
Only buy this if you need the absolute cheapest Windows laptop with a 15-inch screen and a touchscreen. It's okay for very light web browsing and document work. Students or business users on a severe budget might tolerate it, but anyone needing performance or storage should look elsewhere.