Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 15.6" Abyss Blue 2025 Review

This laptop's port selection is top of the charts, but its screen is one of the worst we've seen. At $600, it's a basic machine for plugging things in, not for enjoying what's on the screen or doing anything demanding. The 8GB RAM and 256GB storage are also tight.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 is a $600 laptop that makes its case with a solid port selection and decent reliability, but it's a bit of a mixed bag elsewhere. It lands in the 93rd percentile for ports, which means you get three USB-A ports, HDMI, and Wi-Fi 6, making it a practical choice for plugging in peripherals without fuss. For basic tasks like web browsing, document editing, and video calls, the AMD Ryzen 5 processor and 8GB of RAM should get you through, but you're looking at middle-of-the-pack CPU performance and RAM that lags behind most modern laptops.

Performance here is squarely about getting the essentials done. The AMD Ryzen 5 processor sits in the 41st percentile for CPU power, which is about average. It'll handle your daily workflow, but you won't be setting any speed records. The integrated AMD Radeon 610M graphics are a weak spot, ranking in the 18th percentile, so even light gaming is pretty much off the table. The 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM is also underwhelming, falling in the 22nd percentile. For a modern Windows 11 system, that's tight, and you might feel it if you try to run a few apps at once. The 256GB SSD is small too, ranking in the 17th percentile, so you'll be managing your storage carefully.

At $600, this is a budget laptop that prioritizes practical connectivity over raw power or a good screen. You're paying for the ports and the reliability, but you're accepting significant compromises in graphics, display quality, RAM, and storage capacity. Compared to other budget options, it's a trade-off: do you need those extra USB ports more than you need a brighter screen or more memory?

Compared to other laptops around this price, the IdeaPad Slim 3's standout is its port selection. Many ultrabooks or even some budget models sacrifice ports for thinness. If you're comparing it to, say, a base model Microsoft Surface Laptop, you'd get a much better screen but fewer physical ports. Against other Lenovo budget lines, it's similar, but the screen brightness here is particularly poor. For students or business users who just need a reliable machine to plug into projectors and external drives, the ports are a win. But if screen quality or the ability to run more apps simultaneously is a priority, the low RAM and dim display make it a weaker choice.

Skip this laptop if you care about screen quality, gaming, or multitasking. The display's 7th percentile ranking means it's exceptionally dim. The 18th percentile graphics make gaming impossible. And the 22nd percentile RAM means you'll feel constrained if you run more than a couple of applications. It's also not for anyone who needs ample local storage, as the 256GB SSD (17th percentile) is quite small.

We'd recommend the IdeaPad Slim 3 only if your top priority is having a lot of easy-to-use ports on a reliable, lightweight machine for basic tasks. Its connectivity is best-in-class for the price. But if you care about screen quality, want to do any light gaming, need to multitask heavily, or just hate managing a small storage drive, there are better options out there that might cost a bit more but offer a much better overall experience.