Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 2 15 Notebook Review

[Redaktion]

Flexibility on a budget. Lenovo's expansive Flex lineup continues with the updated 15.6-inch model in time for the back-to-school season. We check out both the chassis and performance to see if this inexpensive touchscreen notebook is an improvement over first generation Flex models.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-IdeaPad-Flex-2-15-Notebook-Review.123450.0.html

[Saeid]

hi dear people in notebookcheck.com
Thank you for this review.
how would be your scores for flex 2 15 with this hardware configuration?

cpu: Intel Core i7 4510U
memory: 8 gig ram
hard disk: 1 terabyte
display: ips full hd
graphics adapter: GeForce GT 840M

[joechan4879]

I was able to buy the Flex 2 15 1080p model for $600 including tax. Great value imo.

[Christ]

The Flex2 15" no longer comes with an optical drive. It appears Lenovo has redesigned or eliminated this. Yet Lenovo's website still show the pictures of the unit with the optical drive.

[riki]

one thing is wrong. i have lenovo flex 15 2 and i have i5 4210u and gefocre gt 820m 2gb.the is other options and you can chose i7 and gt 840 gb

[Aglarond]

I've just purchased this notebook with part number 59442767 and parameters:
Intel Core i3 4030U Haswell
15.6" 1920x1080 IPS multitouch
RAM 8GB DDR3L
NVIDIA GeForce 840M 4GB
SSD 128GB
DVD
no OS
price 550 €

[Bernie Tiltges]

The Lenovo Flex 2 Pro-15 Laptop is on clearance and I was able to purchase the floor model at Office Depot.  It has an Intel(R)Core(TM) i5-4210U processor, 1 TB HD, 6 GB RAM, 1920x1024 display, and Windows 8.1.  I got a great deal <$500.  I like it so far.

[jazzi]

First let me thank you guys for making this site. You cover a lot of obscure system configs with full tests... I almost bought a dell 5558 until i read your review that shows the FHD screen was even dimmer than this one, which is already very dim at max brightness.

I Purchased this for 499 C$ +tax (2-300 off regular price) (about 330 eur) in january 2015 with 4th gen i5, 6gb, 500gb hydrid hd, full hd screen. For what i got i would say this was a very good deal considering that still you have to spend over 1000 to get a 14 or more inch laptop with a 1080 ips screen as good as a 300$ tablet 

The keyboard is still the nice lenovo layout but the mushy feel on the deck (lack of rigidity underneath) and missed keystrokes has me upset. Too bad because my 17 inch lenovo laptop from 2011 has much more solid key travel and feel, no missed keys...

There are 7 problems with this unit from most to least important.

1. Fragile feel, low build quality. The screen/cover is flimsy (really does "flex"). Some have complained the screen broke only by opening/closing and lenovo does not cover screen under warranty. It has little rigidity, it is basically a thin bezel snapped into (no glue, screws, etc)  a thin cover. You can pry open the bezel with your finger nail, exposing the screen internals. The whole screen/cover has little structural strength, so opening the sceen the whole thing bends significantly - they should have a one piece design solid enough to hold the screen and open without making you think its going to snap in 2. One must be very careful when moving the screen. I use both thumbs 1 on each side and move them down lower to open at the thicker part. It is unbelieveable that engineers designed it with this cheapo flimsy screen cover although it is meant to be constantly moving in large radius 300 degrees back and forth.

2. The keyboard short travel and missed some keystrokes. i use as a desktop mostly so not as much of an issue for me, but it would be if you use the keyboard full time.

3. Although the screen is nice Full HD with rich and contrasty (not nearly as good but reminds me of sammy galaxy s tablet with much lower brightness), and this was by far the cheapest i5 (or any) laptop with full hd screen (don't get me started on why most laptops less than $800 still use crappy led screens same as 10 years ago 1366 x 768, when you can buy a nice bright ips tablet for 200). Also, because screen is very light weight and flimsy, touch operations make it wobble. Compared to Dell 5000 series which will not move or bend when touch.

So although it is a nice IPS FHD, screen is quite dim even at max brightness. Indoors I would normally use it at max brightness except in a dark room.

4. No free bay for SSD, complicated and fragile to reach/replace battery, hard drive, etc.

5 Wifi - some people had issues with wifi, i.e. card not properly connected internally - one wire not connected = poor reception. If you have wifi difficulties, search for fix to reconnect wire.

6. Battery life is fairly short. Expect about 2-2.5 hours of normal work.

7. No sleep function key.

[Berni Gardiner]

I have had my lenovo Flex 2-15 for about 9 months and twice now it has gone into permanent sleep mode, even though I turned all sleep options off after the first time.

Absolutely no way to recover it without waiting 4-5 days for the battery to drain and for the unit to shut down. Pressing power button for 10 minutes did NOTHING!

Battery is sealed and invalidates the warranty if opened but taking the battery out is the only way to get your laptop back if you don't have the luxury of waiting 4-5 days.

I am planning to remove the battery and heck with the warranty! Lenovo has not replied to my emails about this problem and other forums are also reporting lack of interest from Lenovo about solving this problem. Seems like a lot of folks are having this same problem.

I will NEVER buy Lenovo again.

Berni Gardiner