Chinese tech giant Lenovo has unveiled its new IdeaPad notebook range at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2021, alongside the Lenovo Tab P11, the Lavie Mini and Lavie Mini PC, and the new Yoga 7 AIO PC and monitors. These new laptops are being offered with the latest 11th-gen Intel Core processors as well as the new AMD Ryzen 5000 mobile chipsets along with a new and improved Alexa voice assistant experience. Lenovo has three new models this year including the IdeaPad 5G, IdeaPad 5 Pro, IdeaPad 5i Pro.
Lenovo IdeaPad 2021 series: Specifications
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GPU |
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I/O |
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Connectivity |
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OS |
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Other Features |
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Lenovo IdeaPad 5G
First, let’s talk about the IdeaPad 5G which is a 14-inch notebook featuring 5G connectivity. Lenovo is aiming for the next-gen connectivity option for users who are always on the go and need fast and stable connectivity at all times. This is also one of the first notebooks from Lenovo to make use of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx 5G compute platform that also includes Qualcomm’s Adreno 680 graphics and the Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 Modem-RF system for connectivity. The 14-inch IPS display offers a Full-HD(1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution with 300 nits brightness along with 100% sRGB color gamut coverage. The notebook will be available with up to 8GB LPDDR4X memory and 512GB of PCIe SSD storage.
Lenovo is also offering the same laptop as a 4G/LTE model powered by the Snapdragon 8c compute platform.
Other features that you expect on the IdeaPad 5G/4G LTE include a comfortable IdeaPad keyboard, a fan-less design user-facing speakers optimized with Dolby Audio, and a dual-array microphone for improved performance while doing video/audio calls online. The notebook will also offer an ‘Instant on’ feature allowing you to immediately turn on the laptop and log in using Windows Hello via the infrared (IR) camera. Lastly, the notebook weighs about 1.2kgs and there is a 51WHr battery that can be charged quickly using Rapid Charge Express tech via USB Type-C.
Pricing and Availability
The IdeaPad 5G will be available in select markets only and pricing has not been shared at the moment.
IdeaPad 5 Pro and IdeaPad 5i Pro
Coming to the mainstream notebooks, the IdeaPad 5 Pro and the IdeaPad 5i Pro. These are identical notebooks offered in 14-inch and 16-inch display sizes. While the IdeaPad 5 Pro series will be offered with AMD’s latest Ryzen 5000 series mobile processors, the IdeaPad 5i will feature the 11th-gen Intel Core processors.
The new IdeaPad 2021 series adopts a 16:10 aspect ratio offering 90% screen to body ratio. The 14-inch model weighs 1.45kgs and the larger 16-inch variant weighs 2kgs. Other common features include Wi-Fi 6, TÜV Rheinland display certification with Eye Care Technology to reduce blue light, IR camera for Windows Hello login, larger trackpad, ‘bouncier’ soft-landing switches on an improved keyboard with optional backlighting, Dolby Atmos, and up to 2.8K high-definition display resolution. Lenovo will also offer quick shortcuts to control the laptop’s performance modes by hitting the Fn+Q keys as well as a new shortcut to switch between screen refresh rates by pressing Fn+R.
The IdeaPad 5i Pro, as mentioned above, can be configured with up to an 11th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, along with NVIDIA MX450 graphics, 16GB DDR4 of memory, and up to 1TB SSD PCIe M.2 of storage. The 14-inch model will be offered with up to a 2.8K IPS display with a 90Hz refresh rate and 400 nits of brightness. The 16-inch model will be offered with a 2.5K IPS display with a 120Hz refresh rate at 350 nits bright. The 14-inch model gets a 56.5WHr battery while the larger variant houses a 75WHr battery both offering fast charging via the Rapid Charge Express technology. The 16-inch model also offers single cable Thunderbolt 4 technology.
The IdeaPad 5 Pro on the other hand will be available with the new Ryzen 5000 series processors from AMD, although there is no confirmation as to what all variants will be on the cards. Lenovo has however confirmed that the 14-inch variant will come with the same design and features as the Intel model including the NVIDIA MX450 GPU, 16GB DDR4 of memory, and up to 1TB SSD PCIe M.2 of storage. The 16-inch variant, on the other hand, will be offered with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3000 mobile GPUs, up to 32GB DDR4 of memory, and up to 1TB SSD PCIe M.2 of storage.
Pricing and Availability
The 16-inch IdeaPad 5i Pro laptop will be available starting March 2021 in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa starting at €899 while the 14-inch variant will also be available during the same period at a starting price of €699. Availability in the US is yet to be confirmed.
For the IdeaPad 5 Pro, pricing will start at $1,149.99 for the 16-inch version and Lenovo will start selling the notebook in the US starting May 2021. The 14-inch IdeaPad 5 Pro is expected to be available in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in March 2021 starting at €799.
Show Mode for PC powered by Alexa
Lenovo also announced a new ‘Show Mode for PC’ powered by Alexa that transforms your Lenovo notebook into an Echo Show-like display for a hands-free, full-screen experience. Users can use their voice to ask Alexa to play music from Amazon Music, or from their favorite apps, or local radio. You can even give commands across the room thanks to the far-field technology that helps Alexa hear your voice commands clearly even while music is playing.
This new feature is expected to start rolling out to Lenovo users across its wide portfolio of PCs, including select Yoga and IdeaPad laptops starting Q2, 2021.