I haven’t seen too many retailers selling the Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook with 8 GB of RAM here in the US. When I have, the price has been $499.99, the same as Lenovo charges for direct sales. So it caught my eye today that Costco is offering a $50 savings on this configuration. If you’re a warehouse member, you can nab the Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook with 8 GB RAM for $449.99.
Not only do you get double the memory of the base $379.99 model at this price, but you also get bumped up from an Intel Celeron to a Core i3.
Even better, you go from 64 GB of eMMC storage to 128 GB of faster PCIe SSD storage. All of those upgrades are easily worth the $70 premium over the base configuration, in my opinion.
I first looked at this device back in June and I was generally impressed with performance of the 4 GB model, saying:
I don’t use benchmarks for my buying decisions but for what it’s worth, the $849 Pixelbook Go I reviewed last year scored lower in some of the same tests, which is interesting. I’m chalking that up to the Go having an 8th-generation chipset while this Lenovo unit has newer 10th-generation silicon inside. Also, the base clock speed of the Core i5 in the Go is 1.3GHz, while the Core i3 I’m using now runs at 2.1GHz.
I like the 1080p 13.3-inch display, WiFi 6 support that offers great connectivity speeds with my WiFi 6 router, the physical webcam cover, above-average backlit keyboard, and the trio of USB ports.
About the only thing I didn’t like was the large power brick but that’s a small concession I’d be willing to make for such a great value. Oh and don’t expect super loud sound out of the 2W speakers either.
I should note that although I haven’t experienced any issues with the 360-degree display hinges, some readers have reported that theirs broke.
I don’t know if that’s a widespread issue but I did search for this problem in various user reviews on retailer sites. I only found a few such instances, however it’s worth mentioning.
Also worth noting is that Costco offers a 90-day return policy on this convertible Chromebook, which is a nice little insurance policy in case of any issues in the first three months.
Here’s a rundown of what you get for your $449.99:
| CPU | Dual-core Intel Core i3-10110U Processor (2.1 GHz / 4.1GHz) |
| GPU | Intel Integrated UHD Graphics |
| Display | 13.3-inch IPS 1920 x 1080 touchscreen, 16:9 aspect ratio, 250 nits brightness |
| Memory | 8 GB DDR4-2600MHz memory |
| Storage | 128 GB PCIe SSD, microSD card slot for expansion |
| Connectivity | WiFi6 (802.11ax, 2×2 MIMO), Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Input | Spill-resistant backlit keyboard, USI stylus (optional) support, 720p webcam with physical privacy shutter |
| Ports | 1 USB Type-A, 2 USB Type-C, headphone/microphone combo jack |
| Battery | 51 WHr, expected run-time up to 10 hours |
| Weight | 2.97 pounds |
| Software | Chrome OS automatic updates through June 2028 |
For the price, you’re getting a solid mid-range Chromebook at not much more than an upgraded entry-level configuration.
Based on my usage of the Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook, it should easily meet the needs of typical Chromebook usage when it comes to browsing and Android apps. Probably even the occasional Linux app or two from time to time.
April 19, 2021 at 01:30AM
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Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook with 8 GB RAM for $449.99 - About Chromebooks
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