Lenovo are updating the IdeaPad 5 series of mainstream laptops with a couple of new entries as of early 2021, with 14 or 16-inch displays and 2021-level Intel/AMD + Nvidia hardware.
We’ve already covered the Intel Tiger Lake variants in this other article, and this one is all about the arguably more interesting AMD variants, based on the Cezanne Ryzen 5000 H platform. The hardware has yet to be officially released, so we’re not getting in-depth on it in this post, check out our other articles for more details.
Back to the IdeaPad 5 Pro notebooks, the 14-inch variant is a daily-use productivity laptop with either a 2.8K or a 2.2K resolution 16:10 display, standard 14-inch chiclet IdeaPad keyboard, a good selection of ports, and competent mid-range hardware specs, with the AMD processors (probably up to 6C/12T, but possibly 8C/16T as well), optional Nvidia MX450 graphics, up to 16 GB of DDR4 memory and single-slot M.2 SSD storage.
The larger 16-inch IdeaPad 5 Pro 16, on the other hand, is the only variant in this lineup paired with higher-tier graphics, up to an unnamed RTX 3000 series chip, as well as up to 32 GB of DDR4 memory. Depending on the performance of that RTX chip and the overall thermal design, this could end up quite a versatile all-day laptop and arguably the most intriguing variant in the lineup.
Update: Our detailed review of the 16-inch IdeaPad 5 Pro is available here.
Update2: A more recent generation of the 2023 Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 and 5i lineups is available in the meantime.
Specs sheet
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Pro 14-inch | Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Pro 16-inch – review | |
| Screen | 14-inch 2.8K 2880 x 1800 px display, 16:10 aspect ratio, IPS 90 Hz, 400-nits and 100% sRGB color coverage 14-inch 2.2K 2240 x 1400 px display, 16:10 aspect ratio, IPS 60 Hz, 300-nits and 100% sRGB color coverage |
16-inch 2.5K 2560 x 1600 px display, 16:10 aspect ratio, IPS 120 Hz, 350-nits and 100% sRGB color coverage 16-inch 2.5K 2560 x 1600 px display, 16:10 aspect ratio, IPS 60 Hz, 350-nits and 100% sRGB color coverage |
| Processor | AMD Cezanne Ryzen 5000 H – to be updated | AMD Cezanne Ryzen 5000 H – to be updated |
| Video | Radeon Vega + optional up to Nvidia MX450 | Radeon Vega + optional up to Nvidia RTX (to be updated) |
| Memory | up to 16 GB DDR4 | up to 32 GB DDR4 |
| Storage | M.2 PCIe SSD | M.2 PCIe SSD |
| Connectivity | Wireless 6, Bluetooth 5.1 | Wireless 6, Bluetooth 5.1 |
| Ports | 2x USB-A 3.1 gen1, 2x USB-C, HDMI 1.4b (?), SD card reader, headphone/mic | 2x USB-A 3.1 gen1, 2x USB-C, HDMI 1.4b (?), SD card reader, headphone/mic |
| Battery | 56.5 Wh, USB-C charger | 75 Wh, rectangular-plug charger ?? |
| Size | 312 mm or 12.3” (w) x 221 mm or 8.7” (d) x 17.9 mm or .7” (h) | – |
| Weight | 1.45 kg (3.2 lb) + charger | – |
| Extras | white backlit keyboard without NumPad, stereo 2x 2W up-firing speakers (??), HD + IR webcam, 163-degree hinge, available in Cloud Grey and Slate Grey | white backlit keyboard with NumPad, stereo 2x 2W up-firing speakers (??), HD + IR webcam, 160-degree hinge, available in Cloud Grey and Slate Grey |
The 16-inch IdeaPad 5 Pro 16 also gets the larger 75 Wh battery and two QHD 2.5K screen-options, a lesser-quality 60 Hz panel, and a higher-tier 120 Hz option. Paired with Adaptive sync and hopefully fast response-times, this could be a solid option for casual gaming, but make sure to look for more details on any potential ghosting issues. I wouldn’t expect proper AAA performance at 1600p and in this sort of a thin chassis, but we’ll see.
fI’m highly curious about the thermal design of this 16-inch model. Lenovo seems to have opted for a single-fan cooling module on the Intel/AMD + MX450 configurations, but I doubt they can pull that on an RTX variant.
I also doubt this can charge via USB-C, instead, I’d expect a higher capacity charger and the rectangular-shaped plug that Lenovo also offers on their Legion gaming models.
In fact, in many ways this 16-inch IdeaPad 5 Pro seems to step into the footprints of the Legion Slim 7 (our full review of the Legion Slim 7 series is available here), officially announced a couple of months ago, but something that was not available to purchase so far. That will probably get a bump to the updated AMD/Nvidia hardware in the near future as well.
Anyway, not a lot much to add here on top of what we already mentioned in our IdeaPad 5i article, such as the fact that both these laptops get the standard IdeaPad clean design lines, available in either a darker or a lighter shade of gray, the chiclet IdeaPad keyboards (with a NumPad section on the 16-inch model), and a proper set of ports. There’s no Thunderbolt on any of them, but you do get full USB-C slots, USB-As, HDMI, a card reader, and an audio jack, plus an IR camera and up-firing speakers. Take this with a grain of salt though until further confirmed, as the pictures also show speaker grills on the bottom, as you’ll notice from the following image.
As far as pricing and availability go, looks like the IdeaPad 5 Pro 16 is the only version set to make-it to North America, scheduled to start at $1149 somewhere around May 2021. No word on European pricing or availability, instead, we do know that the 14-inch model is scheduled for 799 EUR in March. For is worth, that’s 100 EUR more expensive than the Intel variant.
The GPU is most likely what’s delaying the 16-inch IdeaPad 5 Pro, and I’m curious whether AMD will shed more light on it after the official AMD/Nvidia launch at CES. I’ll keep you posted, and in the meantime, get in touch in the comments section with any feedback, questions, or further findings of your own on these notebooks.
Update: Our detailed review of the 16-inch IdeaPad 5 Pro is available here.
Ruico
January 8, 2021 at 2:47 pm
Upward-firing speakers? That's great. But the picture clearly shows that there are bottom-firing speakers on each side as well. Either the specs are wrong or there are 4 speakers. Also, the chassis on the previous gen IdeaPad 5 was terrible. It was flexible and bending. I wonder if they improved it this time around. Probably all soldered RAM too.
Andrei Girbea
January 8, 2021 at 2:54 pm
I noticed that as well from the pictures, but the press info doesn't mention anything about quad-speakers. Furthermore, the speaker grills only flank the keyboard on the 14-inch model, so I'll take the part about up-firing speakers with a grain of salt until we get more info. The 16-inch gets some grills above the keyboard, but that might well be used for air-intake and not for speakers.
A.
January 8, 2021 at 5:45 pm
How do you know that the processors (in both the AMD and Intel versions) will belong to the "H" family, and not to the "U" one? I've searched the internet to no avail, so where have you got this information from?
Andrei Girbea
January 8, 2021 at 5:52 pm
The Lenovo press materials. The i7-11370H is mentioned for the Intel models, and I assumed Ryzen H would be in the AMD models as well, especially on the 16-inch model with RTX graphics. Take it with a grain of salt, of course, until more details are available. Huawei put H series hardware in their MateBook 14, so I'm sure Lenovo could do it as well in the Pro series, otherwise, these would be similar to the standard IdeaPad 5 lines.
Andrei
January 19, 2021 at 6:21 pm
Any updates on the final specs on the 16 AMD version? Mostly interested in the range of AMD processors and Nvidia GPUs available but also if the 16 inch version has 1 or 2 M2 NVME slots. This could be a deal breaker if it only has one slot. Otherwise sounds like a really great laptop for creative work and gaming.
Looking forward to your updates!
Cheers!
Andrei Girbea
January 20, 2021 at 10:37 am
Not for now
Cara
July 8, 2021 at 10:25 pm
Hi Andrei
I need to buy 3 laptops for a charity I support. I also need to buy Microsoft 365 to with the 3 laptops. I've narrowed my. choice down to Acer Aspire 5 and Lenovo Ideapad 5 or 5i. Acer Swift 3 was an option, but I can only get it in silver with silver keys. The total I have to spend is £1600. The laptops need to last for at least 5 years (so have to be robust). They will be used for ZOOM/TEAMS meetings, writing reports, designing flyers, analysing survey data, watching Youtube videos related to projects. It also needs to allow us to access the latest Adobe to open PDF reports. Finally, I want to avoid laptops which are annoying/frustrating to use. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Andrei Girbea
July 9, 2021 at 10:31 am
HI Cara. I'd probably lean towards the IdeaPad, but both those options should be OK for what you need. You haven't mentioned anything about the hardware specs though. Aim for at least 8 GB of RAM, 256 GB of SSD storage and a processor that can handle the more taxing loads that you mentioned. If possible, a Ryzen 5 or a Core i5 would be ideal.
Cara
July 9, 2021 at 7:15 pm
Thanks for your quick feedback. Is the Acer Swift 3 Core i5 similar to the Ideapad 5? Which one is better? Other than the ones I’ve mentioned is there any other ones I should consider ?