Lenovo IdeaPad S340 15 [S340-15API 81NC00DLRA]

Excellent balance

Lenovo was one of the first companies to ride the mobile Ryzen wave last year, and its entry-level IdeaPad laptops showed what AMD's Picasso-generation mobile processors can do. We’ll make a reservation right away that you shouldn’t expect miracles from a laptop for your $400, it’s better to perceive it as a well-balanced machine for simple everyday tasks: edit spreadsheets, update Trello plans for the month, check email or turn on your favorite podcast while fiddling in the kitchen.

NVMe SSD and multi-threaded Ryzen 3

The balance of the IdeaPad S340 lies in the fact that the existing Ryzen 3 processor is actually dual-core, and the two additional ones are virtual here. Unlike state employees Core i3 with 4 physical cores. But instead of 4 GB of RAM, we have a full 8 GB, which are critical for system performance in 2020. The same goes for the existing 256 GB NVMe SSD, the speed and volume of which is just enough for the system and everything else. Well, except for games.

Beautiful but with reservations

Appearance IdeaPad causes ambiguous impressions. In grey, the laptop looks simple and minimalist: thin bezels around the screen, sharp edges of the case, a minimum of identification marks and a modest Lenovo logo in the form of a book spine on the side of the aluminium cover. But as soon as you take a jet-black version instead of a grey laptop, the IdeaPad S340 starts to play with new colours. Thanks to its minimalistic design, monochromatic design and neat white backlighting, it can easily be confused with some kind of “almost premium” for more than a thousand dollars. Especially if you fully open the display 180 degrees, not everyone knows how. At the same time, the build quality here is exactly on the money: the design lacks rigidity, and the case bends slightly if you lift it by one edge.

Quality IPS display

Also, Lenovo IdeaPad S340 has a pretty good IPS-display with Full HD resolution and anti-reflective coating. It has fairly large viewing angles, uniform illumination and adequate colour reproduction. Although, the colours themselves are not too juicy, and the margin of maximum brightness is only 250 nits. Among other amenities, we note a fairly comfortable backlit keyboard with soft key travel, and a responsive full-sized touchpad. The list of useful things in everyday life ends with dual-band Wi-Fi, a TPM module, a USB-C port, a card reader, an HD webcam with a protective shutter, and a fast charge that delivers 80% in 60 minutes.