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Our Verdict
This bargain-priced máy vi tính puts up impressive performance numbers, but make sure to get one with an IPS display rather than the iffy TN variety.
Those looking for solid productivity power, a roomy screen, & a comfortable keyboard should give the Lenovo IdeaPad S340-15IWL a fair shake, but make sure you pick up the right model. While we were pleased with the benchmark results for the S340-15IWL ($730 list, but generally closer to $500 online), the configuration we tested comes with a cut-rate TN display saddled with poor viewing angles. You can upgrade lớn a superior IPS panel for a modest amount of cash (as in $40 or so) while keeping the same internals, so you have options. A svelte thiết kế rounds out the package, although we do wish Lenovo had managed khổng lồ wring a little more life out of the S340’s battery.
Price & configuration
Lenovo’s 15-inch S340 line includes models ranging from $630 up to $830, although Lenovo’s continual “instant” deals typically shave a couple hundred or more off the manufacturer’s menu prices. Our reviews model (the SKU is 81N8003SUS), for example, has a $730 danh sách price on Lenovo.com, but at the time this review was written, Lenovo’s website was selling it for $510 after a $220 “instant” discount.
Here’s what you get for that $730—er, $510 price tag:
CPU: Quad-core Intel chip core i5-8265URAM: 8GB DDR4-2400 RAMGPU: Intel UHD Graphics 620Display: 15.6-inch 1920 x 1080 TN displayStorage: 256GB SSDOn paper, those are some pretty decent specs if you manage to lớn buy the S340 at its $510 sale price. The quad-core Whiskey Lake processor will serve you well when it comes to lớn daily computing chores, and even some CPU-intensive activities such as video clip editing. The 8GB of RAM gives you some headroom when it comes to multitasking, while the relatively roomy solid-state drive has enough space for Office and your go-to programs, if not your entire truyền thông library. The integrated graphics chip core is fine for light photo editing và maybe a game of chess, but not much more.
There is one red flag for this particular configuration, however: the TN (twisted nematic) display. While TN panels are fast and responsive (gamers with split-second reflexes love them), they’re also known for their poor viewing angles, which means they tend khổng lồ look blown out unless you’re directly facing them. We’ll let you know how the full-HD display looks in real life in a moment. (Spoiler: not great.)
If you want khổng lồ save a little more cash, there’s a $630 (or $430 on sale) mã sản phẩm of the S340 with the same basic specs as this version, except it has a dual-core Intel core i3 processor rather than a quad-core CPU. You could also pony up a bit more cash (starting at $830, or $550 on sale) for an S340 with an IPS display, or go for a version with a cutting-edge 10th-gen Ice Lake vi xử lý core i5 processor ($710 list, which is less than the MSRP of some of the 8th-gen models but minus any instant savings).
Design
When we think of Lenovo, we generally picture those black, boxy, all-business ThinkPads, but the S340 manages lớn cut a relatively stylish profile. Measuring 14.1 x 9.6 x 0.7 inches and weighing in at 3.9 pounds (or 4.4 pounds if you include the AC adapter), the S340 feels pleasingly thin but a tad heavy. The laptop’s Platinum Gray shell (Abyss xanh is another color option) looks plain yet stylish, with a flat, featureless lid save for a small Lenovo logo on the side.
The TN display on this particular configuration of the Lenovo IdeaPad S340 suffers from poor viewing angles.
A bigger problem than brightness, however, is the cheaper TN (twisted nematic) panel technology it uses, which (as we noted before) suffers from poor viewing angles. Indeed, the S340’s display looked a little blown-out và contrast-deprived even when I was viewing it dead-on. Once I started moving my head in one direction or another, the screen almost immediately began to fade. The colors went inverse when I looked down at it from a 45-degree angle. In short, the display on this version of the S340 offers a poor viewing experience, whether you’re working on an Office doc or watching a Netflix video.
Keep in mind, however, that there are S340 models with IPS (in-plane switching) displays that should (on paper, anyway) look much better. In fact, there’s an S340 configuration (SKU: 81QF0005USRemove non-product link) that’s identical to this one save for an upgraded IPS screen, and its “instant” savings price is $550, or just $40 more than the mã sản phẩm we’re reviewing here. That additional forty bucks would be money well spent.
Keyboard, trackpad, & speakers
The S340’s backlit keyboard felt comfy & refreshingly snappy khổng lồ my fingertips, with enough travel (that is, the distance the keys move when they’re struck) lớn keep them from feeling too shallow, along with a nice tactile bump và a springy rebound. You also get Alt-enabled hotkeys for disabling the microphone và webcam, plus dedicated truyền thông keys above the numeric keypad. Speaking of which, yes, there’s a 10-key numeric keypad, although it looks a little squished compared to lớn the rest of the keyboard.
Left-side ports on the Lenovo IdeaPad S340-15IWL include a full HDMI port, a USB-C port, and a bộ combo audio jack.
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On the right, we have a pair of USB 3.1 ren 1 Type-A ports, plus a 4-in-1 truyền thông card reader.
The Lenovo IdeaPad S340-15IWL put up impressive numbers in our PCMark 8 Work 2.0 Conventional benchmark.
As we can see, the Lenovo S340 leads a pack that’s bunched relatively close together, with every máy tính xách tay in the chart breaking the 3,000 mark. In other words, all the systems in our comparison will handle Office with ease, including that Lenovo ThinkPad at the very bottom. Indeed, the Office performance of a máy tính with a 3,500 score on PCMark 8 won’t feel significantly better than one with a 3,150 result; instead, they’ll purr more or less equally while you’re web browsing, dealing with Excel, or performing most other daily PC tasks.
HandBrake
A somewhat more demanding kiểm tra than PCMark 8, our HandBrake benchmark measures how quickly a máy vi tính can encode a 30GB MKV tệp tin into a format suitable for an app android tablet. It’s a CPU-intensive test that reliably spins up a laptop’s cooling fans, & it favors systems with the most processor cores.
Not only did the Lenovo IdeaPad S340 đứng top our chart with its multi-threaded Cinebench performance, its single-thread score snagged first place, too.
And yes, it’s another nice showing from the S340, topping its quad-core competitors with room khổng lồ spare. In addition lớn putting up a nice multi-threaded Cinebench score, the Lenovo S340 also posts the best single-thread result on our chart, demonstrating the efficiency of the S340’s individual CPU cores.
3DMark Sky Diver 1.0
With its integrated hãng intel UHD graphics core, the Lenovo S340 isn’t much of a gaming machine. While the S340 locks up third place in our 3DMark Sky Diver benchmark, that’s not going khổng lồ help it cross the 60-fps mark (or even approach it) when it comes khổng lồ Fortnite.
The Lenovo IdeaPad S340’s battery-life score is fine, but we were expecting better.
The S340’s average result (we ran the test three times) of 503 minutes, or a shade under 8.4 hours, is a bit of a disappointment given how its competitors fared. Indeed, with its 52 watt-hour battery, the S340 fared considerably worse than other laptops in our chart with smaller 48 watt-hour batteries.
Now, this could simply be a factor of Lenovo’s tuning the S340 khổng lồ favor performance over energy efficiency (although we should chú ý that our benchmarks were performed on AC power), và in any case, eight hours of battery life is nothing to lớn sniff at. Still, we were hoping the S340 would snag better numbers given the kích cỡ of its battery.
Bottom line
The Lenovo IdeaPad S340 isn’t the first solid máy tính xách tay line khổng lồ come with lower-end TN-equipped models, and as such, we wouldn’t condemn it on the basis of the particular configuration we tested. Indeed, criticizing a TN panel for its poor viewing angles is lượt thích dinging a turtle for being slow; that’s just the way they are, take ‘em or leave ‘em. Swap in an IPS display for the TN panel (which you can bởi fairly cheaply, if you pick the next step-up model), và you’re most likely looking at an impressive value.
