This item: Lenovo IdeaPad 710S 13.3' Ultrabook: Core i7-6560U, 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM, Full HD 1080p Display $798.00. Only 10 left in stock - order soon. Ships from and sold by Chili TradingCo. Lacdo 13 Inch Waterproof Fabric Laptop Sleeve Case Compatible Old MacBook Air 13' / MacBook Pro 13.3. The Ideapad 720s incorporates a larger 14-inch display compared to the outgoing 13.3-inch Ideapad 710s with narrower bezels and a new magnesium/aluminum design.
Elegant, premium design; Slim display borders; Thin and lightweight; Strong performance; Good value
Display could be more colorful; Speakers aren't great
The Ideapad 530S is a laptop with premium looks and good performance for a not-so-premium price.
Review
The Lenovo Ideapad 530S proves you don't need to spend $1,000 for a premium laptop that doesn't skimp on performance. For $699, you get a 15.6-inch, 1080p display; an 8th Gen Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD -- the minimum specs we recommend for a laptop at this price. However, the highlight is the compact, aluminum design, which could easily make people mistake the Ideapad 530S for a more expensive laptop.
While there aren't any deal-breakers, this machine does underwhelm in some areas. The laptop's battery life falls short of the competition, and its slim bezels border a dull display. Still, the Ideapad 530S is one of the best Lenovo laptops, and a good option for anyone who doesn't want to splurge on a premium laptop but feel like they did.
Design
The Lenovo Ideapad 530S' design reminds me of a monochrome painting you'd find in a contemporary art museum. There isn't much too it, and yet, it's mesmerizing. Every design cue feels like it has a purpose, adding up to a laptop that looks elegant and feels expensive.
The Ideapad 530S would blend in nicely with Apple's portfolio of laptops, and that's quite a compliment. The machine sports a two-tone silver aluminum deck and light-gray lid and keyboard. The contrast is subtle, but it gives the laptop a unique look. A small, dark-gray rectangle with Lenovo branding hides on the side of the lid like a T-shirt tag. A slanted hinge and chrome trim around the deck and touchpad add even more elegance to this sophisticated design.
Unfortunately, the deck of our review unit wobbled when I applied pressure to the left of the touchpad. A replacement unit Lenovo sent us didn't have the same issue, suggesting it's not widespread.
The Ideapad 530S would blend nicely into Apple's portfolio of laptops, and that's quite a compliment.
Thanks to the thin bezels, the 14.1 x 9.6 x 0.7-inch Ideapad 530S is remarkably compact for a 15-inch laptop. The Acer Aspire E 15 (15 x 10.2 x 1.2 inches) has a much larger footprint, while the 13-inch Asus ZenBook UX330UA (12.7 x 8.7 x 0.5) is, as you'd expect, a good deal smaller.
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At 3.7 pounds, the Ideapad 530S weighs less than some 14-inch laptops. In comparison, the chunky Acer Aspire E 15 comes in at 4.9 pounds, and the sleek Asus ZenBook UX330UA weighs only 2.7 pounds.
Ports
Because of its thin chassis, the Ideapad 530S is light on ports. However, it has pretty much everything you could ask for, short of a Thunderbolt 3 input.
On the left side, you'll find an HDMI, a USB 3.0 port, a USB 3.1 Type-C input, a headphone/mic combo jack and a DC power connector.
The right side is rather sparse, housing only a 4-in-1 card reader and a second USB 3.0 port.
![Review Review](https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/cmsdata/reviews/3663694/idea-c-10_thumb800.jpg)
Display
The Ideapad 530S' 15-inch, non-touch 1080p display gets plenty bright, but I wish it were more vibrant. When I watched a trailer for The House with a Clock in its Walls, the ornate gilding around Jack Black's kingly chair was perfectly visible. I didn't even have to squint to see the intricate design on the back of his playing cards.
The colorful house in which the trailer is set should have been bursting with magic, but instead, it appeared uninspired. The bright orange eyes on the living jack-o'-lantern failed to scare, and Cate Blanchett's beautiful purple dress disappeared against the dark scenery. It's not that the colors were dull; they just looked subdued on this matte display. It's not all bad, though. The display's white balance seemed on point, and I didn't notice any glaringly inaccurate tones.
The 15-inch, non-touch 1080p display gets plenty bright, but I wish it were more vibrant.
The Ideapad 530S' display fell short in the color department, reproducing only 72 percent of the sRGB color space. The Acer Aspire E 15 (74 percent) edges out the Ideapad, while the Asus ZenBook UX330UA (105 percent) and the mainstream laptop average (90 percent) blow it away.
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On the bright side (pun intended), the Ideapad 530S' display reached a respectable 255 nits, outshining the Acer Aspire E 15 (200 nits) and the average mainstream laptop (238 nits). The luminous display on the Asus ZenBook UX330UA (302 nits) makes the Ideapad 530S appear dim in comparison.
Keyboard and Touchpad
While not as brilliant as those on ThinkPad laptops, the Ideapad 530S' backlit keyboard is decent in its own right. I was greeted to pleasantly tactile feedback each time I registered a key press, and the keys felt springy, not mushy.
However, with 1 millimeter of key travel (below our 1.5-mm preference), the keyboard is rather shallow. Combine that with an above-average actuation force of 71 grams, and the Ideapad 530 isn't the most comfortable to type on for extended periods.
With a score of 112 words per minute, I wasn't able to reach my typical 115 wpm average in the 10fastfingers.com typing test. Also, at 92 percent, my accuracy was below my 95 percent average.
Audio
The Lenovo Ideapad 530S' speakers get loud enough to fill a large room, but the audio lacks depth. When I listened to Panic! At the Disco's new song 'High Hopes,' vocals were clear but the pop track sounded thin and veiled. The speakers also failed to separate instruments, which resulted in a grating clash of high-pitched drum hits and shrill guitar sounds.
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When I listened to Avicii's remix of 'Wake Me Up,' Aloe Black's smooth voice sounded hollow and the drum rhythm had no weight to it. Overall, the speakers are good enough for casual listeners, but discerning audiophiles will want to plug in some headphones.
Performance
Equipped with an Intel Core i5 CPU and 8GB of RAM, the Lenovo Ideapad 530S offers loads of performance for the price. I'm the sort of person who avoids cleaning up browser tabs at all costs; fortunately, I never had to with the Ideapad 530S. I opened 20 web pages on Google Chrome, and didn't notice any lag. Even more impressive is that the Ideapad 530S didn't falter once when I simultaneously opened a Twitch stream of Ninja playing Fortnite and four 1080p YouTube videos.
The Lenovo Ideapad 530S performed well in our performance benchmarks. It scored a 11,966 in the Geekbench 4 test, which measures overall performance. It crushed the Core i5-equipped Acer Aspire E 15 (9,278), but fell just short of the speedy Asus ZenBook UX330UA (12,871) with the same CPU. The average mainstream laptop (8,600) doesn't get anywhere near the performance of the Ideapad 530S.
I'm the sort of person who avoids cleaning up browser tabs at all costs. Fortunately, I never had to with the Ideapad 530S.
The Ideapad 530S did a bang-up job during our productivity test, which tasks laptops to match 65,000 names with their corresponding addresses in Excel 2016. The laptop completed the task in 1 minute and 24 seconds, narrowly finishing before the Acer Aspire E 15 (1:30). The mainstream laptop average is far behind, at 2:10.
The 256GB PCIe SSD in the Ideapad 530S took 18 seconds to duplicate 4.96GB of mixed-media files for a rate of 282 megabytes per second. Again, the Lenovo topped its competitors, and by a good margin. The Acer Aspire E 15 (150 MBps) and the Asus ZenBook UX330UA (181.8 MBps) performed the task at a much slower rate. The mainstream laptop average transferred the same files at a sluggish rate of 135.9 MBps.
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It took the Lenovo Ideapad 530S 21 minutes and 5 seconds to convert a 4K video into 1080p using the HandBrake app. The Asus ZenBook UX330UA squeezed out a victory this round, with a time of 20:55, while the Acer Aspire E 15 (25:15) and the mainstream laptop average (29:14) were left behind.
Graphics
With integrated Intel UHD 620 graphics, the Ideapad 530S doesn't have the power to play a game like Deus Ex: Mankind Divided at high settings, but it shouldn't have problems with less-demanding titles. The Ideapad 530S scored a 69,450 in the 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited graphics test. That middling result falls short of the GeForce MX150-equipped Acer Aspire E 15 (122,144), the Asus ZenBook UX330UA (73,990) and the mainstream laptop average (70,406).
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Oddly, the results were flipped in real-world testing. The Ideapad 530S played Dirt 3 at 49 frames per second, beating the Acer Aspire E 15 (33 fps), Asus ZenBook UX330UA (27 fps) and the mainstream laptop average (47 fps).
Battery Life
The Ideapad 530S' battery life is better than average but behind some of its competition. The laptop lasted 7 hours and 41 minutes on our Laptop Mag Battery Test, which involves continuous web browsing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits. The mainstream laptop average is 7:19.
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For comparison, the Asus ZenBook UX330UA stayed powered for a bit longer at 7:53, while the Acer Aspire E 15 dominated this category, lasting 9:26.
Webcam
The Ideapad 530S' webcam is a notch above average, but that's not saying much. Despite the Ideapad 530S' narrow bezels, the webcam is located above the display, where it belongs. The 720p camera took a long time to adjust to the bright lighting behind me, but once it did, I was able to make out fine details in my face, like strands of hair in my beard. The selfie cam accurately captured the natural red tone of my face, but my dark-blue shirt leaned gray. The image I captured in our dimly lit office didn't exhibited much noise.
Heat
The Lenovo Ideapad 530S ran warm in our heat test, but not uncomfortably so. When we played a 1080p YouTube video for 15 minutes, the touchpad maintained a reasonable 89.5 degrees Fahrenheit. However, the location between the G and H keys warmed to 94 degrees, while the underside breached our 95-degree comfort threshold, hitting 96 degrees. The hottest location on the laptop, the lower-left bottom corner, was only 1 degree warmer.
Software and Warranty
The Lenovo Ideapad 530S comes with a standard catalog of pre-installed software. To its credit, Lenovo included only three branded apps: Lenovo App Explorer, Lenovo Vantage and LenovoUtility. As the name suggests, App Explorer spotlights certain apps and gives you custom recommendations from the Microsoft App Store.
With genuinely useful tools, Vantage feels less like bloatware than Explorer. The app has a single interface where you can update your system, change hardware settings, adjust audio levels and find support. I could do without LenovoUtility, which simply presents an on-screen visual when you press certain hotkeys, like the num lock or the disable touchpad key.
The Lenovo Ideapad 530S has all the Windows 10 bloatware we've come to dread. That includes a couple of Candy Crush Saga titles, along with Disney Magic Kingdoms and Hidden Cities games. Other pre-installed apps include LinkedIn, Minecraft and the Microsoft Solitaire Collection.
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The Lenovo Ideapad 530S ships with a one-year limited warranty. See how Lenovo did on our Tech Support Showdown and Best and Worst Brands ranking.
What Does the Ideapad 530S Cost?
Our review unit, the base model, starts at $699, and is equipped with an Intel Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. You can bump up the CPU to a Core i7-8550U for an additional $100, and double the SSD storage to 512GB for $150 on top of that.
You'll pay $1,249 for the decked-out model, which has a Core i7-8550U CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. Even at that price, the 15.6-inch display maxes out at 1080p resolution.
Bottom Line
The Lenovo Ideapad 530S is an impressive laptop with an elegant, lightweight design. Add capable components and narrow bezels, and this machine covers almost all of the bases. Best of all, the $699 Ideapad 530S is priced comfortably below the daunting four-figure mark. However, the Ideapad 530S doesn't offer the most colorful display, and its speakers failed to impress.
If you're a gamer, consider the Acer Aspire E 15. The $600 laptop packs an Nvidia GeForce MX150 CPU, which can play most modern games at low settings. And if you're a student or business professional who travels frequently, and doesn't need a 15-inch laptop, go with the Asus ZenBook UX330UA. The 13-inch ultrabook has longer battery life and a more vivid display than the Lenovo. Otherwise, we strongly recommend the Ideapad 530S -- it's a gorgeous laptop with strong performance that doesn't break the bank.
Credit: Laptop Mag
Specifications
CPU | Intel Core i5-8250U |
---|---|
Operating System | Windows 10 Home |
RAM | 8GB |
RAM Upgradable to | |
Hard Drive Size | 256GB |
Hard Drive Speed | |
Hard Drive Type | PCIe SSD |
Secondary Hard Drive Size | |
Secondary Hard Drive Speed | |
Secondary Hard Drive Type | |
Display Size | 15.6 |
Highest Available Resolution | |
Native Resolution | 1920x1080 |
Optical Drive | |
Optical Drive Speed | |
Graphics Card | Intel UHD Graphics 620 |
Video Memory | |
Wi-Fi | 802.11ac |
Wi-Fi Model | |
Bluetooth | Bluetooth 4.1 |
Mobile Broadband | |
Touchpad Size | 4.1 x 2.7 inches |
Ports (excluding USB) | USB 3.0 |
Ports (excluding USB) | SD card slot |
Ports (excluding USB) | HDMI |
Ports (excluding USB) | Combo Headphone/Mic Jack |
Ports (excluding USB) | USB 3.1 with Type-C |
USB Ports | |
Card Slots | 4-1 card reader |
Warranty/Support | 1-year warranty. |
Size | 14.1 x 9.6 x 0.65 |
Weight | 3.7 pounds |
Company Website | https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/ |
If you want to connect your notebook to multiple 4K displays, attach a graphics amp, transfer giant files to the fastest external drives or grab RAW video from an expensive camera, you should get Thunderbolt 3. With a maximum speed of 40 Gbps, it's the fastest port on the market today. In the past six months, we've seen a steady stream of new laptops and 2-in-1s with Thunderbolt 3 ports on board while more peripherals and docks come to market. If high-speed connectivity matters to you, you'll want to make sure your next system supports this powerful standard.
Here are eight things you need to know about Thunderbolt 3.
1. 4x the Speed of the Fastest USB Connection
Thunderbolt 3 is capable of transmitting at a rate of 40 Gbps, which is a lot quicker than USB 3.1's rate of 10 Gbps or USB 3.0's limit of 5 Gbps. It's also double the bandwidth of Thunderbolt 2 (20 Gbps). With that kind of throughput, you can attach a graphics amplifier like the Razer Core and turn your lightweight laptop into a bona-fide gaming rig, because the system can contact the GPU at the same speed as if it were attached directly to the motherboard.
You can copy files to a speedy external SSD that's faster than most internal drives. The same benefits apply when you're recording directly from a professional-grade 4K video camera.
2. Uses USB Type-C Connectors
All Thunderbolt 3 ports are also USB Type-C 3.1 ports and use the Type-C's thin, reversible connector. You can connect any USB Type-C device to any Thunderbolt bolt, because technically, Thunderbolt is an 'alt mode' for USB. However not all USB Type-C ports and wires support Thunderbolt 3. For example, the Apple MacBook and Lenovo ThinkPad 13 have USB Type-C ports that don’t support the faster standard, but the HP EliteBook Folio G1 and Dell XPS 13 do have Thunderbolt 3.
MORE: USB Type-C FAQ: Everything You Need to Know
3. Connects to Two 4K Monitors at Once, Using DisplayPort
Thunderbolt 3 can transmit video via the DisplayPort (DP) 1.2 standard, but one-ups DP by offering two connections in a single wire. So while, a single DP 1.2 cable can handle only one 4K monitor while running at 60 Hz, a single Thunderbolt 3 connection can output to two 4K monitors at 60 Hz, one 4K monitor at 120 Hz or one 5K (5120 x 2880) monitor at 60 Hz.
You can connect from a Thunderbolt 3 port directly to a single monitor, using a Thunderbolt-to-DisplayPort cable. However, if you want to use multiple monitors over a single cable, you'll need a Thunderbolt dock like the Dell Thunderbolt Dock or HP Elite Thunderbolt 3 dock.
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4. High-Speed, Peer-to-Peer Networking
You can connect two PCs together using a single Thunderbolt 3 port and get a 10Gb Ethernet connection. That's 10 times faster than most wired Ethernet ports. So, if you need to quickly copy a giant file to your co-worker's laptop, you'll be able to do it at really high transfer rates.
5. Tiny Lightning Bolt Logo Helps You Find Compatible Products
How do you know if a port, wire or peripheral supports Thunderbolt 3, rather than plain USB 3.1? Look for a tiny lightning-bolt logo on the plugs of a wire or near the connector on a laptop or peripheral. Uncertified products are not allowed to use the logo.
Unfortunately, while Intel, which runs Thunderbolt, encourages companies to use the logos, they aren't required. The Razer Blade Stealth is one example of laptop that has a Thunderbolt 3 port with no label.
6. Enough Power to Charge Most Laptops
Because they use the USB Power Delivery standard, Thunderbolt 3 ports can send or receive up to 100 watts of power, which is more than enough to charge most laptops. Indeed, on some superthin laptops, like the HP EliteBook Folio G1 and the Razer Blade Stealth, the Thunderbolt 3 port is the only A/C port.
However, workstation and gaming-class laptops such as the Lenovo ThinkPad P70 or Asus G752 require a lot more than 100 watts. Thunderbolt 3 can also deliver up to 15 watts of electricity to bus-powered devices. So, external hard drives, cameras and portable monitors can consume a lot more juice.
7. Graphics Amps Not Guaranteed to Work with Every System
Though they use a standard Thunderbolt 3 connection, first-gen graphics amps aren't made to work with every Thunderbolt-enabled PC. The Razer Core, for example, is certified to work only with the company's own laptops and with Intel's Skull Canyon NUC mini PC. Asus only guarantees that its upcoming XG Station 2 will work with Asus-branded laptops. However, if a PC vendor hasn't specifically blocked these amps, it is possible that they would work on an unsupported notebook. Hopefully, in the near future, we'll see graphics amps that are built from the ground up to work with any computer that has a Thunderbolt 3 port.
8. Daisy Chain Up to 6 Devices
You can connect up to six different computers and accessories to each other using Thunderbolt 3 cables. Imagine connecting your laptop to a high-speed hard drive then sending another wire out to a monitor and a third wire from the monitor to a high-speed camera. If all the devices in the middle of the chain have two ports (one for in and one for out), you can do it.
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