The Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook from last year is still one of our top picks in this category, mostly because it was a good deal for a high-quality Chromebook. The 2021 Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook is mostly the same as the 2020 model. The extra I means that it has an Intel chip, but there is no AMD version. It is still a great value for its build quality, features, and performance.
The main difference between last year’s model and this year’s is that last year’s model had an Intel Core i3 processor from the 10th generation and this year’s model has an Intel Core i3 processor from the 11th generation. This improves performance while keeping battery life about the same, at nearly 11 hours in our tests. The Flex 5i is a great place to start if you want a better Chrome experience at a price that makes sense.
Even though there’s no metal to touch, that’s not a big deal. No matter how you look at it, Lenovo did a great job with the soft-touch plastic chassis, which feels like velvet. But over time, it gets dirty with fingerprints and doesn’t have a good grip. On the lid, there is a Lenovo logo and a small metal plate that says “Chromebook.”
The bottom of the laptop has eight screws that are easy to see. But once you open the book, the story isn’t anything new. The Flex 5i’s screen has a big bezel at the bottom, like most 2-in-1s, and even the bezels on the other sides aren’t very thin. When you change the angle of the screen, it moves a little bit, but it stays still while you type.
The IPS panel has a resolution of 1920×1080 and a brightness rating of 250 nits, so it’s not surprising that the text is hard to read in direct sunlight. Backlight bleeding happens around almost the whole edge of the screen, which is another problem. This isn’t as clear when it’s brighter, though. The two upward-facing speakers that come with it can get loud, but the sound loses depth as the volume goes up.
The Flex 5i doesn’t have any kind of biometrics, but the right side has a power button and a volume rocker. As for ports, there are Type-C and Type-A ports on the left, a microSD card slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a Type-C port on the right that can also be used to charge the phone.
Lenovo put a lithium-polymer battery with four cells and 51Wh into the Flex 5i’s case. It covers the main parts of your work or school day. The Core i3 processor is a good one for Chromebooks in this class. Together, these give average results that are still enough for most people.