The Apple MacBook Air (2020) leans towards users seeking a more lightweight and portable option with a strong battery life and silent operation due to its fanless design. It's slightly less expensive and offers better screen quality, which can be crucial for general use and media consumption. The Lenovo Flex 5 14 provides a larger storage capacity, more RAM straight out of the box for better multitasking, and a touchscreen, making it versatile for different forms of interaction. It outperforms the MacBook Air in engineering tasks due to the more robust processor and is slightly better for gaming thanks to its hardware. If cost is a huge factor, go for the MacBook Air, but if you require touch interaction, greater storage and RAM, and better performance for engineering purposes, the Flex 5 might be the better option, despite being a bit heavier and having less impressive screen quality. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Air (2020)
Good overall display quality
Best in class overall build quality
Excellent battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the Lenovo Flex 5 14
The Lenovo Flex 5 14 has no clear advantages over the Apple MacBook Air (2020).
Key differences
Screen Quality
7.5/10
6.4/10
13.3in
SIZE
14.0in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
395.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
277.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Air has a better screen than the Lenovo Flex 5 14 for general use, AI, engineering and design, and software development.
The Apple MacBook Air's screen offers higher resolution and brightness, making it well-suited for general use and tasks requiring visual precision like engineering and design, but its refresh rate is not ideal for 3D applications where smoother motion is key. The Lenovo Flex 5 14 provides adequate resolution and brightness for everyday tasks and some technical work, but its color range may not meet the demands of professional design, and its moderate refresh rate limits gaming and 3D performance. Both laptops may struggle in 3D environments, as high refresh rates are crucial for those applications and neither are specifically designed with that focus.
Battery
15.0 Hours
11.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air has 15 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Flex 5 14 has 11.5 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Very Good
Very Good
13.3in
SIZE
14.0in
2.8 lbs
WEIGHT
3.4 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Lenovo Flex 5 14 both have very good portability, though the Apple MacBook Air (2020) has somewhat better portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.0/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo Flex 5 14 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,000
$430
$200
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
$1,600
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has a price of $1,000 and the Lenovo Flex 5 14 costs $430.
The Lenovo Flex 5 14 and Apple MacBook Air (2020) are both good for general use.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) with its efficient Apple M1 CPU and 8 GB RAM is excellent for general use, providing a high-quality screen, lightweight portability, and outstanding battery life, while the Lenovo Flex 5 14 stands out with its AMD Ryzen 7 processor and 16 GB RAM, offering a flexible touchscreen with good performance, though it has a slightly lower battery life and screen brightness compared to the MacBook Air. Both laptops have their merits, but the Lenovo Flex 5 14 doubles as a tablet, adding versatility, which, depending on your needs, may or may not offset its slightly heavier build and lesser screen quality.
Gaming and AI
6.2/10
6.2/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.6/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Lenovo Flex 5 14 are both only fair for gaming and AI.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
7.3/10
7.0/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.9/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.6/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Lenovo Flex 5 14 are both good for engineering and design.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) suits engineering and design work with its high-resolution screen and capable Apple M1 chip for smoother graphics and multitasking, while the Lenovo Flex 5 14 offers a larger screen and double the RAM for more complex tasks, plus a touch screen aiding design work. However, with the MacBook Air, one enjoys silent operation and potentially better screen color accuracy, and with the Lenovo, there is the versatility of a 2-in-1 device and more storage right out of the box.
Content Creation
7.8/10
7.6/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.9/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Lenovo Flex 5 14 are both good for content creation.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
7.7/10
7.4/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.9/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Lenovo Flex 5 14 are both good for software development.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Give feedback
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How the Apple MacBook Air (2020) and the Lenovo Flex 5 14 compare to other laptops
"The Apple MacBook Air M2 Entry is a very good, but too expensive daily MacBook. The new MacBook Air M2 is undoubtedly once again a very good mobile companion, but we are still a little bit disappointed on a very high level, which is definitely connected with the increased price point. The new chassis is extremely slim and the front edge is no problem during typing, but the bezels are pretty wide for a modern device and in addition with the vertical space required for the notch, the new Air has larger footprint than some Windows rivals."
"The highlight of the latest IdeaPad Flex 5 14 is clearly its AMD CPU. The octa-core Ryzen 7 5700U is insanely fast even when compared to the best Tiger Lake Ultrabooks in the market or even Core H CPUs in many gaming laptops. It's a lot of raw processing power for what is supposed to be a budget 14-inch convertible. If your daily workloads can benefit from extra multi-thread CPU performance, then look no further than the inexpensive AMD-powered Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14. For regular on-the-road browsing or video streaming, however, a slimmer and lighter 10th gen Core Yoga, Spectre, or XPS would be a more balanced option."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air (2020) or the Lenovo Flex 5 14
About Apple
Apple, an American technology company, is one of the world’s largest company in terms of market capitalization. Their MacBook laptops feature a slim, minimalistic design, class-leading battery life, and premium display and speaker quality. In 2020 Apple switched from using Intel processors to their own silicon chips which have excellent performance and efficiency. The macOS operating system is the second most widely used OS, after Windows.
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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