If budget is a concern and you need a device for general use with occasional creative tasks, the Lenovo Flex 5 14's lower price makes it an attractive option along with its 2-in-1 flexibility to switch between laptop and tablet modes. However, if you require more power for gaming, engineering software, or content creation tasks, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" provides significantly better performance with a dedicated graphics card, and a higher-refresh display for smoother visuals, though it is heavier and will more deeply impact your wallet. The tradeoff is between price and versatility with the Flex 5 versus enhanced performance and build quality with the Legion Slim 7, along with the consideration of weight for portability. 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 Lenovo Flex 5 14
Very good portability
Very good battery life
Advantages of the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16"
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Very good speakers
Very good keyboard
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.2/10
8.2/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.3/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" is very good for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo Flex 5 14 is only fair.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" has a more powerful Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU and a higher screen refresh rate of 240, compared to the Lenovo Flex 5 14's integrated Vega 8 graphics and 60 refresh rate, making it very good for gaming and 3D applications. Additionally, while both laptops have quality screens and capable processors, the Legion's features are tuned for a superior gaming experience, which also explains its higher efficiency in handling gaming and 3D tasks.
Engineering and Design
7.0/10
8.6/10
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.3/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" is very good for engineering and design, while the Lenovo Flex 5 14 is good.
The Lenovo Flex 5 14 is suitable for engineering and design due to its competent processor, substantial RAM, and integrated AMD graphics, but it's the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" that excels with a more powerful AMD CPU, a dedicated Nvidia GPU which provides substantial graphics performance for demanding tasks, and a higher resolution screen which is critical for detail-oriented work. While the Flex 5 14 is lighter and offers the versatility of a 2-in-1 device, making it more portable, the Legion Slim 7's superior hardware specs make it a stronger choice for intensive engineering and design use; however, it is heavier and likely has shorter battery life due to its more powerful components.
Content Creation
7.6/10
8.3/10
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" is very good for content creation, while the Lenovo Flex 5 14 is good.
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
7.4/10
8.0/10
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" is very good for software development, while the Lenovo Flex 5 14 is good.
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.
Screen Quality
6.4/10
8.7/10
14.0in
SIZE
16.0in
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
277.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
502.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 has a better screen than the Lenovo Flex 5 14 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The Lenovo Flex 5 14 has a display that is adequate for everyday tasks and productivity work, offering a resolution and brightness level that meets general usage needs but may fall short for more color-critical engineering and design work due to limited color accuracy. The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" boasts a high-resolution, bright display with a wider color range, making it ideal for detailed engineering and graphic design tasks. However, both laptops are not optimized for gaming and 3D applications, as their screens lack the necessary high refresh rates to deliver the smooth visuals demanded by these use cases.
Battery
11.5 Hours
7.0 Hours
The Lenovo Flex 5 14 has 11.5 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 has 7 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
Good
14.0in
SIZE
16.0in
3.4 lbs
WEIGHT
4.4 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Lenovo Flex 5 14 has very good portability, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.0/10
7.6/10
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" and Lenovo Flex 5 14 both have good build quality, though the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" has somewhat better build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$950
$1,680
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Lenovo Flex 5 14 has a price of $950 and the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" costs $1,680.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" to be very good for general use, while the Lenovo Flex 5 14 is good.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 has a more powerful CPU and advanced GPU suited for emerging gaming and 3D applications, contributing to its very good rating for general use, but with less battery life and slightly more weight, making it less portable than the Lenovo Flex 5. In contrast, the Lenovo Flex 5 delivers ample performance for everyday tasks with a respectable battery life and 2-in-1 versatility, providing a good general-use experience in a notably portable form.
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How the Lenovo Flex 5 14 and the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" compare to other laptops
"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."
"The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 is a slim Legion notebook that is just as excellent with Nvidia & Intel. However, the Legion Slim 7i slightly sullied by lacklustre battery life. You get a slim aluminium chassis, great input devices, decent port selection, fast high-quality WQXGA display and great performance. Supporting Thunderbolt 4 is one advantage of the Intel/Nvidia model tested in this review. Moreover, this variant has slightly higher CPU performance as well as better GPU performance in certain applications (e.g. CUDA-based apps). The Lenovo Legion S7i is thin, premium and performant – but less efficient than its AMD counterpart."
Get a great deal on the Lenovo Flex 5 14 or the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16"
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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