Lenovo Flex vs Yoga: Which is the Ultimate Convertible?

Are you having a hard time picking between the Lenovo Flex and Yoga? Then take a look at this Lenovo Flex vs Yoga comparison.

Lenovo Flex vs Yoga: At First Glance

Without a doubt, Lenovo has been one of the best brands at the forefront of laptop production. They have produced some of the best laptops seen in recent years.

A quick example can be cited in the two laptop series we are about to compare – the Lenovo Flex and Yoga. These laptops belong to two of Lenovo’s Ideapad range which is the Yoga series and Flex line of laptops.

While one of these two laptops has built a solid reputation for providing amazing features within a budget range, the other is known for its beauty. Trust me, you wouldn’t need to be told to identify which of the two laptops offers one of the best looks in the industry. 

The moment you have both laptops within your sight, the beauty of the Lenovo Yoga just speaks for itself. Not to discredit the appearance of the Lenovo Flex, but the Lenovo Yoga’s appearance is simply astonishing.

When I decided to have a quick feel of both laptops, I further confirmed my first impression about their builds. The Lenovo Yoga felt as premium as its appearance suggested.

Meanwhile, the Lenovo Flex felt cheaper but premium enough for its price tag.

With their specs sheets in the picture, I’m compelled to think that the Lenovo Yoga will possess a better all-round performance compared to the Flex.

Could my initial impression be right? We can only find out after the full comparison.

Lenovo Flex vs Yoga: Design, Dimension & Weight

Appearance is an important factor of attraction. By the looks of the Lenovo Flex and Yoga, it is clear that Lenovo understands this.

They’ve been able to hit so many right spots in terms of the design of both laptops. If premium laptops had a beauty regulation committee, the Lenovo Flex and Yoga would probably be part of the executive board.

Hilarious, isn’t it? Pardon my excessiveness, but it’s hard to not be blown away by the appearance of the Lenovo Flex and Yoga.

When you think about how all the big brands in the tech world have improved in terms of design, you’ll understand why Lenovo had to back stronger as well. Though the Lenovo Flex cannot challenge the Macbook Pro in terms of design, the Lenovo Yoga could definitely be a threat.

One of the shortcomings that affect the Lenovo Flex is its build quality. Lenovo built the Flex’s lid cover with aluminum.

However, the other parts of the laptop are constructed with plastic materials.

Hence, the rigidity of the laptop’s chassis isn’t good enough for a laptop that’s meant to be mobile. You’ll notice slight twists and creaks if you exert little pressure on the laptop’s chassis.

To make it worse, the laptop’s lid paint isn’t thick enough. From my observations, it retains scratches and fingerprints easily.

Even the laptop’s interior textured plastic surface does a better job of concealing smudges and scratches. One thing to note for sure is this: if you buy the Lenovo Flex, handle it with care.

The Lenovo Yoga, on the other hand, has a top-quality build. Its entire body is built with machined aluminum which gives it an impressively sturdy build.

Unlike the Flex’s lid, the Lenovo Yoga’s lid and entire body conceal fingerprints and smudges almost perfectly. It also feels as premium as it looks.

There’s no bending, squeaking, flexing, or twisting in the lid and the keyboard deck. In fact, you won’t find many laptops that come close to the Lenovo Yoga in terms of build quality.

Taking a closer look at the aesthetics of both laptops, you’ll notice that both the Lenovo Flex and Yoga embody Lenovo’s conservative style. The design of the two laptops is simple and clean with very minimal branding.

Both laptops perfectly nail the beautiful conservative appearance with their modest design pattern. If you are the type of user who doesn’t appreciate excessive design patterns, then you will have a soft spot for the Lenovo Flex and Yoga.

Other than the Lenovo logo on the top left corner of its lid and its bottom-left corner under the display, the Lenovo Flex is without design accents. Similarly, the only pattern on the Yoga’s body is a “YOGA” inscription on the top left corner of its lid.

In addition to that, there’s also a Lenovo logo at the bottom left corner of its display. This logo is inscribed on its hinge.

Despite their simple design, both laptops still make enough effort to grab attention. For instance, Lenovo Flex’s light grey lid has a smooth surface that shines when it comes in contact with light.

The way light bounces off the laptop’s thinly cut edges makes it seem like a reflective material. Take a closer look at the laptop, and you’ll notice additional touches of class.

An example is the diamond-cut edges around the laptop’s edges. Furthermore, the interior of the Lenovo Flex has a darker grey tone that slightly contrasts the keyboard’s grey color.

This color contrast gives the keyboard deck a classy kind of two-color tone. All of these design features were enough to make the Lenovo Flex an attractive laptop.

Depending on its color scheme, the Lenovo Yoga either wears a bold or chill demeanor. You can get the Yoga laptop either in Shadow Black or Slate Grey color.

Regardless of the color, it comes in, the Lenovo Yoga is a sleek laptop. Its sleek chassis brings some interesting modern features as well. 

It has a wedge kind of shape that makes the lid look steeped as if it is being slightly pushed forward from the interior. This design makes the Lenovo Yoga look sleeker.

In addition to its sleekness, the Lenovo Yoga has neatly cut angles which makes it look clean. The Yoga’s neat and sleek design continues on the interior part of the laptop.

Its exterior color scheme stretches over to the interior part – across the keyboard deck and the keyboard itself. Above the keyboard, you’ll notice the thin bezels that surround the display.

Like the Lenovo Flex, the Yoga’s top and bottom bezels are slightly thicker than their side bezels. Another similar thing between the two laptops is their versatility.

Both laptops can be converted to tablets thanks to their hinges that allow 360 degrees rotation. To a keen eye, the Flex’s two-block hinge is a hint of its convertibility.

The Lenovo Flex could have been perfect as a tablet, but its large display size hardly makes it enjoyable to use the laptop in tablet mode – unless it’s lying flat on a table. Similarly, the Lenovo Yoga is a bit too large to be used comfortably in tablet mode.

Aside from the tablet mode, you can also use both laptops in a tent or stand mode. While the Lenovo Flex doesn’t come with a stylus pen, the Lenovo Yoga is sold with a Stylus pen.

To get a Stylus pen for the Lenovo Flex, you have to purchase it separately. Meanwhile, the Lenovo Yoga comes with a Stylus pen located on the right side of its rear edge.

This pen gives the feel of a pen on paper and its battery can last for as long as 40 minutes after a 15 minutes charge.

Unlike the Lenovo Flex’s hinge, the Yoga’s hinge is something different entirely. It features the premium Yoga line’s iconic soundbar hinge.

Aside from this hinge’s contribution to the Yoga’s versatility, it contributes to the sounds of the two down-firing speakers on the bottom of the laptop. 

If there is another similar thing with both laptops, it has to be how short their key travel feels. Nonetheless, both the Lenovo Flex and Yoga offer a comfortable typing experience with excellent tactile feedback.

Both laptops’ keys are full-sized. If you have big hands, you don’t have to worry about your fingers mistakenly clicking on more than one key at once.

On the 10fastfingers typing test, I achieved a rate of 75 words per minute with the Lenovo Flex. Meanwhile, I hit 110 words per minute when I took the test with the Lenovo Yoga.

Beneath the two laptops’ keyboards, there are averagely sized touchpads that feel good to touch. Both the Lenovo Flex and Yoga’s touchpads measure 4.1 x 2.7 inches.

The Lenovo Flex’s touchpad is coated with a plastic sheet that is similar to glass. Meanwhile, the Lenovo Yoga is coated with glass.

These two touchpads offered quick responses to Windows 10 gestures like pinch-to-zoom or three-finger scrolls. They were also sharp at responding to taps, clicks, and swipes.

Other than the keyboard on the deck of the Lenovo Flex and Yoga, they also both feature a fingerprint reader. The fingerprint reader helps to keep the laptops secured.

In terms of dimensions, the Lenovo Flex is a bit too big and heavy for a convertible. If it weren’t a convertible, its dimension and weight would have been perfect.

Nonetheless, the Lenovo Flex is still quite portable for a 15-inch laptop. It measures 357.6 x 237.9 x 20.35 mm and weighs 1800 g.

Similarly, the Lenovo Yoga’s is a bit on the heavy side considering the fact that it is a 2-in-1. However, it is perfectly slim and considerably light for a regular laptop. 

To give more detail, it measures 238.5 x 355.5 x 17.5 – 19.7 mm and weighs 2000 g.

Port-wise, Lenovo offers a fair selection of ports on both laptops. On the left side of the Lenovo Flex, you’ll find an HDMI port, a USB 3.1 port, a headphone jack, and a USB-C port.

On the right, you’ll see a pair of USB-A ports located right next to a 4-in-1 card reader.

Meanwhile, the Lenovo Yoga features a USB Type-A port, 2 USB Type-C ports, and a headphone jack.

To round off this section of the comparison, I believe it is fair to say that Lenovo brought their A-game with the design of these laptops. In every modern design sense, the Lenovo Flex and Yoga definitely killed the conservative design pattern.

One thing, however, is the fact that there is an obvious difference between the design and build quality of both laptops. While the Lenovo Yoga provides excellent durability thanks to its premium build, the Lenovo Flex is built with a plastic chassis that barely feels premium.

Due to this reason and its other premium build features, the Lenovo Yoga comes out victorious in this round. It scores a nine in this Lenovo Flex vs Yoga design comparison.

Meanwhile, the Lenovo Flex scores an eight.

Lenovo Flex vs Yoga: Processor (CPU) Performance

At the heart of the Lenovo Flex and Yoga, there are two entirely different types of processors. While the Lenovo Flex features a 4-core Intel Core i7-1065G7 processor, the Lenovo Yoga comes with an 8-core Intel Core i9-10980HK processor.

The Lenovo Flex’s processor has a base frequency of 1.30 GHz and a boost frequency of 3.9 GHz. Meanwhile, Lenovo Yoga’s processor base frequency is 2.40 GHz and it is capable of reaching an average boost frequency of 5.30 GHz.

Being one of the most essential parts of a laptop, I carefully reviewed and compared the Lenovo Flex and Yoga’s processor performance. The first approach I took towards testing these laptop’s processors was to have them perform real-world tasks.

During the testing process, I saw the Lenovo Yoga tear through intensive browsing sessions that involved loading heavy pages. Like a Pro-wrestler, the laptop knocked out every computing operation I required it to handle.

Document editing & preparation, sending of emails, picture and video editing tasks were all like a walk in the park for the Lenovo Yoga. From these tests, it is clear that the Lenovo Yoga delivers workstation-like performance in a delicate-looking build.

In fact, the laptop can easily compete with productivity-oriented laptops like the ThinkPad P1 Gen 3 or the Macbook Pro. Even when it comes to processing speed, I couldn’t fault the Lenovo Yoga.

Similarly, the Lenovo Flex seemed to possess a wild processing power under its delicate appearance. Although Lenovo Yoga’s performance was clearly at higher levels compared to Lenovo Flex’s, its processing performance in the test was also excellent.

The completion of the real-world performance tests brings us to the next form of test which is the benchmark test. For this aspect, I conducted the Cinebench R20 test on both laptops.

For clarity, the Cinebench R20 is a benchmark test for testing how processors perform when under multi-threaded workloads. It uses its own scoring system to measure CPU performance.

Furthermore, this test is broken down into two forms. The multi-core score shows how fast the processor is at handling multi-processing tasks that fully utilize all the available cores in a processor chip.

Meanwhile, the single-core accesses how fast the processor is when only a single-core is being utilized. My test considers these two aspects.

In the single-core aspect of the Cinebench R20 test, the Lenovo Flex scored 474 points. Meanwhile, it scored 2024 points in the multi-core aspect.

Although these scores are okay by all standards, they were not enough to surpass Lenovo Yoga’s scores. The Lenovo Yoga scored 507 points in the single-core aspect of the test, while it scored 4487 points in the multi-core aspect. 

In addition to the Cinebench R20 test, I also conducted the HandBrake performance test on the two laptops. The HandBrake performance tool accesses a computer’s ability to perform video encoding.

It took the Lenovo Flex 28 minutes and 32 seconds to convert a 4k video to 1080p with the HandBrake app.

Meanwhile, the Lenovo Yoga needed just 14 minutes and 24 seconds to convert the same video to 1080p using the HandBrake app. Based on the two processor performance tests, it’s clear that the Lenovo Yoga is undoubtedly superior in terms of processing power.

Hence, the Lenovo Yoga scores an eight in this Lenovo Flex vs Yoga processor performance comparison. Regardless, the Lenovo Flex is no pushover.

It also displayed an admirable level of performance. As a result, it scores a seven in this processor comparison.

Lenovo Flex vs Yoga: Memory (RAM) Performance

Once again, like their processors, the Lenovo Flex and Yoga’s memory configuration differ. In terms of their memory, the Lenovo Flex features a DDR4-3200MHz memory type, while the Lenovo Yoga comes with a DDR4-2933 memory type.

Lenovo ships the Flex laptop with three different memory configuration sizes. The Lenovo Flex either comes with 16 GB RAM, 4 GB RAM, or 8 GB RAM.

Lenovo Flex supports maximum RAM size of 16 GB.

Meanwhile, you can only buy the Lenovo Yoga with 12 GB RAM. Fortunately, you can upgrade the RAM to a maximum size of 16 GB.

Apart from the 16 GB max RAM size, Lenovo supports in the two laptops, another common feature between them is that they both have one RAM slot.

For the record, our Lenovo Flex and Yoga review units are both equipped with 16 GB RAM. Similar to the way I tested both laptops’ processors, I will also test their RAM performance based on real-world and benchmark performance tests.

During the real-world performance test I conducted, the Lenovo Yoga easily chewed through the workload I placed it on. Likewise, the Lenovo Flex was able to operate smoothly under the workload I subject it to.

The task was basically a multitasking task. I opened 30 Google Chrome tabs while I streamed the Made in Lagos Deluxe album on YouTube.

I also opened Twitter, Slack, and GitHub while the album was streaming with the browser tabs opened. With all of these running, the Lenovo Yoga was comfortably operating smoothly without stuttering.

I applied this similar workload to the Lenovo Flex. For the most part, I was impressed. However, the Lenovo Flex only worked perfectly with 20 Google Chrome tabs opened.

The moment I added the 10 more, I started noticing slight lags. Asides from that, it worked perfectly.

Moving over to benchmark tests, our benchmark test will be carried out with the PCMark 10 benchmark test. The PCMark 10 benchmark test reviews how well the laptop can handle office-related tasks like web browsing and word processing.

The PCMark 10 benchmark test offers two results – Essentials and Productivity.

In the essentials aspect of this test, the Lenovo Flex was once again outperformed by the Lenovo Yoga. The Lenovo Flex scored 9149 points, while the Lenovo Yoga scored 10127 points.

However, the nature of the results changed when I moved to the productivity aspect. For the first time since I began testing both laptops, the Lenovo Flex turned up with a better performance score compared to the Lenovo Yoga.

While the Lenovo Yoga scored 7809 points, the Lenovo Flex scored 7972 points.

Even though the Lenovo Flex outperformed the Lenovo Yoga in the productivity aspect, it remains clear that the Yoga laptop performs better. In terms of RAM performance, the Lenovo Yoga is superior to the Lenovo Flex.

As a result, the Lenovo Yoga scores a nine in this Lenovo Flex vs Yoga memory performance comparison. Meanwhile, the Lenovo Flex scores a seven.

Lenovo Flex vs Yoga: Storage Options & Performance

For the first time so far, both the Lenovo Flex and Yoga feature the same type of hardware. They both make use of PCIe SSD storage drives.

However, their storage sizes differ. While the Lenovo Flex is usually sold with a 1 TB-sized drive, the Lenovo Yoga comes with a 2 TB-sized drive.

When you buy the Lenovo Flex, you also get a microSD card reader for storage expansion. The Lenovo Yoga, on the other hand, doesn’t offer any SD card option.

Regardless, its 2 TB storage drive would be largely sufficient for storing most of your regular documents and files. Besides, you can always get an external hard drive if you need more storage.

To compare how well the Lenovo Flex and Yoga perform in terms of their storage speed, I conducted a few tests. The first was the CrystalDiskMark benchmark test.

This test finds out how fast the storage drive is in terms of read and write speeds. An example of a read is when you open a file on your computer.

On the contrary, a write operation happens when you save a file for example. In this test, a larger number is better.

On this test, the Lenovo Flex recorded a sequential read speed of 1872 MBps and a sequential write speed of 1149 MBps. Meanwhile, the Lenovo Yoga achieved sequential read and write speeds of 2059 MBps and 1873 MBps respectively.

In addition to this benchmark test, I also conducted a file transfer test to compare how fast both laptops carry out file transfer operations. It took the Lenovo Flex 15 seconds to copy a 4.97 GB file at a rate of 339 megabytes per second.

As if it hasn’t delivered enough impressive results so far, the Lenovo Yoga copied the same file at an even more impressive speed and rate. It took the laptops just 9 seconds to copy the 4.97 GB multimedia file at a copy rate of 692.25 megabytes per second.

Once again, we can easily arrive at a conclusion that the Lenovo Yoga has a better storage performance than the Lenovo Flex. The results of the storage performance tests I carried out clearly justifies this conclusion. 

Therefore, the Lenovo Yoga scores a nine in this Lenovo Flex vs Yoga storage performance comparison. Meanwhile, the Lenovo Flex scores an eight.

Lenovo Flex vs Yoga: Graphics Card Performance

In terms of their graphics cards, the Lenovo Flex and Yoga are completely different. To give more detail, the Lenovo Flex comes with an Intel Iris Plus Graphics card.

This graphics card – which is integrated with the processor – has a base frequency of 300 MHz and a boost frequency of 1100 MHz. A graphics card integrated into a processor shares the system memory with the processor.

Meanwhile, the Lenovo Yoga features a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti GPU. The graphics card has a base frequency of 1350 MHz and the capability to reach a boost frequency of 1485 MHz.

Unlike the Lenovo Flex, the Lenovo Yoga also comes with a 4 GB GDDR6 dedicated VRAM. From these specifications, anyone who is familiar with computer hardware components would probably bet on the Lenovo Yoga to outperform the Flex in terms of graphics performance.

Honestly, it is not a difficult decision to make. The Lenovo Yoga’s graphics card specifications are clearly superior to that of the Lenovo Flex.

To confirm this claim, let’s check out how both laptops performed in our graphics performance tests.

The first test I conducted on both laptops was the 3DMark 11 benchmark test. To give you a better understanding, the 3DMark 11 is a benchmark test that measures the gaming performance of a laptop.

Once again, the Lenovo Yoga outscores the Lenovo Flex. In this benchmark test, the Lenovo Flex scored 5177 points, while the Lenovo Yoga had a better score of 7256 points. 

Since the Lenovo Flex wasn’t primarily designed for gaming, its gaming performance is not too bad. The Lenovo Yoga’s performance, on the other hand, is good enough to handle medium resolutions and graphic settings.

Compared to the Lenovo Flex, the Yoga takes the leading position when it comes to gaming. When I played The Witcher 3 on the Lenovo Flex, the game ran at 30.95 frames per second.

Meanwhile, I was able to enjoy an incredibly smooth frame rate of 98 frames per second on the Lenovo Yoga.

Surprisingly, the Lenovo Flex was able to offer higher frame rates compared to the Lenovo Yoga when I ran Dota 2 Reborn on both laptops. The Lenovo Flex ran the game at 93.9 frames per second.

Meanwhile, the Lenovo Yoga played the game at 76.8 frames per second.

To round off this test, I ran X-Plane 11.11 on both laptops. In this test, the Lenovo Yoga took back its throne by offering a better frame rate compared to the Lenovo Flex.

While the Lenovo Flex played the game at 41.1 frame rates per second, the Lenovo Yoga ran the game at 54.3 frames per second.

Although the Lenovo Flex displayed a strong graphics card performance, the Lenovo Yoga still outperformed it in this round also. As expected, the comprehensive test results show that the Lenovo Yoga has a better graphics card performance.

Hence, the Lenovo Yoga scores a nine in this Lenovo Flex vs Yoga graphics card performance comparison. On the other hand, the Lenovo Flex scores an eight.

Lenovo Flex vs Yoga: Battery Life & Performance

Lenovo equipped the Flex and Yoga with Li-polymer batteries. However, they feature different battery capacities.

The Lenovo Flex comes with a 52 watt-hour battery capacity. Meanwhile, the Lenovo Yoga features a 69 watt-hour battery capacity.

The battery life of the Lenovo Flex is considerably fair. When placed under regular computing load like web browsing or watching movies, the laptop can last up to 10 – as advertised – before it requires a re-charge.

On our battery life test which involves continuous web surfing at medium screen brightness, the laptop lasted for 10 hours before it ran out of power.

Similarly, the Lenovo Yoga lasted for as long as 10 hours when I tested its battery life using our continuous web surfing test. By today’s standards, both the Lenovo Flex and Yoga have impressive battery lives.

Their battery runtime capacity is definitely enough to get you through most of your regular computing activities. Besides, with proper battery management approaches, you will be able to get about an hour or two more from both laptops.

In conclusion, the Lenovo Flex and Yoga both score an eight in this Lenovo Flex vs Yoga battery life comparison.

Our Rating Summary

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Overall, the Lenovo Flex and Yoga are both incredible laptops. However, it is very obvious that the Lenovo Yoga is a few levels above the Lenovo Flex.

The first obvious difference is in terms of their build quality. Though the Lenovo Flex looks premium just like the Lenovo Yoga, its build quality can’t be compared to that of the Lenovo Yoga.

Since the Lenovo Flex is mainly designed for the lower budget market, it was majorly built with plastic materials. Meanwhile, the Lenovo Yoga has a solid aluminum construction that makes it feel as premium as it looks.

Another difference between Flex and Yoga is their performance. From their processor to their memory, storage, speed, and graphics capabilities, the Lenovo Yoga outperforms the Lenovo Flex.

Regardless, the Lenovo Flex is also a powerful laptop. It is powerful enough to handle most of your computing tasks.

Moreover, Lenovo Flex can also handle some intensive computing tasks like video and image editing.

In conclusion, the Lenovo Yoga is the better laptop. It has a solid build quality and a better overall performance.

Hence, based on our comprehensive review and comparison of Lenovo Flex vs Yoga, we recommend:

However, I will recommend you go for the Lenovo Flex if you are on a budget.

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