Lenovo IdeaPad 720S Review: A Sleek High-Performance Laptop

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Lenovo IdeaPad 720S: At First Glance

In 2015, Lenovo decided to announce the launch of a high-performance education-focused laptop, which is the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S. With so much consideration for the needs of its consumer, the Lenovo Ideapad 720S is a laptop that satisfies most user requirements.

Furthermore, with a fantastic outlook, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S seems to be a sleek laptop that proves you can sometimes get more if you pay less. Speaking of price, as of the time of this review in January 2022, the laptop had a starting price of $629.00.

Despite its affordable price, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S still packs a good range of hardware specifications. However, you should know that a laptop that costs less is sometimes associated with certain drawbacks.

So, are you willing to accommodate these drawbacks due to the friendly price? Read on to find out.

Lenovo IdeaPad 720S: Design, Dimension, and Weight

First things first, it is worth knowing that when it comes to design, Lenovo has been quite relentless in providing sleek, stylish laptops. So far, they have been able to create a good and memorable impression for themselves among tech lovers.

That said, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S happens to be one of such sleek laptop with a stylish design. Not just that, the laptop also features so many amazing design specs.

For instance, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720 has multiple color options to choose from. These colors include platinum silver, champagne gold, and my favorite iron gray which happens to be the color focus of this review.

On the exterior, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720s features a smooth, shiny surface with the name “Lenovo” printed boldly at the top-right corner of the laptop. Additionally, the case of the laptop is made from aluminum and magnesium, which gives it a very sturdy appearance.

Moreso, the laptop is so sturdy and firm that it cannot be bent even by significant force. This is because Lenovo used the same aluminum and magnesium material throughout the laptop.

Hence, only the display bezels are made of plastic. Overall, the design of the laptop appears to be of very high quality.

Moving on, the lid and base of the laptop are firmly held in place by a set of hinges. These hinges keep the lid in position when opened.

However, the laptop tends to wobble slightly when there is an unstable movement. Nevertheless, this is not a downside for this laptop, as the hinges hold firmly enough when kept in place.

On the interior, the laptop features a vivid 13-inch display with a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution. Unlike the matte display we see in most notebooks, this laptop’s display is made with a Glossy IPS panel.

Having a glossy IPS panel is a plus for this laptop. This is because a glossy IPS panel doesn’t just make the screen content accurate from all viewing angles; it also makes the content appear rich.

Additionally, this glossy IPS panel also makes the content of the display appear vibrant and refined. Hence you are most certainly going to get an enjoyable viewing experience from this laptop.

Still on the display, the laptop has its display surrounded by extremely slim bezels. These bezels are so slim that it’s almost as if they are not there.

In fact, the only feature you will find anywhere on this bezel is the 1.0MP HD camera which is situated at the bottom bezel.

Overall, I am absolutely impressed with how thin these bezels are because it negates the regular bulky bezels we see among similarly priced notebooks. Also, the bezels give the laptop a rather refined look.

Moving on, seated on the base of the laptop is a chicklet-style keyboard. The spaces between the keys of this keyboard are adequately large so as to prevent wrong input from the keys being too closely packed together.

All in all, the keyboard offered a good typing experience. However, the short keystrokes require some getting used to.

Meanwhile, on a positive note, the keyboard is brightly backlit. However, if you do not want the keyboard light on at all times, you can simply regulate it on the two-step keyboard illumination.

Below the keyboard area is the touchpad. The Lenovo IdeaPad 720S touchpad is impressively wide, with click buttons at the lower end.

Although the laptop’s touchpad is not entirely smooth, it responds to multitouch gestures without difficulties. Also, the click buttons react to inputs with ease.

Moving on to the sides, Lenovo IdeaPad 720S kept things minimal with the port options. Of course, given the slim size of this laptop, one would expect the port options to be moderate.

As expected, this is true as the laptop comes with 2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB Type-C (Thunderbolt) port, and 1 USB Type-C (always-on charging) port. However, for additional connections, you can simply get an adapter.

Weighing 1100 g and measuring 305.9 x 213.82 x 13.6 mm (W x D x H), the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S is lighter than most of its competitors. For example, the Dell Inspiron 13 7370, which measures 309.60 x 215.70 x 15.50 and weighs 1450 g

Another example is the Acer Spin 5, which measures 328.80 x 228.50 x 19.70 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 1600 g. In all, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S tops the chart when placed side by side with its close competitors, specifically in terms of design.

Therefore, I will rate the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S an eight in this design section of the review.

Lenovo IdeaPad 720S: Processor (CPU) Performance

Firstly, it is important to know that the ability of a laptop to run operations effectively is largely dependent on its processor power. Therefore, the better the processor, the more efficient the performance of the laptop.

With that said, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S is powered by an Intel Core i7-8550U processor. This laptop’s processor offers a base frequency of 1.80 GHz and a maximum frequency of 4.0 GHz.

Furthermore, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S CPU is a quad-core processor with an 8 MB Cache. Hence, it can process up to eight threads simultaneously due to its quad-core.

Following that, the laptop gave a remarkable performance in the real-world test carrying out operations smoothly without any difficulties. Multitasking also came off with ease.

To further prove the laptop’s processor performance like we normally do here at www.itechguides.com, I will quickly consider the Cinebench R15 test result. To clarify, the Cinebench R15 is a benchmark test tool that tests a laptop’s processor performance.

Therefore it’s the most suitable tool to validate how good this CPU is. Meanwhile, the higher the score, the better the performance.

That said, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S recorded 526 points. In comparison, the Apple Macbook Air recorded 261 points.

Based on the test results, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S did not do so badly; after all, it performed better than one of its close competitors I parred it with.

Therefore, I will rate the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S an eight out of ten in this section of the review.

Lenovo IdeaPad 720S: Memory (RAM) Performance

The Lenovo IdeaPad 720S comes with a single memory slot. This single memory slot houses 8 GB DDR4 2400 MHz RAM.

Being a single memory slot, the laptop’s memory does not offer room for memory expansion. Nevertheless, the 8 GB is just enough for daily tasks.

As expected, the performance of the IdeaPad 720s memory is quite impressive. This small, slim device runs very smoothly and offers incredible performance.

For example, the laptop should run smoothly with up to 15 chrome tabs opened. In addition to that, some of the browser tabs can comfortably stream YouTube videos without encountering any difficulties.

Also, switching between tabs occurred swiftly.

In a nutshell, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S memory should perform gracefully while carrying out these operations. Furthermore, the PCMark 8 benchmark test results confirm this impression.

Briefly, the PCMark 8 is a benchmark test tool that tests a laptop’s memory performance by simulating everyday computing tasks. These tasks range from video conferencing, web browsing, and other basic tasks.

Moreover, the higher the score, the better the performance of the memory. Based on the PCMark 8 benchmark test result, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S outperformed some of its close competitors with a score of 3544 points.

In comparison, the ASUS ZenBook recorded 3357 points. Meanwhile, the Dell XPS 13 (9370) came nowhere near with its 2988 points. Overall the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S gave an outstanding performance.

Hence, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S is deserving of an eight in this memory performance review section.

Lenovo IdeaPad 720S Storage Option and Performance

For storage, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S comes equipped with a 1 TB PCIe SSD storage. Although this laptop does not offer an SDcard slot for storage expansion, most users would agree that the 1 TB SSD storage is enough to store up files.

Also, due to the fast and accurate transfer speed of SSD storage, you are certainly going to get an impressive storage performance from the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S. As expected we were not disappointed with the test result of the laptop’s storage performance.

Based on the CrystalDiskMark benchmark test results, the laptop gave an outstanding performance. In case you are wondering, the CrystalDiskMark is a benchmark test tool that tests how fast a laptop’s storage receives and transfers files.

These tests are recorded in read and write speeds. Moreover, the higher the speed, the better the performance of the laptop’s storage.

That said, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S had a sequential read speed of 1674 MBps. Additionally, the laptop also has a sequential write speed of 1191 MBps.

To clarify, an example of “sequential read” is when you open a file. On the other hand, an example of “sequential write” is saving a file.

Moving on, in comparison, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S recorded a slightly better speed than most of its competitors. To be more specific, the Dell Inspiron 13 7370 has a sequential read speed of 462.7 MBps and a sequential write speed of 439.9 MBps.

Another example is the Acer Spin 5, which has a sequential read speed of 476.8 MBps and a sequential write speed of 458.3 MBps.

In conclusion, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S offers a storage size that is enough for most users. However, the laptop does not offer an SD card slot for storage expansion.

Nevertheless, the laptop performed better than most of its competitors. Therefore, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S is worthy of an eight in this storage performance review section.

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Lenovo IdeaPad 720S: Graphics Card Performance

The Lenovo IdeaPad 720S comes equipped with an Intel UHD Graphics 620 graphics card. This GPU is an integrated graphics card that offers a base frequency of 300 MHz and a maximum frequency of 1150 MHz.

Moreover, a graphics card that is integrated into a processor shares system memory with the processor. Hence, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S GPU depends on the processor to carry out graphics operations.

Looking at the kind of hardware specification this laptop comes with, I would have preferred a dedicated GPU. However, this Lenovo Ideapad performed surprisingly well.

To give you an idea, Lenovo IdeaPad 720S should be able to play a game like Zuma and Temple Run. To validate this statement, let’s quickly consider the 3DMark benchmark test results.

But before we do that, it is important to note that the 3DMark is a benchmark tool that tests the performance of a laptop’s GPU by imitating tasks.

Furthermore, the test scores are then recorded based on how well the laptop performs. Therefore, the higher the score, the better the performance.

Based on the test result, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S recorded 7387 points. In comparison, the ASUS ZenBook AX430U, which also runs an integrated Intel UHD graphics 620, scored 6739 points in the same test.

Finally, I will rate the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S an eight in this section of the review due to its outstanding performance in the benchmark test.

Lenovo IdeaPad 720S: Battery Life and Performance

For battery power, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S employs a Lithium-ion battery. Lenovo claims that this battery can last up to 9 hours.

To validate Lenovo’s claim on the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S, let’s quickly consider the battery performance test result. When the laptop was left idle at minimum brightness, the battery lasted for 17 hours and 15 minutes.

Furthermore, on continuous web surfing at minimum brightness, the battery lasted for 10 hours and 8 minutes. You would agree that this is an impressive performance, especially since the battery test exceeded Lenovo’s claim of 9 hours.

In comparison, the Dell Inspiron 13 7370 only lasted for 12 hours and 52 minutes when kept idle.

Meanwhile, on continuous web surfing at minimum brightness, Dell Inspiron 13 7370 only managed 5 hours 45 minutes.

In conclusion, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S provides enough power that can last you the whole day. Hence, I will be giving a rating of nine in this battery performance section of the review.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The Lenovo IdeaPad 720S is a laptop that offers you great value for $629.00. In addition to that, the laptop’s battery life is another aspect where the laptop sets the bar high among its competitors.

However, the laptop features an integrated GPU, which makes it unsuitable for high-end gaming. Nevertheless, you can play simple games on the laptop.

On a positive note, the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S is lightweight. Hence, the laptop is the best pick for on-the-go use.

Finally, if you are a buyer looking to own a high-performance laptop that is easy to carry around, I would advise you to consider the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S.

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