I’m posting a brief review of the Lenovo Ideapad 720S-15 today. This laptop has largely escaped notice—there hasn’t been a Lenovo Yoga-style marketing campaign, an abundance of tech site reviews, etc.—but it might be a good candidate for your next notebook purchase.
The Lenovo 720S 15 managed to check all the boxes on paper, but how does it feel on my lap? I was looking for a blend between the two: professional aesthetics, solid battery life, and a graphics card that could game on the go. The XPS 13 was rock-solid in build quality (though weak in component longevity), could run for a marathon session on a single charge, and was professional enough to take to any client site or lecture.
Aesthetics and Building Quality
This notebook makes a good impression right away. Its exterior is made of a dark silver metal, and the lid’s top right corner bears a subdued “Lenovo” etching. The unit’s bottom is identical in terms of color and material and is free of unsightly stickers other than the required Microsoft badge. Instead of the thick metal plate of the XPS line, the top surface is protected by a thin layer of metal, and it is susceptible to slight bending when forces are applied to the screen’s right and left edges.
This laptop has a full-sized keyboard and variable-intensity blacklighting (from low to high). This keyboard resides on a metal backplate and does not flex with keystrokes. The rubber feet—a failure point on every other laptop that I’ve owned—are quite rigid and firmly affixed to the base of the unit. Some owners have reported the trackpad becoming sluggish after extended use, but I have not experienced this at all.
Overall, I would classify this build quality as “Tier 1.5”: better than many laptops but not as tough or beautiful as the Surface Book 2 or an XPS 13. I felt at ease carrying my XPS 13 around in a backpack filled with textbooks, whereas a reader of novels might be safer with the Lenovo 720S.
Form Factor of the Lenovo Ideapad 720s-15
This laptop is easier to carry or move with one hand and lighter than Dell’s XPS 15 line at 0.70 (17.95mm) and 4.18 lbs. The camera is where it should be, above the LCD, and the bezels are thin. With a discrete fingerprint reader, logging in is a breeze.
Ports and Connections
Ports on the 720S 15 are limited to 1xTB3 (2 lanes), a 3.5mm headset, 1xUSB C, 1xUSB A, and an SD Card. Any further USB A peripherals would require a trip to dongletown, as would any kind of video output. There is no lockhole for those who work in shared spaces. (The odd-shaped port is the AC adapter.)
screen and speakers
Even in battery saver mode and at 40% brightness, this laptop’s screen is quite nice (my default settings on the go). Excellent viewing angles produce vibrant colors. There have been complaints about the FHD model’s excessive backlight bleed, but my laptop is acceptable in that regard (see below). Without any obvious ghosting issues, this display operates at 60 Hz. The laptop’s bottom front has speakers that are acceptable, but they will be muffled if it is placed on a quilt or another soft surface.
Software
Lenovo was ruthlessly sparing with the excess software that was installed. In general, this was a cleaner install than is typical on consumer hardware, even after I removed the default antivirus trial and the Windows 10 games.
Battery Life of the Lenovo Ideapad 720s-15
Its 79 watt-hour battery with legs is one of the things that sets this laptop apart from others with comparable features. I haven’t completely depleted the battery yet, but after 2 hours and 45 minutes of browsing, writing, and streaming, I’m currently at 72%. A battery life of 8.5 to 10 hours would seem to be a reliable estimate for the amount of time available after one charge. This is in battery-saving mode at 40% screen brightness with -150 mV undervolting applied.
Thermals and fan noise
Fan noise is not too loud. Although the fan seems to be running constantly, it is quieter when I’m playing games than other discrete graphics laptops I’ve used. The MaxQ design or the 15.6″ form factor may be to blame for this. Under load, this laptop throttles with the default settings.
The GPU eventually throttles when Doom 2016 is run at high settings with the stock voltage curve, as you can see below. It throttles frustratingly from 1,680 MHz to 1,150 MHz and maintains that frequency rather than dynamically deciding on a neutral frequency.
Only when the GPU is being used continuously at close to full capacity (such as when playing Doom at high settings) does this behavior become noticeable; other games or graphical settings have no effect.
This laptop transforms into a completely different gaming machine with -150mV CPU and -100mV GPU undervolting applied, supporting a GPU clock of 1,772MHz!
In Intel XTU, you can see that the CPU is still thermally throttling; but the amount of this throttling is quite mild and still maintains a four-core clock of 3.3–3.4 GHz.
In order to ensure that I could game for hours without interruption; I need to conduct more testing under sustained loads. I may reduce the maximum clock to something like 1,700 MHz.
This laptop handled undervolting very well, completing Prime95 and Intel XTU at -150 mV on the CPU. Without experiencing crashes or frame dips, the GPU is operating at -100 mV. I haven’t tried to make these voltages any lower, because the current levels enable stable boost clocks in video games and superior battery life.
Performance
In this form factor, the new Max-Q designs enable excellent performance. At 60 frames per second, I can easily play DOTA 2, Fortnite, Overwatch, Killing Floor 2, and Doom 2016*. When using the Intel 620 IGP for productivity tasks, the CPU operates very well under load. With undervolting, the 3DMark Time Spy benchmark scores 2,307 (2,165 graphics and 3,672 CPU).
Value
Lenovo Ideapad 720s-15 is uncomfortably close to the excellent 14 Gigabyte Aero 14W and discounted Razer Blade 14. The i5/8GB/256GB SKU is a bargain at $999, as is the UHD/16GB/1TB SKU at $1,600. It would also be prudent to wait until May 2018 for the full wave of new 8th-generation i7s laptops.
Concluding Thoughts, The good, the bad, and the ugly
For those of us who want to work and play on the same computer without breaking the bank. The Lenovo Ideapad 720S-15 is a satisfying all-arounder laptop. You get the gaming prowess of yesterday’s desktop replacements along with the professional aesthetics and battery life of today’s thin and light laptops. Though you’ll want to buy this laptop during a sale or with a coupon. Still, it stands out in a sea of subpar options thanks to its long battery life and good thermals (post-undervolting). This is a fantastic hybrid-purpose laptop for the geek who is willing to fiddle with a few voltages in the end.
The Good:
- Professional aesthetics.
- excellent battery life.
- Tier 1.5″ build quality
- 1050 Ti Max Q handles today’s AAA games well.
- large and vibrant screen.
- relatively cool and quiet under gaming loads.
- great results from undervolting.
- No need for a reinstall to purge bloatware Full-sized keyboard with numpad.
- fingerprint reader; and a properly placed camera.
The Bad:
- just one USB A port and no direct video out.
- “Tier 1.5” build quality
- A Lenovo discount or promotion is required to get the best value for the middle SKU. Jack of all trades: Dedicated units are faster at this price point.
- Chassis readily picks up fingerprints.
The Ugly
- Throttling is an issue in demanding games with stock voltages.
- Kaby Lake G and 8th-generation mobile i7s are right around the corner.
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