Do you need a gaming laptop with excellent graphics? This Lenovo Ideapad l340-15 review is for you if that applies. I’ll go over the features and specifications of the laptop in great detail in this review. In addition, I’ll evaluate the laptop’s design, CPU, RAM, storage, graphics, and battery life. After each section of this review, I’ll provide comparisons between the laptop and its top rivals. I will also offer benchmark results if necessary. In this review, I will also go over the advantages and disadvantages of the Lenovo Ideapad L340. You will have all the knowledge necessary to make an informed purchase decision by the conclusion of this review.
Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Review: My Initial Thoughts
The IdeaPad L340 Gaming Laptop from Lenovo is the brand’s debut product in the gaming laptop market. It’s a decently constructed laptop for the price, despite some flaws. The 15-inch Lenovo Ideapad L340 and the 17-inch Lenovo Ideapad l340-15 are two additional models available for the Lenovo Ideapad L340.
The cost of the laptop is fair for both models. In spite of its low cost, the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 is a very stylish laptop. In terms of cost, the 15-inch Lenovo Ideapad l340-15 starts at $649.00 as of the time this review was published. On the other hand, the 17-inch Lenovo Ideapad L340 model has a starting price of $899.99. I will delve deeply into the laptop’s design and functionality in the following chapters of this guide.
Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Design, Dimension, and Weight Review
The Lenovo IdeaPad L340 is available in two models, both of which, as was already mentioned, have similar features. The main differences between them are their sizes and weights. Similar to its rivals from Acer and ASUS, Lenovo’s IdeaPad L340 has a brushed black chassis with prominent blue keyboard lighting. However, there is a reason to start appreciating the materials used here because they are priced less than their rivals.
Furthermore, the soft-touch palm rest is more aesthetically pleasing than hard plastic, even though it doesn’t compare to the Acer Predator Helios 300 in that regard. The Lenovo Ideapad L340’s palm rest, on the other hand, is simpler to keep clean. The Lenovo IdeaPad L340’s body is surprisingly thin for a gaming laptop that is still reasonably priced.
Although the laptop’s side screen bezels aren’t as thin as those on the more expensive MSI GS65 Stealth, they are still not as thick. However, the Lenovo Ideapad l340-15 looks contemporary because of the thin bezels. Lenovo managed to fit a webcam on the top bezel despite their efforts to make their products as thin as possible.
The laptop’s HD 720p webcam also has a dual-array microphone and a physical shutter. Sadly, the laptop doesn’t have an optical drive. Additionally, the screen of the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 has an IPS display. As a result, you will experience more accurate colors and viewing angles than with a typical LED display.
Unfortunately, a 4K display is not supported by the laptop. This makes sense given that the IdeaPad L340 is a cost-effective laptop and the expensive hardware needed to run a 4K display on a laptop. Moving on, the Lenovo Ideapad l340-15 has monochrome keyboard backlighting, joining devices like the Acer Helios 300. The keyboard’s two-stage illumination, which is adjustable for both indoor and outdoor use, is consistent across all keys. A regular number pad, a short travel distance, and a precise pressure point are also features of the full-size keyboard. The keyboard feels comfortable to type on, despite the fact that the arrow keys are smaller than the other keys.
The ClickPad, which is located underneath the keyboard and rests on the keyboard’s frame, rattles when in use. But the ClickPad only reacts to intense pressure on the bottom corners of the pads. In terms of overall brightness, the Lenovo Ideapad l340-15 performs superbly. Sadly, the color reproduction is only about 50% as accurate as sRGB, which is on the lower end of the spectrum.
The laptop also performs well in terms of blue light emissions, though. Particularly if you’ll be spending a lot of time in front of the screen, the blue light emissions are very helpful. Moving on to ports, both the 15″ and 17″ models of the IdeaPad L340 have the bare minimum ports for a contemporary laptop.
However, all of the laptop’s ports are on the left side, with the exception of a Kensington lock on the right. A USB Type-C port, two USB 3.1 ports, an Ethernet port, and an HDMI 2.0 port are all included with both laptop models. Unfortunately, it lacks a Thunderbolt port and an SD card port. However, the laptop also has wireless connectivity options like Bluetooth 4.2 and 802.11 AC Wi-Fi. Both laptop models are more compact and lighter than most of their rivals in terms of both size and weight. For example, the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 15-inch weighs 2190 g and has dimensions of 363 x 254.6 x 23.9 mm (W x D x H).
The Lenovo IdeaPad L340 17-inch weighs 2800 g and has dimensions of 413 x 284.6 x 24.4 mm. Compared to the Acer Predator Helios 300, which measures 363.2 x 254 x 22.8 and weighs 2499 g, the IdeaPad L340 15-inch model is lighter. On the other hand, the Acer Predator Helios 300 is significantly lighter than the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 17-inch. Finally, this laptop’s simplicity and keyboard layout are undoubtedly some of its best qualities. As a result, I’ll give the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 a nine out of ten in this review.
Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Processor (CPU) Performance Review
A 9th generation Intel Core i7-9750H processor is included in both Lenovo IdeaPad L340 models. On the other hand, the 17-inch Lenovo IdeaPad L340 model might also come with an AMD Ryzen 5 3500U processor. The 6-core, 12-MB cache Intel Core i7-9750H has six processor cores.
A base frequency of 2.6 MHz and a maximum frequency of 4.50 MHz are used by the processor. The Intel Core i7-9750H is a potent processor that can multitask without experiencing any lag. On the other hand, the AMD Ryzen 5 3500U is a four-core processor with a 4MB cache. Its base frequency is 2.10 MHz, and its maximum frequency is 3.70 MHz. Although this processor is obviously inferior to the 9th generation Intel Core i7, it will still be able to adequately multitask. Continuing, the device I examined was powered by an Intel Core i7-9750H processor.
I ran a Geekbench 5 test to determine the processor’s efficiency. According to the benchmark test results, the laptop achieved a score of 5813. The Lenovo Ideapad l340-15 performed poorly when compared to the 11th-generation Intel Core i7-10750H processor in the Acer Predator Helios 300. The Acer Predator Helios 300 achieved a score of 6312. Last but not least, the laptop’s processor performance is inferior to that of the Acer Predator Helios 300. However, it performed better than other computers in its class. As a result, I’ll give the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 an eight for processor performance.
Memory (RAM) Performance
There is adequate RAM in the Lenovo IdeaPad L340. The laptop has two RAM slots with a capacity of 16 GB each (8 GB in each slot). For optimum performance, I strongly suggest getting an IdeaPad L340 with at least 8 GB of RAM.
However, since the laptop has two RAM slots, you can increase the memory if necessary by installing an additional 8 GB in the second slot. Eight gigabytes of RAM were preinstalled in one slot on the laptop I evaluated. I ran a PCMark 10 benchmark test to accurately gauge the RAM’s performance.
The Lenovo IdeaPad L340 performed worse on the test, scoring 5100 points as opposed to the Lenovo Legion Y530-5118 15ICH’s points. The Acer Predator Helios 300 scored 4973 points, while the Lenovo Ideapad l340-15 scored higher. I give the Lenovo IdeaPad L340’s RAM performance an overall score of 9.
Storage Option & Performance
There are numerous storage options for the Lenovo Ideapad l340-15. It has a 2 TB HDD, a 1 TB PCIe SSD, and optional Intel Optane storage with a maximum capacity of 16 GB. A 512 GB HDD should be used to store your files, and a 128 GB SSD should be used to install your operating system. You can add up to a 1 TB HDD if you need a lot of storage.
The laptop, sadly, does not have a microSD card slot. However, the SSD/HDD storage combination ought to be adequate for the majority of users. The device I evaluated had a 256 GB SSD. I ran a CrystalDiskMark test to evaluate the storage performance of the laptop, as we always do in our reviews. In the CrystalDiskMark test, the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 achieved sequential read and write speeds of 1200 Mbps and 145.1 Mbps, respectively.
This write speed is quicker than the category average of 129 Mbps. Additionally, the sequential read speed of 1200 Mbps on the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 is faster than the category average of 817 Mbps. However, the Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH outperformed the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 in terms of performance.
The Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH has a read speed of 1390 Mbps and a write speed of 300 Mbps. Storage on the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 is generally adequate for the price. I will therefore rate the Lenovo IdeaPad L340’s storage performance at seven out of ten.
Graphic Card Performance
The IdeaPad L340 from Lenovo has excellent graphics for gaming. The laptop has a variety of graphic options. Both the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GDDR5 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GDDR6 graphics cards are available for the laptop. Additionally, the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 with AMD Radeon Vega 8 graphics is available for purchase.
All of these graphics cards, with the exception of the AMD Radeon Vega 8, have 4GB of dedicated memory. Let me quickly share the details of the graphics cards before I talk about the laptop’s gaming performance. A base frequency of 300 MHz and a boost frequency of 1100 MHz are provided by the AMD Radeon Vega 8 graphics card.
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GDDR5 offers a base frequency of 1485 MHz and a boost frequency of 1665 MHz in contrast. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GDDR6 has a base frequency of 1410 MHz and a boost frequency of 1590 MHz, on the other hand. Let’s get into the Lenovo IdeaPad L340’s gaming performance now that the formalities are over.
My test unit included an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card, which is worth mentioning. Let me start by stating that you can play the majority of contemporary games at full HD quality with this graphics card. However, you might need to change the graphics settings for some games. I used this laptop to play graphically taxing games like Far Cry 5 and Rise of the Tomb Raider to test how well the graphics card performed. The laptop delivers 97 frames per second when playing Far Cry 5 in normal settings but drops to 81 frames per second in ultra settings.
On the other hand, when playing Rise of the Tomb Raider, the laptop manages 125 frames per second in medium settings and 97 frames per second in very high settings. Both outcomes are marginally better than the Acer Predator Helios 300’s GTX 1660 Ti graphics performance. For instance, when playing Rise of the Tomb Raider, the Acer Predator Helios 300 achieved 119 frames per second on the medium setting and 86 frames per second on the high setting. I’m pleased to give the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 an eight in this review because it outperformed rival laptops in terms of gaming performance.
Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Battery Life and Performance
The 15-inch and 17-inch models of the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 both have a lithium-ion battery. Lenovo claims that both models should provide up to 9.5 hours of use when fully charged. But we are too wise to believe what the manufacturers say! I performed a real-world battery test to confirm Lenovo’s assertion.
The Lenovo IdeaPad L340 lasted roughly 6 hours during my test, which involved simultaneously browsing more than 50 websites. Even though the battery’s performance was inferior to that of the Dell G5 15 5587, it still outperformed Lenovo’s claimed battery life of 9.5 hours. The Dell G5 15 5587 only had a 4-hour battery life. I’m giving the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 an eight in this category due to its excellent battery life.
Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Review: Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 a gaming laptop?
A gaming laptop from Lenovo with a Full HD anti-glare display is the IdeaPad L340. Additionally, it provides the 4 GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card.
2. Are Lenovo laptops bad?
A variety of models are available from the trendy, cool laptop brand Lenovo. Based on user requirements, it provides a range of models.
3. Is it safe to use Lenovo laptops?
In fact, Lenovo laptops are dependable. A model’s level of dependability depends on the model in question.
4. Is the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 a good video editing laptop?
The laptop works flawlessly with high-end applications and provides clear, crisp gaming. The Lenovo Ideapad is another gaming laptop that we think is best for video editing, jumping from one gaming tool to the next.
5. Is Lenovo a Better Option Than ASUS?
While the majority of Lenovo laptops are praised for their excellent performance, lovely designs, and portability, they don’t last as long as ASUS laptops do. One study found that the malfunction rate for Lenovo laptops was 21.5%, compared to 15.6% for ASUS laptops.
Read: Lenovo Ideapad s340-15 Review: Ultraslim Just Got Better
Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Review: My Final Thoughts
An impressive gaming laptop from Lenovo is the IdeaPad L340. Your light to medium gaming requirements ought to be easily met by the laptop. With the Lenovo IdeaPad L340, everything is about balance. You won’t get a huge gaming machine, but you also won’t be disappointed when using it or playing on it.
In addition, the Lenovo Ideapad L340 is a fantastic choice for a gaming laptop in the middle of the spectrum of potent gaming computers. The IPS screen will provide most games with an excellent display, and the laptop has a very simple and clean design. One of the most affordable gaming laptops available is the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 if you’re on a tight budget. The Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming laptop can also be a good option if you’re looking for a reasonably priced gaming laptop. But when shopping on a tight budget, you have to put up with little concessions like a subpar ClickPad and a missing card reader.
