Lenovo IdeaPad 15.6" 82H801DQUS-0 Arctic Grey

The Lenovo IdeaPad 3 82H801DQUS is a budget laptop with a surprising 12GB of RAM and a touchscreen, but a genuinely bad TN display and weak integrated graphics. At $449 in the US it's a fair deal for basic schoolwork and browsing. The 256GB SSD is tight, and Windows 11 in S Mode adds friction. Buy it for the RAM and reliability, not the screen or performance.

The Core i5-1135G7 is a 4-core, 8-thread chip from Intel's 11th Gen lineup, clocked at 2.4GHz base with boost up to 4.2GHz. In our database, it lands in the 23rd percentile for CPUs, which means it's functional but nowhere near exciting. For Word docs, spreadsheets, and a dozen Chrome tabs, it'll chug along fine. The 12GB of DDR4 RAM helps here, sitting at the 23rd percentile but still enough to keep multitasking from turning into a slideshow. You won't be waiting on the processor for basic tasks, but you also won't be rendering video or compiling code with any enthusiasm.

The integrated Intel UHD Graphics is where things get rough. At the 14th percentile for GPUs, this thing is not built for anything beyond video playback and maybe some very old or very light 2D games. The 256GB SSD lands at the 16th percentile for storage, which means you'll be managing space after installing Windows, a few apps, and a semester's worth of documents. Boot times will be quick thanks to the PCIe SSD, but 256GB fills up faster than you'd think. The gaming score of 8.2 out of 100 in our database should tell you everything you need to know about trying to run anything modern on this.

Stack this against the ASUS Zenbook UX3405CA or the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition and the gap is enormous, but so is the price gap. Those machines cost two to three times as much and deliver OLED screens, newer CPUs, and build quality that makes the IdeaPad feel like a toy. That's not a fair fight. The more relevant comparison is against other budget laptops in the $400 to $500 range, where the IdeaPad's 12GB of RAM and touchscreen give it an edge over typical 8GB non-touch competitors.

The Apple MacBook Pro M4 and Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 are in a completely different universe. If you're cross-shopping those with this Lenovo, you're either confused or you have a very specific use case in mind. The MacBook's M4 chip will run circles around the i5-1135G7, and the Galaxy Book's AMOLED display makes the IdeaPad's TN panel look like a calculator screen from 2005. But those machines cost $1,200 to $2,000 or more. The IdeaPad exists for people who need a functional Windows laptop and don't want to spend real money. The HP OmniBook X Flip is another premium convertible that outclasses this in every way except price. If budget is your only constraint, the IdeaPad holds its own. If you have any flexibility, spend more.

At $449 in the US, this laptop is priced like a budget machine and mostly delivers budget performance. The 12GB of RAM and touchscreen are the two things that make it feel like you're getting more than you paid for. Most laptops in this range stick you with 8GB, so having that extra headroom for browser tabs is genuinely useful. And a touchscreen at this price is uncommon, even if the TN panel underneath it is mediocre.

If you're shopping in Europe, the pricing gets messier. EUR listings range from EUR 608 to EUR 715 across four stores in Germany, Spain, France, and Italy. That's a EUR 107 spread for the same machine, which is wild. If you're in the EU, shop around and don't pay the high end of that range. At EUR 608 it's a reasonable budget buy. At EUR 715, you're getting into territory where better screens and newer CPUs start showing up. The GBP 513 price in the UK is roughly in line with the US pricing once you account for VAT, so that's fair. The MXN 16,298 listing in Mexico is harder to judge without local context, but it's there if you need it.

The Lenovo IdeaPad 3 82H801DQUS is one of those laptops that looks like a steal until you squint at the spec sheet. You get an 11th Gen Core i5, 12GB of RAM, a touchscreen, and a 256GB SSD for around $449 in the US. On paper, that's a lot of boxes ticked for not much money. And for a student or someone who lives in a browser, it might be enough. But the corners Lenovo cut to hit this price are the kind you'll feel every single day.

This machine sits in a weird middle ground. The CPU is fine for everyday tasks, the RAM is actually a bit more generous than you'd expect at this price, but the screen is a 15.6-inch TN panel with 220 nits of brightness. That's the kind of display that makes you tilt the lid back and forth trying to find an angle where colors don't wash out. And Windows 11 Home in S Mode means you're locked to the Microsoft Store until you flip a setting, which is either a safety net or an annoyance depending on who's using it.

Who's this for? Honestly, someone who needs a basic Windows machine for schoolwork, email, streaming, and light office apps. The touchscreen is a nice bonus at this price, and the port selection is genuinely useful with two USB-C and three USB-A ports. But if you're hoping to edit photos, play anything beyond solitaire, or use this outdoors, you'll hit walls fast. Our database puts this at the 9th percentile for screens and 14th for graphics, which tells you exactly where the compromises live.

If you care about the display at all, skip this. The 220-nit TN panel is one of the worst screens in our database, and you'll notice it every time you open the lid. Anyone who watches movies, edits photos, or works near a window should look at something with an IPS panel and at least 300 nits. Even a used or refurbished laptop with a better screen will make you happier than this brand new.

Gamers should obviously look elsewhere. The 8.2 gaming score isn't a challenge, it's a fact. If you want to play anything beyond browser games, you need a dedicated GPU or at least a much newer integrated solution like Intel Iris Xe or AMD RDNA graphics. And if you're the type who installs a lot of software, the 256GB SSD and S Mode restrictions will annoy you within a week. Look for something with 512GB or more and a standard Windows 11 install if you value your sanity.

For a student who needs a basic machine for papers, research, and streaming lectures, this IdeaPad works. The 12GB of RAM means you can keep a reasonable number of tabs open without the system grinding to a halt, and the touchscreen is handy for scrolling through PDFs or taking quick notes. The reliability score at the 81st percentile suggests this thing won't die on you mid-semester, which matters more than any benchmark when you're on a deadline. Just budget for an external drive or cloud storage, because 256GB won't last four years.

For anyone who cares about the screen, this is a hard pass. The 220-nit TN panel is the kind of display that makes you squint indoors and give up entirely outdoors. If you watch a lot of video, edit photos, or just appreciate a screen that doesn't shift colors when you move your head, look elsewhere. Same goes for gamers, obviously. The 8.2 gaming score isn't a suggestion, it's a warning. This is a work machine, not a play machine. If you can live with that, and you find it at the lower end of the price range, it's a reasonable buy.