Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i 15.3" IdeaPad Slim 3i Luna Grey 2024

A big, comfy screen for not a lot of cash, but the stingy 8GB of RAM means you'll need to keep your app count low. It's a one-or-two-things-at-a-time kind of machine.

The Intel 100U processor is a bit of a surprise. It's not fast by any stretch, but for basic multitasking, it keeps things chugging along without feeling like you're waiting on it constantly. The real bottleneck is the 8GB of RAM. That's a paltry amount for Windows 11 in 2024, and it shows. You'll feel the system hit a wall if you try to juggle too many apps. The integrated graphics are exactly what you'd expect, which is to say, forget about gaming entirely. Our gaming score of 15.9 out of 100 tells the whole story there.

The IdeaPad Slim 3i lives in a completely different world than the Apple MacBook Air M5 or the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro. Those are premium ultrabooks with stunning screens and all-day battery life. The Slim 3i's real competition is other budget 15-inchers. The HP OmniBook X Flip is a more versatile 2-in-1, and the ASUS Zenbook S is a more premium and compact option, but both will cost you significantly more. If you just want the biggest screen for the least amount of money for basic tasks, the Lenovo makes a compelling case against those pricier alternatives.

Pricing is all over the map for this thing, with a spread from $450 to $850. At the low end, it's a fair deal for a basic home laptop. But if you're looking at the $850 configuration, stop. You're dangerously close to much better machines. The sweet spot is finding it closer to that $450 mark, where the big screen and solid build make it a sensible, no-frills purchase.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i is a budget laptop that knows exactly what it is: a machine for browsing, streaming, and getting light work done. It's not trying to be a powerhouse, and that's fine. The big 15.3-inch screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio gives you a little extra vertical space for documents and web pages, and the touchscreen is a nice bonus at this price. Just don't expect it to handle anything more demanding than a dozen browser tabs and a Netflix stream without breaking a sweat.

If you're a student who keeps 30 Chrome tabs open alongside Spotify and Word, this isn't it. The 8GB of RAM will have you pulling your hair out. Go find a refurbished business laptop or a model with 16GB of RAM instead. The extra memory is worth more than a slightly newer processor.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i is a perfectly adequate laptop for students or anyone who lives in a web browser. The big screen is its best feature, and the touch capability is a genuine plus. But the 8GB of RAM is a deal-breaker for anyone who multitasks even moderately. If you can find it for under $500, it's a solid choice. If you can't, you're better off looking for a model with 16GB of RAM, even if it means a slightly smaller screen.