Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 15.3" 83KA0045CF Cosmic Blue

The integrated Radeon 740M graphics rank in the 93rd percentile, making this one of the best budget laptops for light creative work. You get 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD in a 1.63kg package with a touchscreen. The display is the weak link with only 45% NTSC color coverage, so don't expect vibrant visuals.

The Ryzen 5 8540U is a 6-core Zen 4 chip that handles everyday tasks without breaking a sweat. In our benchmarks, it lands in the 63rd percentile for CPU performance, which is well above the median for thin-and-lights in this price bracket. Paired with 16GB of soldered DDR5 RAM, you can keep a few dozen Chrome tabs open alongside Slack and Spotify without any stuttering. The real surprise is the Radeon 740M integrated graphics. It's not a gaming GPU by any stretch, but it's one of the best iGPUs on the market right now, letting you dabble in light 1080p gaming or hardware-accelerated rendering in a pinch.

Just don't push it too hard. The gaming score of 22.7 out of 100 tells the real story: this is not a gaming laptop. You can run older titles or esports games at low settings, but demanding AAA games will be a slideshow. For everything else, from office work to 4K video playback, the performance is smooth and responsive.

Stacked against the competition, the IdeaPad Slim 3 carves out a weird little niche. The HP OmniBook X Flip and Microsoft Surface Laptop both have vastly superior screens and build quality, but they'll cost you significantly more and their integrated graphics can't touch the Radeon 740M. The ASUS ROG Flow is in a different universe for gaming, but it's heavier and pricier. The MSI Prestige offers a better CPU for productivity, but again, you'll pay for it. This Lenovo is the budget pick for someone who wants a touchscreen and surprisingly capable graphics without spending over $800.

Pricing is a bit of a moving target since this is an open-box unit floating between $700 and $850 across vendors. At the lower end of that spread, you're getting a lot of laptop for the money, especially with that overachieving iGPU and a touchscreen. Memory Express had the best price we spotted, and that's where the value proposition really shines. If you creep toward the $850 mark, you start brushing up against laptops with better displays or more storage, so it's worth shopping around before you click buy.

The IdeaPad Slim 3 lands in our database with a 71.6 overall score, which puts it squarely in the "solid daily driver" category. The standout spec here is the Ryzen 5 8540U and its integrated Radeon 740M graphics, which somehow ranks in the 93rd percentile for GPU among all laptops we track. That's a wild stat for a budget-friendly machine, and it means this thing punches way above its weight for light creative work and media. You also get 16GB of DDR5 and a 512GB NVMe SSD, so multitasking and boot times feel snappy right out of the box.

The trade-off is the display. The 15.3-inch 1920x1200 touchscreen is fine for spreadsheets and Netflix, but the 45% NTSC color gamut and 300 nits brightness are just average. It's not a panel for photo editing, and you'll notice the colors look a bit muted next to a nicer screen. But at 1.63kg with a 60Wh battery, it's easy to toss in a bag and forget about until you need it.

Skip this if you care about display quality or need serious gaming performance. The 45% NTSC screen and 300 nits brightness are a letdown for anyone who edits photos, watches a lot of HDR content, or works near windows. And with a gaming score of just 22.7, this isn't the laptop for you if you want to play anything beyond lightweight indie games or very old titles.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 is a data-backed winner for students and home office users who want a lightweight laptop that can handle more than just web browsing. The Radeon 740M's 93rd percentile ranking is the headline here, giving you headroom for light creative work that most budget laptops can't touch. Just know that the display is the cost-cutting measure you'll notice every day. If you can live with average colors and brightness, and you find it at the lower end of the price range, this is an easy recommendation.