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    This is the Amazon Prime Day Chromebook I’d buy

    Kevin TofelBy Updated:8 Comments2 Mins Read
    Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5i

    Amazon Prime Day is here and I’ve already scoured the Chromebook deals. There are a few but one stands out as a great choice for nearly anyone. If I were in the market, I’d spend $359.99 during Amazon Prime day to buy the Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5i.

    This convertible Chromebook arrived last year and I reviewed it back in September. At the time, the MSRP was $549.99. Even at that price, I felt it was a solid purchase.

    Here’s a summary of what I said back then:

    There really aren’t any major “gotchas” here. The Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook is a solid device with great performance, a workday’s worth of battery life, and a nice combination of display, keyboard, and trackpad. It has all of the ports most users would want. About the only gripe I can come up with is the 720p camera. I appreciate the privacy shutter but I’d appreciate a 1080p sensor even more. It’s fine and usable, just not impressive.

    For $359.99, you’re getting quite a bit in terms of features and capabilities.

    The 11th gen Intel Core i3 isn’t the newest CPU now that (much more expensive) 12th gen Chromebooks are arriving. But it’s still a very capable piece of silicon offering outstanding performance.

    Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Chromebook

    While the 13.3-inch IPS 1920 x 1080 display isn’t the brightest, it’s perfectly fine for indoor use. You’re getting 8 GB of memory and 128 GB of local storage, which is more than enough for most Chromebook scenarios. A pair of USB Type-C ports are included, as is one Type-A. And the Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5i will get Chrome OS software updates through June of 2029.

    Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook left side (1)

    I found Lenovo’s battery life claim of up to 10 hours slightly optimistic. Even so, I used the Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5i for between 8 and 9 hours on a daily basis during my review period.

    All in all, this is a nice Chromebook that’s worth at least $100 to $200 more than the Amazon Prime Day deal price. It’s great for students and everyday Chromebook users.

    If I were in the market for a nice mid-range Chromebook, I’d consider clicking that buy button on Amazon. At this price, I don’t think you can better value for the money.

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    After spending 15 years in IT at Fortune 100 companies, Kevin turned a hobby into a career and began covering mobile technology in 2003. He writes daily on the industry and has co-hosted the weekly MobileTechRoundup podcast since 2006. His writing has appeared in print (The New York Times, PC Magazine and PC World) and he has been featured on NBC News in Philadelphia.

    8 Comments

    1. Douglas Jenkins on

      I have a 5th gen Intel i3 Dell Inspiron with 12Gb ram running Linux and Samsung CBPro 4Gb/64Gb, currently.
      I’ve been thinking of buying a better CB to go to one device
      I prefer a 2n1, which the Flex satisfies, but also see your caveat about the screen nit level.
      I do some light video editing with ShotCut, photo editing in GIMP, virtual meetings with Zoom and host a monthly Google Meet. I am newly retired, so these occur less frequently than when I was more active.
      I wonder if the newer CPU may make up for the lower amount of RAM to work in these instances?
      or would you recommend something with 16Gb?

    2. Robert Niesen on

      Does this really weigh 4.49 lbs. as stated on Amazon? That’s really heavy for this size screen. Also, the 250 nits brightness of the screen would give me pause. The Lenovo Duet and other similar Chromebooks have 400 nits screens at a very reasonable price, although they obviously don’t have near as powerful processors.

      • Robert Niesen on

        I looked this up on the Levovo website. It actually says it weighs 3.48 lbs. That’s more like it. Still a little on the heavy side, but much better than 4.49 lbs. as stated on Amazon.

    4. Chris W on

      Saw this, but late in the day discovered the 64GB SSD version was 41% off down to USD 225.
      But before I could stock stock dipped below 10 remaining so they turned the deal off.
      Sad ????

    5. TodL on

      I bought the newly released Acer spin 714 and it’s fantastic! A brighter screen runs Steam games (Linux), comes with a stylus, and has an HDMI port and a wireless mouse.