Review Lenovo IdeaPad C340 –
Recently, laptops with Ryzen processors are increasingly being sought after and one of them that uses it is the Lenovo IdeaPad C340.
This convertible laptop, which got a refresh in the second half of 2019, offers a variety of things that make it worth ogling. Moreover, the Lenovo IdeaPad C340 has a relatively more affordable price compared to variants that use processors from the Blue camp.
One thing is for sure, the Lenovo IdeaPad C340 looks very elegant thanks to the minimalist design it carries. The cover looks very clean without any additional knick-knacks other than the Lenovo logo pinned on the edges.
Lenovo IdeaPad C340
- Screen – 8/10
- Performance – 9/10
- Battery – 9/10
- Features and Portability – 10/10
- Design – 10/10
9.2/10
Conclusion
The Lenovo IdeaPad C340 has a flexible design and is accompanied by powerful performance to provide the best experience in everyday life.
Pros
- Low profile design
- Fast and responsive performance
- Already equipped with SSD
- Long battery life
- Comfortable backlit keyboard
- There is a webcam shutter
- Already equipped with a stylus
Cons
- The screen is quite reflective
- A fan that can be very noisy when full load
Wrapped in silver for the variant that I use, the body of this laptop has a smooth texture in the hand to complete its calm appearance. For some people the design of the IdeaPad C340 may seem boring, but a low-profile laptop like this is rare and suits my taste.
Lenovo C340 Design
Interestingly, this laptop at first glance looks like a large notebook when closed. In addition, the body is quite slim, which makes this laptop still quite appropriate if it is classified as an ultrabook because it is not difficult to carry around thanks to its thickness which is only 1.8 cm.
Indeed, its weight still touches the figure of 1.6 Kg, but the IdeaPad C340 will not feel too heavy when in a bag because it chooses a weight distribution that feels balanced. The whole body is made of plastic which is quite sturdy and solid.
Lenovo C340 Hinge
The hinge of this laptop is also fairly easy to rotate up to 360 degrees. The hinges aren’t as light as a premium ultrabook laptop that can be opened with one hand, but they work as intended and don’t cause the screen to shake easily.
With a body like that, this laptop still offers a fairly complete port starting from USB-C, HDMI, and audio combo jack on the left side as well as two USB 3.1 and card readers that are embedded together with the power button on the right side of the laptop.
Lenovo C340 Port
This laptop has a sloping edge with a slightly sloping base that makes it easy to lift off the table. Interestingly, Lenovo also uses this section as a place for two stereo speakers that are supported by Dolby Audio so that sound can come out well and is not easily clogged.
When the laptop is opened, I am immediately presented with a wide screen with a span of 14 inches. The bezel edges are not as thin as ASUS’ NanoEdge design, but they are still more comfortable to look at than conventional laptops.
The screen uses an IPS panel that has very good saturation and can still be seen from various sides without any color degradation. That way I don’t have to adjust my sitting position to get an optimal visual experience.
Lenovo C340 Gaming
By relying on its convertible design and can be changed in tent mode, watching videos becomes even more extraordinary. It’s just that like other similar laptops, the IdeaPad C340’s screen is fairly reflective, so it’s a little difficult to see content when reflecting other light sources.
Above the screen there is a webcam that can be used for video calls. Uniquely, the camera has a cover called TrueBlock Privacy Shutter so that no other party can peek at you from the other side of the virtual universe. Simply by sliding it until a red indicator appears, the webcam will be completely shut down.
The Lenovo IdeaPad C340 also has an input device that is very convenient to use. The backlit keyboard with Lenovo’s flagship still provides a comfortable typing sensation with a wide distance between keys so I don’t often press the wrong keys.
Lenovo C340 Keyboard
Don’t miss the wide touchpad, which makes it easy for me to move the cursor. Even so, I think the touchpad of this laptop can still be bigger to provide maximum control.
Along with all that, the IdeaPad C340 is equipped with a fingerprint sensor that supports biometric authentication for the Windows Hello feature. The presence of this sensor allows me to login Windows without having to enter a pin or password.
Lenovo C340 Fingerprint
Regarding performance, the variant of the Lenovo IdeaPad C340 that I tested provides a fairly capable performance that can provide an excellent computing experience for most users in general.
This laptop is powered by an AMD Ryzen 3 3200U APU which has 2 Cores and 4 Threads with a maximum clock speed of 3.5 Ghz and an integrated Radeon Vega 3 GPU with 2GB VRAM. Plus there is also 8GB Dual-Channel RAM to make the multitasking process run smoothly.
Ryzen processors are currently becoming idols because they have very good value. That is, this processor provides qualified performance without having to spend too much money.
Lenovo C340 HWiNFO
This can be seen from the benchmark score achieved by this laptop reaching 3,288 PCMark 10 points. This figure is 1,000 points higher than the Ryzen 3 2200U owned by Lenovo V330, which the Gadgetre team had previously tested. The increase in performance is very pronounced when used in everyday life.
Various applications that I usually use can be opened quickly and run smoothly. Navigating Windows also feels very responsive so that I can carry out various activities comfortably.
Lenovo C340 Score Benchmarks
I can also multitask without problems such as watching YouTube videos while typing documents that require me to open multiple tabs in Google Chrome. While using this laptop, I have never felt lag due to too many applications running.
It’s just that the fan from the cooling system in it can be very loud when you have to go the extra mile. Even so the fan doesn’t sound at all for most of the time when I use it to work.
The IdeaPad C340 is also a little overwhelmed when invited to play AAA class games that were released recently. When tested playing Shadow of Tomb Raider at Low graphic quality and 720p resolution, I could only get under the 20 FPS range.
Lenovo C340 CSGo
This is actually reasonable considering this laptop does not have a dedicated graphics card. Fortunately, the Radeon Vega 3 that it has is still very capable of running relatively light games smoothly such as CS: GO and DOTA 2 because it can reach 30 FPS and above in High or Recommended graphics.
Of course, the presence of the Radeon Vega 3 offered by the Lenovo IdeaPad C340 will make photo and video editing more possible.
The reliable performance provided by the Lenovo IdeaPad C340 cannot be separated from the fast 256GB SATA SSD storage solution. This storage has Read 533MB/s and Write 303MB/s capabilities when sequentially tested using Crystal Disk Mark.
Lenovo C340 CrystalDiskMark
Therefore, it is not surprising that this laptop is able to provide an experience that feels responsive because the storage solution is much faster than mechanical storage which is usually embedded in mainstream laptops.
Interestingly, the Lenovo IdeaPad C340 also has a battery life that is quite long for a laptop in its class. For this one trial, I rely on the PCMark 8 application which can simulate user activity in general.
Lenovo C340 Battery Test
With a performance load like that, this laptop can continue to run for 5 hours 14 minutes before finally entering battery saving which means it is below 20%. This figure is quite good considering that mainstream laptops usually only last about 2 hours and a half.
Therefore, this laptop can easily accompany me to work outside the room without having to worry about finding a power outlet because the battery power is enough to get through an activity. It’s not as long as a premium ultrabook, but I’m satisfied with its capabilities on this one.
Plus Lenovo claims that its Rapid Charge technology allows the battery to be charged up to 80% in just 1 hour.
Finally, the Lenovo IdeaPad C340 is my ideal laptop because it has a very good balance in various segments. This laptop has a flexible design and is accompanied by qualified performance to provide the best experience in everyday life. Plus there is already a Stylus in the sales package.
Although this laptop is a little overwhelmed to run heavyweight AAA games, it can still be invited to play light games to fill spare time or other graphic processing needs such as photo editing. Not to mention the battery life which is above the average of most laptops.
If you want to have a premium laptop but at a relatively affordable price, then the Lenovo IdeaPad C340 is a must-see or even add to your wishlist.