Lenovo’s Flex 5G is one of the first 5G laptops, using a Qualcomm processor and modem to promise fast connectivity via the Verizon network and great battery life, while running Windows though without as much compatibility as you might like.
It’s an interesting combination that might appeal to users who are fully locked into the Microsoft ecosystem, but it’s hard to recommend for most people.
It’s the best built Windows on ARM system I’ve seen, but Windows on ARM just isn’t compatible enough.
Living with it in the aftermath of the Isaias storm, I have been quite happy to have a laptop with Verizon connectivity, as my power and broadband internet were down.
I did have one day without Verizon service as well, and then it was as useless for connectivity as any other laptop without an internet connection.
Once it came back, it worked great—even for things like video conferencing.
That’s a big advantage for laptops with built-in cellular connections.
Not every laptop offers this feature, of course, but a variety do have LTE options.
On the surface, the Flex 5G is a very solid, well-built machine.
It’s a 14-inch 2-in-1 with a FHD (1920-by-1080) display with fairly slim bezels and an aluminum and magnesium chassis in an iron-gray color that makes it look a lot like the ThinkPad X1 Yoga.
Like that, it has a hinge that lets you use it as a conventional laptop or flip the screen over for use a tablet (although it doesn’t include a pen.)
It's not the sexiest laptop, but that’s not what you look for in a machine of this class.
Measuring 0.58 by 12.7 by 8.5 inches and weighing 2.97 pounds, with a list price of nearly $1,400, it’s pretty much the same price and size of a typical Intel-based executive notebook, meaning the question really comes down to the promise of connectivity and battery life versus the compatibility tradeoffs.
It has 8GB of memory and 256 GB of storage, which seems a little on the stingy side compared to most laptops in this class, but I didn’t run into any issues.
This is the first laptop I’ve used with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx processor.
There are a couple of other current Windows on ARM systems such as the Samsung Galaxy Book S and the Microsoft Surface Pro X.
Both are notably lighter and have smaller screens.
Qualcomm says this processor, which has eight Kryo 495 cores (this is a variant of ARM’s Cortex-A76 core) and Qualcomm’s Adreno 680 graphics and runs at 2.84 GHz, uses 60 percent less power than the previous generation Snapdragon processor.
It has no cooling fan, so the machine does run quieter than most Intel- or AMD- based laptops I’ve used.
As a result, battery life seemed quite good, even for a relatively lightweight machine with a 60 watt-hour battery.
I was able to get more than 24 hours of video streaming on a charge, and able to go a full day doing normal business tasks.
The real questions are performance and compatibility.
Windows on ARM works with native applications and runs 32-bit X86 (Intel or AMD) applications through an emulation mode, but simply doesn’t run 64-bit X86 applications.
In general, I found working with Microsoft’s applications, including the Edge browser and the primary Office applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint was quite sufficient.
The machine worked quite well for meetings with Teams and Zoom.
Firefox and Chrome worked.
I didn’t notice any significant difference doing these things on an ARM based laptop than I have doing similar things on Intel- or AMD-based machines.
They may not be quite as fast, but it was never an issue.
If you have basic needs, Windows on ARM will likely suffice.
However, there are a number of applications that simply don’t work, generally because the modern versions are 64-bit Windows applications only, including the Adobe Creative Cloud applications and Matlab.
I didn’t try games, as this just isn’t designed for advanced games.
While the programs I usually run for benchmarking didn’t work, Daxdi’s benchmarks show the Flex 5G to be notably slower than comparable X86 machines on many tasks.
To me, the speed isn’t nearly the issue that compatibility is.
That’s likely to be a deal-breaker for many potential users.
With the included Qualcomm X55 modem, the Flex 5G can support both high-speed millimeter-wave and longer-distance sub-6GHz 5G technologies, so it should technically be able to work with any 5G network.
But it’s now a Verizon exclusive.
Verizon says it has 5G coverage in 35 cities (as shown on its 5G map) but I don’t live in any of those areas, and even on a short trip to my office in New York, wasn’t able to get it to connect to a 5G network.
However, it usually connected quite well to Verizon’s LTE network, typically giving me 40 to 50 megabytes up and down in normal use, plenty for things like video conferencing.
This may be the first 5G laptop actually available, and as such, connectivity will improve as the network is built out.
Of course, there are a variety of laptops now available with 4G LTE modem options.
On other hardware features, the Flex 5G offers two USB-C ports on the left side; I typically used one for charging and the other for connecting to an HDMI monitor using a Slimport USB-C-to-HDMI cable.
These worked fine, though I still would prefer to see at least one USB-A port, as so many external devices still use this.
The right side of the machine has an on/off switch for the laptop and a separate one for the connectivity, along with a headphone jack.
I found the keyboard and trackpad to be quite reasonable.
Sound quality was good in laptop mode, but with the speakers on the edges of the keyboard, it’s not nearly as good if you use it with the keyboard side down, as in a tablet or presentation mode.
The 720p webcam didn’t seem as bright as the ones I’ve seen on recent business laptops, but it was serviceable.
I wish it had a cover or switch to turn it off.
It has an IR sensor and can work with Windows Hello.
In addition, it has a fingerprint reader on the right side below the keyboard, and that worked quite well.
The 400-nit IPS screen was fine indoors, but appeared a little washed when using it outdoors in bright sunlight.
The Flex 5G includes 802.11ac and Bluetooth 5.0 support, but not support for the new Wi-Fi 6 standard or for Thunderbolt (which is currently limited to Intel systems).
Overall, the Flex 5G is a solid ARM-based machine for basic applications, with 5G connectivity that should be more important in the future, as the network gets built out.
It is probably the best built Windows on ARM machine, and the first 5G laptop, and worked fine with browsers, the Microsoft applications, and even video conferencing applications.
But with a $1,399 list price, most people would better off with a more traditional 2-in-1 or laptop with full Windows applications and an LTE option.
Here’s Daxdi’s 3.5-star review.
