I’ve never been a big laptop guy, but I can’t deny that it feels good to get work done on a couch sometimes. However, most of my casual browsing or scrolling is done on a tablet these days, so it takes a lot for a laptop to actually capture my attention. Coupled with increasing tech costs, it’s hard for me to justify splurging for a laptop. Fortunately, Lenovo has been consistent in targeting laptops that come in under $1,000 and still pack a punch.

Over the past month or so, I’ve been spending time with the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i Gen 11, a laptop that comes in at $900. That puts it on the cusp of what might be considered budget-friendly, but you can drop the price down a little further from the Intel Core 7 350 version if opt for a weaker processor and fewer specs — there’s quite a bit to pick from in the IdeaPad lineup. I’m largely a fan of the Lenovo laptop line, especially the IdeaPad. While I think this is a solid laptop, there are some factors in play that stop me from giving it a full recommendation.

3.5/5

Operating System

Windows 11

CPU

Intel Core 7 350

RAM

16 GB

Storage

512 GB SSD

Pros & Cons

• Good price
• Touchscreen
• Nice feeling keyboard

• Loud fan
• Could use another USB-C port
• I don’t like the number pad

Price, performance, and specs

It can handle a lot of multi-tasking

While the MSRP is $900, you might be to able to find this laptop for a little bit cheaper. At the time of this writing, it’s just $700 at Best Buy, for example. At that price, it’s a solid buy. You get an Intel Core 7 350 CPU, 16 GB of RAM, and a 512 GB SSD. These are great specs, especially in a world where RAM is getting harder and harder to find. Unsurprisingly, we’re running on Windows 11 with this laptop.

The 1920×1200 resolution screen feels standard, but the touchscreen is something I found myself using a lot more than expected. I hook up a wireless mouse when I use the laptop, but if you don’t do that, the touchscreen fares a lot better than the touchpad, in my opinion. The webcam comes with a closeable shutter so you don’t have to worry about accidentally having it on and having somebody looking at you if you’re concerned about that.

As far as battery life, you’re able to get more than enough juice out of a full battery to get through an eight-hour day. Battery saver kicks in at 30%, and I found that you can get nearly back up to a full charge in a little over 30 minutes even while using it.

What I like about the IdeaPad Slim 3i Gen 11

It does a lot of things right

There’s quite a bit I like about the IdeaPad Slim 3i. The standout features to me are the touchscreen and speed on display here. This is a Slim 3i we’re talking about here, so getting an Intel Core 7 processor feels like a nice bonus. The keyboard has a rubbery feel to it that might be weird to some, but I like it. It feels like my fingers sort of stick to the keys, and it gives me a satisfying feeling each time I press down on the keys.

There’s a dedicated Copilot AI button on the keyboard, something that’s becoming more common across laptops in general. I don’t personally have a use for it, but it’s there if you want it. Battery life is good, the stereo speakers sound fine, and the two USB-A ports are great to have. Many devices have been ditching the 3.5mm headphone jack, but this IdeaPad has one included.

On Google Chrome, I often work with at least six tabs open at any given time. Chrome is a bit of a memory hog, but I never had any issues with moving from tab to tab. There were no slowdowns whatsoever. That makes this laptop a great option for students or people who spend a lot of their day word processing. Fortunately, that hits my use case almost perfectly, so I don’t have any performance problems here.

What I don’t like about the IdeaPad Slim 3i Gen 11

This keyboard isn’t for me

Although I like the way the keyboard feels, I don’t like the inclusion of the number pad. My desktop PC’s keyboard doesn’t have one, and my current laptop doesn’t have one either. I didn’t think one would get in the way here, but I was very wrong. I accidentally hit the Num Lock button far too many times to count, and it made the whole keyboard feel more cramped than I’d like. This is largely a personal preference, and I’m sure if I spent more time with the keyboard, I’d get used to it. Over the course of this month, it’s just been a hindrance, and I’d much rather skip a number pad completely in the future.

Another downside is the fan noise. Most times, it was silent, but when I used the laptop while charging, the fan kicked on often and it was pretty loud. Ideally, you shouldn’t use a laptop while it’s charging, but there were some times when I couldn’t avoid it. The charger is an older barrel charger that I never ended up using. A USB-C laptop charger gets the job done, so that’s what I use because I didn’t want to introduce a charging device that only had a single purpose like that if I didn’t have to. However, that does use the sole USB-C port that the laptop has.

Should you buy the IdeaPad Slim 3i Gen 11?

I think there are better options

The main issue here is the price. Yes, $900 isn’t a horrible price tag, but I think there are some better offerings from Lenovo you should consider if this one’s on your radar. I also reviewed the IdeaPad 5x, and that was available for $850. It fixed the issues that I have with this laptop by ditching the number pad. Performance felt similar, the screen was solid, and it even offered a second USB-C port that’s missing on the IdeaPad Slim 3i.

Personally, I’d get more mileage out of the other IdeaPad, so you’ll really need to sit down and figure out what you want in a laptop. There are certainly number pad fans out there, and if that’s you, then the IdeaPad Slim 3i is a good choice. For what I use a laptop for, I felt that both laptops performed close enough to each other that I’d just go for the cheaper option. This isn’t a gaming laptop by any means. I think the best use will be something that you use daily for word processing and watching YouTube. You shouldn’t expect this laptop to handle hardcore video editing or heavy AI workloads. There are Lenovo laptops that can handle that, but this isn’t one.

Ultimately, I do recommend the laptop, but I think you should take a deeper look at the Lenovo line and see if there’s something else that captures your attention. The IdeaPad line is deep, and I could find something that’s better for me for a little cheaper, so maybe you could too.

Operating System

Windows 11

CPU

Intel Core 7 350

RAM

16 GB

Storage

512 GB SSD

Display (Size, Resolution)

1920×1200

Ports

HDMI, USB-C, 2 USB-A, 3.5mm Headphone Jack