Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x (13-inch or 15-inch) review

The IdeaPad Slim 5x comes in 13-inch and 15-inch versions and was released in April 2026. It uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Plus X2P-42-100. That is an Arm-based chip with six Oryon Prime cores, Adreno X2-45 graphics and an 80 TOPS NPU, not an Intel, AMD or Apple M-series part. Lenovo lists Windows 11 (ARM) in Home or Pro.

The 13-inch model weighs from about 1.19 kg. The 15-inch OLED is about 1.41 kg and the 15-inch LCD about 1.49 kg. Those weights and the battery figures below point to a machine built for carrying around.

The chip has six cores, a maximum turbo of up to 4.0GHz and a 23W TDP. XDA says the Adreno X2-45 integrated graphics run at only 0.9GHz. Owners report weak performance under heavy load and in graphics work.

Given those reports, this suits lighter daily tasks more than long compile runs or sustained graphics work. The spec sheet gives no benchmark figures, so treat the six cores and the owner feedback as the guide.

Memory is 16GB or 32GB of LPDDR5X. It is soldered and not upgradable, so the capacity you buy is the capacity you keep. With no upgrade route, the 32GB option is the safer choice for anyone who expects their workload to grow.

Storage is a 512GB or 1TB M.2 2242 PCIe Gen4 QLC SSD.

The 13-inch model has a 13.3-inch WUXGA 1920x1200 LCD with touch, 400 nits and a 60Hz refresh rate. The 15-inch comes in two forms: a 15.3-inch 2.5K OLED at 500 nits and 165Hz, or a WUXGA LCD at 400 nits and 120Hz.

Owners praise the display as bright and good quality, and they single out the touchscreen. For sharp text, the 2.5K OLED is the stronger spec. The 13-inch is 1920x1200 at 60Hz, so it is the plainer panel of the set.

Battery capacity depends on the model. The 13-inch has 54.7Wh, and the 15-inch has either 70Wh or 54.7Wh. Lenovo rates it at up to 21.4 hours of video playback on a MobileMark 2030 basis.

Reviewers back this up. Expert Reviews measured 27 hours 50 minutes in its video test on the 70Wh battery. Thurrott reports over 8.5 hours of real-world use on the 54.7Wh battery. Those two figures come from different tests on different battery sizes. Tom's Guide describes the battery life as comparable to the M5 MacBook Air.

The keyboard has 1.3mm of key travel, a backlight and a 176-degree hinge. PCWorld says the chassis feels rigid but the key click feels cheap and plastic-y. Owners also complain about a thunky touchpad, grainy speakers and an average webcam. If you take video calls often, those last two matter.

On the right edge are two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, one of them always-on, plus a microSD slot. The left edge has HDMI 2.1, two USB-C ports and an audio jack. The USB-C ports support DP 1.4 and PD 3.0 at 10Gb/s. No Ethernet or USB4 is listed, so fast external storage or docks are limited to those 10Gb/s ports.

Lenovo ships it with Windows 11 (ARM) and doesn't publish a Linux certification. Anyone who needs Linux on the laptop itself should weigh that before buying.

This is a light, long-lasting laptop with a good display, especially in the 15-inch OLED version. The soldered memory, the owner reports of weak heavy-load performance and the lack of USB4 set clear limits. It fits someone who spends most of the day in a browser, documents, terminals and remote sessions, and who values runtime and weight over raw power.