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Back in June, Lenovo took the wraps off of two new 11th Gen Tiger Lake Chromebooks. The first device was the expected refresh to the very popular and budget-friendly Chromebook Flex 5. This new model brought little in the way of hardware updates but the power that Intel’s Tiger Lake CPUs brings to the table warranted the minimal price bump of roughly fifty dollars. Suffice to say, the new Flex 5 will likely be a solid seller for Lenovo thanks to the gains from Tiger Lake and the well-rounded spec sheet it brings to the party.
The other device comes in the form of a clamshell with similar specs and a unique light bar on the front edge to let you know your current battery levels. The Lenovo Chromebook 5i landed on Lenovo’s website a few weeks ago and immediately went on sale. At that time, I was hesitant to recommend it due to the 4GB of RAM that was matched with the 11th Gen Pentium Gold processor. Well, I have been forced to reconsider my opinion. We just took possession of a review unit of this exact device and come to find out, the Pentium 7505 CPU is just as much a beast as its bigger Core i3/i5/i7 siblings. Proportionately speaking, of course. This Chromebook, with only 4GB of RAM, pumps out an insane 46,000 Octane score, and moving around the device is just as buttery as many Core i5 devices from previous Intel generations.
Now, at the retail price of $439, I may still recommend shopping around. However, Lenovo has once again slashed the price on this Chromebook and you can pick it up for only $304.99. Now that I’ve seen the benchmarks, I must ask for some forgiveness. This beasty little device is powerful enough for most average users and the FullHD display pumps out 300 nits which is better than its convertible cousin, the Flex 5i. If you’re looking for a solid Chromebook at a very affordable price, this is almost a no-brainer. Additionally, you can grab an extra 6% cashback if you shop with your Rakuten account on Lenovo.com. Stay tuned. We’ll have the unboxing and review of this Chromebook headed your way ASAP. Special thanks to George E. for spotting this deal.
Lenovo Chromebook 5i key specs
- Chrome OS
- 11th Gen Intel Pentium Gold 7505 dual-core CPU
- 4GB LPDDR4x-3733 RAM (soldered)
- 128GB NVMe SSD
- 14″ FHD IPS display 1920×1080 @ 300 nits
- non-backlit keyboard
- 2 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 1
- USB-A 3.2 Gen 1
- MicroSD
- 3.5mm audio jack
- Google H1 security chip
- 720p webcam
- Camera privacy shutter
- Dual-tone aluminum top
- Wi-fi 6/Bluetooth 5.1
