You couldn't ask for a much better debut for the Snapdragon X2 Plus than the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x Gen 11

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x Gen 11 is hoping to buck a trend. So far, the launch of Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 processors has focused on the high-end laptop market. That's not surprising; the flagship Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme is a beast of a chip, combining multi-core performance to match Intel, AMD's, and Apple's best mainstream mobile processors. It's only natural that manufacturers would want to focus on powerful mid-range and high-end laptops built around it.

Yet Qualcomm and its partners had another story to tell with the original Snapdragon X range. There, processors in the Snapdragon X and X Plus lines powered a new wave of affordable thin-and-light devices from the likes of Acer, Asus, HP, Microsoft, and Lenovo, branded under Microsoft's Copilot+ PC initiative. If these laptops didn't always make as big an impact as they deserved to, it had nothing to do with the often great hardware or the underlying tech. Well, now Qualcomm is back for a second try with the Snapdragon X2 Plus, and you couldn't ask for a much better debut for it than the new Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x Gen 11.

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Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x Gen 11: Design

Lenovo has developed an appealing habit of making laptops that feel premium even though they have a budget or mid-range price tag, and the IdeaPad Slim 5x (Gen 11) is another great example. It comes in 13in and 15in formats, both with elegant and durable all-aluminium bodies. The 13in model we've had in for testing isn't quite in the ultralight class of the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI or the Asus Zenbook A14, but at 1.41kg it isn't exactly a backbreaker, either. With a compact 339 x 236mm footprint and a thickness of just under 16mm, it's an easy fit in most briefcases, bags, and backpacks.

The design feels very similar to the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 (Gen 10), only without the distinctive rippled underside. The aluminium doesn't feel wafer-thin, the build is free of sharp corners and rough edges, and it all feels good and solid, as backed up by MIL-STD-810H certification for shock and temperature-resistance. A chunky rubber strip, running almost the whole width of the laptop, raises the keyboard deck slightly and keeps the laptop steady during desktop use.

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The connectivity gives you some indication that this isn't a high-end device. There are two USB-C ports on the left-hand side, but they're both 10Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 spec rather than USB 4, locking you out of faster USB 4 SSDs and docking stations. Still, this isn't a huge concern right now, given the lack of such products on the market. The two USB Type-A ports on the right are even slower, with both stuck at 5Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 1 speeds.

On the positive side, you get an HDMI 2.1 port for connecting external displays, while both USB-C ports can output a DisplayPort 1.4 signal if you're looking for a multi-screen setup. You also have Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 onboard, along with a proper, old-school headphone jack and a handy micro-SD card reader.

The trackpad is positively luxurious for an affordable device, with a reasonably large 120 x 75mm glass surface that feels smooth to the touch and is perfectly responsive in its tracking. And if the keyboard doesn't hit ThinkPad levels of greatness, the large, flat keys with their curved front edges are generously-sized and well spaced out, with a light, if shallow action that won't slow you down while you work. As with most aspects of the IdeaPad Slim 5x Gen 11, it doesn't feel compromised to cut costs.

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x Gen 11: Display

Most aspects, but maybe not all. The screen is perfectly good in most respects. It's bright enough for comfortable use in most conditions, with a maximum brightness of 440cd/m2, while it covers the full range of the sRGB colour space, which, if you're not involved in professional creative work, is probably all you need. There's nothing special about a 1920 x 1200-pixel resolution on a 13.3in display, but it looks sharp in everyday use, and there's not too much visible pixelation at a normal viewing distance.

All the same, it's an IPS display, so it can't match the contrast or vibrant colour we've seen from similarly-priced laptops bearing OLED screens. It covers 74.6% of the DCI-P3 colour space, which isn't bad, but colours aren't quite as rich and vivid as they are on the Swift Edge 14 AI, Zenbook A14, or the Chromebook Plus 14 (Gen 10). None of these laptops is hugely expensive, either.

To balance this, the audio is pretty good for a 13in laptop. The sound is clear enough for voice and video calls or meetings, there's a likeable stereo spread, and even music is played with a bit more warmth and detail than we'd expect from an affordable device. Some harshness comes in at higher volumes, but not at the kind of levels you'd use in the office or while working at home. Video captured by the 1080p webcam could be a little cleaner, especially in low-light conditions, but it's fine for everyday meetings, and the IR module and Windows Hello support give you a quick, reliable way to sign in.

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x Gen 11: Specs and performance

The Snapdragon X2 Plus X2P-42-100 sits near the bottom of the Snapdragon X2 line, with just six Oryon v3 cores running six threads at up to 4GHz. If you're expecting staggering speeds, you may want to curb your enthusiasm. However, its single-core performance appears to be very good, with its Geekbench 6 single-core score of 3215 beating not just the Snapdragon X Plus in the Zenbook A14, but also a wide range of laptops with Intel Lunar Lake and Panther Lake processors, including the Acer Swift 16 AI and Asus ExpertBook Ultra.

Multi-core performance isn't quite as strong, and the Slim 5x's Geekbench 6 score – 11704 – is a way behind the 8-core AMD Ryzen AI 7 and Panther Lake competition, where you're looking at scores in the 16000s. Its multi-core scores in Cinebench 2024's rendering benchmarks are nothing to write home about, either with a decent 128 for single-core rendering but just 649 for multi-core. Here, the Swift 16 AI scored 943, with the ExpertBook Ultra at 838.

Still, this is a cheaper device, and the difference in multi-core performance isn't something you'll pick up in everyday use with productivity applications or while working across multiple SaaS apps. The IdeaPad Slim 5x feels nippy and responsive even while balancing a dozen browser tabs or a workspace with multiple apps. What's more, its scores with the six-core Snapdragon X2 Plus are better than the Asus Zenbook A14's scores with the eight-core Snapdragon X Plus, showing that Qualcomm has made some significant performance improvements from the previous generation chips.

Just be warned that 3D graphics really isn't the Snapdragon X2 Plus's thing. The Lenovo is faster than the old Zenbook A14 (2025) in 3DMark's Time Spy and Steel, Nomad (light) tests, but a long way behind any Lunar Lake or Panther Lake machine, not to mention the Zenbook A16 with its Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme CPU. The latter has a much more powerful GPU.

Luckily, there's ample compensation in the X2P-42-100's superb energy efficiency. Despite having a rather average 54.7Whr battery, the IdeaPad Slim 5x produced one of the greatest feats of laptop stamina we've ever seen, not just surviving a full 24 hours of HD video playback from a single charge, but an additional three hours on top. A couple of days of light use without a charger shouldn't be out of the question, provided you don't push the brightness all the way up.

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x Gen 11: Is it worth it?

The IdeaPad Slim 5x has much to offer businesses, particularly smaller businesses where budgets may be tight. It's a stylish, solidly-built, and very usable laptop that doesn't look or feel inexpensive. All the same, it's fallen victim to the same creeping price increases we've seen everywhere this year, and at just over £900, it's not quite as fantastic a value as it would have been for around £800. As it is, it's going up against laptops with stronger specs and OLED screens, including models that came out in 2025 but still perform well today. The IdeaPad Slim 5x (Gen 11) is definitely a strong option, but you might want to wait for the right deal before you make your move.

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x Gen 11 Specifications