Review of Lenovo Ideapad S340 and Ideapad C340

Opening, Specifications, Design, Dimensions, Screen

Opening

For those of you who are looking for a compact laptop, already equipped with the latest processor, discrete GPU, and the price is not too high, two series from Lenovo, namely the Ideapad S340 and Ideapad C340 can be an option.

Previously, please note that the naming of the series is distinguished from its function in general. For the S series is short for Slim. This means that the Ideapad S340 has advantages in its thin and compact dimensions. While the C series of the Ideapad C340 is short for Convertible, which means this tablet can be folded and functions like a tablet. Usually this type of laptop is also often referred to as a 2-in-1. Because it can function as a laptop or tablet.

To see the difference in specifications, let’s just look at the following table.

Specification

Design

Physically, the two Ideapad SKUs are physically similar. It looks minimalist and plain. The body is wrapped in polycarbonate material but the layer is a bit rough. So even though it’s minimalist, it doesn’t look cheap.

The shape is a box but the corners are not stiff. The S340 has a longer hinge than the C340 which has two small hinges. This is also what makes the S340 able to be opened using only one hand because of its solid hinge.

Meanwhile, as a convertible, the C340 hinge can be bent up to 360 by positioning it as a tablet. While the S340 is a conventional laptop, the hinge can be bent almost 180 degrees.

Dimension

Both have dimensions and compact form. So it won’t be a hassle when you carry it around. It only weighs about 1.5 kg which is light and easy to lift with one hand. For dimensions, the C340 has a length of 32.8 cm, a width of 22.9 cm, and a thickness of 1.79 cm. It’s a little different from the S340 with a length of 32.3 cm, a width of 22.8 cm, and the same thickness, namely 1.79 cm.

Screen

These two laptops both have a 14-inch screen size. But the S340 series uses full HD resolution and the C340 series has a lower resolution of 1366 × 768 pixels. It seems that the resolution in the C340 is made lower to catch up with the price. Because the C340 uses a touch screen which is clearly more expensive than a regular screen. Both of them also use a TN panel which is suitable for typing activities and activities that don’t really need details from the screen. This panel has a limited viewing angle, so if you look at the screen from the side, there is a slight degradation of the screen.

It’s no wonder that the color gamut of both is fairly low. For the C340 series, the BOE NT140WHM-N43 panel has 45% NTSC, 60Hz refresh rate, 220 nits brightness, and the touch screen supports ten simultaneous touches (10 finger gestures). As with most tablet functions, the screen is glossy to display sharper colors. Only the effect is so dazzling if it is hit by light reflections. As for the S340, the Innolux N140HGA-EA1 panel uses an anti-glare matte coating so it doesn’t get glared at by light reflections. It has 47% NTSC, 66% sRGB, 49% AdobeRGB, 60Hz refresh rate, and 220 nits of brightness.

Webcam, Keyboard, Touchpad, Battery, I/O Port

Webcam

The webcam is still just a complementary component on this laptop. It has the same resolution, HD 720p. For the quality is fairly standard. In a room with bright lighting, the results are quite clear, although there is still visible noise. Noise will be seen more and more along with the less light in the space used. So, well, it’s still nothing special but it’s enough for just a video chat. The only thing that is different from other laptops is that both are equipped with a camera cover. It’s just a matter of using it. Easy.

Keyboard

Because it targets the same segment, the keyboard layout and shape are the same. Using a chiclet keyboard, these two laptops are comfortable for typing. We did not find any information about the travel key. But from our experience, the feeling feels right under pressure. Moreover, the clicking sound is minimal, this is one of the things that makes it easy to do tasks. The buttons are standard and there is no numpad. The difference is, the S340 series already has a white backlit which has 2 brightness levels. The backlit is clearly visible, because it doesn’t only light up on the side of the button, but also on the letters. While the C340 has no backlit.

Touchpad

The position and design of the touchpad is also the same. It’s in the middle of the spacebar that fits the position of two hands when typing. The size is quite wide, so the palm rest on the left and right is not too wide. There are no physical buttons for left and right clicks. The good thing is, the ground is rough and comfortable for navigation. Don’t miss it already supports Windows precision drivers that can be used for multi gestures up to four fingers.

Battery

Based on testing using PCMark 8 with the Home Conventional scenario, the battery in power saver mode and the minimum brightness level, the Idepad C340 only lasts up to 3 hours 42 minutes While in the same scenario the Ideapad S340 lasts up to 4 hours 35 minutes. So for those of you who only use this laptop for office/browsing activities, it can last up to 5 hours for the C340 and up to 6 hours for the S340.

I/O Port

The connectivity of these two laptops is complete and similar, both in terms of number and placement. For example, on the left side, which both have a DC-in adapter port, HDMI, and the cool thing is that there is a USB 3.1 Gen 1 type-C port. Then there is still a 3.5mm audio jack for earphones. The right side is also similar, on the right there are two USB 3.1 Gen 1 type-A, one of which supports smartphone battery charging if the laptop is turned off. In addition, there is a card reader next to it. Next to it there is a hole called the Nova Button, its function is to make a quick recovery. But what makes the difference a little, is that on the C340 near the card reader there is a Power Button. This is to make it easier when used as a tablet. While on the S340, the Power Button is in the upper right corner of the keyboard.

Upgradeability, Storage, Software, Audio, Temperature

Upgradeability

The Ideapad C340 can still be upgraded even though all the slots have been installed. For RAM, only one slot is available. The RAM already has 4GB permanently installed, and there is one more slot that has been filled with 4GB. So if you want to upgrade, just replace the 4GB RAM, for example, change to 8GB or 16GB. For SSD there is only one and 512GB is installed. No slot for 2.5 inch. For the Ideapad S340 there is still a SATA3 slot for HDD or SSD.

Storage

For those who want fast read and write performance, as much as possible look for one that is already using an SSD. Well, both of these laptops obviously already use SSD. The bandwidth it uses is also fast PCIe 3.0 x4. The standard capacity is 512GB. In tests using CrystalDisk Mark, the score is the same as fast, for reading around 3000 and writing scores close to 3000. Likewise, the score on the second AS SSD Benchmark is almost close to 3000 for read and write scores. When idle, the SSD temperature on the S340 is around 45 degrees Celsius. While the C340 is cooler at 38 degrees Celsius.

Software

To optimize some features, you can use the default software, namely Lenovo Vantage. Although the same, but each Lenovo Vantage interface is slightly different. Here there are settings and information about battery or audio. But what’s different, the Ideapad C340 has a cooling setting, you can choose performance or cool & quiet. From the name, you can guess its function, namely for performance options or power saving.

Audio

The position of the two speakers is also on the bottom side. In general, the sound output is quite loud and steady. But at the volume setting stuck at 100%, on the S340 the sound is a bit broken and the speakers seem to vibrate. This seems to happen because the material in the area near the speakers is not as solid as on the C340. This does happen only at 100% volume on the speakers on the S340. While on the C340 the sound remains loud at 100% volume. Oh yes, on the Lenovo Vantage there are several choices of audio profiles, although the sound difference presented is not too different. Maybe if you use a headset, the effect is bigger.

Temperature

It is quite interesting to see that the C340 series uses two fans on the inside. It’s like that as previously mentioned that the C340 has a cooling setting from Lenovo Vantage. So the temperature can be minimized with these settings. This was proven when we did a stress test using AIDA64. With full load, the temperature on the C340 series is monitored, the highest temperature is 70 degrees and the lowest is 41 degrees. This is different from the S340 series which only uses one fan, for the highest temperature is 89 degrees and the lowest is 43 degrees. This temperature is still relatively safe, because the stress test load that we do rarely occurs in daily use.

Performance, Conclusion

Performance

For performance, the benchmarks that we did produce a good score in its class. From the results we get, it can be seen that usage, such as editing images, editing videos, editing audio, or running office-based applications, is still comfortable to do.

Performance can also be seen from the stress test on both processors. The dual-core Intel i3-10110U used by the C340 has the advantage of having a high clock frequency. When the stress test, the average clock is at 3.5 GHz and with a fairly low temperature. As for the quad-core Intel i5-10210U used by the S340, the stress test made the clock frequency stable in the 3 GHz range. Both display maximum performance with a clock above its base clock. However, the C340 displays a more attractive performance.

For those who are curious about performance for playing games, this laptop is not for that. Especially for triple A games, it’s better not to be forced to play them here. But we still try to run some games to just know the performance of the GPU.

Because the C340 only supports resolutions up to 1366×768, for balance, we benchmarked both laptops with 1280 x 720 settings. As a result, games like CS:GO or Dota 2, still scored above 60 fps. But interestingly for games like Rise of The Tomb Raider, GTA V, and PUBG, the C340 score is still higher than S340. For more details, you can see the following chart.

Conclusion

Lenovo Ideapad S340 and Ideapad C340 are two laptops that are quite interesting in their class. When compared, both have their respective advantages. The Lenovo Ideapad S340, which is priced at IDR 9,750,000, has a compact design and minimalist appearance and uses an Intel Core 10th Gen CPU with a higher SKU than the Ideapad C340. The screen also has a higher resolution, namely FullHD. The backlit keyboard is also an advantage that the Ideapad C340 doesn’t have.

While the Lenovo Ideapad C340 has an advantage in terms of a cheaper price, which is Rp. 8,999,000. No wonder because the CPU uses a lower SKU than the S340. After all, the resolution is still HD. However, the C340 already uses a touch screen panel and is equipped with a stylus for wider productivity than a regular screen. In addition, in terms of performance, the C340 is more optimal with a higher clock frequency but cooler temperatures. Both are claimed by Lenovo to have Speed, Security, Durability, and Great Design-you can have it all. We still agree with the claim, but what we like is that these two laptops have a two-year warranty called premium care and get ADP or accidental damage protection.

Not only that, there is another additional bonus in the form of the original 2021 microsoft office home & student worth 1.799 million rupiah. Hold on. One more addition, you can get a grabgift of 400 thousand and an additional 150 thousand if you enter the voucher code PemmzxLenovo . to redeem it, you go directly to lenovopromo.com. So you can eat for free one week if you buy this laptop, hahaha.

So, how is it? You have already made your choice, but which one to choose. What is certain is that you choose according to the needs and activities that you will often do.

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