Lenovo S21e Review

By Michael C. Smith On May 20, 2016

OUR VERDICT

74%

GOOD

With the Lenovo Lenovo S21e, you need to be sure your biggest requirement in a laptop is a small size and a small price tag. If both of those things matter most to you, any other complaints about the system will fall to the wayside, as you'll understand that with such requirements it is necessary to make sacrifices.

EDITORS RATING

The Lenovo S21e is a value for money laptop that many bargain hunters will give a special consideration. The Lenovo s21 answers a clarion call for the road warriors as it packs portability and performance together to get the job done. The 11-incher laptop is driven by Intel Celeron N2840 CPU running at 2.16GHz processor for optimum responsiveness that facilitates pleasant user experience.

It also features a modest 2GB RAM and 32GB Hard drive. Provided the users keep their expectations in check and abide by the basic computing tasks such as web browsing, email and light productivity, the Lenovo s21e promises to serve them well for sub $200 laptops. The Lenovo S21e will go up against the HP Stream 11 and Acer E11 but there’s nothing in the specifications that sets the Lenovo apart.

The Lenovo S21e comes pre-installed with windows 8.1 that is upgradeable to windows 10 which adds useful features like an improved Start menu and the Cortana virtual assistant. The S21e is a beautiful, thin, light and robust 11-inch notebook for fashion-concerned individuals with a similar design to the Lenovo N20 Chromebook. The Lenovo S21E weighs 2.5 pounds and measures 11.61 x 8.36 x 0.74 inches. So whether you’re off to another meeting or another country, this laptop means portability is a walk in the park.

Performance

The Lenovo S21e sports an Intel Celeron N2840 dual-core processor with 1MB cache that clocks 2.16 – 2.58GHz. It also has 2GB 1333MHz DDR3L memory soldered on-board. Two gigabytes is hardly enough for Windows 8.1 (64-bit), but you’ll have to do with that, upgrading the RAM is not possible here. For storage, there is an unreplaceable 32GB (SSD) embedded MMC of which you remain with 20GB for your usage to store music and documents after installing windows files. This device gives you enough power for Microsoft Office, checking e-mails, casual gaming, browsing the web and simple multitasking.

For connectivity purposes, the Lenovo s21e comes with one USB 3.0 port and one USB 2.0 port for connecting external peripherals such as storage or optical drives. It also has a micro HDMI port on the left that can be connected to larger screens to watch a movie. It also comes with an 802.11b/g/n wireless, Bluetooth Version 4.0 an audio port and 2-in-1 card reader. The 11.6-inch HD LED-Backlit display, 1366×768-pixels with AntiGlare offers vibrant, sharp visuals for text, photos, and videos. Image quality is enhanced with a good graphics performance for your multimedia files given that it has an integrated Intel HD Graphics.

Battery Life

The laptop integrates a 4-Cell 23.2 Watt Hour Li-Polymer battery, the Lenovo S21e will give you up to 5 hours of productive usage. The S21e with a full AccuType keyboard gives you typing quickly and comfortable, and features a wide touchpad so you can scroll, point, and click with ease. It also comes with stereo speakers and Dolby Home Theater.

It’s a great audio system for the price and delivers rich audio and amazing quality sound for music and movies. With an integrated 0.3M camera built-in single digital array microphone allows you to hold online chats and video conferences.

Summary

With the Lenovo Lenovo S21e, you need to be sure your biggest requirement in a laptop is a small size and a small price tag. If both of those things matter most to you, any other complaints about the system will fall to the wayside, as you’ll understand that with such requirements it is necessary to make sacrifices and go for the Dell Inspiron 13 which guarantees you superb performance.

The S21e isn’t going to work as a gaming system, as a way to render videos or perform other intensive tasks. It will, however, take up little room in your bag, will let you surf the web as often as you’d like, and probably be less of a financial burden than your last car payment. The HP Stream 11 which is our Editor’s Choice in this budget category for its Intel HD Graphics that offer better display.