Lenovo y50 gaming laptop. Lenovo IdeaPad Y5070 is a gaming laptop with an Achilles heel. What customers write in their reviews

When it comes to a gaming laptop, we all vividly imagine a gadget with a large screen that demonstrates perfect color reproduction; the most powerful filling and a corresponding impressive gaming appearance. There are a lot of prototypes for creating such an ideal picture in your head, the most famous representatives include MSI with its G line, Dell with Alienware, or the ROG segment in ASUS.

Lenovo is widely known for its devices, and although the gaming segment is not yet fully established for it, it is definitely only a matter of time. Not long ago we wrote about the Lenovo IdeaPad Y7070 laptop, which we liked in absolutely all respects. Today we will talk about its 15.6-inch brother – Lenovo IdeaPad Y5070. At first glance, this laptop has a lot of advantages - a Full HD screen, an Intel Core i7 processor, a powerful chipset and good battery life.

Specifications

CPU:	Intel Core i7-4710HQ 2500 MHz
RAM:	16 GB DDR3 1600 MHz
Data storage:	1 TB SSHD 5400 rpm + 8 GB SSD
Display:	15.6" 1920x1080 Full HD LED TN, matte
Video card:	Intel HD Graphics 4600, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M 4 GB GDDR5
Drive unit:	DVD Super Multi
Wireless connection:	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
Audio:	Dolby Advanced Audio v2, 2 speakers, subwoofer
Interfaces:	2xUSB 3.0, USB 2.0, HDMI, RJ-45, SD/MMC/SDHC/SDXC card reader, S/PDIF, combined audio jack
Additionally:	720p webcam
Battery:	4-cell Li-ion 6700 mAh
Dimensions, weight:	387x263x24 mm, 2.4 kg
Operating system:	Windows 8.1
Equipment:	Lenovo IdeaPad Y5070 (59424983)

Design

Typically, gaming laptops have a 17-inch form factor, but in this case the device is more compact, because its diagonal is 15 inches. The cover of the gadget is made of aluminum and is decorated with many intersecting lines that create the impression of a dotted surface. However, in life it looks quite interesting and unusual, in general, it attracts attention. In addition, closer to the edges of the lid there are two vertical ribs, adding to the design to some extent predatory and a certain brutality. In general, the engineers did their best: the appearance of the laptop is strict, minimalistic, and it is clear that the device is not for everyday use, but for solving serious problems.

However, the lid turned out to be imperfect due to its soiling. Metal actively collects fingerprints and dust, so if the laptop is not regularly wiped, it will quickly lose its presentable appearance.

The inside of the laptop is just as cool as the outside. The display is surrounded by a medium-sized glossy frame, on the top edge of which there is a webcam. The two parts of the laptop are connected by a hinge mechanism, which is fixed clearly in the center. The abundance of red color immediately catches your eye: it adorns the speaker grilles and the side edges of the keyboard buttons. Below it is a medium-sized touchpad, which still plays a secondary role in gaming laptops.

As for the bottom, it has received exactly the same texture as the lid, so soiling is also present here. The solid bottom is dotted with ventilation grilles, on one side of which you can see the red mesh of the subwoofer. Although the Lenovo IdeaPad Y5070 cannot be called compact, in general its dimensions (387x263x24 mm) and weight (2.4 kg) are acceptable for a gaming laptop. But compared to the IdeaPad Y7070, which weighs 3.4 kg, our 15.6-inch model is downright fluffy!

Display, sound and webcam

The 15.6-inch laptop screen has Full HD resolution, and if not for the other characteristics, the display could be called good. However, the whole impression is spoiled by the TN matrix, which, unfortunately, is not capable of providing wide viewing angles, so even a slight deviation inevitably entails inversion.

The coating is matte and this is both good and bad. The advantage is that a matte screen does not suffer from sun glare as much as a glossy screen, but the disadvantage is that the colors do not look very saturated. The brightness in this case is a little more than 200 cd/m2, and the contrast is also not doing well. Compliance with the sRGB space does not reach 60%. Touch control, which is present in the 17-inch older brother, is not provided here.

Well, it’s easy to guess that all these characteristics make the screen not the most ideal option for games, because it is important for gamers not only that the toy runs smoothly, but also its visual perception, i.e. how realistic and colorful the characters and events will be displayed on the screen. By the way, there is another configuration that includes a display with a higher resolution – 3840x2160 pixels (4K). It has a glossy surface and supports touch input, and the pictures are incredibly clear and rich.

For complete immersion in virtual reality, sound is of great importance. The Lenovo IdeaPad Y5070 has no problems with this: the speakers from JBL support Dolby Advanced Audio v2 technology, so the output sound is quite good. By the way, the speakers are hard to miss; the engineers placed special emphasis on them, highlighting their grilles in red.

In order to enhance the bass, a subwoofer is provided on the bottom.

The screen is surrounded by a glossy frame, which, to be honest, does not look very solid, adding a taste of cheapness. On its top frame you can see a webcam with a resolution of 720p. It is suitable, say, for video conferencing, but taking full-fledged pictures with it is out of the question.

Keyboard and touchpad

The keyboard of a gaming laptop is an important element of the gaming process, because how comfortable and ergonomic it is determines the quality of the game itself. The Lenovo IdeaPad Y5070 has a full-size AccuType keyboard. The entire working surface received a soft-touch coating, fortunately, it is not very easily soiled and is tactilely pleasant. The keyboard is island-type, the buttons are of normal size, and there is a lot of space around them. The travel of the keys is average, there are also no special problems with the response, the pressing is soft, but at the same time clear. The substrate does not bend, even if you deliberately press on it.

The buttons are marked white, and their side edges are painted red. Based on this, it’s easy to guess that the keyboard backlight is also red. It is moderately bright, however, such an aggressive color is still more for everyone, and therefore may irritate someone. You can adjust the brightness of the backlight (here it is two-level) using the + key combination. The pointer block has received notches, which makes it easier to type blindly during the next gaming battle.

The area above the keyboard is glossy and easily collects dust. Next to the right speaker there are two buttons: the larger one serves to turn on the laptop, but the smaller one, or, as it is also called the Lenovo super-key, launches system recovery mode.

Below the keyboard, with a clear shift to the left, is a large touchpad. It has a smooth surface and clearly noticeable boundaries, but, admittedly, the characteristics of the manipulator for the gameplay are not particularly important. Typically, gamers use gaming mice, neglecting the touchpad, and the latter is only suitable for web surfing.

Performance

Lenovo IdeaPad Y5070 (59424983) comes with Windows 8.1 operating system. As for the laptop's hardware, it includes a quad-core Intel Core i7-4710HQ processor of the Haswell generation. Thanks to Turbo Boost technology, the operating frequency can be from 2.5 to 3.5 GHz, and the presence of Hyper-Threading means that four cores are capable of processing up to eight threads simultaneously. The CPU is made using a 22 nm process technology, the level 3 cache is 6 MB, and the heat dissipation does not exceed 47 W.

Of course, the gaming laptop has two video cards. The integrated one is Intel HD Graphics 4600, which is ideal for everyday work. Its frequency depends on the load: the minimum is 400 MHz, and the maximum is 1350 MHz. The video card supports DirectX 11.1, OpenCL 1.2, OpenGL 4.0, has a 4K decoder and a Quick Sync encoder.

An important role is played by the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M discrete graphics with 4 GB of GDDR5 video memory, built on Maxwell architecture. It has a fairly high operating frequency, which ranges from 1029 MHz to 5000 MHz. Among the advantages of discrete is the presence of a PureVideo HD (VP6) video processor, which decodes H.264 and MPEG-2 video, support for DirectX 11 and Shader 5.0.

The amount of RAM in the laptop is 16 GB of DDR3-1600 MHz standard, and this is the maximum available. If we talk about the memory allocated for storing information, then in this case there is a hybrid SSHD drive with a capacity of 1 TB with a spindle speed of 5400 rpm and 8 GB of cache memory, which is used to speed up the launch of the OS and applications.

Games

You can understand the real capabilities of this graphic editor only by looking at the results of the games you run. For example, the Evolve toy with native resolution at maximum settings will run at 27-30 fps. The well-known game Tomb Raider with the same parameters will show 39-43 frames per second. And finally, our third “test subject” - GRID: Autosport on ultra settings will launch at about 40 fps.

Ports and communications

Well, let's see how things are with the ports of the Lenovo IdeaPad Y5070 laptop. On the left side you can see two USB 3.0 ports, which cannot be confused with anything, because they are highlighted in the same red color. Next to them is an HDMI video output, an RJ-45 port and a Lenovo-branded rectangular charging socket.

On the opposite side there are: USB 2.0, a 4-in-1 card reader (SD/MMC/SDXC/SDHC), S/PDIF for connecting external speakers, a combined audio jack and a Kensington lock.

There are no interfaces at the back, but in the front there are four indicators: laptop and storage operation, touchpad and battery charge status.

There is also an optical DVD drive, however, it is not built-in, but external, that is, it is connected via a USB port. By the way, it comes included, and you don’t need to spend extra money on it. Although it is difficult to get rid of the idea that such a bonus is very dubious. Nowadays, an optical drive is more likely to be considered a relic of the past, and many would prefer to see a lower price tag for a laptop rather than an external drive included in the kit, the price of which is already included in the general price list.

Wireless modules are standard: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0.

Battery and heating

Of course, all components are important for any laptop, however, depending on its positioning, certain characteristics may fade into the background. For example, for an ultrabook, its battery life is important, but for a gaming laptop, on the contrary, survivability indicators are not so significant, because such a gadget is usually within reach of an outlet. But, undoubtedly, good “vital” indicators are an excellent bonus and an additional opportunity to stand out among competitors.

This laptop has a 4-cell lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 6700 mAh. This is enough for about 2 hours of gameplay and about 4 hours in reading mode. In principle, this is a common result that gaming laptops tend to demonstrate.

When it comes to heating, things are much better, because the powerful cooling system does its job perfectly. The bottom may become warm during play, but not so warm as to cause discomfort.

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Conclusion

The Lenovo IdeaPad Y5070 laptop belongs to the gaming segment, and therefore has some specific features. First of all, it differs from ordinary laptops in its design. In addition to black, its appearance is dominated by red, which makes the device somewhat aggressive, emphasizing its belonging to the gaming niche. The filling of this gadget is its strongest side, because it is represented by a powerful Intel Core i7-4710HQ processor and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M video card. Thanks to this tandem, it is possible to run demanding games, even at maximum settings.

Unfortunately, the laptop is not without its shortcomings. Its weakness turned out to be a screen with a far from high-quality TN matrix. Full HD resolution and a 15-inch diagonal should seem to evoke a feeling of satisfaction on the user’s face, but in fact, all other indicators leave much to be desired: the display is dim, with poor viewing angles. Accordingly, it will not be possible to appreciate a game with high-level graphics. The keyboard performed well, and there are no complaints about the interfaces, except that the lack of a VGA video output is a little disappointing. As for the cost, the price of our configuration is approximately $1500, and it could be considered acceptable if not for the weak display.

One of Intel's most powerful laptop processors at the moment, in the Y50-70 its performance was noticeably worse than expected. The reason for this turned out to be almost unused Turbo frequencies: They are used only for a few seconds after a serious load appears, after which the frequency drops to the base 2.4 GHz. It's good that no throttling... There is no point in choosing a configuration with an i7-4710HQ at all; the only difference between this processor is the base and maximum Turbo frequencies increased by 100 MHz. We tested another Y50-70 model with a UHD screen and an i7-4710HQ and our fears were confirmed - the frequency did not drop below the base one (for the i7-4710HQ it is 100 MHz higher, 2.5 GHz), but the Turbo mode still does not used.

You can also choose a configuration with a Core i5-4200H - due to half the number of cores (2), its performance is slightly lower, especially in multi-threaded tasks. True, the i5-4200H almost catches up with both Core i7s in single-threaded tasks thanks to its high Turbo frequency.

Despite the virtually absent Turbo mode, productivity both Core i7 don't care enough for any games- in the end, a powerful video card is more important there. The processor, of course, also plays an important role, but even “only” 2.4 GHz Core i7-4700HQ/4710HQ is enough. But for resource-intensive tasks that are highly dependent on processor speed or at least capable of getting a noticeable increase in performance from increasing the frequency by 1 GHz (virtualization, financial or engineering calculations, compiling large programs, etc.), the Y50-70 is not very suitable Fine. It is better to choose a laptop with fully enabled Turbo Boost.

Alternatives with Core i5 can perform at almost the same level, but in games and other tasks that can use 4 cores and/or the Core i7 Hyper-Threading, they will lag far behind. We suggest that you familiarize yourself in detail with the benchmarks of each processor in our knowledge base and decide whether a Core i5 is sufficient for your tasks or whether it is better to choose one of the models with a Core i7.

Because the RAM presented two modules(in our sample their manufacturer is Samsung) of equal volume (8 GB) and frequency (1600 MHz), it works in two-channel mode. This provides a small increase in the performance of the system as a whole and a slightly more significant (10-20%) increase in the performance of the built-in video card. Most of all, this affects the speed of video conversion using technology Intel QuickSync. For games and high-definition videos capable of running on HD Graphics 4600, however, single-channel mode will be sufficient. So if the configuration you choose has only one stick of RAM, adding a second one only makes sense if for some reason the performance of the integrated graphics is important to you. True, if only 4 GB of memory is installed, it is recommended to add another 4 GB for games - even Battlefield 3, released three years ago, four gigabytes of memory is not always enough, not to mention the new Battlefield 4, Crysis 3 and some demanding games of the next generation, release which are expected in the fall-winter or early next year (GTA V, Witcher 3, Assassin's Creed Unity). If there are two 4 GB sticks, this should be enough. Upgrading the memory is easy... if you can remove the stubborn bottom As we already said, it didn’t work out for us.

Gaming laptops are a very specific product - the manufacturer needs to place high-performance components in a compact device, take care of heat removal, remember to draw a memorable design, add a comfortable keyboard, etc. You should not miss the cost of such devices; often the price tag strives to be similar to a phone number. Today we will get acquainted with one of these devices, meet Lenovo Y50-70 (59-430837).

Externally, this is a gaming device with a bright appearance, aggressive air ducts, a slanted speaker grid and an overall supercar style. It seems that Filippo Perini, in addition to his main work at Lamborghini, takes hack work from Lenovo and draws laptop designs for the latter - the style is very similar.

The outer part is completely framed in aluminum with a worn texture. On the lid you can see the dark Lenovo logo, which at first you may not notice at all. The lower part contains a low-frequency speaker with bright burgundy perforations, rubber feet for better grip, a more stable position on the table and heat dissipation. There is also a mesh at the bottom for the cooling system.

Opening the laptop, you immediately notice the speakers, again made like Lamborghini headlights or air ducts, which, by the way, are from the famous company JBL, but more on that later. And the keyboard, which has a black finish and burgundy edges, stands out - it looks expensive and beautiful.

The main material under the keyboard is matte plastic with a soft-touch coating. The touchpad is minimalistic, supports multi-touch and has a short, but rather tight stroke.

The area of ​​the speakers and the power and recovery buttons is made of glossy plastic, which goes to the edge of the matte display. Above the screen there is a camera, an LED indicator and two microphones. To prevent damage to the display, the frame around it has a small protrusion.

We must warn you that fingerprints are quite noticeable and, due to the specific nature of the materials, are very difficult to remove. The soft-touch coating inside also perfectly preserves any traces. But the assembly is 5 out of 5 - nothing bad can be said.

Connection, indication

The left side has a socket for a charger, an Ethernet connector, HDMI and two constantly active USB 3.0.

The right one, in addition to the hole for the lock, has a USB 2.0 port, a slot for SD memory cards, a combined 3.5 mm Jack for headphones and microphone and 3.5 mm SPDIF.

On the front edge there are four indicators in the left corner - power, battery, touchpad and hard drive.

Most users will have nothing to complain about.

Communications

Lenovo Y50, depending on the configuration, is equipped with one of two wireless adapters - Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 (802.11ac) or Qualcomm Atheros AR956x (802.11 a/b/g/n). In our case, this is precisely the solution from Qualcomm, which almost always worked stably, only once the signal was unstable and disappeared, but this did not happen again in the future.

Bluetooth 4.0 is provided by the Qualcomm Atheros AR3012 adapter, with which we did not have any problems. Connection via Ethernet is implemented thanks to a gigabit adapter from Realtek.

Ergonomics

I remember the Dell Alienware M15x gaming laptop from 2010, which at that time had both impressive equipment and dimensions and weight. Judge for yourself - four kilograms and a thickness of 50 mm. Although at the time it didn’t seem like much. Now, manufacturers have learned to fit into more compact cases the filling level of tower gaming computers. Lenovo Y50 is just such a representative of modern gaming laptops.

Discrete video adapter NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M with 4 GB memory + integrated video Intel HD Graphics 4600.

5400 RPM hybrid hard drive with 1 TB capacity and built-in 8 GB NAND Flash memory.

16 GB DDR3L RAM.

Performance is, naturally, at a high level, this is proven by benchmarks and modern computer games.

But, unfortunately, the new Assassin’s Creed Unity and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, when turning all graphic settings to maximum, produce a completely indecent amount of FPS - from 1 to 10. At high settings, the Lenovo Y50 demonstrates excellent performance with a highly detailed picture.

The built-in benchmark of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor at “ultra” graphics settings shows a decent 30+ frames per second.

Need for Speed: Rivals also shows a fixed 30 FPS at maximum graphics settings.

Many may be upset by the fact that when purchasing such an expensive solution there is no way to get the most out of absolutely all modern gaming products, but the fact remains that you have to pay for portability.

Lenovo Y50-70 (59-430837) comes with the Windows 8.1 operating system pre-installed. And of course, a whole set of pre-installed software is available.

The Energy Manager program, which has already become a classic for Lenovo laptops, deserves special attention. Here you can set a performance mode (energy saving, balanced, high performance) and a special boot mode that prevents sleep mode from turning on and the display turning off. To avoid premature wear of the battery, there is a storage function that does not allow the charge level to be kept at 100% when charging, but maintains the value in the range from 55 to 60%. Also, in addition to all of the above, there are a number of other useful functions.

Autonomy

The battery is built-in and in order to get to it you need to remove the back cover of the laptop, which I personally couldn’t remove, because there is a chance of breaking the fastenings in the speaker area.

When tested in the Battery Eater program with maximum screen brightness, it turned out to be just over 3:30 hours in reading mode and about 1:15 in maximum load mode. These results are typical for such devices.

Eventually

So, what will an intrigued player get when purchasing this device? A modern, thin, beautiful, productive portable gaming machine that allows you to play all modern games at high graphics settings. The cost is quite justified, especially if you look at your classmates

If you are looking at laptops with similar performance, screen size, weight and dimensions, then your choice is not very large: Lenovo IdeaPad Y50-70, Acer Aspire V Nitro and MSI GS60 2PC Ghost. I wrote about the difference between them in the Aspire V Nitro review in the same section - “competitors”. Now that we're better acquainted with the Lenovo IdeaPad Y50-70, choosing between it and the Acer Aspire V Nitro doesn't get any easier. The main character of this review can offer a metal case, a very good cooling system, and stable performance. But its matrix does not at all correspond to its class and the money spent on the laptop in general.

Conclusion

If you mentally divide the Lenovo IdeaPad Y50-70 into two parts - the cover with the monitor and the main “frame” in which all the filling is hidden, then Lenovo was especially successful in the last part. Excellent appearance, comfortable keyboard, excellent performance, which is not overshadowed by overheating of components or an unbearably hot case. All this is complemented by fairly quiet operation and a good sound system.

But with the display everything is much worse. Firstly, the laptop is equipped with a matrix that is very modest in its capabilities, the only advantage of which is the resolution - 1920x1080 pixels. Secondly, although the matrix has a matte finish, the edge of the display is still glossy and annoying with reflections and glare.

It's been a year and a half since I bought myself a Lenovo Y50-70 laptop and I use it almost every day. Since this laptop is still relevant to this day and is sold in stores despite the fact that the next model has already been released, I decided to record a second brief review to show how the Lenovo Y50-70 behaved during the time during which it serves me.

This article is a continuation of the review of the Lenovo Y50-70 laptop,

Let's start with the positives.

The computer has always been distinguished by high performance, both in work and in games. In order to verify this, I conducted an experiment with the popular game GTA 5, the computer produced 80 - 120 frames per second on medium graphics settings, 50 - with a high level of graphics, and 15 - 20 on ultra. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to play comfortably at the ultra level. I recorded the entire experiment with GTA 5 on video and added it to the review. Also, as for games, the video card produces an average of 40 frames per second when playing FarCry 4, and somewhere around 50 - 60 at maximum graphics in Crysis 3.

As for the work that I do on the Lenovo Y50-70 much more often than I play, I can say with confidence that the computer copes with the tasks assigned to it perfectly.

Now about the cons.

During high loads, the metal case of the computer can become very hot, causing your hands to sweat. Also, until the computer was completely disassembled and cleaned of dust, it could overheat, which is why the video card, which works 100% in games without interruption, went into throttling so as not to overheat. Because of this, the number of frames per second and the game dropped sharply, even despite the use of a cooling pad. Now, to prevent this from happening, I wipe the computer and the table underneath it every day, and sometimes it’s useful to apply a vacuum cleaner to the place where the computer sucks in air.

Changes.

At that moment, when the computer needed to be disassembled and cleaned of dust, I decided to increase the amount of RAM from 8 to 16 gigabytes.

What can we get in other configurations?

This is the configuration that I have.

But depending on the country in which we buy a computer, we may have: GeForce GTX 860m video card instead of GeForce GTX 960m, Intel Core I5 ​​Intel instead of Core I7, 256GB SSD instead of SHDD 1TB+8GB, 4K screen instead of a standard FullHD display, 16 or 4 GB RAM instead of the standard 8 GB. The default operating systems may also change. Moreover, all these changes can occur at random and in random order. Everything may depend on the store and country where you purchase the laptop. Therefore, be careful when purchasing, parameters may change.

Also Lenovo Y50-70 has a younger brother Lenovo Y700, this is the next model,