[REVIEW] Lenovo Ideapad S540-14API (R5-3500U, Vega 8)

[genexis_x]

Note: Will retest battery life soon since result is below average

Welcome to my laptop review on Lenovo Ideapad S540-14API. Main specs of the laptop are as below:

Spoiler

AMD Ryzen 5 3500U with Vega 8

4GB soldered+4GB slotted RAM – running 2400MHz dual channel

512GB Samsung PM981 PCIe M.2 SSD

14 inch FHD IPS matte

Realtek 8822BE WIFI

4 cell 45Wh battery

W10 Home (no fresh install, only uninstalled McAfee and Candy Crush)

2 years PremiumCare on-site warranty

 

Model 81NH000MMJ (mineral grey colour)

This model is very similar to Ideapad 530s 14 with some changes (ports, slightly thinner, cooling etc).

 

Notebookcheck review on S540 (Intel and AMD) (pay attention to battery life)

 

Product page (Malaysia): https://www.lenovo.com/my/en/laptops/ideapad/s-series/Lenovo-IdeaPad-S540-14API/p/88IPS501194

Hardware maintenance manual: https://download.lenovo.com/consumer/mobiles_pub/S540-14_hmm_201902.pdf
(note that you need a plum flower head screwdriver if you wish to disassemble the bottom cover)

 

Part 1: Build quality, input devices

Build quality is excellent as expected. The aluminium lid has only little flex when twisted (lock out at certain point). There is only little flex when pressing on the middle of the lid cover. Due to the stiff hinge, you cannot open the lid with single hand; however, wobbling effect is also minimal. The maximum lid opening angle is 180 degrees. The all-aluminium body also feels rigid. There is only little flex at the middle of keyboard and above the touchpad. Twisting the body is not possible. Bezels use plastic material instead of metal but that is totally fine. Overall, build quality of this machine feels premium.

 

The keyboard is very similar to the one in 530s 14. It has very short key travel (~1.1mm?), actuation force on the heavier side partly due to tiny bit of mushiness (~65g?). Typing feel is satisfactory – keys are firm, strokes are quiet. However, those who are used to deep key travel and light actuation force (like me) might need some time to get used to the keyboard. It has 2 stages of white backlight. Note that up and down arrow keys are halved sized.

 

The Precision clickpad is also very similar to 530s 14. It has plastic surface even though it looks like glass surface. Surface is smooth enough, though moist/sweaty fingers will experience a decrease in smoothness. Tracking is precise. The L/R clicks requires little force to be clicked on and the click sound isn’t that bad (a bit loud). There is chrome finish surrounding the clickpad.

 

There is a fingerprint reader (Goodix) at the bottom of the right arrow key which can be used for Windows Hello.

 

Part 2: Display, Audio, Battery

The display is a 14 inch 60Hz 45% NTSC IPS made by LG (LGD05EC). Since it's a low sRGB panel, colours are less vibrant, still it's better than low quality TN panels and good for everyday use. Brightness is slightly above average among low sRGB panels (30-40% is plenty for indoor usage) and contrast is good. It has thin bezels.

 

The 2 upward facing speakers have one of the best audio quality I’ve ever tested. Comes with Dolby Audio Speaker System branding and uses Synaptics driver. I tested audio quality with Dynamic profile, though game profile and music profile (for headphones - less background noise) also not bad. Volume gets loud, sound quality is rich and with some bass too. Vocals could be a little louder but it’s not a big deal. I’m impressed – even better than many bigger gaming laptops out there.

 

This laptop is equipped with a 4 cell 45Wh battery.

Notes for battery life testing: WIFI on, best battery life mode, intelligent mode (more on that later), no background app, disabled sleep / display dimming, 14% volume

 

Idle

P2 state, 1.3-1.4GHz, 3.6-4.4W (APU package power draw, not system power draw)

 

YT video, Chrome, enabled hardware acceleration

720p60, 15% brightness: ~5-5.5 hrs, ~5.5-6.5W

720p60, 28% brightness*: ~5 hrs, ~6.5-7.5W

1080p60, 28% brightness: ~4.5 hrs, ~6-8W

 

NBC website (MSI P75 review) – same Chrome settings

Idle, 28% brightness: ~8-8.5 hrs, ~4-4.75W

Continuous scrolling at reading speed, 28% brightness*: ~6.5-7 hrs, ~4.5-6.5W

Reload every 30 secs, 28% brightness: ~4.5 hrs

 

*with power saver dimming

 

You can adjust some AMD related power settings in advanced power settings, but I found out that it has no impact on battery life. Slight brightness decrease also don't seem to save much battery life.

 

Note that while at idle / in light loads, Quiet mode will make the fans run while Intelligent (auto) mode will keep the fans off. Nevertheless, it also doesn't seem to have an impact on battery life.

 

Part 3: Performance, thermals

The cooling solution consists of single medium sized heatpipe and 2 small fans (can refer to hardware maintenance manual). Note that the exhaust vents are blocked by the hinge – hot air is directed upwards (not towards display).

 

Notes for all testing below:

Spoiler

Intelligent mode is used unless stated

STAPM limit – 22W (13W quiet, 24W performance), Slow limit – 25W, Fast limit – 30W

STAPM limit (battery) – 17.6W (10.4 quiet, 19.2 performance), slow 20w, fast 24w

BIOS version: AGCN18WW V1.03

Adrenalin 2019 19.5.2

W10 1809 17763.529

Vega driver: 26.20.11015.5009

BIOS reserved VRAM: 2GB

Memory timings (cas,rcd,rp,ras,rc): 17,17,17,39,56

Ambient temp is ~30C

Laptop is plugged in

Before going into the results, I want to make a brief explanation on a tool called "STAPM power". Basically it's used to set power limits while the laptop is under load. While idle, the value for STAPM power is ~3.5-4W. While under load, the value will increase gradually over time until it reaches near the current power consumption. The heavier the load, the faster it increases. As the value gets higher, you will notice very minimal (I would say ~5%) clock speed throttling (CPU/GPU/both). You will also notices that the fast limit can only sustain for a shorter period during burst load like Cinebench when STAPM power is higher. When the value is close or reaches STAPM limit (22W for Intelligent mode), power limit will drop from 25W (slow limit) to 22W and the value remains.

 

Cinebench R15 multi core ~640cb (1 run)

~3.15GHz, then ~3GHz

Max 72C (1 run), max fan noise ~36dBA

27-28W for a few secs, then stays at 25W

STAPM limit kicks in after 7 runs: ~2.85GHz, max 76C, ~587cb

Performance mode will give the same result, but it can sustain high scores longer

 

Aida64 FPU – same behaviour as CB15

 

Unigine Heaven - 900p, all low, dx11

Clock speed fluctuates: 1000+MHz most of the time

Max 74C, max fan noise ~36dBA

Max 25W

Power consumption will fluctuate – Slow limit can sustain longer compared to CPU

 

FPU+Heaven

25W: CPU ~2.2-2.4GHz, GPU ~550-600MHz, max 75C

22W: CPU ~2-2.15GHz, GPU ~500MHz, max 72C

 

L4D2 - 1080p lowest, single player with bots, Dead Center Map 1

CPU 1.2-1.4GHz, GPU 500-950MHz

Max 66C, 15-23W (stabilized STAPM power) 

~85 FPS (1 run)

 

CSGO - fullscreen 1080p lowest, Mirage map, no bots

CPU 1.3-1.4GHz, GPU 800-950MHz

Max 68C, 19-22W (stabilized STAPM power) 

~115 FPS (1 run)

 

Apex Legends - 720p lowest, training map

CPU mostly at 1.2-1.3GHz, GPU 1050-1100MHz

Max 68C, 22-24W (performance mode is used due to higher power demand)

FPS (recorded standing in front of bloodhound): Skybox 73-93 FPS, training ground 41-51 FPS, will drop a few FPS when firing

 

Fire Strike (1 run)

Score: 2178, Graphics: 2497

 

Tested Dota 2, but CPU+GPU run at low clocks for unknown reason. Tried a few settings, still doesn't fix that. Can stay at ~60 FPS but will drop in heavy actions (1080p, fastest preset)

 

Additional comments:

• Under load, the whole area above Fn keys where the exhaust vents are located will get a bit hot. Keyboard area is a little warm.
• The package temperature cools down very fast after load, indicating a good, effective cooling solution. There is still plenty cooling room for >25W heat.
• GPU is tuned such that it will get more power for higher clock speed in games (sacrificing CPU clock).
• There are 3 power modes: Quiet, Intelligent (auto) and Performance (fan will kick in faster, also allows ~39dBA max fans) - press Fn+Q to switch.
• Unfortunately, tuning via Ryzen Controller not possible. It doesn't support Ryzen 3000 series mobile APUs yet. However, I don't think you need any further tuning since the stock power limit settings are good enough.
• I highly suggest using AMD uProf for most monitoring. The results are the most accurate.

 

Part 4: Miscellaneous

• The laptop weights at ~1.5kg and has ~16mm thickness.
• It comes with 65W charger (proprietary plug)
• There is a privacy shutter built into the webcam – slide to left to cover the camera
• You can check battery capacity even when the laptop is off by pressing any key – shows up in display
• The included Realtek 8822BE WIFI card has quite stable speeds, no issues so far

Ports

L: Power, HDMI, USB C, headphone/mic

R: Full SD card slot, x2 USB 3.0 A

It seems like it doesn't support USB C charging, however I can't test that out since I don't have any USB C charger

 

Lenovo Vantage

System update: Used to update drivers

Hardware settings:

• Power – Conservation mode (battery cap while charging), rapid charge, always on USB, Vantage toolbar
• Audio / visual – Eye care mode, camera contrast+brightness+auto exposure on/off, camera privacy mode, Dolby on/off, Dolby audio mode, mic mute on/off, mic volume, optimize mic for 1 voice/normal/many voices, mic auto audio optimization
• Smart Settings – Auto adjust Dolby settings based on apps, auto mute mic based on apps
• Input – Touchpad enable/disable, Function/Fn switch, keyboard backlight

Health & Support: Hardware scan, warranty, user guide download

 

Conclusion

Premium build quality, system feels snappy and responsive, input devices are decent, audio quality is above average. Has fingerprint reader and privacy shutter which is a plus. Very good APU performance - high power limits, good thermals (only mid 70s with 25W heat).

 

What I'm disappointed the most is the battery life. The result isn't quite expected - realistically speaking, you can only get 4.5-6.5 hrs of battery life. 45Wh battery should be able to get 6-7 hrs. I suspect the culprit is the high idle power consumption. Maybe future BIOS/firmware/driver updates will make the battery life better but I can't tell for now. Anyway, I still believe that it's a step up compared to 2000 series mobile APUs. If the battery life is decent, this would be an excellent budget Ryzen laptop.

 

Pros:

Spoiler

Excellent build quality

Excellent APU performance and thermals

Very good audio quality

Decent input devices

Fingerprint reader, webcam privacy shutter

IPS panel (low sRGB)

Fairly portable for a 14 inch

Fairly affordable

Cons:

Spoiler

OKish battery life - not quite as expected
1 soldered RAM (1 extra slot), no 2.5 inch bay

2GB VRAM reserved for iGPU, left 6GB usable RAM for system - no way to change that

Wish it has a little more ports

Lack of USB C charging might bother some

Thanks for reading!

Edited July 16, 2019 by GeneXiS_X

[Origami Cactus]

It gets a higher cinebench score than my 6600k did at 3.99ghz, and at lower clock speeds and much lower power usage. Impressive how far we have gone in a few years.

[genexis_x]

Just now, Origami Cactus said:

It gets a higher cinebench score than my 6600k did at 3.99ghz, and at lower clock speeds and much lower power usage. Impressive how far we have gone in a few years.

Comparing CB score between a 4c4t and a 4c8t isn't fair, however the fact that it uses less power shows that this APU is power efficient

[whiteshadowy]

Nice review, I also considering this. But at the website it said 72 percent NTSC not 45% as you said. Can you clarify on this?

[genexis_x]

On 7/4/2019 at 4:36 PM, whiteshadowy said:

Nice review, I also considering this. But at the website it said 72 percent NTSC not 45% as you said. Can you clarify on this?

There are 2 panel options

[allenfaust]

Hi Thanks for the review.

I was actually planning to buy one. Not entirely sure if I should go with the Ryzen version (3500) or intel (i5) as I'm worried about the 2gb reserved ram. It's going to be a general purpose laptop for college (documents, excel and maybe a bit of video editing). The i5 version is just $50 pricier. May I ask for you advice/opinion on this?

 

Also, is the screen glossy or anti-glare? 

 

Thank you very much!

[genexis_x]

Ryzen model has stabler CPU performance

 

250 nits panel is matte/anti-glare

 

Which particular model you're looking at?

[allenfaust]

I'm looking at the ideapad s540 (14"). 

there are two variants (the intel and ryzen)

I'm looking at the 8gb ram, 256gb ssd model. 

The only difference is the cpu and gpu.

INTEL (i5-8265U + UHD 620):https://www.lenovo.com/jp/ja/notebooks/ideapad/s500-series/Lenovo-IdeaPad-S540-14IWL/p/88IPS501190

AMD (R 5 3500 + Vega) : https://www.lenovo.com/jp/ja/notebooks/ideapad/s500-series/Lenovo-IdeaPad-S540-14API/p/88IPS501194

 

I'm actually just worried that the 2gb reserved vram (with Ryzen model) is going to limit the snappiness when doing documents or spreadsheets while doing google chrome. 

[genexis_x]

7 minutes ago, allenfaust said:

I'm actually just worried that the 2gb reserved vram (with Ryzen model) is going to limit the snappiness when doing documents or spreadsheets while doing google chrome. 

I never found it to be an issue

 

If you want better+stabler overall performance, Ryzen is a better choice

[allenfaust]

1 minute ago, GeneXiS_X said:

I never found it to be an issue

 

If you want better+stabler overall performance, Ryzen is a better choice

Thank you for the suggestion!

[Shacruel]

Thank you very much for the review. I have ordered copper colored R5 3500U unit today.

[Gorgias]

On 7/20/2019 at 6:25 AM, allenfaust said:

I'm looking at the ideapad s540 (14"). 

there are two variants (the intel and ryzen)

I'm looking at the 8gb ram, 256gb ssd model. 

The only difference is the cpu and gpu.

INTEL (i5-8265U + UHD 620):https://www.lenovo.com/jp/ja/notebooks/ideapad/s500-series/Lenovo-IdeaPad-S540-14IWL/p/88IPS501190

AMD (R 5 3500 + Vega) : https://www.lenovo.com/jp/ja/notebooks/ideapad/s500-series/Lenovo-IdeaPad-S540-14API/p/88IPS501194

 

I'm actually just worried that the 2gb reserved vram (with Ryzen model) is going to limit the snappiness when doing documents or spreadsheets while doing google chrome. 

You can change the amount of reserved vram in bios. I have mine set at 256mb with no problems.

[genexis_x]

2 hours ago, Gorgias said:

You can change the amount of reserved vram in bios. I have mine set at 256mb with no problems.

Which BIOS version? Last time there's no such option in BIOS

 

Will try it soon, thanks for the info

[Gorgias]

27 minutes ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Which BIOS version? Last time there's no such option in BIOS

 

Will try it soon, thanks for the info

Bios version 1.04. If I change integrated graphics controller from "auto" to "forces" then I can choose UMA Frame buffer size.

 

BTW is there any way to know what panel you have? I have the glossy screen and it looks very good to me but I'm not sure if I got the better panel with 300 nits. My config differs slightly from the one you reviewed, I have a 512gb ssd in mine and the glossy screen. I think maybe the battery differs to, I have a 50Wh battery.

[genexis_x]

4 minutes ago, Gorgias said:

BTW is there any way to know what panel you have? I have the glossy screen and it looks very good to me but I'm not sure if I got the better panel with 300 nits

LGD05EC - low sRGB. Yeah it comes with either 45Wh or 50Wh battery - usually 50Wh variant has high sRGB display

 

You can check panel model via device manager: Monitors > Generic PnP monitor > details tab > under property select Hardware IDs. Google the panel model

[Gorgias]

40 minutes ago, GeneXiS_X said:

LGD05EC - low sRGB. Yeah it comes with either 45Wh or 50Wh battery - usually 50Wh variant has high sRGB display

 

You can check panel model via device manager: Monitors > Generic PnP monitor > details tab > under property select Hardware IDs. Google the panel model

Thanks! My screen is B140HAN03.5 (AUO353D) so I guess I got lucky.  Lenovo could be better at listing specs on their site...

[genexis_x]

9 minutes ago, Gorgias said:

Lenovo could be better at listing specs on their site...

They always do that - users have to dig down what's the actual specs

[Shacruel]

14 minutes ago, Gorgias said:

Thanks! My screen is B140HAN03.5 (AUO353D) so I guess I got lucky.  Lenovo could be better at listing specs on their site...

https://psref.lenovo.com/ This site actually has a lot more information about specs of their products than their regular consumer site.

[Gorgias]

Thanks Shacruel, I didn't know about that site. It's truly a jungle of different specced laptops out there from all manufacturers. I have spent so much time researching this laptop purchase and still I wasn't sure about all specs. Makes me think about how many customers gets tricked into paying to much for outdated or underspecced computers.

[genexis_x]

@Gorgias how's the battery life in your S540?

[Gorgias]

Right now idling with 97% batt left and with screen brightness at 50% (sufficient for indoor use on a cloudy day) I get a reading of 7:55 h hovering over the battery symbol. My feeling is that I get about 6-7 hours of light use. Tough to find a good standardized way of testing though.

[genexis_x]

25 minutes ago, Gorgias said:

Right now idling with 97% batt left and with screen brightness at 50% (sufficient for indoor use on a cloudy day) I get a reading of 7:55 h hovering over the battery symbol. My feeling is that I get about 6-7 hours of light use. Tough to find a good standardized way of testing though.

Can you try playing a YT video for an hour? With low brightness and low volume, 720p

[Gorgias]

3 hours ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Can you try playing a YT video for an hour? With low brightness and low volume, 720p

Ok, one hour youtube 720p, brightness at 28%. Fullscreen in chrome browser. Battery went from 92% to 79%.

[genexis_x]

12 minutes ago, Gorgias said:

Ok, one hour youtube 720p, brightness at 28%. Fullscreen in chrome browser. Battery went from 92% to 79%.

Hmm that's a normal result from 3500u/3700u but for whatever reason I can't get such battery life from my testing

[MooMoo]

On 7/21/2019 at 7:14 PM, Gorgias said:

You can change the amount of reserved vram in bios. I have mine set at 256mb with no problems.

Will this affect gaming performance?