Lenovo joins the trend of manufacturers that aim to offer good everyday laptops at a reasonable price. The laptops from that G500s series are noted for their slim design and affordability. They are designed to be a durable work laptop that is efficient and inexpensive. The Lenovo G500s offers a Pentium processor, which is not common within budget laptops (most use AMD) and gives these series a superior and faster performance than its predecessor, the G505. The G500s offers up to 16 GB of RAM, which is also a considerable improvement over the G505. Still, the Lenovo G500s is a basic laptop and would mainly suit everyday tasks like online browsing, working on office documents or sending and receiving emails.
Design is one aspect in which the budget status of the G500s is shown. The laptop has a plain black plastic case and nothing about its appearance stands out. It has a slim and matte look but there is nothing specially beautiful about its design. Furthermore, in the case of the G500s, slim does not meant lightweight. With 2.5 kg, the G500s would not be the most comfortable device to carry around for a business meeting or to bring with you when you are travelling. It suits best as a work laptop for presentations in the office or to use at home. Apart from the unique Onekey Recovery button that distinguishes Lenovo laptops, you will not find special features in the exterior. If you prefer a machine that pays special attention to aesthetics, this may be a concern but if you prefer to focus on the performance and price, the G500s could offer you a good experience. In fact, for many users, this uncomplicated design may an advantage, specially when it comes to laptops for business purposes.
However, there is an aspect of the hardware of the G500s that will disappoint you regardless of your style preference and that the keyboard. It feels like it can be easily damaged and it is slightly awkward to use. You will need to give a firm stroke to the keys while you are typing, otherwise you will miss letters or punctuation in your writing. This may not be a big issue for people that are apply a lot of pressure to their typing but it may eventually cause you to lose keys. Still, the touchpad supports multi-touch gestures and it is comfortable enough. It is possible to enable or disable the settings individually and the mouse buttons work effortlessly.
Even though it is not a Core processor, what makes the G500s remarkable, particularly when compared to other low-price machines that are only powered with AMD is their 2.4GHz Intel Pentium 2020M. The Pentium processor gives this laptop a good speed and a decent multitasking capacity. It also offers 1TB hard drive for a greater file storage capacity. If you need to enhance the device’s power you can spend more and go for a Core i5 processor.
The 15.6-inch display features a resolution of 1366×768 pixels which is fine, without being impressive. The viewing angles do not offer versatility and you may struggle if you have to work in a small space, such as an airplane seat. It would not guarantee a breath-taking image but it is bright and looks well. Another upgrade option that Lenovo offers is Nvidia GeForce GT720M, which will give you better graphics. However, this is an improvement that would mainly benefit you in case you want to use the laptop for gaming and this is a task in which the G500s offers limited performance. In terms of connectivity, the G500s offers the main options that you may need including two USB 3.0 ports for transferring files, a built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi card, as well as a DVD writer, Bluetooth 4.0, Ethernet and HDMI.
When it comes to battery life, the G500s offers and acceptable performance as it can stand between 3 to 6 hours before requiring a recharge, depending on the task and usage. There are other brands with budget models that offer a more satisfactory battery life but if you are sticking to daily tasks such as editing documents, you will be able to work without major interruptions. In any case, bringing the charger is advisable if you have to take it with you while you are on the go.
Conclusion
For a price that is under $600 USD, the Lenovo G500s offers an affordable and durable option. Compared to other devices of the same price range and type, it gets a better rating, in spite of its shortcomings such as a weak keyboard. While you could spend more and get a more complete laptop, you could consider to give this budget device a chance. With the G500s, Lenovo proves that there is a way to cut down on cost where needed, without compromising the key performance elements that make a good everyday laptop.
