Lenovo V17 G2 review: 17-inch laptop with unrewarding MX350

The Lenovo V17 G2 is a 17-inch office laptop for those with a small budget. However, this time, we got our hands on the top model with the Nvidia GeForce MX350 , an Intel Core i7-1165G7 , 16 GB of RAM, and a 512 GB SSD for our test. The package is completed by an FHD IPS display with 300 Nits.

An AMD option is not available. On the other hand, at 979 Euros (~$1001), this configuration is more suited for those with a medium to high budget. Our test will find out whether the additional premium for the Nvidia GPU and Core i7 is worthwhile or whether the competitors offer better alternatives.

The V17 is also available for 699 Euros (~$715) with a Core i5, without Nvidia GPU, and with the same RAM and SSD. The competitors include the affordable HP 17 with an AMD Ryzen 5 5500U and the Acer Aspire 5 A517 with the same CPU and GPU configuration as our test unit. Considering the price, the office midrange, such as Lenovo’s IdeaPad 5 Pro 16 and HPs Envy 17 also come within reach.

In addition, we compare it with the predecessor and its smaller AMD based sibling, the Lenovo V15 . The Lenovo V17 is made from plastic, without using any thermo plastic like the V15, and the surfaces are also significantly smoother. Fingerprints are unavoidable.

The battleship gray color fits with its simple design. Due to the 16:9 format, the display bezel is wider at the bottom. The base unit can be warped with the use of some force, and it also gives in under targeted pressure from the top.

The keyboard deck can be pressed down slightly, but this does not become an annoyance while typing. The display lid, on the other hand, is harder to warp and pressure does not lead to any changes in the image. The hinges are able to hold the display in position well, but this also means that you cannot open it with a single hand.

Inside the case, we find a RAM module underneath a tin cover. Intel’s AX201 (WiFi 6 + Bluetooth 5. 1) can also be replaced, just as the PCIe 3.

0 SSD. In addition, you can perform maintenance tasks on the battery, the cooling system, and the BIOS battery. In terms of the connections, one of the USB-A ports has moved to the other side, and another USB-A port was replaced with a USB-C port that unfortunately only supports data transfer, though.

In addition, one of the USB ports only supports USB 2. 0. Compared to the V15, RJ45 is lacking, but there is still the (slow) SD card reader (with SD cards sticking out by ~16 mm, ~0.

6 in). HDMI 1. 4b and a 3.

5-mm audio port are also included. While 2. 16 kg (~4.

8 lb) is fairly light for a 17-inch laptop, the 16-inch devices in our comparison field are significantly more compact. Lenovo also includes a good, splash resistant keyboard in the V17. The keys offer a short stroke, clear pressure point, and medium amount of resistance.

While you can use it to type texts quickly, it won’t necessarily be quiet. Most keys have the full size, but a few are smaller and some are only available as secondary functions on shared keys. There is no keyboard illumination.

While there would have been space for a larger touchpad, this doesn’t change the good and accurate response behavior of its smooth plastic surface, which also offers good sliding characteristics. The integrated click keys offer a strong feedback and short to medium stroke. The matte IPS display offers a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels (16:9), which is sufficient for a 17.

3-inch size, since the distance between the screen and viewer turns out mostly larger than with smaller displays. The Windows scaling is set to 100%, which offers the sharpest display. The clear and smooth subpixels contribute to the sharp image.

The TN panel with 1600 x 900, which is the only option for the V15 and another option for the V17, should definitely be avoided here. An average brightness of 308 Nits is sufficient for office tasks and simple gaming indoors. At 71%, the brightness distribution is uneven, but this is not a hindrance for everyday tasks.

The contrast of 849:1 and black value of 0. 39 Nits are mediocre and result in the last place in our test field. With a QHD resolution in the 16:10 format at 120 Hz, Lenovo’s IdeaPad Pro 5 offers the best panel in this price segment.

The sRGB color space is covered to 87%, but this is not sufficient for demanding image processing, and most of the competitors are better. The response times are surprisingly good (14 ms black to white), and there is no PWM flickering. The DeltaE values of > 5 show relatively high deviations, which is the case for most of the colors and the grayscale.

In addition, the display has a slight blue tint. As usual, our calibrated ICC color profile is available for free download next to the brightness distribution schematic. With its brightness of 308 Nits on average and the matte display surface, the Lenovo V17 can be used also outdoors to a limited degree.

Shady places present no problems, and you can also work in partial shade but should avoid direct sunlight. Our test unit represents the maximum configuration that Lenovo offers: an Intel Core i7-1165G7 , 16 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM (8 GB soldered + 8 GB slotted), a 512-GB PCIe 3. 0 SSD, and an Nvidia GeForce MX350 , in addition to the integrated Intel Iris Xe G7 .

Alternatively, you can also choose a Pentium Gold 7505 , Core i3-1115G4 (both dual core), or Core i5-1135G7 . There is also an optional RAM configuration with 4 GB soldered + 8 GB slotted, and the Nvidia graphics card is also optional. Lenovo’s Vantage software offers three performance modes, which have an effect on the power limits and with that also on the (constant) performance.

In the most efficient mode, the fan speed is slower. Highest Performance: PL2 (brief Turbo) is 48 watts and PL1, 35 watts. Intelligent Cooling: We measure 35 watts PL2 and 15 watts PL1.

Battery Saving Mode : 30 watts PL2, and PL1 varies between 7. 5 and 17. 5 watts.

The Nvidia GPU decreases speed drastically from 1600 MHz to ~270 MHz. We choose the Highest Performance mode for our performance tests, and use the balanced profile to determine the battery life. The Intel Core i7-1165G7 has a clock speed of 4x 2.

8 to 4x 4. 1 GHz as well as up to 4. 7 GHz for a single core.

The TDP is specified between 12 and 28 watts and 64 watts for the brief Turbo. However, while rendering with Blender, we observe a constant 33 watts (PL1) and brief Turbo of up to 48 watts (PL2). This results in clock speeds of 3.

9 GHz in the Turbo mode and a constant 3. 4 GHz for all four cores, which is higher than the basic clock speed of 2. 8 GHz.

The temperature levels out at around 72 °C (162 °F). In multi-core scenarios such as Blender, during x265 rendering or the CBR23 Multi benchmark, the AMD Ryzen 5 5500U is able to move ahead of the Core i7-1165G7 by about 15 to 20%. In single-core tasks, while web surfing and compressing data, the Lenovo V17 is ahead of the AMD hexa-core by about 20 to 25%.

Lenovo’s IdeaPad 5 Pro 16 with its 45-Watt AMD APU dominates again and doubles the performance of an Intel Tiger Lake chip that runs at 33 watts. However, the performance of the Core i7 is still sufficient for office and multimedia tasks. During battery operation, the constant performance is not decreased.

However, since the Turbo is then more hesitant, the performance in the first CBR15 run drops by about 7%. The system runs quickly and free of delays. The predecessor with the Intel Core i3 can be surpassed by about 46% in the PCMark 10 benchmark.

On the other hand, the competitors in our comparison field perform at a similar level. However, the IdeaPad 5 Pro 16 runs about 44% faster in content creation than the Lenovo V17. The Lenovo V17 is not suited for real-time applications, since the DPC latencies are too high for this.

Responsible for this is the Kernel module driver. In the future, a BIOS update might bring some improvement. The 4K60 YouTube video reproduction uses on average about 29% of the Core i7 performance and 34% of the Intel iGPU performance.

There were no dropped frames. The Union Memory (UMIS) AM620 is a PCIe 3. 0 SSD and offers 512 GB.

Its read and write rates are solid and even almost identical to that of the Samsung PM991 in the HP Envy 17 . You can add a 2. 5-inch hard drive into the models with a smaller 38-Wh battery, such as the Lenovo V15 G2 .

The pure gaming performance of the Lenovo V17 G2 with the Nvidia GeForce MX350 is about twice as high as that of last year’s model with the Intel iGPU. We also see about 60% more frames per second than in the Lenovo V15 G2 with the Vega 7 iGPU . On the other hand, the IdeaPad 5 Pro 16 again doubles this, thanks to its significantly more powerful GTX 1650 .

So we ask ourselves whether the MX350 makes much sense, since Intel’s Iris Xe G7 is not necessarily less powerful for simple gaming. This is shown by Acer’s Swift 3 , which even surpasses our MX350 by about 20%. To check this further, we deactivated the Nvidia GPU and tested The Witcher 3 at high detail settings.

When we did this, we saw 20 FPS, while the MX350 was able to reach 27. 5 FPS – a difference of around 37%. Both versions are unable to display high detail levels anyways.

In addition, we checked whether the graphics performance remains constant after one hour and didn’t see any drop in the frame rates. In battery operation, the performance is not reduced. When installing applications or while surfing with several browser tabs, the fans of the Lenovo V17 like to turn on from time to time, but their speed is then still fairly slow.

Under increased load, for example while gaming, things can get louder, and we measure 46 db(A). Other devices with a similar dGPU do worse in our comparison field. While Acer’s Swift 3 is quieter at a maximum of 39 db(A), the IdeaPad 5 Pro with its more powerful dGPU is louder at 53 db(A).

We did not notice any electronic noise such as coil whine. Under full load, there are some hotspots above the keyboard, but the office laptop never gets uncomfortably hot. The fans blow the heat toward the back, so that you should not get hit with any annoying hot air.

In the hour-long stress test (FurMark + Prime95), the CPU clock speed starts out at 3. 4 GHz but then drops to 2. 85 GHz after only one minute, before leveling out in the fourth minute to its final value of 1.

1GHz. At this point, the Power Limit 1 is reduced from 33 to 15 watts and the Nvidia GPU is prioritized: It runs at a constant 1,433 MHz (basic clock speed), heating up to only 63 °C (145 °F) in the large case. In this scenario, the CPU heats up to 62 °C (144 °F).

During pure CPU stress, it consumes a constant ~34 watts and heats up to 71 °C (160 °F). The two 1. 5-Watt Dolby Audio speakers point toward the bottom and achieve a medium volume of 70.

5 dB(A). While they lack almost any bass, the mids and highs are very balanced and suited for clear voice reproduction. Even games don’t sound too bad.

During idle operation, the power consumption is elevated, and while gaming, the Lenovo V17 consumes 54 watts to satisfy the Nvidia/Intel combination. The power supply is sufficiently large with 65 watts. While the system consumes slightly more than the 65 watts during the stress test, such a scenario should not arise in practice.

The 45-Wh battery lasts only for 6 hours in our WiFi test at 150 Nits brightness. The smaller sibling with its 38-Wh battery lasts for 2 hours longer thanks to the AMD APU 2, and the competitors also last longer. At more than 12 hours, the IdeaPad 5 Pro lasts twice as long.

The Lenovo battery can be recharged from 0 to 80% within about 1 hour. Lenovo’s V17 G2 is able to fulfill almost all the demands on an office laptop: an FHD IPS display with 308 Nits, good input devices, a good performance, emissions that remain within limits, good stability, and good upgrading options such as a RAM slot and a slotted, fast WLAN module. A major point of complaint is the equipment: no charging or DisplayPort via USB-C, no RJ45, a slow SD card reader, and USB-2.

0 are not what we are looking for when we purchase an office device for about 1000 Euros (~$1022). An additional disadvantage is the low battery life of only 6 hours, due to its high power consumption. However, the biggest reason for complaint is the GeForce MX350 , since it doesn’t really bring much benefit compared to the integrated Intel Iris Xe G7 , while adding a premium to the price.

Particularly the combination together with the Core i7 processor that likewise brings hardly any benefits compared to the Core i5 makes the Lenovo V17 unnecessarily expensive. Without the GeForce graphics and Core i7, the Lenovo V17 G2 ITL is a solid office laptop at a reasonable price. But those upgrades make it unnecessarily expensive without offering any real benefit in the performance.

Those who can shell out the 979 Euros (~$1001) for the top configuration that we tested should rather choose higher class devices such as the IdeaPad 5 Pro 16 . Not only does that double the battery life and all the performance values, but it also offers the best display of all our comparison devices by far, while still being 100 Euros more affordable (with Ryzen 5 5600H) or also costing about 1000 Euros (~$1022) with an octa-core. However, those who want a more affordable laptop should take a look at the Lenovo V17 in the configuration without Nvidia GPU and with a Core i5 for 699 Euros (~$715).

Alternatively, we can also recommend the HP 17 , since it offers an AMD Ryzen 5 5500U and is already available for 549 Euros (~$561) – right now it is even available for only 449 Euros (~$459) from Notebooksbilliger. de in Germany. .