Lenovo V155 (15) review – this ultra-budget business device has some performance in its pocket

One of the latest notebooks on the budget end of the market is the Lenovo V155 (15). It is equipped with an AMD processor lineup, enhanced with the integrated Vega graphics. According to Lenovo (and ultimately, its price tag), the V155 (15) is an everyday device, which should enhance your consumption of multimedia, and possibly be your companion during your school years.

Additionally, Lenovo is bold enough to call it the “business hero”. Well, what does this hero have more than the mortlings? After all, your top tier display choice is a 1080p TN panel. Perhaps, the manufacturer is talking about the DVD optical drive, which provides you with the opportunity of being an in-depth archive detective. Let’s not take Lenovo’s words for granted and check out what does the V155 (15) has on offer.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/lenovo-v155-15/

Contents

Specs Sheet

What’s in the box?

Inside the box, there is nothing too sophisticated – the laptop itself, some paper manuals and a 65W power brick, which attaches itself to the wall.

Design and construction

If you are in for premium looks and a strong body, you should step away from this notebook (and probably from this price range, whatsoever). The device features an all-plastic build with a rough finish on the lid, as well as the base. In fact, it resembles a cloth texture… left to dry in freezing temperatures. In terms of measurements, the laptop weighs 2.20 kg (4.85 lbs) and has a profile of 22.9mm.

Naturally, its lid cannot be opened with a single hand. It is also prone to bending, should you apply some force – both twisting and linear. In contrast to some competitors, this laptop has thin side bezels, and while the top and the bottom are a little thick, we are glad to see that there is a hardware shutter on top of the camera.

Now let’s move to the keyboard deck. There we see a full-layout featuring a NumberPad section. Actually, this board is probably one of the best features this laptop has on offer. As its keycaps are big, key travel – long and feedback – tactile. Despite that, the keys are quiet enough, so you are not annoying your colleagues when writing a report or an essay in the library.

Additionally, the Power On/Off switch is placed on the top right of the deck. As of the touchpad, Lenovo didn’t do a particularly good job. While it is extremely sensitive and has decent gliding capabilities, the touchpad is not comfortable for use, as it rarely detects your clicks accurately. It is also smaller than what we’re used to seeing.

On the bottom plate, you are going to find the speaker grills, as well as a ventilation grill. Hot air is exhausted towards the lid, but it is nowhere near the screen, so there is no need to worry.

Ports

On the left side, there is the power plug, an RJ-45 connector, as well as an HDMI one. Then, there are two USB Type-A 3.1 (Gen. 1) ports and an audio jack. The only thing you will find on the right is the DVD optical drive.

Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance

So, the first thing you need to do is to remove the optical drive. There is a screw, marked on the bottom panel, that shows you which is the proprietory one. After you remove it, continue by unscrewing 12 more Phillips-head screws and then pry the bottom panel with a plastic tool.

In terms of cooling, Lenovo uses a very thin heat pipe and a rather big fan. We are going to check its efficiency later in the review.

Some of you won’t like seeing that there are 4GB of memory soldered to the motherboard. On the bright side, there is one RAM SODIMM slot, for a combined total of 16GB (according to Lenovo). Additionally, there is a protective shell that sits on top of the slot. Storage-wise, you will see a 2.5″ SATA drive slot, as well as an M.2 PCIe x4 slot.

Sadly, for a 15-inch notebook, there is only a 36Wh battery pack.

Display quality

Coming soon!

Drivers

All of the drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/lenovo-v-series-laptops/v155-15api/downloads/driver-list

Battery

Now, we conduct the battery tests with Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with. Let’s see how the 36Wh battery pack performed.

During Web browsing, we were able to get 5 hours and 45 minutes, while video playback will drain the battery for five hours flat.

CPU options

This notebook comes in a variety of AMD CPUs. On the bottom end, you will find the Athlon 300U, which is slightly slower than the Ryzen 3 3200U. At the top sits the quad-core Ryzen 5 3500U.

GPU options

Depending on the processor of choice, you are going to get either the AMD Radeon Vega 3 or Vega 8 integrated GPU. The maximum resolution supported by both of them through the HDMI port is 3840×2160 at 30Hz.

Gaming tests

CS:GO	HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)	HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings)	HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings)
Average FPS	65 fps	51 fps	38 fps

DOTA 2	HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)	HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings)	HD 1080p, High (Check settings)
Average FPS	75 fps	51 fps	31 fps

Temperatures and comfort

Max CPU load

In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering.

Average core frequency (base frequency + X); CPU temp.

AMD Ryzen 5 3500U (15W TDP)	0:02 – 0:10 sec	0:15 – 0:30 sec	10:00 – 15:00 min
Lenovo V155 (15)	3.18 GHz (B+81%) @ 63°C	2.92 GHz (B+39%) @ 71°C	2.73 GHz (B+30%) @ 74°C
Lenovo IdeaPad S540 (14″)	3.24 GHz (B+54%) @ 60°C	3.08 GHz (B+47%) @ 66°C	2.95 GHz (B+40%) @ 72°C
ASUS ZenBook 14 UM431	2.95 GHz (B+40%) @ 65°C	2.92 GHz (B+39%) @ 68°C	2.24 GHz (B+7%) @ 56°C

Once again, we proved that the Ryzen 5 3500U is an extremely efficient CPU. It can sustain high frequencies at very formidable temperatures for a long period of time.

Comfort during full load

While the fan was not the quietest out there, the maximum temperature on the keyboard was less than the average temperature for the human body.

Verdict

Ultra-budget business notebook? Okay. What exactly makes a laptop a business one? Well, the most prominent features that drive the Lenovo V155 (15) to that direction are the camera cover and the so-called industrial-looking design.

While it looks industrial, the build quality is certainly not on that level. The lid is twisty and bendy, while on the bright side, the base is a little more rigid. As of the finish on the surface, it looks interesting, and it can be used as a very efficient stress reliever by scratching your nails on it.

Sadly, the battery won’t last you through an entire workday, as we got around 5 hours and 45 minutes of Web browsing and 5 hours of video playback from it. Don’t forget your charger! Another thing that is not very comfortable is the TN display with its narrow viewing angles and poor contrast ratio.

On the verge of listing poor things, we have to mention the touchpad. It is far too sensitive, which results in a lot of misclicks. Moreover, we just can’t stress out how many times it detected a right-click, instead of a left one. However, it may or may not be because of an issue in our unit, although we highly doubt it.

It also lacks a USB Type-C port and an SD card reader, but on the bright side, it features a DVD optical drive. Not only that but its keyboard is extremely comfortable to type on, has big keycaps and despite its clicky feedback, it is actually pretty quiet as well.

At the end of the day, this is a rather decent notebook but has some of its flaws are too repulsive. You can also check out the Vostro 3590 and the HP ProBook 450 G6 if you are ready to pay a little bit more.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/lenovo-v155-15/