The Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming is powered by an Intel 9th generation Core i5-9300H processor, paired with 8 GB of RAM (upgradeable to 16 GB RAM) and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics card. Lenovo is renowned as one of the largest computer manufacturers worldwide. In terms of statistics, Lenovo usually ranks slightly below HP, but it outperforms Dell, Acer, Apple, and other manufacturers significantly.
Lenovo Legion Gaming Brand
The Lenovo Legion brand dedicated to gaming laptops was launched in 2017. The Legion series offers high-quality gaming laptops at relatively affordable prices. One notable model is the Lenovo Legion Y530, considered a direct competitor to ASUS ROG and MSI Gaming series laptops.
Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming vs. Standard Model
It’s important not to confuse the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming with the standard IdeaPad L340 model. They have entirely different processors, screens, keyboards, and more. In fact, these are two completely unrelated laptops.
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Technical Specifications of Lenovo IdeaPad L340
| Detail | Specification |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-9300H, 2.4 GHz |
| Graphics Card | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 (3 GB, GDDR5) + Intel UHD Graphics 630 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Home |
| RAM | 8 GB DDR4 (upgradable to 16 GB DDR4, 2666 MHz) |
| Display | 15.6 inches, IPS, 60 Hz, Anti-Glare coating, 250 cd/m2, 45% Color Gamut, Nvidia G-Sync |
| Storage | 256 GB PCIe 3.0 x2 NVMe SSD |
| Ports | 2x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A, 1x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-C, 3.5mm Combo Jack, HDMI 2.0, RJ-45 Ethernet, Kensington Lock |
| Wi-Fi | 1×1 Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2 |
| Weight | About 2.2 kg (2068 g for the tested unit and 600 g for the charger) |
| Dimensions | 363 x 254.6 x 23.9 mm |
| Battery | 45 Whr, Rapid Charge Technology |
| Additional Features | Backlit keyboard, 2x 1.5 W speakers |
| Color | Granite Black |
| Price | $876 |
Design and Build
In today’s market, it’s easy to find an affordable gaming laptop, but not all of them are aesthetically pleasing or well-built. The Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming, priced at around $876, is impressively constructed. While it doesn’t have a metal chassis, this is reasonable considering the price. Instead, it boasts a restrained design, a rarity among gaming laptops. It lacks flashy design elements, aggressive ventilation openings, or bold-colored keyboards. Many potential buyers might seek exactly this kind of subtly designed laptop that can still handle moderately demanding games.
Lenovo has used a dark aluminum color for the IdeaPad L340 Gaming’s design, reminiscent of business-class laptops, but done in a restrained manner. The Lenovo logo is placed on one side of the laptop lid against a light blue background. This blue theme is also used for the keyboard backlighting.
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The Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming is one of the more compact and lightweight gaming laptops on the market, measuring just 363 x 254.6 x 23.9 mm and weighing around 2.2 kilograms. However, it’s worth noting that the power adapter is quite heavy, and with it, the total weight approaches 3 kilograms.
Display
The Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming features a 15.6-inch 1920 x 1080 resolution IPS display with a 60 Hz refresh rate and 250 cd/m2 brightness. The laptop also supports Nvidia G-Sync, a rarity in laptops, though it’s important to note that G-Sync’s benefits are limited by the 60 Hz refresh rate. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics card may struggle with more demanding modern games.
The 250 cd/m2 brightness is acceptable for moderately lit environments, but it may not perform well outdoors. The Anti-Glare coating is not overly aggressive, preserving colors and contrast, but the display is not considered ideal. The laptop has also been equipped with a blue light filter.
Keyboard and Touchpad of Lenovo IdeaPad L340
The IdeaPad L340 Gaming features a practical keyboard with blue backlighting. It has a 90% layout, as Home and Page Down keys have been integrated into the number pad. This might be unusual for a gaming laptop, but the size of the up and down keys is slightly compressed.
The keys have a nearly linear press, making the keyboard suitable for typing tasks. While the keyboard on the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming is not exceptional, it’s considerably better than many keyboards found in laptops twice its price.
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The keyboard backlighting offers three modes: off, medium, and bright. The medium setting may be visible only in a partially dimly lit room.
The touchpad is quite large, though it’s shifted noticeably to the left. It’s responsive and accurate, but using a mouse will be considerably more comfortable for everyday tasks.
Ports
All of the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming’s ports are located on the left side, a design choice shared by ASUS and other manufacturers, likely due to the cooling system.
On the left side, you’ll find the charging port, Ethernet port, HDMI 2.0, two USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports, one USB Type-C port, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. It would have been desirable to have an SD card reader, but manufacturers of gaming laptops seem to be moving away from including them.
Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Battery Life
The Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming is equipped with a 45 Wh battery. In office tasks, the laptop can last approximately four hours, which is acceptable for a laptop of this type. In gaming mode, you can expect only about 45 to 60 minutes of battery life.
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It’s worth noting that even in laptops four times the price, more capacious batteries aren’t commonly installed. Be prepared for a short battery life if you choose a laptop in this class and usage category.
Software
The included Lenovo application manages system updates, but Windows 10 updates can perform the same function. The application performed a BIOS update once, but afterward, its usefulness dwindled. Initially, the application promised to provide 30 GB of space on Dropbox if the user signed in with their username, but this promise seems to have disappeared.
Performance of Lenovo IdeaPad L340
The Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming is powered by an Intel 9th generation Core i5-9300H processor, paired with 8 GB of RAM (upgradeable to 16 GB RAM) and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics card. The laptop is also available with a Core i7-9750H processor and a GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card, though these configurations weren’t found in Latvian stores at the time of writing. The laptop is equipped with a 256 GB PCIe 3.0 x2 NVMe SSD, with options for up to 2 TB HDD or up to 1 TB PCIe SSD.
For everyday tasks, the IdeaPad L340 Gaming provides more than enough power, and you can even handle 4K video editing at 60 frames per second.
Synthetic performance tests show that the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming doesn’t perform perfectly, but this is expected for a budget-class laptop with the entry-level Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics card. It’s worth noting that I expected the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming to come with the GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card, designed to replace the GeForce GTX 1050.
Cinebench R20 (multi): 1590
- 3DMark Time Spy: 2198
2. 3DMark Cloud Gate: 18,755 (unusually high result)
3. 3DMark SkyDiver: 15,710
Passmark PerformanceTest 9.0: 4588
PCMark 10: 4321
Shadow of the Tomb Rider performance test: 28 fps (1920 x 1080 with Ultra settings)
Performance in Gaming Tests
Synthetic performance doesn’t always tell us exactly what to expect from a laptop in gaming mode. Testing various popular free games (Apex Legends, Fortnite) and paid games (Assassin’s Creed Unity, The Witcher 3), it became evident that at 1080p resolution, there’s no point in thinking about Ultra visual settings. In these games, the frame rate ranged from about 25 to just under 35 frames per second, which might be sufficient for playing, but for a smoother experience, you’ll need to lower visual effects. The Nvidia GeForce Game Ready driver’s provided visual setting parameters allow these games to be played close to 60 frames per second.
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It’s important to note that the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 3 GB version has a 96-bit memory interface and an approximate 84 GB/s memory bandwidth, whereas the GeForce GTX 1050 2 GB and GeForce GTX 1050 Ti versions have a 128-bit interface and 112 GB/s. In real-world terms, this can result in a loss of 5 to 10 frames per second. This is a rather sneaky Nvidia move, labeling the graphics card as GeForce GTX 1050 3 GB, rather than as the Lite version with 3 GB of GDDR5 memory.
Cooling System
Allow me to mention a few words about the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming’s cooling system – during everyday tasks, the laptop is nearly perfectly silent. However, when performing updates in the background, the processor temperature rises, prompting the active cooling system to kick in. While the fans aren’t overly loud, I didn’t expect them to activate so quickly. The IdeaPad L340 Gaming doesn’t achieve the level of perfect quietude that an office laptop does, but you can try to quiet it down using Windows 10’s built-in Power Options. I’ve read online that the Core i5-9300H processor in the IdeaPad L340 Gaming model can heat up to as much as 90 degrees under serious loads.
Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Review Conclusion
I was pleasantly surprised by the build quality of the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming, which from a distance doesn’t resemble the aggressive gaming laptops it competes with. The IdeaPad L340 Gaming has a relatively restrained appearance, making it suitable for office use as well. For most everyday tasks, the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming remains quiet, though more demanding processes will activate the active cooling system, which isn’t excessively noisy.
The display and keyboard are of a high standard, and in the approximately $900 price category, the build materials and quality offered by the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming are highly commendable. The only less-than-ideal aspect of the build is the size and weight of the power brick, but it’s difficult to deceive physics. If storage capacity isn’t an issue, a similarly sized and weighted ASUS laptop with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics card costs about four times as much.
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For older, simpler games from approximately 3 to 5 years ago, the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming with the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 3 GB will suffice, but more modern games will require significant reductions in visual effects. In several games, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 2 GB model actually achieves a higher frame rate than the 3 GB version.
The Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming is one of the three least expensive laptops available in Latvian web stores with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics card. There are slightly cheaper Acer and ASUS laptops available, but they don’t include Windows 10 as standard.
If you’re looking for an entry-level gaming laptop, the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming is one of the best options available.
Pros and Cons of Lenovo IdeaPad L340
Pros
Affordable price (for around $876, you get Windows 10, keyboard backlighting, Intel 9th generation, a wide range of ports, etc.)
Compact size for a gaming laptop
Restrained design and excellent build quality
Cons
No GTX 1650 graphics card
Size and placement of the touchpad