I went hands-on with the Lenovo IdeaPad Vibe — and this colorful MacBook Neo rival has way more ports

The MacBook Neo had better watch out, because the Lenovo IdeaPad Vibe is coming. Starting at $699, this laptop comes in multiple colors and is designed for folks who want a reliable everyday notebook at a reasonable price. Lenovo also says the Vibe won’t skimp on performance or battery life.

I briefly went hands-on with the IdeaPad Vibe at a Lenovo IFA event and was impressed by what I saw. Not only is it colorful, but it also feels good to hold thanks to its sturdy yet lightweight design. It’s the kind of laptop I’d like to take on the road since it has such a thin and light profile. The promise of configurations with AMD, Snapdragon X, and eventually Intel CPUs is also exciting.

Here’s what I think of the Lenovo IdeaPad Vibe.

Lenovo IdeaPad Vibe: Specs

Lenovo IdeaPad Vibe: Price and availability

You won’t have to wait long for the Lenovo IdeaPad Vibe to arrive.

14- and 15-inch models with AMD start shipping in October with an expected starting price of $699. Models with Qualcomm Snapdragon X begin shipping in November with the same expected $699 starting price. Models with Intel chips will be available at a later date.

Given IdeaPad Vibe’s expected $699 price and holiday launch window, it’s clear Lenovo is positioning its laptop as a MacBook Neo and Dell XPS 13 competitor.

Lenovo IdeaPad Vibe: Design & display

If you want a colorful laptop, the IdeaPad Vibe has you covered. Lenovo partnered with the Pantone Institute to create a range of color options for its affordable laptop.

The available colors include Dreamy Violet, Spicy Gold, Zen Green, Chill Blue, Radiant Coral, Moody Blue, and Lowkey Green. These naturalistic colors won’t seem out of place wherever you’re using the Vibe.

The IdeaPad Vibe’s metal chassis complements the colors well and gives it a premium feel. As with the new Dell XPS 13, it’s nice to see budget-friendly Windows laptops that aren’t made of cheap plastic. The 14-inch model measures 12.35 × 87.59 × 0.59 inches and weighs 2.87 pounds, making it extremely portable and unobtrusive.

Unlike many thin and light laptops, the IdeaPad Vibe has a wide array of ports. On the right side, you’ll find a pair of USB-A ports, while on the left, there’s an HDMI port, two USB-C ports, a headphone jack, and a MicroSD card reader. Port-wise, Lenovo’s laptop beats the XPS 13 and MacBook Neo.

The 14-inch model will have up to a 1920 x 1200-pixel OLED panel, while the 15-inch variant will sport up to a 2.1K OLED panel, with the latter offering a touch option. We’ll need to get the laptop into our testing lab to see what its display can do, but Lenovo says it’s rated for 100% DCI-P3 coverage. To my eyes, the display appeared sufficiently bright and colorful.

Lenovo IdeaPad Vibe: Performance & battery life

Based on its components, the IdeaPad Vibe should be sufficiently powerful for everyday work. And since this is a Copilot+ PC, expect it to handle some on-device AI workloads as well.

Configurations with AMD Ryzen AI will launch first, followed by Snapdragon X models in November and Intel variants at a later date. You’ll be able to configure the laptop with up to 32GB of RAM for AMD models and up to 24GB for Snapdragon X. Both can be configured with up to 1TB of storage. Interestingly enough, both RAM and SSD are upgradeable.

All machines in the Idea line will include Lenovo Qira, the company’s personal AI experience that provides contextual assistance across supported PCs, mobile devices, tablets, and even wearables. This feature wasn’t available for testing during my briefing, so I’m curious to see whether it provides useful assistance or becomes another feature you forget exists.

Lenovo says the IdeaPad Vibe has “all-day” battery life. Given that laptops we’ve tested with Snapdragon X and AMD Ryzen AI can last anywhere from 10 to 20 hours, I’m eager to see how long these laptops will last in real-world use.

Lenovo IdeaPad Vibe: Outlook

The Lenovo IdeaPad Vibe seems like a serious MacBook Neo rival, thanks to its array of colors, budget-friendly starting price, and the promise of all-day battery life and solid everyday performance. And if Lenovo Qira delivers helpful on-device AI, this could make the Vibe even more appealing.

The MacBook Neo was a warning shot, and it's good to see companies like Lenovo respond with their own affordable laptop that promises a similarly premium design, vivid display, and strong performance. We'll have to wait and see, but right now, I'm pretty excited about the IdeaPad Vibe.

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