Lenovo IdeaCentre AIO 27 Assessment: This Funds All-in-One PC Is Larger, however Not Higher

6.4/ 10
SCORE

Lenovo IdeaCentre AIO 27

Execs

• Massive show for low worth
• Sturdy, compact design
• Quiet in operation

Cons

• Pixelated photographs and fuzzy textual content on 27-inch, 1080p show
• Grainy 1080p webcam
• Gradual USB ports

The rationale you may want the Lenovo IdeaCentre AIO 27 is easy: You’re in search of an all-in-one Home windows PC with the largest show and on the lowest worth. The Lenovo prices a whole lot lower than the Apple iMac M4 and is even a bit cheaper than Dell’s discounted Inspiron 24 All-in-One 5430. And, with a 27-inch show, it offers a much bigger display screen than the 24-inch show you get with both the iMac or Inspiron.

However the desktop’s worth will get fuzzy from there, as a result of the show’s 1080p decision isn’t any larger than the smaller Inspiron 24 All-in-One, which I discovered inadequate for a 24-inch panel. On the IdeaCentre AIO 27, the screen-door impact is in full impact with pixelated photographs and fuzzy textual content evident and unavoidable. It is the antithesis of the sharp photographs and crisp textual content you get with the iMac’s 4,480×2,520-pixel Retina show. However, in case your purpose is an all-in-one with a show bigger than the iMac or Inspiron 24 All-in-One, the IdeaCentre AIO 27 serves up simply that for a worth of lower than $800.

Lenovo sells a handful of IdeaCentre AIO fashions on its website. They’re all mounted configurations primarily based on both a 24-inch or 27-inch contact show with a 1,920×1,080-pixel decision powered by both a Thirteenth-gen Intel Core CPU or AMD Ryzen 7000 collection CPU. 

Our check system is an AMD mannequin, however you will not discover it listed on Lenovo’s website. It options an AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS CPU, 16GB of RAM, AMD Radeon 660M graphics and a 512GB solid-state drive. This actual configuration is obtainable at Walmart for $790. The closest mannequin to it at Lenovo is a Greatest Purchase unique for $800 that provides the identical specs however with solely 8GB of reminiscence. Our mannequin at Walmart with twice the RAM for $10 much less is the higher possibility of the 2.

The Lenovo IdeaCentre AIO 27 begins at £800 within the UK and AU$1,179 in Australia. 

Lenovo IdeaCentre AIO 27 efficiency 

The AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS is a six-core cellular processor nearing its second birthday. It is not the most recent from AMD, nevertheless it affords regular efficiency for the worth. The IdeaCentre AIO 27 turned in efficiency on par with that of the Inspiron 24 All-in-One which options an Intel Core 5 120U. It is positive for basic dwelling duties, however this isn’t the system for gaming or graphics work. 

One space the place the IdeaCentre AIO 27 has a bonus over the Dell Inspiron 24 All-in-One 5430 is its quiet operation. The whirl of a cooling fan is ever current with the Dell, however Lenovo’s all-in-one is ready to function in silence, which helps make it a greater addition to your lounge or den the place you won’t need to take heed to the fixed hum of a PC within the background.

Massive however low-res

With most all-in-ones, together with the iMac and Inspiron 24 All-in-One 5430, the PC parts are hidden behind the show. With the IdeaCentre AIO 27, nevertheless, every part is packed into the stand. This design leads to a skinny show and durable stand, though the iMac manages to be a hair thinner regardless of housing the internals behind it. The IdeaCentre AIO 27’s show is simply over half an inch thick, and the iMac’s show measures simply shy of half an inch.

The bottom itself is compact. A large neck sits on an 8.4-by-7.6-inch stand. The neck has a corrugated texture that provides a touch of fashion. It has vents on its proper aspect and has a bump out behind the show to offer additional room for the internals. On the entrance of this bump-out part behind the show is a speaker grille for the front-facing audio system. (The audio system might face ahead, however the show nonetheless blocks their sound.) Above the speaker grille is one other venting space — this one seems to be the air consumption, with the exhaust being pushed out the aspect vents.

As a price range all-in-one, it isn’t stunning that the design is constituted of plastic just like the Inspiron 24 All-in-One and lacks the aluminum sleekness of the pricier iMac. The bottom is darkish grey plastic, as is the again of the show and the show bezels. The bezels are very skinny — thinner than the iMac’s — to create about as compact a 27-inch all-in-one as you will get.

On the heart of the IdeaCentre AIO 27 is a 27-inch contact show. It offers a bigger display screen for watching reveals and flicks than the 24-inch show you get with the iMac or Inspiron 24 All-in-One, however its 1080p decision is lower than the duty. The 1080p panel on the smaller Inspiron 24 All-in-One regarded fuzzy, and the screen-door impact is much more evident on the IdeaCentre AIO 27’s roomier 27-inch panel. A 1440p decision is the minimal I would advocate for a 27-inch show. 

Photos and textual content look fuzzy and pixelated on the IdeaCentre AIO 27, and the general image is fairly dim, too. In my assessments with a Spyder X Elite colorimeter, it reached a max of solely 276 nits, which will not be nice if it is destined for a brilliant, sunlit room. It appears to be like significantly duller than the Inspiron 24 All-in-One’s show that hit a peak brightness of 328 nits. It proved to have first rate shade accuracy in overlaying 100% of sRGB, 85% of P3 and 77% of AdobeRGB. With extensive viewing angles and a matte end, the image stayed viewable underneath brilliant indoor mild. The low decision is a far larger detriment to the show than its restricted brightness.

Tucked behind the show within the stand, the audio system haven’t got the best placement however produce audio that is higher than the everyday laptop computer’s. There is not sufficient bass to get the total impact for music playback, however there’s sufficient oomph for watching Netflix and YouTube while not having to sit down proper up subsequent to the show. And with a big 27-inch panel, you would possibly need to chill and watch from a distance. 

The IdeaCentre AIO 27 includes a primary 1080p webcam. It produces noisy photographs that get even grainier in low mild. It additionally lacks an IR sensor, so you possibly can’t use facial recognition for safe biometric logins and might want to key in passwords. There’s a kill change on the correct aspect of the bottom simply above the ability button that allows you to kill the ability to the digicam so that you may be certain nobody is spying on you while you aren’t utilizing it. 

A lot of the system’s ports are on the again of the bottom the place you will discover each HDMI-in and -out ports, which lets you join a second show or use the IdeaCentre AIO 27 as a show for a recreation console. There is a trio of USB-A ports, however two are of the very previous USB 2.0 selection, and the opposite is a barely speedier USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 port. 

The lone USB-C port resides on the left aspect of the bottom subsequent to a headphone jack, nevertheless it does not supply quicker switch speeds. It is a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port, which has the identical 10 gigabits-per-second velocity because the USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 port on the again. That is a far cry from the 40Gbps you’d get from USB4 or Thunderbolt 4. The system’s wi-fi networking can be behind the instances with Wi-Fi 6 as a substitute of the newer Wi-Fi 6E or the most recent Wi-Fi 7.

There may be not a lot to report in regards to the bundled keyboard and mouse. They’re generic, plastic and serviceable. They’re wi-fi, which isn’t a given on a price range all-in-one. And nothing ruins the clear and compact nature of an all-in-one faster than a wired set of enter gadgets.

Is the Lenovo IdeaCentre AIO 27 value it?

The fuzzy 1080p show leads me to a fast “no.” It is simply too low a decision for a 27-inch panel. I would somewhat have a smaller show with a better decision. The Apple iMac prices a whole lot extra however is so significantly better — not only for the a lot larger decision you get with its Retina show but additionally for its superior design and higher efficiency. If the iMac is past your price range, then I would decide the Dell Inspiron 24 All-in-One over the IdeaCentre AIO 27. Dell’s price range all-in-one affords the identical lackluster 1080p decision, nevertheless it appears to be like a bit crisper unfold throughout a 24-inch show than a 27-inch show.