Lenovo IdeaPad U260 0876-32U Pro Reviews

With its unique 'folio' design and soft-touch finish, Lenovo's thin and light IdeaPad U260 is one of the most attractive 12.5in laptops going. However, despite nice ergonomics and a good matt screen, its last-generation CPU and GPU hold it back, connectivity is a bit disappointing, and battery life is nothing special. However, considering you get a 128GB SSD for its sub-£800 asking price, if you won't be subjecting it to heavy workloads it's still a decent buy.

A gorgeous design using luxurious materials and with Lenovo's customary great keyboard, but the screen and battery life are disappointing.

Overall, we liked the ultra light Lenovo IdeaPad U260 for its stylish design, gorgeous LCD screen and respectable set of hardware features. We found little to really fault in the device. Our biggest complaint is that Lenovo sacrificed battery life to get to the U260's 3 lb. weight. And if you had to hard-reboot, the lack of a removable battery may (or may not) cause issues should the machine crash and leave you at the mercy of the power button alone. The sluggish touchpad was also a bit of a bummer, but not a showstopper, and was mitigated by additional functionality in the form of multitouch features, so we could live with that.

Given the attention to detail Lenovo lavished on this laptop, it’s unfortunate that the battery life results are so poor. This is the only flaw with the laptop, but it’s one that can’t be ignored given that it is an ultraportable. If not for this issue, the U260 would have easily qualified for an editor’s choice award. This is a conclusion I also came to when reviewing the T410s, which suffered from the same drawbacks as the U260. If Lenovo can figure out how to squeeze larger batteries into these slim and light laptops, it will have some class-leading products on its hands. For now, however, the U260 is a bit of a fashion statement. It’s beautiful, exquisitely constructed, and great to use – but lacking the expected endurance.

This ultraportable achieves only median performance, but its style, keyboard,and touchpad will wow you.

The Lenovo U260 is one of the nicest looking small notebooks I've had the opportunity to work with. Its slim lines, uniform styling and matte display make for one attractive offering.

Although Lenovo’s IdeaPads have been competitive over the last few years, they’ve often felt just competitive. IdeaPads rarely felt fresh and unique, and the difference in build quality between IdeaPad laptops and Lenovo’s ThinkPad series was obvious.

The IdeaPad U260 is an attractive notebook that delivers less-than-attractive features and performance.

The Lenovo IdeaPad U260 leaves a good impression as a subnotebook from the premium segment, even if it has several apparent weaknesses. The case made out of a high quality alloy, as well as the leather surfaces and the touchpad out of glass provide for very pleasant haptics. The thin construction of the case and the light weight are further positive aspects, which do however limit the upgrade options available, as well as the battery life (maximum about 5 hours). The interfaces provide the most important ports, but a card reader would certainly have been welcome.

The IdeaPad U260 is Lenovo's best looking laptop yet, but comes at the cost of speed and an SD slot.

The U260 comes with an industry-standard, one-year parts-and-labor warranty, and Lenovo provides 24-hour toll-free tech support. The system comes pre-loaded with some useful software, such as a facial-recognition security app and Lenovo’s own OneKey Recovery system-recovery utility. You’ll also find some less-than-useful choices, such as the free ooVoo video-chat client and a 60-day trial for McAfee AntiVirus Plus.

Is the world ready for an ultraportable with a 12.5-inch display? Yes. Especially one that's as elegantly designed as the IdeaPad U260. This truly is one of the best-looking--and best feeling--ultraportables money can buy. The only significant trade-off is the limited battery life. For about $900 bucks, 4 hours is not enough endurance for us. In this price range we prefer the 11-inch MacBook Air ($999), which pairs Nvidia graphics with longer battery life in a sleeker design. Nevertheless, the IdeaPad U260 makes a style statement and backs it up with plenty of speed and comfort.

If you’re a Windows sort of person, and want a tiny computer to bring with you on a trip – this is the one. This is exactly what you’re going to want. If you plan on being in the field without portable power or a wall plug for hours on end, maybe consider something else. This computer takes into account the fact that Apple is attempting to rock the ultraportable market with their MacBook Air and slams directly into it with a completely reasonably sized (small, but not tiny) notebook with a completely unique feel on the outside and the in. Starting at $899 it appears to me to be right in the correct range for cost. Uniqueness, lack of bloatware, relatively decent experience for how small a computer it is, comfortable physically. Well played, Lenovo.