The 15-inch Ideapad 330 is a cheap multimedia solution and so we don't expect very much out of the system. Its chassis is smooth if not bland and its matte panel is great at reducing glare. It's also one of the few laptops shipping with both USB Type-C and an optical drive for users who may want them on one machine.

There is still a long list of disappointing qualities despite the low asking price. Colors and RGB balance are terrible out of the box and so an end-user calibration is recommend for an overall better experience especially when playing videos. Throttling is severe at almost 41 percent according to our CineBench R15 loop test. Thus, while the Ryzen 5 2500U is a powerful Intel alternative on paper, owners of the Lenovo won't benefit fully from the AMD processor when gaming or under high loads. The costlier SKU with the more powerful Ryzen 7 2700U could potentially be a poor buy since our less demanding Ryzen 5 2500U configuration already throttles so heavily. Battery life is short as well which makes the Ideapad 330 a poor travel companion.

For future revisions, we are hoping to see USB Type-C charging in lieu of the proprietary AC adapter and perhaps another USB Type-A port along the right edge. A brighter display, longer battery runtime, and reduced performance throttling would also go a long way to making this a better machine. The recent HP Pavilion 15 refresh is the stronger option overall for the same price range.