The Vinga brand has started promoting its own laptops on the Ukrainian market. We got acquainted with a model aimed at the mass market, which stands out for its good combination of affordable price and fairly wide functionality.

The laptop market has recently been characterized by very little dynamics, and combined with the dominance of the five leading manufacturers, whose combined share, according to IDC, accounts for 65%, it turns out that it is very difficult for newcomers to gain a foothold here. Nevertheless, TM Vinga decided to enter this segment with its solutions. Among them is the entry-level portable computer Iron S140.

The Vinga Iron S140 laptop based on the Intel Pentium N5000 processor is offered at a recommended retail price from 8999 UAH

According to the manufacturer, this laptop is aimed at both mass buyers and corporate users who plan to use it on the go for basic functions: working with office applications, internet surfing, and casual games. Therefore, the Iron S140 model is offered in versions with Intel Pentium N5000 (1.1-2.7 GHz) and Intel Celeron N4000 (1.1-2.6 GHz) processors. We received the first option for testing. In addition, this laptop is offered in versions with pre-installed Windows Pro OS. Thus, corporate customers can purchase a ready-made solution at a very affordable price if their IT infrastructure uses Windows OS.

The laptop lid is adorned with the Vinga logo

How does Vinga plan to attract buyers of such fairly simple systems? Credit should be given to the designers who developed the new laptop with a rather noticeable design. The fact is that the laptop is enclosed in a fully metal case, with a shiny logo on the lid. Admittedly, we have not encountered anything like this in budget portable computers before. Note that the lid, bottom, and palm rests are made of metal, which pleasantly cools the hands during prolonged work. Interestingly, the system block with the keyboard turned out to be slightly thinner than the display. However, the design is well balanced, so even with the lid tilted far back, the laptop does not tip over. The thickness of the model's case is 14.2 mm, and its weight is 1.38 kg. The novelty is available in a gray case variant for the Intel Pentium-based configuration and black for the Intel Celeron.

Stereo speakers are located on the bottom of the laptop in its front part, and at the back, there is a compartment for installing an SSD M.2

Briefly about the Iron S140 configuration details. It includes 4 GB of RAM and a 64 GB solid-state drive. At first glance, this is not much, even for a budget laptop. But here, too, the manufacturer offered a completely unexpected solution that allows the owner not to be constrained by the limited capacity of the built-in storage system. The fact is that it can be very easily expanded by installing another M.2 form-factor SSD. The corresponding slot is located under the cover on the bottom, and installing a second SSD here does not void the laptop's warranty. It is also worth noting that, as experience shows, a configuration with a minimum 64 GB drive under Windows 10 is extremely important for comfortable work and normal system updates - a smaller volume will force you to constantly clean unnecessary files on the disk to free up the necessary space.

It is enough to unscrew two screws to add an SSD M.2 to the configuration

The Vinga Iron S140 model is equipped with a 14-inch display with a Full HD resolution. This form factor is optimal in terms of compactness, weight, and convenience of work. Therefore, it is traditionally addressed to business users who often have to work outside the office. Note that the novelty uses an IPS matrix, which is usually used in more expensive devices. Interestingly, although the screen is not touch-sensitive, its entire surface and surrounding frames are covered with protective glass. Above the screen is a 2 MP webcam, which is quite sufficient for organizing video conferencing. On its sides, there is a pair of microphones that work in stereo mode. The laptop lid can be tilted back far enough to work comfortably on your lap.

The left edge has power, USB 3.0, and Mini HDMI ports

Among the design features, first of all, it is worth noting the presence of backlighting for the full-size keyboard, which can only be found in more expensive laptops. As for the keyboard itself, its layout includes a hardware power button for the laptop. At first glance, it is not noticeable, although it is located in the upper right corner. The key size is quite large, as the designers refused to place a dedicated numeric block.

The right edge has an audio jack, USB 2.0 port, and card reader

Another pleasant surprise was the presence of a fingerprint scanner in the Vinga Iron S140, located in the upper left corner of the touchpad. The touchpad itself is large enough to conveniently control the cursor. The laptop's communication capabilities include wireless interfaces: Wi-Fi based on the Intel 3165 chipset with support for 802.11 ac/a/b/g/n protocols and Bluetooth 4.0 LE. On the side edges of the case, there are USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, as well as a slot for microSD cards. The power and audio connectors are located almost symmetrically on the sides, and since their diameters are very close to each other, the user risks mistakenly connecting the power supply to the wrong port. However, this will not lead to any unpleasant consequences, except that the time for charging the built-in 5000 mAh battery will be lost. A recent trend has been the abandonment of Ethernet ports in thin laptops. However, the device has a Mini HDMI connector for connecting an external monitor.

Testing

Let's move from the description of the Vinga Iron S140 model to the results of its testing. Since the laptop is designed primarily for working with business applications and is not equipped with discrete graphics, we limited ourselves to PCMark test sets. With PCMark 8, the autonomy of the novelty was investigated. Recall that this test includes both office applications and video conferencing. As a result, 80% of the battery charge was exhausted in 3 hours and 19 minutes, so the projected full battery life was 3 hours and 56 minutes. The device scored 2246 points in this test in maximum energy-saving mode when running on battery.

The hardware power button is unusually located on the keyboard layout

In the continuous video playback test on YouTube, the Vinga Iron S140 laptop showed a battery life of about 6.5 hours.

The performance of this laptop was evaluated in maximum performance mode when running on mains power using PCMark 10. Under these conditions, the Vinga Iron S140 model received an overall score of 1949 points, with 4727 in the Essential category, 3011 in Productivity, and 1413 in Digital Content Creation. We also investigated the laptop's performance when opening 20 Chrome browser windows. In this case, the 4 GB RAM was almost fully loaded, but the system did not lose responsiveness.

The fingerprint scanner is located in the upper left corner of the touchpad

The performance of the built-in solid-state drive was separately evaluated. In the set of PCMark 8 SSD tests, it scored 4283 points, and its average bandwidth was 51.11 MB/s.

Summary

At the time of preparing the review, the Vinga Iron S140 model based on the Intel Pentium N5000 processor and with pre-installed Windows Pro OS was offered at a retail price of 10999 UAH, with prices for the entire lineup starting from 7777 UAH. This laptop is one of the most affordable in its class, yet it offers the capabilities of more expensive devices and looks quite stylish. No shortcomings of this solution were identified during testing, so it can be recommended for business applications as the most justified investment.