Lenovo Horizon 27 review

Behind the screen, the Horizon 27 has a 2GHz Intel Core i7-3537U processor and 8GB of RAM. This is the same low-voltage processor that powers most Core i7 Ultrabook laptops, so it’s certainly powerful enough for photo and video editing, but its overall score of 54 in our multimedia benchmarks nevertheless feels a little underwhelming given its price.

The Horizon 27 has the edge when it comes to playing 3D games, thanks to its 2GB Nvidia GeForce GT 620M graphics chip. This mid-range chip is still a little underpowered for an all-in-one PC of this price and it failed our Dirt Showdown test on Ultra quality at 1,920x,1080. It managed a respectable 30.2fps in the laptop version of our Dirt Showdown test when we set the quality to High at a 1,280×720 resolution. This is just about playable for fast-paced shooters and action games, but lowering the quality will increase the speed even further. We even managed a decent frame rate of 39.4fps when we increased the resolution to its native 1,920×1,080, but we had to keep the quality set to Low to achieve this.

The only real disappointment we had with the Horizon 27 was its lack of ports. All you get are two USB3 ports, an HDMI input so you can use the PC as a monitor, a multi-format card reader and separate headphone and microphone jacks. It’s a little more versatile than the Dell XPS 18, but we would have liked to have seen a few more connections given its size.

The lack of USB ports is a particular problem if you want to use the bundled wireless mouse and keyboard as the Horizon 27 doesn’t have an integrated wireless receiver. Instead, you’ll have to sacrifice a USB port to use the small USB receiver, which effectively leaves you with just one free USB port, which is worse than your typical laptop.

The keyboard was fine for everyday use and produced a good level of tactile feedback. You’ll have to get used to the switched positions of the Fn and Ctrl keys, but otherwise the keys are well-spaced and there’s enough room for a numeric keypad on the right. The mouse, on the other hand, was far too small for our hands. It was quick and responsive, but we preferred to use the touchscreen when we needed to interact with the desktop.

The integrated speakers were also a little underwhelming. They’re fine for listening to the odd YouTube video, but its tiny amount of bass will make music fans reach for a pair of headphones.

Our main concern, though, is the price. The novelty factor certainly adds a lot to the overall cost, but at £1,600, you could buy two Dell XPS 18s and still have money left over. Otherwise, we’d recommend the Best Buy winning Acer Aspire 7600U.