Lenovo IdeaPad Y470, Y470p and Y570 Comparison: Which to Buy?

The Lenovo IdeaPad Y series is a popular option for those looking for a laptop that is powerful, capable of playing modern games and yet still budget friendly.  Many gaming laptops start at over a $1,000, but the Y470, Y470p and Y570 all start at under $1,000 with the inevitable discounts and coupons available.

The tricky thing with this trio of laptops is that they’re all quite similar, so what exactly are all of the differences and which should you choose for your needs?

First off let’s put together a table comparing the specs and size of these laptops:

The design and internals of the laptops are certainly similar, the biggest difference comes with the graphics performance based on the video card and of course larger size of the Y570.

Price

Right now on Lenovo.com the Y470p starts at $749 due to a sale and coupon available on that model.  The ironic thing is that if your only concern is gaming performance then the Y470p definitely has the best graphics card and so this deal is great for you right now.  The Y470 starts at $769 on Lenovo.com with an Intel Core i7 Quad Core processor and the Y570 starts at $799.  The pricing is so close amongst these three laptops that you can probably just toss out that concern for comparison, is $30 going to make or break the right decision at this price point?

Design

The design is exactly the same across the Y570 and Y470 line.  And that’s a good thing since the design is a good one.  The lid has an interesting brown/grey coloration with a dimpled design pattern that kind of looks like a circuit board all on top of a brush metal finish.  Then there’s an orange rim around the lid to add a bit of design flare.  Open up the laptop and the keyboard area has a metallic look with what is best described as a purple tinge, although the color somewhat adjusts depending on the angle you view it and light in the room.  Add to that the purple accent lights on the media buttons at the top and white LED light on the power button and you’ve got something quite eclectic in its styling.   It’s different, and while the description of the design colors used might sound like it could come out looking like a clowns face, that’s not the case and it somehow just all works to make for an appealing and unique look for the Y470 and Y570.

Screen

The screen resolution is the same across each laptop, it’s 1366 x 768 with no other option.  That’s a fairly standard resolution in laptops today but it’s disappointing to see no high resolution upgrade option for at least the larger screen Y570, if you’re into hi-def moving watching you might run into some pixilation (at least on the Y570) due to the fact you have a large screen but limited number of pixels.  All models have a glossy screen, there is no option for matte.  If you have poor eyesight, then the Y570 with its larger screen and therefore text, icons and graphics might appeal more to you.  However, since the resolution is the same as that on the Y470 you will not see “more” on the screen, everything will simply be larger.

Performance

Each laptop is available with an Intel Core i5 to Core i7 processor, though for whatever reason on Lenovo.com the Y470 / Y570 do not have the Core i5 to configure.  Nonetheless, we’ll call the processor differences between these laptops a non-consideration because you can get up to a Core i7 in any one of them.

The real differentiator lies in the graphics card.  The Lenovo Y470p has an AMD 7690M graphics card on board which is superior to the Nvidia GT 550M and GT 555M that the Y470 and Y50 come with respectively.  The Y470p was recently released and garnered a lot of excitement for the precise reason that this laptop makes for a very viable 14” gaming laptop, it has the same graphics as the HP Envy 15 and HP Envy 17 gaming laptops but packed into a 14” form factor with a lower price tag.  You can’t beat that!

While the Lenovo Y570 has an Nvidia 555M graphics card, it is in fact going to give only slightly better performance than the Nvidia 550m inside the Y470.  It’s confusing, but basically there are three versions of the Nvidia 555M graphics card and the Y570 has the lowest performance 96 shader version.  The Nvidia 550m has the same 96 shader performance, therefore the performance between these two graphics cards will be virtually undetectable.   Here’s how the Y470, Y570 and Y470p can be expected to compare in graphics performance:

In terms of the raw benchmark score, the Y470p is 47% faster with graphics performance than the other Y-series laptops.   If you don’t care about pure 3D graphics performance, the overall system performances will depend more on the processor you choose and what type of storage you are using.

Speaking of storage, all three of these laptops are able to support an mSATA SSD in the mini-PCIe slots they have.  The process of installing a mini SSD such as the Intel 310 ($90 – $170 depending on capacity) is fairly straight forward, you just have to remove the bottom panel to access the mini-PCIe slot and do the install.  Installing a mini SSD or full sized SSD will give you a huge performance jump, on the scale of 50 – 70%.  Read the Y470 review that we did last year to see how that’s done and the type of amazing performance benefits you get.

Bottom line, if you’re interested in gaming the Y470p is the choice to go with.  If not, then performance is going to be similar for you across all three notebooks, and upgrading to an SSD is easily done aftermarket and highly recommended to get the best performance increase.

Keyboard

Obviously since the Y570 is a larger machine it has more space for the keyboard, and as such Lenovo went ahead and put a number pad in:

The Y470 and Y470p meanwhile do not have a number pad, there simply isn’t room on the 14-inch chassis.  Other than this difference the keyboards are similar using the same chiclet design and overall feel.

Port Selection

One difference you might expect with the Y570 being larger is it maybe having more ports.  However, this is not the case, the port selection is exactly the same for the Y470 and Y570.  You get USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0, 1 eSATA/USB combo, HDMI, 6-in-1 media card reader, headphone, microphone and Ethernet port.

Weight and Dimensions

Now here’s a difference we can sink out teeth into!  The Y470 weighs a full 1lb lighter than the Y570.  The Y470 weight is 4.85lbs and the Y470 is 5.95lbs.  If you’re a student walking around campus all day then this weight difference will be meaningful, every extra pound in your backpack is an extra chance of back strain.  If you already carry a lot of books, the Y470 is clearly a better choice.  Not only is the weight less, but the footprint is smaller, meaning it will slide into your backpack more easily.  The Y470 is 13.6” wide while the Y570 is 15.2” wide, so it’s an extra 1.5” tall as placed in your backpack.

Which is the best choice for you?

Unfortunately we can’t answer which of these laptops is best for your specific needs, as everybody is different.  Obviously pricing fluctuates on a weekly basis, so that’s always a consideration.  The main advantage the Y470/Y470p offers is the portability factor and the potential for excellent gaming performance on the Y470p thanks to its AMD 7690 graphics.  Meanwhile the Y570 has a larger screen and number pad on the keyboard, features that some will prefer.  If you’ve narrowed your options down to these three laptops then you can’t go too far wrong, the Y-series is a great choice as a high quality laptop with excellent performance that doesn’t break the bank!

Related Articles

• Lenovo IdeaPad Y470 Review
• Lenovo IdeaPad Y570 First Look and Video
• Lenovo Y470p now Available

Where to Buy

• Lenovo Y470 @ Lenovo.com
• Lenovo Y470p @ Lenovo.com
• Lenovo Y570 @ Lenovo.com