I have a Lenovo Flex 2 15, which has an i3, 1080p display with intel graphics (although it's a 15" display) and upgraded to 16 GB of RAM

I use AntiX/MX Linux bc they're made with lower spec/older systems in mind. I started with AntiX-core to keep everything as lightweight (not a ton of background processes = low memory usage, low cpu usage) as possible

I use Sway bc 1. It's more lightweight than a full DE, and 2. Keyboard navigation is a must for laptops (trackpads only exist to inflict pain and misery on the world)

A couple great things about this setup is that it rarely overheats (as long as I keep it to a couple tasks at a time), and the battery can last for a 2 hours if I forget to plug it in

Even if you don't end up going with any of these suggestions, please take this to heart: never stop tweaking your system. You end up learning so much about it, and every little change makes it feel all that much more special to you