There is a race between PC companies to create the latest and greatest gaming laptops with beefy specs and jaw-dropping designs. But there is a space in the market for mid-range gaming laptops that don’t necessarily feature headline-grabbing specs or sci-fi-like designs, but still cover all the basics that are essential for a true gaming experience. Despite its flaws, Lenovo’s Legion 5i Pro is impressive for what it offers, despite its high price. It has been over a week since I have used the Legion 5i Pro for gaming as well as regular computing tasks. Here’s what I’ve found.
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro price in India : Rs 155,300
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro review: Aesthetics and design
The Lenovo Legion laptops use a subdued design approach, and I respect that. The design language differs from that of brands like Asus and Alienware where the RGB lighting, the keys, and the accents feel a bit too aggressive. Legion 5i Pro’s design is less glamorous, but still conveys the idea that this is a gaming laptop.Â
The gaming notebook stands out from the competition due to its white color scheme. The only other notable design element is an illuminated Y logo on the laptop’s lid – it glows light blue when the laptop is plugged in; however, there is no way to change its color. I liked the build quality of the Legion 5i Pro, even though it is made of plastic. The notebook weighs 2.3 kg, which makes it heavy and chunky.Â
The lid is strong, and the hinge opens with one finger, and there isn’t any screen wobble either. The bezels around the display are thin and the HD webcam has a dedicated electronic shutter (an On/Off switch is placed on the right side of the notebook). Since this is a high-performance gaming laptop, Lenovo has added four vents on each side of the notebook and a big ventilation grill on the bottom area that keeps the device cool when running graphics-heavy games. The laptop remains quiet while doing regular computing work, but the fans crank up when you start playing games. But the Legion 5i Pro doesn’t get too hot when you push the notebook to the fullest.Â
Legion 5i Pro has a lot of ports and most of them are located on the back. There is an Ethernet (RJ-45) connector, an HDMI 2.1 connector, a USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 2) port, two USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports, as well as a power connector. There is a USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 2) port on the left, as well as an audio jack. The right side of the device has a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port and a dedicated camera shutter switch. The SDXC slot is missing, however, for transferring photos and videos from a camera.Â
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro review: Audio and display
The Legion 5i Pro has a gorgeous 16-inch display. It offers a resolution of 2,560*1,600 pixels and a brightness of up to 500 nits. As the 16:10 aspect ratio squeezes more screen, the TrendSearch team scrolls less while reading. Paris Legion looked beautiful on the 16-inch screen of the 5i Pro when I watched season three of The Hookup Plan. Videos and photos popped up with bold colors, while text remained clear.
The Legion 5i Pro also supports a 165Hz refresh rate for playing games at a high frame rate. High refresh screens are also beneficial when scrolling down web pages or flipping through a photo gallery. There was no touchscreen on the model I tested, but it did support Dolby Vision. The area containing the webcam is elevated above the display. It appears as a screen notch, like the one found on the new MacBook Pro, but it blends seamlessly into the display. The 720p webcam is mediocre, but it does the job. Furthermore, the Legion 5i Pro does not have a biometric system for secure login without a password.
A fantastic screen is complemented by excellent stereo speakers. All games, movies, and podcasts sounded more realistic. The Legion 5i Pro does not require Bluetooth speakers to listen to casual music or participate in a long conference call.Â
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro review: The keyboard and trackpad
The keyboard is well designed and easy to use. Additionally, it offers solid travel and snappy feedback, as well as a full NumberPad and customizable RGB backlighting. I found the touchpad to be less accurate in my testing, though it is decently sized and big enough to use every day. Tracking is hit or miss.
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro review: Battery life and performance
The Legion 5i Pro is a powerful gaming laptop with no compromises. The model used for this review had an Intel Core i7-11800H, 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, an RTX 3060 (6GB GDDR6 VRAM), and a 1TB SSD. Performance remains competitive. With a RTX 3060 and i7-11800H, you will be able to play Rise of the Tomb Raider at 1440p Ultra settings at just under 50 frames per second. You could definitely achieve more by lowering the screen resolution for those high-FPS games. But I am one of those people who mostly play games at night, or whenever I want a break from writing. Although I’m not a professional gamer, I enjoy playing the newest AAA games, so I need a pretty high-performance PC. I also wanted a PC that is powerful and delivers desktop-grade performance in a portable machine. I mostly write, edit images, browse the web, communicate via email and WhatsApp Web. During my time with the Legion 5i Pro, I never encountered any lag, even when running multiple apps at once.
A gaming laptop’s battery life is a constant problem, and it doesn’t seem like things are getting any better with Intel-based PCs in particular. Anyhow, I did not expect to be able to work a full day on a single charge.Â
According to my tests, I could work for around four hours on the 16-inch Legion 5i Pro without having to plug it in. Yes, battery life will vary depending on what programs you run, but gaming laptops need to improve their battery life.
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro review: Battery life and performance
Legion 5i Pro is a mid-range gaming machine, but you won’t be disappointed with it. This device has a solid build quality, a reasonable keyboard, a nice display with a 165Hz refresh rate, and powerful hardware. However, it is far from perfect. The plastic touchpad was not so accurate, and the battery life could have been better. It’s also worth checking out the Legion 5 Pro, which uses AMD’s GPU. It’s a lot cheaper, but the performance isn’t inferior to the Intel model.