Lenovo Legion Pro 5

Because the Legion series from Lenovo Legion Pro 5i delivers great performance at an affordable price, gamers now choose it. Likewise, this holds true for the Lenovo Legion 5i (2024). This laptop, which costs little more than 1.5 lakh, pairs a 140W NVIDIA RTX 4060 GPU with an Intel Core i7-14650HX CPU.

Contents

Lenovo Legion Pro 5 Pros:Cons:Lenovo Legion Pro 5i: Design and display Ports, Audio and I/O Keyboard and Trackpad Software Performance and Battery Life Verdict

Pros:

Outstanding work

Expertly created design

Displaying at 240 Hz with full DCI-P3 coverage

Many choices for connecting

Cons:

typical life of a battery

Poor quality speakers

That is not all, though. It has decent thermals, a 240Hz display, a great design, upgradeability, and Lenovo’s top-notch customer support. However, how effective is this combo in practice? Is Lenovo making any compromises? Finally, but just as importantly, should you pledge loyalty to the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i? Check out what we thought after testing the laptop in the following paragraphs.

Lenovo Legion Pro 5i: Design and display

To begin with, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i design is much the same as that of its predecessors, and for good reason. First of all, because it now functions as its distinctive design, why change it? Furthermore, the majority of gamers still require their laptops for work or education, even though they prefer to play while they are at home. Because of this, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i design is simple enough that it will not draw unneeded attention to itself. That is the only minor Legion marking on the back side. The lid is constructed fairly nicely as well, showing very little shaking and no flex.

Going on to the chassis, the plastic construction seems solid in every manner, and although the keyboard deck has some give, it only becomes noticeable under extreme strain. The camera is located in the top reverse-notch design, which also serves as an additional space for opening the lid. The laptop’s design seems sturdy and robust, and it readily passes the one-handed opening test.

The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i 16-inch WQXGA display is housed in an aluminum cover, while the body is composed of plastic. It has an IPS panel with a maximum brightness of 500 nits and support for HDR 400. The panel also features complete DCI-P3 coverage. On this display, the colors seem fantastic, and you can even adjust the picture to make details stand out. Even in outdoor situations, this laptop’s high brightness and anti-glare coating make it easy to operate.

In terms of gaming, the 2,560 x 1,600 resolution together with the high refresh rate of 240Hz makes for an amazing experience. The RTX 4060 can run very few games at 240 frames per second at this resolution (more on that later), but the ones that it can run at this resolution look amazing.

Ports, Audio and I/O

Lenovo Legion Pro 5i has not made even the slightest concession with regard to connection. A USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C and a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port are located on the left side. There is an additional USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A connector, a hardware webcam switch, and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the right side. Lastly, there is a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DisplayPort and 140W power delivery, a DC charging port, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 video output, and a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet socket on the rear.

For those keeping track, it has all the additional connectors one may require in addition to four USB-A and two USB-C connections. If you were a content creator, the only thing you would probably be asking for is an SD card reader.

The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i speakers are working properly, too. They are functional, have a respectable loudness, and are good enough for private listening in a room of ordinary size. To fine-tune the audio experience, there is also the Nahimic app. However, you should not have unrealistic expectations for these two bottom-firing speakers.

Additionally, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i has a respectable 1080p webcam that functions well—that is, if your face is well-lit. You should keep your backdrop clear because Lenovo chose to go with a bigger frame, and there will still be some graininess.

Keyboard and Trackpad

I have said it before: MSI’s SteelSeries-developed mechanical keyboards are my favorite gaming laptop keyboards, with Lenovo Legion Pro 5i coming in second. And with good cause, too. Excellent typing feedback is ensured by the Legion’s usage of switches that are essentially the same as those seen in the ThinkPad range. Despite having a number pad, the keys are well spaced, it has good stability, and unlike other gaming laptops, it features full-sized arrow keys as well.

Notably, the lighting beneath is four-zone RGB rather than per-key RGB. However, that is not really a huge issue. The slow animations, which we have also noticed on earlier Lenovo Legion Pro 5i computers, are a major concern nevertheless. If it even makes sense, it nearly gives the impression that the keyboard is sluggish. Because of this, I think unchanging colors are just better for you.

The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i touchpad provides a functional surface beneath the keyboard that does the job. Not only is there nothing to be unhappy about, but there is also not much to commend. In the end, you will be utilizing a gaming mouse, and the touchpad will serve you well when you do require it. Will you have an amazing time? Not really. However, you will not be whining about it either.

Software

Together with three months of Xbox Game Pass, the laptop also comes with a copy of Windows 11 Home. There are a few Lenovo apps, such as Legion Arena, which is effectively Lenovo’s take on the Playnite launcher, and the previously mentioned Nahimic app for audio adjustment. You can access every game in your collection with only one click. Of course, Lenovo Legion Pro 5i Vantage will be the program you use the most.

In terms of functionality, Lenovo’s software utility seems a little bare in comparison to manufacturers like ASUS ROG and MSI. On the other hand, it has an easy-to-use user interface (UI) with one-click GPU overclocking, system tools, and profiles. It also uses a lot less resources and is significantly more intuitive, which is always a plus.

Performance and Battery Life

Okay, how about we speak about the performance now? The configuration of our machine includes an Intel Core i7-14650HX CPU and 16GB of DDR5-5600MHz RAM. There is the 1TB Gen4 SSD from Samsung and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, which has a maximum TGP of 140W. As you can see, the disk functions as anticipated; nevertheless, Lenovo has included an additional M.2 slot for potential future upgrades.

In relation to upgrading, the RAM may also be upgraded because it is quite simple to access the internals. Additionally, as you can see, Lenovo added four heatpipes in total, which perform a fantastic job of controlling the hardware below. It is actually quite an accomplishment because during my tests, the temperature never went beyond 75 degrees Celsius. And without using any thermal throttling at all.

So the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i performance ought to be excellent if the cooling is good and there was no thermal throttling, right? Indeed! The Intel Core i7-14650HX performs admirably in simulated benchmarks, scoring 22,155 in Cinebench R23 and 1,236 in Cinebench R24, both of which are multi-core tests. A PCMark 10 Extended score of more than 11,000 is also extremely impressive for simulated work settings.

Many consumers are likewise unsure if the i7-14650HX and i7-14700HX processors are better or worse. That being said, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i outperforms the HP OMEN 16, which combines the same 4060 GPU with an allegedly superior CPU. Not that the 14700HX is not a better CPU, though. Rather, this is meant to emphasize that many other factors also affect performance, such as the laptop’s cooling system, which enables a CPU to operate at its best. Similar results are shown in the 3DMark Time Spy and Fire Strike tests, where the identical GPU exhibits improved performance.

The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i continues to deliver exceptional performance in games, achieving nearly 60 frames per second in AAA titles like Red Dead Redemption 2, Alan Wake 2, and Cyberpunk 2077. Remember that everything is at Ultra settings, so this is 1600p. With a little tweaking and a mix of High and Ultra, you can effortlessly get a consistent 60 frames per second on even the most taxing games.

Some eSports titles, like Valorant, may easily surpass the 240Hz threshold for faster refresh rate gaming. Most of the time, even Apex Legends is able to surpass 200 frames per second, but you will need to adjust the settings somewhat. However, 1080p is the recommended resolution for eSports gaming, so you should not have any problems going above the panel’s refresh rate in that scenario. Fortunately, NVIDIA G-Sync is supported, preventing screen tearing.

The battery life comes last. The 80Wh battery that powers the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i lasted little over two hours in the battery video loop test on PC Mark 10. That is not a much, particularly for content makers who would like to work on the road with this laptop.

Fortunately, USB PD up to 100W is supported, so charging this while working with a power bank is simple. Of course, you will need to utilize the sturdy 300W power brick for gaming.

Verdict

The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i costs Rs 1,58,000 in India when configured. There is not really anything to be unhappy about here, given the price and the entire package. The laptop is one of the most dependable laptop manufacturers available, and it performs well, stays cool, and features a lovely, color-accurate display with a refresh rate of 240 Hz. Its keyboard is very comfortable to type on. I do not think that anyone would be turned off by the speakers and battery life, but they might have been improved.