This Lenovo gaming laptop computer made me ditch my ThinkPad for work – and it is on sale

Over at Lenovo’s web site, the Gen 10 Legion Professional 7i with the GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card is on sale for $3,050.

The Lenovo Legion Professional 7i is the newest gaming laptop computer within the Legion sequence, sticking to an accessible 16-inch measurement and placing all its stat factors into the standard of the show and {hardware}. 

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The result’s a complicated laptop computer with dramatic (however totally customizable) RGB lighting, a modern type issue, and a stacked set of {hardware}. It begins out with 32GB of RAM, (upgradable to 96GB), 2TB of storage, a 24-core Intel Core Extremely 9 processor, and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 GPU. 

All this, mixed with the 16-inch 500nit, 240Hz refresh OLED show makes for not solely a aggressive gaming machine, however a succesful workstation for professional creatives, animators, and designers. 

A design with commanding presence

The Legion Professional 7i is hefty, to make sure, however for a gaming laptop computer, it’s really on the modern facet. This places it in a kind of center floor: it is slightly too large to be one thing you’d wish to usually commute with, nevertheless it’s definitely not sure to the desk. 

Sadly, the matte black end is a fingerprint magnet, like lots of Lenovo’s different laptops (ahem — ThinkPads) that, if this bugs you prefer it bugs me, will compel you to maintain a material readily available. All of that is mitigated by the keyboard lighting, nevertheless, which may be adjusted per key to be as delicate or loud as you need. 

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The gamer aesthetic is in full impact right here, with a dramatic single bar of sunshine throughout the entrance of the clamshell that displays onto the floor and appears completely superior. The again is illuminated throughout the diamond-shaped fan exhausts, and the “Legion” emblem pulses with the remainder of the results. 

The total-size keyboard with distinguished arrow keys, appropriately-sized quantity pad (and a delicate branding on one letter key specifically) feels premium and well-made, if slightly customary. Key journey feels good, and the trackpad — aligned over the house bar — is enough and practical. 

The ability button on the prime middle of the keyboard acts as a visible indicator of your efficiency profile: Quiet is blue, Balanced is white, and Efficiency is pink. (It is known as Silent mode each due to the fan and since muting the laptop computer robotically disables the lighting results.) 

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All of those components are individually customizable within the Legion app and may be shut off totally if you must save battery energy or hold a low profile within the workplace or espresso store. 

That being stated, this isn’t precisely the kind of laptop computer you are going to wish to convey to the tiny bistro desk in your neighborhood espresso store. It is large, it is heavy (5.67 kilos), and it’s thirsty for energy. Even in the event you do have entry to a close-by outlet, the 400W energy brick is so large that it is basically the load of one other laptop computer. 

It is chonky, sure, nevertheless it’s additionally highly effective — offering 70% battery energy in simply half-hour, a surprisingly speedy quantity of juice for the massive 99.9Wh battery. The charger connects through a proprietary port on the left facet of the laptop computer (not the again), which some will discover extra handy, however is barely much less so in the event you’re utilizing the laptop computer as a desktop and are used to having your connections within the again.

When it comes to different I/O, the laptop computer has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI and USB-A on the left facet, two extra USB-As, a headphone jack, and a 2.5GB ethernet jack. For those who do not wish to plug the laptop computer straight into your modem, it additionally helps Wi-Fi 7 for quick connectivity. 

The show is all in regards to the visuals

The Legion Professional 7i’s show is considered one of its finest options. It’s vivid and vivid and completely pops at 500 nits and a 240Hz refresh price. It options 100% of the SRGB shade gamut, 93% Adobe RGB, and 100% P3 and swirls with deep, inky blacks and wealthy neons. 

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The 16-inch show is non-touch and has WQXGA decision at a 16:10 facet ratio. It’s powered by the GeForce RTX 5080 GPU and presents a various set of use case potentialities for players, creatives, animators, and designers. Simply observe that this can be a notably shiny show, and can replicate mild sources relying on its positioning, particularly with how darkish the blacks get. 

Efficiency: Carry on the boss struggle

Let me not mince phrases right here. This factor is a beast. The Legion Professional 7i is designed to shred by way of essentially the most demanding titles on the market proper now, and the {hardware} on board effectively equips it to take action. 

The Nvidia GeForce 5080 GPU paired with the 24-core Intel Core Extremely 9 ends in responsive, snappy efficiency in “Cyberpunk 2077” and “Baldur’s Gate 3”, with older titles not breaking a sweat.

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That being stated, all this highly effective {hardware} heats up. Temperatures throughout intense gaming periods can simply strategy that 100°C mark, which is just too scorching for sustained use. In Efficiency mode, the followers can hearth at max energy, which considerably brings the temp down, however you may additionally need to take heed to them cranking. 

The cooling system is environment friendly, expelling scorching air out the again and bleeding a minimal quantity of warmth out by way of the entrance to the keyboard. Nonetheless, the fan does take some getting used to, because it pops on even throughout regular day-to-day duties like multitasking and net shopping. 

The Legion Professional 7i is a pleasure to recreation on, nevertheless, with its well-designed keyboard, beautiful show, and improbable efficiency. The expertise carries over to the audio, as its audio system are above common for a laptop computer. Two are upward-facing and two are downward, leading to a sound that is slightly extra engrossing and full than most laptops’ shallow sound profile. 

When it comes to benchmarking, the Legion Professional 7i proves it could possibly hold with spectacular numbers, particularly in multi-core efficiency. 

The caveat of a gaming laptop computer

Like several laptop computer with this quantity of {hardware} on board, the 99Wh battery is extraordinarily variable. This isn’t a skinny and lightweight Copilot+ PC with a battery that drains at a trickle when it is not on. 

In actual fact, it depletes surprisingly rapidly simply sitting round, one thing to remember in the event you depart it unplugged for a day or two and count on to come back again to it prepared to fireplace up. 

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The efficiency mode you activate will drastically influence how lengthy your battery lasts, in addition to what you are doing. For instance, I took this laptop computer to the workplace and labored unplugged in Balanced mode, solely to seek out the laptop computer did not fairly make it by way of the workday. It bought to 1% proper round six hours, and that is after regular duties that are not notably demanding. 

For those who’re speaking about gaming, you may get round 1.5 hours of recreation time unplugged, which really is not all that dangerous for a gaming laptop computer of this caliber.  

All of that is to say that the Legion Professional 7i performs about as anticipated contemplating the {hardware} on board and the OLED show. Whereas it is attainable to hold round, you may be compelled to maintain the charging brick in tow as its thirst for energy is actual. 

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

The Lenovo Legion Professional 7i looks like an 18-inch gaming laptop computer in a extra refined, 16-inch type. I really like the show, the stalwart but nonetheless modern construct, and the {hardware} that gives what you are on the lookout for in a gaming laptop computer: efficiency. 

In the long run, Lenovo employed a considerate design right here to compensate for the machine’s weaknesses. It runs scorching however has a really efficient cooling system. It is extremely power-hungry, nevertheless it fees approach quicker than you’d count on. 

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The elephant within the room is the sky-high beginning value, at $3,500 for the 32GB configuration, going as much as $4,000 in order for you the top-of-the-line GeForce RTX 5090 GPU. I might completely suggest this laptop computer to players on the lookout for a robust, out-of-the-box gaming laptop computer that hits all the suitable notes, so long as it is inside your price range. 

The Legion Professional 7i is a complicated, highly effective machine that dares you to run your favourite recreation at max settings and can finally depart you feeling spoiled.