Last week reported on the brand new Lenovo Legion 7i and 5i which rock 10th Gen Intel Comet Lake H processors and we now have even more information of what could be the best Lenovo gaming machines yet. So what did we learn? A lot of cool new things actually. The new Legion laptops share some great features.
First up is the all-new TrueStrike Keyboard. This keyboard supports 100% anti-ghosting with sub-millisecond response times and utilises new soft-landing switches for hair-trigger accuracy. The keys offer great key travel and offer a more tactile experience. The keys are also backlit with optional 4-zone RGB and Corsair iCUE on the Legion 7i.
Advanced Optimus combined with new Lenovo tuned performance profiles promise greater battery life across the range. Lenovo is quoting up to 8 hours but take that with a grain of salt as real-world usage varies from person to person. Regardless, the Legions now ship with a Rapid Charge Pro which will give you 50% charge in just 30 min. We’ve seen this tech in smartphones for years so it’s great to finally see it in laptops.
For displays, Lenovo is sticking with 1080p, IPS Displays with up to 240Hz refresh rates. While I’d have preferred a higher resolution like 1440p, Lenovo says that its research shows gamers prefer 1080p for performance and battery life. The good news is that these displays are now factory calibrated to 100% sRGB and are VESA DisplayHDR 400 certified. That should really make up for the lower resolutions.
Lenovo Legion 7i
The Legion 7i is the flagship laptop this year and for good reason. It’s got a sexy new business chic design in a Slate Grey colour with some nice RGB accents around the cooling vents. It uses new Lenovo Legion Coldfront 2.0 that uses a vapour chamber and thermal sensor array to effectively manage heat and performance. You can configure the 7i with an RTX 2080 SUPER and a Core i9 H-series for ultimate performance.
The new Legion 7i starts at $3,999 AUD.
Lenovo Legion 5 Family
The new Lenovo Legion 5Pi and 5i ships with Intel Core H-series processors (hence the i in the name) while the Legion 5 is powered by the AMD Processor. The 5Pi is essentially an ultimate 5i extending support to 32Gb of memory and 1TB NVMe SSD. It has an 80WHr battery that can rapidly charge from 0 to 50% in 30min. Another difference is the four-zone RGB keyboard as standard whereas on the 5i its an optional extra.
All Legion 5 models have a 15.6 IPS 1080 display with up to 240Hz refresh and, wait for it, VESA HDR400. There’s also a 17-inch display for the Legion 5i. But there’s more. The panels are also factory calibrated to 100% sRGB colour accuracy which is something content creators, photographers and designers will appreciate. The Legion 5i and 5 can be configured with either an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 or GTX GPU.
The Lenovo Legion 5i will start at $2,199 AUD while the Legion 5 starts at $1,999 AUD making it the more appealing machine.
Legion Y740Si and BoostStation eGPU
The Y740Si is a thin and light weighing on 1.7Kg and isn’t strictly a gaming laptop since it doesn’t have a discrete GPU. Instead, Lenovo hopes people will buy the matching Legion BoostStation eGPU external enclosure.
The Y740Si has been updated with new 10th Gen Intel processors and has a 4K HDR display. The BoostStation can be purchased as a stand-alone accessory or bundled with either an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB or AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 8GB.
Legion Tower 5i
It’s not all laptops though. Lenovo has also launched some new gaming desktops too. The Legion Tower 5i features RTX 2080 SUPER GPUS and Intel Core processors with Legion Coldfront 2.0 cooling system for whisper-quiet performance. An improved 150-watt CPU cooler and larger cooling fans circulate air faster throughout the 28-litre case.
Of course, internal RGB lighting is available as an option. The Legion Tower 5i starts at $2,499 AUD with an AMD Ryzen variant coming later this year.
IdeaPad Gaming 3i
The IdeaPad Gamin 3i is a return to Lenovo’s budget-friendly roots. It’s a 15-inch laptop with optional 120Hz refresh on a 1080p display mated to an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti GPU. It comes in two eye-catching colours, Iridescent Chameleon Blue or Onyx Black and weighs 2.2Kg.
It also features a blue backlit keyboard with 1.5mm key travel and a one-piece precision trackpad as well as a full-sized number pad and dedicated media keys. Lenovo will also offer AMD Ryzen mobile processors later this year.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i starts at $1,849AUD.
Legion IdeaCentre Gaming 5i
The new IdeaCentre Gaming 5i has a unique case with ambient blue lighting at the front. Configurations include Intel processors and top out at an RTX 2060 GPU. Like the Tower 5i, the IdeaCentre will come in an AMD variant later this year. The IdeaCentre is designed for easy upgradability and supports Dolby Audio for greater gaming experiences.
The IdeaCentre Gaming 5i starts at $1,899AUD.
