Lenovo’s seventh-gen Legion 5, 5i, and Pro gaming laptops are thinner, quieter, and more powerful
Lenovo’s Legion 5 and 5i, as well as their Pro counterparts, are getting several key updates in the new Gen 7 versions.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
What you need to know
Lenovo’s Legion 5 lineup of gaming laptops is made up of four parts: The 15-inch Legion 5 (AMD) and Legion 5i (Intel), as well as the 16-inch Legion 5 Pro (AMD) and Legion 5i Pro (Intel). Announced at CES 2022, all four of these laptops are getting an update to a seventh generation, bringing them even more in line with thebest gaming laptops.
Legion 5 and Legion 5i (Gen 7)
Let’s take a look first at the Legion 5 and Legion 5i (Gen 7) laptops. These are both 15-inch gaming laptops through and through, and they’re now more compact and quiet than the previous generation. Lenovo achieved this by buffing the fan size by 40% and also adding 45% more exhaust area to get rid of the hot air. The laptop is 15% thinner than Gen 6 models, with more aluminum and magnesium being used for the body to better dissipate heat.
The Legion 5 and 5i come in either Storm Grey or Cloud Grey colors, with either four-zone RGB or white backlighting for the TrueStrike keyboard. Lenovo claims the keys are 33% quieter than Gen 6 keyboards, and you still get a comfortable 1.5mm of key travel. Following are the listed specs for the new Legion 5 and Legion 5i (Gen 7)
Note that these laptops will have eitherAMD’s latest Ryzen 6000orIntel’s new 12th Gen Core CPUs(up to an i7-12700H), accompanied by the latest NVIDIA 30-series Laptop GPUs. With up to 32GB of DDR5 RAM and 1TB of PCIe 4.0 SSD storage space, you should be able to absolutely crush modern games.
The 15-inch display available in both laptops has a QHD resolution, refresh rate up to 165Hz, and response time as low as 3ms. You get 300 nits brightness, 100% sRGB color,Dolby Vision, and NVIDIA G-Sync. There are a couple of notable differences between the AMD and Intel versions. The Legion 5i (Intel) has a larger 80Wh battery and a Thunderbolt 4 port.
The Legion 5 is expected April 2022 starting at $1,130, while the Legion 5i is expected February 2022 starting at $1,200.
Legion 5 Pro and Legion 5i Pro (Gen 7)
TheLegion 5 Pro (Gen 6)is still one of my favorite gaming laptops available, and its Gen 7 upgrades only improve the device. Like the standard Legion 5 lineup, the Pro models are available with AMD and Intel hardware. The 5 Pro comes with AMD’s next-gen Ryzen CPUs, while the 5i Pro has up to a 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H for even more power. They’re accompanied by NVIDIA’s latest RTX 30-series Laptop GPUs with up to a 165W TGP (15W higher than Gen 6), up to 32GB of DDR5-4800 RAM, and 1TB of PCIe 4.0 SSD storage.
Get the Windows Central Newsletter
All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.
All that power translates to high frame rates, which are accommodated by the larger 16-inch QHD+ displays. The Pro lineup features a taller 16:10 aspect ratio, up to a 240Hz refresh rate with 3ms response time, 100% sRGB color, HDR 400, Dolby Vision, and NVIDIA G-sync. The Legion 5 Pro’s display apparently also supports AMD FreeSync Premium. Lenovo stresses that these are the world’s first 16-inch gaming laptops with QHD+ resolution and 240Hz refresh rate. They also bring TÜV Rheinland Gold certification for low blue light.
Following are the listed specs for these new laptops.
To keep everything cool, Lenovo has added a new cooling system with larger exhaust, more robust heat pipes, and slimmer fan blades for quieter spinning. The body is thinner than Gen 6 models and uses a mix of aluminum and magnesium for the chassis, plus it’s insulated for better noise reduction. These laptops are available in Storm Grey and Glacier White color schemes, offset by a blue or four-zone RGB backlight for the TrueStrike keyboard.
The Legion 5 Pro is expected April 2022 starting at about $1,430, while the Legion 5i Pro is expected February 2022 starting at about $1,570.
Cale Hunt brings to Windows Central more than eight years of experience writing about laptops, PCs, accessories, games, and beyond. If it runs Windows or in some way complements the hardware, there’s a good chance he knows about it, has written about it, or is already busy testing it.
