Along with the most recent HP Omen 16 and Asus ROG Strix G15 models, it is one of several laptops dubbed “AMD Advantage” since they employ the most modern AMD Radeon GPUs and Ryzen CPUs/APUs. The Radeon RX 6600M and the octa-core Ryzen 7 5800H are used in this instance. The idea is to close the performance gap with Nvidia and Intel, who have both been busy producing the majority of the best graphics cards and best gaming CPUs, respectively, by unlocking exclusive, performance-enhancing features like Smart Access Memory (SAM).
Design
The newest Legion’s design is not particularly innovative; it resembles earlier models in both appearance and feel. However, that’s not really a negative thing since it again takes advantage of a few Legion-specific features, such as a lid-hinge that is 30mm forward and a clever arrangement of the majority of the laptop’s ports toward the back. There are two colors available: Diamond White with blue illumination and Phantom Blue with a 4-zone RGB keyboard backlight. The former is the review model, but if asked to describe the color, we would say it is more like dark grey than blue. The new model continues the Legion series’ tradition of having a slightly more mature appearance than some of the rivalry. Apart from the RGB lighting on the keyboard and the label indicating that pressing Fn+Q changes the cooling profile in the Lenovo Vantage app, nothing about it obnoxiously yells “gaming machine.” We all support exercising some aesthetic restraint. The laptop’s lid has very little flex, and the aluminum body has a comfortingly solid feel to it. We appreciate how the hinge has been positioned to allow one-handed opening. It’s also challenging to criticize the Lenovo TrueStrike keyboard on the Legion 5. It has a full-width numeric keypad and a row of full-size cursor keys that are separated from the main keyboard by a small distance. Physically, it feels incredibly sturdy, and the critical travel 1.8mm is precisely calculated. Although it is slightly skewed to the left, the 105 x 70mm trackpad is otherwise flawless. The majority of the ports on the Legion 5 are arranged along the back. From this point, you can access an HDMI 2.1 connector, an RJ45 1Gbit/sec LAN connector, two USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, a Type-C port that supports DisplayPort 1.4, and a custom DC-in jack. An equivalent Type-C port and a 3.5mm audio jack are located on the right side, and a third Type-A port and a shutter button are located on the left. The 720p webcam, which is integrated into the top of the display, is located on the right side. Overall, this is a remarkably thorough and well-organized selection; Thunderbolt support is the only thing missing, though given that this is an AMD system, its absence is not unexpected.
Keyboard and touchpad
The keyboard on the Legion 5 caught us off guard. In addition to having deep travel, it also featured a punchy typing feel. The layout of the keys is also quite good. It almost has the same keyboard feel as a ThinkPad, but it’s not quite there yet. On the 10fastfingers.com typing test, we achieved 76 words per minute, which is lower than our current average of 78. However, compared to the previous Legions we tested, the keyboard is incredibly comfortable to use. Through the Lenovo Vantage app, the keyboard’s four-zone RGB lighting may be modified. Although the touchpad’s material isn’t the best, it at least had a respectable click when we tested it. At first, it felt a little sticky. Windows 10 gestures, such as two-finger scrolling, were a little tricky, but that could just be because this is a pre-production version.
Lenovo Legion 5 review: Display
The 15.6-inch Full HD screen on the Lenovo Legion 5 is quite standard-issue. What impressed me was that it’s also wonderful for day-to-day working, especially because it offers vast screen real estate. It’s fairly good for gaming and allows for decent detail. Although its 300-nit screen is reasonably bright, it is not adept at showing deep, dark blacks for a sharp contrast due to its poor black levels. When watching Netflix streaming movies, the experience isn’t as immersive as we’d hoped. However, nothing seems overly faded out, and colours are quite bright. Additionally useful, the 165Hz refresh rate implies that quick motions in games should appear smoother, provided that the GPU can provide a high frame rate. The only drawback we found is that the 1080p resolution is a little out of date when compared to other more affordable laptops. The 16-inch 2K panel on the HP Omen 16 appeared sharper during our tests.
Audio
The bottom-firing speakers of the Legion 5 were impressively loud, but they had an odd balancing problem. The level was loud at 10% and didn’t go much louder at 100%; this might be a problem with pre-production, though. We listened to “Demons” by Icon For Hire, and while the electronic beats’ strong and assertive opening was loud and bold, the electric guitar and drums seemed a touch murky. But the vocals stood out because they were clear and dominant. Sadly, the bass wasn’t rich enough to make the percussion stand out. The Nahimic app allows you to adjust the audio to your preferences. It has controls for voices, bass, treble, surround sound, and volume stabilization. Additional presets include music, movies, communication, and gaming. you can read our article on Lenovo Legion 5 review.
Graphic and gaming
It may have helped that we were unable to simply “turn off” the RTX 3070 graphics and switch back to the Radeon graphics provided by the CPU. The majority of the other ports are located behind the charging port. Three USB-A ports, one USB-C port that supports power delivery and DisplayPort, an Ethernet jack, and a full-size HDMI are all included. Such rear connectors provide effective cable management in a largely fixed configuration. Only one more USB-C, one USB-A, and a headphone jack are available on the sides. Although the screen has considerable flex, which detracts from the Legion 5’s overall build quality, the display itself is the laptop’s greatest shining moment. It has a 15.6-inch, 1920×1080 IPS display with enhanced gaming capabilities thanks to two features: a quick 165Hz refresh rate and AMD FreeSync support between 60 and 165Hz. In addition to having this inherent resistance to tearing, the Legion 5’s display has almost no discernible ghosting, ensuring that it always looks smooth.
Lenovo Legion 5 review: Performance
The performance of the Legion 5 is good, but we wouldn’t have been surprised if it weren’t for its Ryzen 7 5800H octa-core processor, RTX 3070 GPU, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and 8GB of VRAM. It quickly finished the Expert Reviews 4K media benchmark and achieved a score of 284. That outperforms the Core i7-based TUF Dash F15 (194) but falls short of the Acer Nitro 5’s AMD 5800H/RTX3060 configuration. In terms of gaming tests, the Legion 5 averaged 61 frames per second for Hitman 2 and 68 frames per second for Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Ray tracing was turned on for the latter, DLSS was turned off, and all other graphics settings were set to maximum. Finally, we tested Wolfenstein: Youngblood in a number of different ways: first, without ray tracing; second, with ray tracing enabled but DLSS disabled; and third, with ray tracing enabled but DLSS enabled. The results, which came back with average frame rates of 160fps, 126fps, and 143fps, were very outstanding. All of those results are better than those obtained by either the Asus TUF Dash or the Acer Nitro. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G15, a £2,600 gaming laptop with the same GPU but a Ryzen 9 5900HS processor, offers similar performance. Such performance from a £1,300 notebook would have been unimaginable just 18 months ago. The Legion 5’s unexpectedly high frame rates may be due to two elements unique to Lenovo. The Lenovo Legion AI Engine is the first, which, in the words of Lenovo, is “a system of AI solutions which dynamically adjusts power between the CPU and GPU for greater FPS.” Yes, the description is frustratingly ambiguous, but whatever it is, it seems to matter.
Battery life
We run the PCMark 10 benchmark to imitate office tasks and test the battery life by turning the brightness down. The Legion 5 completed the test in 8 hours, 23 minutes, which is extremely impressive given the competition. Even if you have to top it off once or twice during the day, this laptop will happily get you through your workday. The Legion 5 may be best used plugged into the wall for intense gaming because it only lasted just under three hours when operating at full brightness and with the graphics turned up all the way. This is true of most gaming laptops.
Heat
The Lenovo Legion 5’s cooling system combines heatsinks, heat pipes, and fans. It is comparable to the Y560, which is a few generations old and strikingly identical to the Legion 5 Pro that we recently saw. It also functions exactly as well. CPU temperatures typically stay in the mid-40C range when in use. The CPU temperatures are not significantly affected by opening Chrome or performing other light tasks because the heat sink is large enough. also you will learn our article on Lenovo Legion 5 review.
Configuration options
Both the 15-inch and 17-inch versions of the Lenovo Legion 5 start at $769, which is a wonderful deal for a low-cost gaming laptop. In March 2021, the Legion 5 laptops are expected to be on sale. Up to an AMD Ryzen 7 CPU, 32GB of RAM, a 2TB SSD, and the most recent Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics card are all options for the Lenovo Legion 5.
Lenovo Legion 5 review: Conclusion
Instead of being a budget-friendly gaming laptop, the Legion 5 has evolved into a more upscale model. The growth of the IdeaPad Gaming 3 series and unquestionably the improved performance numbers of all Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA contribute to this. However, Lenovo isn’t the only company that is confidently releasing laptops that are more attractive and feature-rich as time passes. An illustration is provided by Acer’s updated Nitro 5 series, which features excellent cooling and incredibly high TGP graphics cards.
