Lenovo Legion 7 hands-on: New i9 chips, with greater batteries to match

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Now these are some beefy specs, however a very powerful improve is likely to be the addition of a brand new 99.9 WHr battery. That is the largest energy pack you may put in a laptop computer while still being able to carry it on a plane. On prime of that, whereas Lenovo’s included energy adapter is a cumbersome 300-watt affair, the Legion 7 additionally helps USB-C energy supply. Which means if you wish to journey gentle, you may pack a smaller USB-PD adapter (as much as 135 watts). Nonetheless, it is essential to keep in mind that should you achieve this, the laptop computer will not cost as quick or get full efficiency when plugged into the wall.

That stated, essentially the most eye-catching a part of the system is certainly all of the RGB lighting scattered throughout its chassis. You get a light-up emblem on its lid, a backlit keyboard with non-obligatory per-key adjustability, an enormous gentle bar in entrance and a ton of LEDs in its vents. Now I do not know if anybody retains observe of stats like this, however the Legion 7 might have essentially the most RGB lighting of any gaming pocket book.

Whereas it wasn’t prepared in time for my hands-on session, Lenovo says it is also planning to launch its new Spectrum app that is designed to provide customers extra management over lighting results, together with the power to sync issues with no matter music or movies they’re taking part in.

I am undecided I like the system’s brushed steel edges, however I’ve to provide some props to Lenovo for together with three USB-C ports on the laptop computer’s left and proper sides. This makes it simple to plug in issues like thumb drives, whereas in again, there’s extra connectivity for stuff you needn’t fiddle with as typically reminiscent of energy, Ethernet, HDMI and extra. And alongside a brand new 1080p webcam (up from 720p), you additionally get a devoted digital shutter slider on the fitting for elevated privateness.

Basically, the Legion 7’s construct high quality felt good too. There wasn’t little or no flex on its lid or deck, and whereas touchpads are sometimes an afterthought on gaming laptops, this one is each giant and responsive. Sadly, there weren’t any video games put in, so I wasn’t in a position to get a way of its thermals or fan noise. However I do just like the laptop computer’s up to date energy button, which now has a built-in fingerprint reader.

That stated, whereas I respect an enormous, high-spec gaming laptop computer (and anybody who desires to hold one round), weighing in at 5.5 kilos, the Legion 7 is not an awesome choose for frequent vacationers. However that is the place the Legion 7 Slim is available in. That is as a result of whilst you nonetheless get a 16-inch show, assist for a 99.9 Whr battery and a really comparable design, Lenovo elevated the Slim’s portability by decreasing its max specs a contact, deleting quite a lot of RGB lighting and trimming down the dimensions of its chassis. The result’s a thinner and lighter 4.5-pound laptop computer with a smaller hinge that is simpler to toss in a bag.

Apart from its measurement, the largest distinction between the usual Legion 7 and the Legion 7 Slim is that the latter tops out with both an NVIDIA RTX 3070 or an AMD RX 6800S GPU. And in contrast to its greater sibling, the Slim’s refresh fee peaks at 165Hz as an alternative of 240Hz. The upside is that with the Intel/NVIDIA model of the Slim beginning at $1,589 for a Core i5 chip with an RTX 3050 Ti or simply $1,519 for the AMD Benefit mannequin that includes a Ryzen 5 6600H and RX6600S GPU, Lenovo’s barely smaller system is much more reasonably priced.

So no matter what kind of gamer you’re, Lenovo is trying to offer you just a few extra selections amongst 16-inch gaming notebooks. And whereas I am curious to see how these big batteries fare in actual life (particularly when paired with a power-hungry Twelfth-gen Intel CPU), I actually like what I’ve seen to date.

The Intel/NVIDIA variations of the Legion 7 and Legion 7 Slim will go on sale first someday later this month, with the AMD Benefit fashions arriving barely later in June.