Lenovo Legion Pro 5 Gaming Laptop Review – Feels like Gaming in Paradise

Lenovo is among the major global players in the personal computing space with a strong presence in the Indian market. The company has seen its fair share of success with the Legion lineup as the Indian market has matured. The growing demand for high-performance laptops has driven Lenovo to announce newer models. One such model is the Legion Pro 5.

The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 16-inch is a gaming laptop that caters to a diverse range of gamers, from casual enthusiasts to competitive esports players. It offers a balance between performance and portability, making it suitable for both gaming at home and on the go. Powered by the latest Intel Raptor Lake series processors and the Nvidia RTX 4000 series GPUs, the Legion Pro 5 promises to deliver the best possible experience on a budget. We’ve extensively used this laptop as our daily driver for the past two weeks, and here’s our in-depth review.

Design

When you envision a gaming laptop, the first thing that comes to mind is how flashy some of these gaming laptops can be. But the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro takes a different approach with its muted design language. The laptop doesn’t try to showcase a premium look, but surprisingly, that’s not a drawback in this context. Its matte finish effectively minimizes fingerprint smudges, and the Black color option we have exudes a premium vibe for its price point.

Both the laptop’s lid and base exhibit remarkable sturdiness, standing up to bending without issues, although some flex is noticeable in the lid. Despite its 16-inch size, the Legion 5 Pro still maintains a compact form factor.

Lenovo hasn’t cut any corners with regards to ports either. You get all the standard ones, including an RJ45 Ethernet port, multiple USB-A (5 Gbps), USB-C (with PD and DP), a combo headphone jack, and an HDMI port. One thing that could have been improved is the number of 10Gbps USB-C ports; we only get two of them on the Legion 5 Pro.

Lifting the well-balanced lid reveals a 16-inch WQXGA IPS panel with an impressive 240Hz refresh rate. While the bezels around the display aren’t the slimmest, they contribute to the laptop’s robust aesthetic and provide ample space on the top to house the HD camera.

Display

The Legion Pro 5 features a 16-inch IPS display with a resolution of 2560×1600 pixels. The thing to note here is that although OLED panels are becoming quite common in this price segment, Lenovo still went ahead with an IPS LCD panel. One of the highlights of the display is the 240Hz refresh rate. This feature helps in smooth gameplay and reduces motion blur, making it ideal for fast-paced games like FPS and racing titles.

What makes this display even more appealing is the support for a full 100% sRGB color gamut. The panel offers excellent color accuracy, ensuring vibrant and immersive visuals. While the brightness could be slightly higher for outdoor use, it’s generally adequate for indoor gaming. The display’s anti-glare coating helps to reduce reflections and improve visibility in various lighting conditions.

The Legion Pro 5’s display also has HDR and Dolby Vision support, leading to a more immersive cinematic viewing experience.

Software

Legion Pro 5 comes with the company’s proprietary Vantage software suite, a centralized hub for managing and optimizing various aspects of the laptop’s performance. This hub boasts a wide range of customization options that allow you to personalize aesthetic effects, fine-tune game profiles, and adjust audio settings to suit your preferences.

Moreover, it features Scenario Profiles, enabling you to define and customize preferences that will automatically adapt performance and other settings when you launch your favorite applications and games.

Along with the standard Windows 11 app suite, Lenovo also includes a suite of pre-installed software, such as McAfee LiveSafe for antivirus protection and Microsoft Office 365 for productivity. Given that the laptop is also aimed at AI developers, the absence of a DOS version may disappoint professional users who often utilize gaming laptops for tasks beyond gaming.

Keyboard & Touchpad

Lenovo has a proven track record of delivering quality keyboards, and this reputation extends to the Legion lineup. The keyboard adheres to the familiar 6-row layout and includes a convenient full numeric keypad. The key placement is sensible, and with a travel distance of just 1.5 mm, typing is both efficient and comfortable. The keys exhibit well-calibrated pressure points and resistance, making for a seamless typing experience once you adapt to this layout.

There is also 4-zone RGB lighting, which adds flair to the keyboard and goes head-to-head with other gaming laptops in both looks and functionality. The RGB lighting offers various modes and patterns that can be fine-tuned using the central Hub.

The touchpad, while not the largest on the market, is adequately sized and positioned slightly off-center to the left. It offers smooth and accurate tracking, with reliable gesture recognition for multi-finger swipes and taps. The touchpad’s surface is made of a smooth, glass-like material that feels comfortable to the touch and offers minimal friction. The integrated left and right-click buttons are responsive and provide a satisfying click.

Furthermore, it is equipped with Windows Precision Drivers, enabling the use of various gestures, such as three-finger swipes to switch between desktops and more.

Performance

The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 16-inch doesn’t hold back when it comes to performance, packing a powerful combination of hardware that delivers smooth gameplay and handles demanding tasks with ease.

At its heart, the Legion Pro 5 we have with us gets the 14th Gen Intel Core i7 – 14650HX, a 16-core, 20-thread powerhouse with a base clock of 2.2 GHz and a boost clock of up to 5.2 GHz. This processor excels in both single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads, making it ideal for gaming, content creation, and productivity tasks.

In Cinebench R23 benchmarks, the Core i7-14650HX typically scores around 16,000 points in the multi-core test and 1,564 points in the single-core test, showcasing its exceptional performance capabilities.

Complementing the CPU is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, a popular product in NVIDIA’s portfolio. With 8GB of GDDR6 memory and a boost clock of up to 2370 MHz, this GPU delivers impressive graphics performance, allowing you to enjoy the latest games at the highest possible settings with smooth frame rates. In 3DMark Time Spy benchmarks, the RTX 4060 in the Legion Pro 5 typically achieves a graphics score of around 9,500 points and an overall score of around 10,000 points.

In real-world gaming, the Legion Pro 5 consistently delivers impressive results. In demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077, you can expect 70-90 FPS at 1080p resolution with high settings, or even push to 1440p with some adjustments. In Red Dead Redemption 2, frame rates typically range between 80-100 FPS at 1080p with high settings. And in less demanding games like Fortnite, you can easily push frame rates beyond 144 FPS at 1080p with epic settings, taking full advantage of the high refresh rate display.

The laptop comes equipped with ample RAM and storage options to ensure seamless multitasking and plenty of space for games and files. The base configuration includes 16GB of DDR5 RAM, which can be expanded up to 32GB on the higher trims. Storage options include a fast NVMe PCIe SSD, with capacities ranging from 512GB to 2TB. Our unit came with a 1TB NVMe PCIe Gen 4 SSD.

Given all the AI hype and catering the Legion Pro 5 to a different set of audiences, Lenovo has also packed in an all-new LA1 chip dedicated to on-device AI tasks.

Legion Pro 5’s thermal management system includes a quad-fan cooling solution and dedicated heat pipes, effectively dissipating heat and keeping the laptop cool and quiet even under heavy load. During intensive gaming sessions, the fans do ramp up, but the noise levels remain manageable and don’t detract from the overall experience.

Battery

The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 16-inch houses a sizable 80Wh battery, which, on paper, promises a decent amount of unplugged usage time. However, as with most gaming laptops, real-world battery life can vary significantly depending on the workload.

Under typical usage, including tasks like web browsing, documenting, and light media consumption, the Legion Pro 5 can last anywhere between 5 to 7 hours on a single charge, which is respectable for a gaming laptop.

However, when it comes to gaming, the battery life understandably takes a hit. With the dedicated GPU running at full tilt and the CPU under heavy load, you can expect the battery to drain within 1.5 to 2.5 hours. That said, Lenovo does provide a 300W fast charger within the package that takes the charge from 0% to 80% in under 30 mins.

Lenovo Legion Pro 5 Review – The Verdict

The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 is a fantastic all-around gaming laptop. It looks great, feels sturdy, and has a gorgeous screen that’s perfect for both gaming and work. It’s powerful enough to handle the latest games and demanding tasks, stays cool even when you’re pushing it hard, and charges up fast.

The battery life is decent for everyday use, and the keyboard and touchpad are comfortable. While it’s not the absolute lightest or has the longest battery life, the Legion Pro 5 offers a fantastic mix of performance, style, and features at a great price.

FAQ: Lenovo Legion Pro 5 Gaming Laptop

1. What type of processor and GPU does the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 use?

The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 is powered by a 14th Gen Intel Core i7 – 14650HX processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, ensuring high performance for gaming and multitasking.

2. What are the display features of the Legion Pro 5?

The Legion Pro 5 features a 16-inch WQXGA IPS display with a 240Hz refresh rate, 2560×1600 resolution, and support for 100% sRGB color gamut, HDR, and Dolby Vision.

3. How is the build quality and design of the Legion Pro 5?

The Legion Pro 5 has a sturdy build with a muted design, featuring a matte finish that minimizes fingerprints and a compact form despite its 16-inch size. It’s designed to be robust with minimal lid flex.

4. What are the keyboard and touchpad like on the Legion Pro 5?

The laptop includes a high-quality keyboard with a 6-row layout and a full numeric keypad. It features 4-zone RGB lighting and a touchpad that supports multi-finger gestures, offering a smooth and comfortable user experience.

5. What kind of ports does the Legion Pro 5 have?

It includes multiple USB-A and USB-C ports (two with 10Gbps), an RJ45 Ethernet port, a combo headphone jack, and an HDMI port, providing comprehensive connectivity options.