Lenovo Legion 7i Hands-on

Lenovo Philippines has released in the market its latest gaming laptop, the Legion 7i. It sports a similar look as the Legion Y740 from last year, but packs newer hardware and a simpler naming scheme, dropping the Y in the name. Before we dive into the review, check our initial thoughts on the device below.

One of the first things I noticed about the Legion 7i is how sleek and clean it looks. While other gaming laptops employ plenty of cuts, angles, and a prominent branding on the lid, the Legion 7i is more subtle, placing the Lenovo and Legion badges on the corners, providing you with a clean plane of aluminum in gunmetal finish paint job. I don’t think it would even look out of place in an office setup, except for that hinge placement.

Look at it from a different angle, and you’ll know that this is not an ordinary laptop. On the left, it has a slim exhaust, along with the Thunderbolt 3 port, USB 3.1 Type-C, and 3.5mm headphone/mic combo jack.

On the right are the USB 3.1 Type-A, OneKey Recovery Button, and another exhaust.

The backside is where it gets busy. There’s the HDMI 2.0 port, two USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A, Ethernet (RJ-45), AC Power, Kensington Lock, and two exhaust on the left and right. This is nice for cable management as you don’t have lots of cables sticking from the sides.

Flip it over, and you will see intake grill, the rubber feet which are high enough give the Legion 7i ample space for good airflow, and speakers.

At the top of the lid is a slight bump to make the lid easier to lift, as well as to give more space for the webcam.

Once opened, you will be greeted by the 15.6-inch Full HD 100% sRGB display with a 240Hz refresh rate. It’s an immersive screen thanks to its slim bezels and color-rich screen.

Below it is the power button with additional vents on the sides, the Legion TrueStrike backlit RGB keyboard with numpad, large arrow keys, and trackpad. The keys have 1.3mm travel with soft-landing switches, so it’s nice to type on.

The keyboard has the same color as the rest of the body. It’s also premium and doesn’t feel plasticky. However, that’s what we feel about the power button. When you press it, you’ll feel the plastic under it flex before you hit the switch.

The flex is not even uniform as it is stiffer on the upper part. And when you finally hit the switch, it produces this cheap-sounding click. This is something you wouldn’t expect from a premium gaming laptop.

Earlier, we’ve been describing the Legion 7i as a discreet and subtle-looking laptop since it doesn’t have the aggressive angles, large badge, and colored keycaps that you usually find in gaming laptops. It doesn’t scream ‘gaming!’, that is until you turn it on.

Once you power this machine, you will be given a cool RGB treatment, which you can find on the keyboard under the chassis, and on the lid in the Legion logo. The rear vents get RGB lights as well, and it looks like you’re looking at the tail lights of a sports car, which is really cool.

Carrying this laptop around is not much of a big deal. At 2.1kg, it’s hefty, but you can still lug it around. It’s not an ultrabook, after all. Still, it’s relatively thin for a gaming laptop and should easily slide in and out of a backpack’s laptop compartment.

The unit that we have on hand sports an Intel Core i7-10750H CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super w/ Max-Q 8GB GDDR6 GPU, 16GB DDR4 RAM, and 1TB NVMe PCIe SSD. A proper configuration for a gaming laptop. We’ll discuss more of its performance in our full review.

Lenovo Legion 7i specs:
15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080), IPS, 240Hz display
10th Gen Intel Core i7-10750H CPU
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER w/ Max-Q design 8GB GDDR6 GPU
16GB DDR4 RAM
1TB NVMe PCIe SSD
WiFi 6
Bluetooth 5.0
2x 2W Dolby Atmos Speaker System for Gaming with Chamber
720P HD webcam
USB 3.1 Gen 1
2x USB 3.1 Gen 2
HDMI 2.0
RJ45 Ethernet
Thunderbolt 3 Type-C (Thunderbolt, DisplayPort, USB 3.1, HDMI)
USB-C (DisplayPort 1.4, USB 3.1 Gen 1)
Headphone/mic combo
Kensington lock
Power-in
Windows 10 Home
Corsair iCUE RGB support
80Wh, 4 Cells battery
360 x 255 x 20mm
2.1kg

Lenovo Philippines is offering the Lenovo Legion 7i in two pre-order bundles from August 19 to 23, 2020.

The Stylish bundle is priced at PHP 139,995USD 2,386INR 202,237EUR 2,272CNY 17,373 and comes with the Legion M500 gaming mouse, Legion H300 gaming headset, Legion K500 gaming mechanical keyboard, Legion Recon Backpack, and Planet Sports voucher worth PHP 20,000USD 341INR 28,892EUR 325CNY 2,482. This bundle is available in the following stores:

• Complink SM Mall of Asia
• PC Corner Gilmore
• PC Express SM Megamall
• Legion SM North EDSA
• Legion SM Cebu
• Thinking Tools SM Davao

The Savage bundle is priced at PHP 149,995USD 2,556INR 216,683EUR 2,434CNY 18,614 and comes with the Legion M500 gaming mouse, Legion H300 gaming headset, Legion K500 gaming mechanical keyboard, Legion Recon Backpack, and Legion Y27gq monitor. This bundle is available in the following stores:

• Complink SM Megamall (Stylish Bundle)
• Legion SM North EDSA (Savage Bundle)

After the pre-order promo, the regular SRP of the Legion 7i is at PHP 134,995USD 2,300INR 195,014EUR 2,191CNY 16,753 and comes with Legion Recon Backpack.