New Lenovo Legion Laptops: Which one is for you?

Lenovo recently announced six new gaming laptops, five of which are part of its Legion line. They all offer a 15.6-inch display with high refresh rates, updated internals, and new features that improve both thermals, the keyboard, and more. With all these choices, you might be confused as to which model to get. To help you pick the best one for you, we’ve made a comparison chart for you to follow. Check it out below:

Display

Starting with the display, all six laptops feature a 15.6-inch IPS display, but the Legion Y740Si sports the highest Ultra HD display. If display fidelity and performance is a top priority for you, then the Legion 5Pi should be the bare minimum you get. The displays on the Legion 5i and Legion 5 are still color accurate, but you do lose the VESA DisplayHDR certification. Lastly, the IdeaPad Gaming 3i offers 72% coverage, although Lenovo has not disclosed which color gamut it covers.

Performance

In terms of gaming performance, the Legion 7i should offer the most FPS in games. However, the Legion Y740Si is equipped with the best CPU. While the Legion 5Pi, Legion 5i, and IdeaPad Gaming 3i can be configured to have an Intel i7-10750H, only the Legion variants are can go up to an NVIDIA RTX 2060. Alternatively, Lenovo is also offering an AMD Ryzen variant in the Legion 5, however, like the IdeaPad Gaming 3i, it can only go up to an NVIDIA 1650Ti. An important thing to take note is that the Legion Y740Si runs on Intel’s integrated graphics. It can make use of the NVIDIA RTX 2060 only when plugged into Lenovo’s Legion BoostStation.

When it comes to storage compatibility, the Legion 7i, Legion Y740Si, and Legion 5Pi are compatible with up to 32GB of RAM, while the rest of the laptops can only go up to 16GB. All six gaming laptops come with two SSD slots compatible with up to a 1TB SSD per slot.

I/O Ports

Taking into account your machine’s ports is an underrated consideration when purchasing a laptop. If you have a dedicated keyboard and mouse, that’ll make use of two ports right off the bat. Add in an external drive, your phone, and other peripherals; you might need to purchase a dongle too.

The Legion 7i comes with three USB Type-A ports, two of which offer faster Gen 2 speeds, as well as one Thunderbolt 3 port. The Legion Y740Si, on the other hand, is the only laptop that features a card reader, as well as two USB Type-A ports and two Thunderbolt 3 ports. The Legion 5 line features similar ports. Take note that it doesn’t have a Thunderbolt 3 port, but the included Type-C port supports Display Port passthrough. The cheapest of the bunch, the IdeaPad Gaming 3i, only has two USB Type-A ports.

Other Features

Lenovo has upgraded the thermals, battery life, and keyboard quality with these new features:

• Lenovo Legion Coldfront 2.0 – balances the CPU and GPU to their in-game limits to lower frame times while limiting thermal throttling
• Vapor Chamber – uses dual liquid crystal polymer fans to cycle air
• Advanced Optimus – dynamically switches between the integrated GPU of the processor and discrete GPU to increase battery life
• Hybrid Mode – allows users to disable the discrete GPU to improve battery life
• Legion Truestrike Keyboard Switches – provides gamers with 100% anti-ghosting, lower response times, and “soft landing” switches

The top of the line Legion 7i and Legion Y740Si sport all the bells and whistles that Lenovo offers, while the Legion 5 series do not come with the vapor chamber. Lastly, the IdeaPad Gaming 3i does not come with any of Lenovo’s new features.

Battery

There are a lot of factors that affect battery life, such as display resolution, refresh rates, internals, and what you’re doing on the laptop. That being said, having a larger battery is better, at the expense of weight. The Legion 7i and Legion 5Pi both come with the larger 80Whr battery, while the Legion Y740Si, Legion 5i, and Legion 5 all come with 60Whr batteries. Do note, that the Legion 5i and Legion 5 can be configured to come with the larger 80Whr battery, for an additional cost. The cheapest variant, the IdeaPad Gaming 3i, comes with the lowest battery capacity of all, with only 45Whr.

Price

Here are the starting prices of each laptop:

• Lenovo Legion 7i – PHP 119,995USD 2,045INR 173,345EUR 1,948CNY 14,891
• Lenovo Legion Y740Si (with the Legion BoostStation) – PHP 144,995USD 2,471INR 209,460EUR 2,353CNY 17,994
• Lenovo Legion 5Pi – PHP 74,995USD 1,278INR 108,338EUR 1,217CNY 9,307
• Lenovo Legion 5i – PHP 62,995USD 1,073INR 91,003EUR 1,022CNY 7,818
• Lenovo Legion 5 – PHP 56,995USD 971INR 82,335EUR 925CNY 7,073
• Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i – PHP 52,995USD 903INR 76,557EUR 860CNY 6,577

Choosing between the Legion 7i and Legion Y740Si depends mainly on your specific use case. Those who are into video and photo editing may opt for the Legion Y740Si due to its larger resolution. If, however, gaming is your main concern the Legion 7i is Lenovo’s top of the line laptop.

If you’re looking for a budget-friendly laptop, then you may be looking at the Legion 5 series. If you can spare the additional PHP 13k, then getting the Legion 5Pi would be the better choice as you’ll get a better display and higher RAM compatibility for future upgrades. However, getting the cheaper Legion 5i and Legion 5 variants is good enough if the added 120Hz and Vesa DisplayHDR 400 isn’t a big deal.

Lastly, the IdeaPad Gaming 3i is, on paper, a good starting laptop with its updated components and attractive price. Still, you are missing out on Lenovo’s features, as well as losing visual fidelity. If possible, try to stretch your budget to the Legion 5, as the extra PHP 4k does equate to a better display, longer battery life, and added features.