In Summary
The Lenovo Legion 5i Pro is the latest gaming laptop by the company in its Legion Series, which now comes with 12th Gen Intel CPUs. It comes with an RTX 3070 Ti graphics card and also offers RTX 3060 as an option. The Legion 5i Pro carries the legacy design of Lenovo’s Legion series to keep thermals under control for extensive usage. It faces cut-throat competition from the likes of ASUS ROG and Flow Series, Acer Predator, and joins the race with other notable names in the segment.
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro: Build and Design
The Legion 5i Pro comes in an aluminum body with a matte finish. Our variant with the white color looks absolutely stunning and is certainly an eye-catcher as it easily attracts attention. Since most gaming notebooks come in matte black or gray, the Legion 5i Pro offers a white color that breaks stereotypes and appeals to us at first glance. Lenovo also offers a black color option, but we think the white variant certainly looks more appealing in this case. The Legion 5i Pro also makes its presence felt on the table with its bulky form factor. Unlike other gaming laptops, there is no RGB on the back lid, but the Legion does not need one to attract attention. The notebook is 27 mm thick and weighs 2.49 kg. Build quality is solid, and the unit feels very sturdy. The hinge is sufficiently tight, and the laptop lid can be opened easily with a single finger. The screen can be tilted up to a maximum of 120 degrees, which is normal for gaming laptops. It does not wobble or shake when typing, and the hinge holds the screen firmly in any position you choose.
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro: Display
The Legion 5i Pro has a 16-inch screen IPS LCD with a resolution of 2500×1650. It is an 8-bit panel that covers 100% of the sRGB color gamut. The screen has a refresh rate of 165 Hz and supports Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync. The Legion 5i Pro impressed us with its screen, and we enjoyed watching videos on the device. Viewing angles are very good on this panel, even with its matte finish. The 2-watt speakers, which face downward, can get quite loud, but sometimes they feel a bit weak. The speakers could have been better, in our opinion. The display was at its best when we started gaming. The 165Hz screen felt very smooth, and there were no input lags or lags while gaming. The higher refresh rate enriches the gaming experience as it pleases the eyes with the extra frames in games.
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro: Performance
Our Legion 5i Pro is equipped with a 12th-generation Intel Core i9-12900H paired with an RTX 3070 Ti and 32 GB RAM. With these specs, the laptop is a horse waiting to be unleashed for any race. So we let loose the leash and put the Legion 5i Pro through a series of benchmarks, and here are the results. The Legion 5i Pro sustains its performance even after multiple benchmarks runs over an extended period of time. The fans can get a little loud, but the keyboard and case do not feel warm. Most of the heat is dissipated via the rear vents. We tested the Lenovo Legion 5i Pro with games like Valorant, Fortnite, and Apex Legends. We easily reached up to 200 fps in all of these games. The 165 Hz screen complements the RTX 3070 Ti and makes for a great gaming experience.
During our 2-hour gaming session, the fans started to ramp up and made a noticeable noise. However, the keyboard and palm rest never felt too hot. Lenovo claims to have made this possible with the new CoolFront 4.0 mechanism, and we were happy to see it working as intended. During tasks like video editing in Adobe Premiere Pro, the Legion 5i Pro delivered an equally solid performance. We were able to preview 1080p video directly at full resolution and experienced no delays on the timeline. The machine also handles Photoshop with ease, and we had no complaints about performance. After crushing through performance-intensive tasks like gaming and video editing, it was no surprise that the Lenovo Legion 5i Pro was able to handle everyday tasks like browsing and typing documents without taxing the Core i9 silicon’s atoms ( Bazinga!). Even with 20 Chrome tabs open, the Legion showed no signs of lag. The Lenovo Legion 5i Pro also offers a variant with RTX 3060 that is priced a bit lower. It is equipped with the same 12th Gen i7-12700H CPU. However, the Core i9 variant we tested here only comes with the RTX 3070 Ti. So your configuration options are:
Core i7-12700H + RTX 3060 Core i7-12700H + RTX 3070 Ti Core i9-12900H + RTX 3070 Ti
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro: Keyboard and Trackpad
The Legion 5i Pro’s keyboard has a full row of function keys and a numpad. The power button is located in the center. However, there is no fingerprint scanner here. As for typing, the keys offer good tactile feedback. The keyboard does not bend and feels stable when typing. The white finish of the keys fits into the overall design and looks very appealing. Our review unit is only equipped with a blue backlight. Commercially available devices are equipped with RGB backlighting that the user can fully customize. Nevertheless, the white keyboard looks nice, and the typing feel is very good. The trackpad is a decent size but is a bit off-center on the left side because of the arrow keys. It is responsive, and the click keys provide good feedback when pressed.
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro: I/O Ports and Connectivity
The Lenovo Legion 5i Pro has a variety of I/O ports to connect all your favorite gaming accessories. The ports are located on three sides of the machine.
Left Side:
Thunderbolt 4 Port USB-C Port
Right Side:
Camera Switch 3.5mm combined headphone jack USB-A 3.2 Port
Back Side:
Ethernet USD-C with PD HDMI Port 2x USB-A 3.2 Ports Charging Port
In terms of connectivity, the Legion 5i Pro has WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 support. The only drawback might be the lack of an SD card slot. But considering that this is a device focused on gaming and not developers, the lack of an SD card slot is understandable. You also get a 720p webcam to cover you for your video calls. The quality is on par with a typical webcam found on most other laptops and is enough to get the job done. The webcam can be turned off electronically with the switch on the right side.
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro: Software Experience
The Lenovo Legion 5i Pro comes with Windows 11 and some supporting applications from Lenovo. The Windows 11 experience on this device was excellent. Apps opened quickly, and we had no issues with crashes or bugs in the software. There is also the Lenovo Vantage app, which provides insight into the inner workings of the laptop. With the Vantage app, you can check the CPU and GPU utilization and even adjust or overclock them. The only drawback is that the base variant does not come with the Microsoft Office package. Apart from that, the Legion 5i Pro scores very well in the software department.
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro: Battery Life
An 80Wh battery powers the Lenovo Legion 5i. While that may not sound as much, it isn’t the largest capacity battery out there, and Lenovo could have provided a slightly larger battery, up to 90Wh. It looks like Lenovo cut down on the battery size to keep the weight under control because the Legion 5i Pro already weighs 2.49kg, and a larger battery was only going to increase the form factor and make it heavier. Nevertheless, the battery life of the Legion 5i Pro is not that great. It lasts for around 4.5 hours before running out of power with normal usage. If you are planning games, the battery life will only fall further. Unfortunately, that’s the case with most Windows Gaming laptops. The 4-hour battery range, although not great, is acceptable given the nature of the laptop. The Legion 5i Pro comes with a 300W charger that can charge the device from 0-100% in about an hour.
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro Review: Verdict
The Lenovo Legion 5i Pro is a proper gaming machine with no corners cut. The laptop is able to sustain performances over longer periods without thermal throttling and is able to keep the chassis and keyboard cool as well. However, it faces heavy competition from ASUS ROG and Flow Series, which can appeal to mass gamers with a more gaming-centric design, extra RGB lights on the lid, etc. If you are looking for a classic-looking gaming machine, then the Lenovo Legion 5i Pro is a really good choice, as it excels when it comes to gaming performance. The silver Legion branding on the back, especially in the white color, has its own beauty, which we liked. Pricing for the Lenovo Legion 5i Pro starts at Rs. 1,50,720 for the i7-12700H + RTX 3060 variant and goes up to Rs. 2,19,990 for the RTX 3070 Ti model. Buy Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (US) Buy Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (India)
