Lenovo’s Legion 5i and 7i were just the start of its gaming laptop overhaul. The company is introducing a pair of additional game-ready portables, including its first with AMD’s Ryzen 4000 H-series chips. The 15.6-inch Legion 5 (above) uses Ryzen 5 and 7 to deliver six- and eight-core processing that’s potentially brawnier than its Intel equivalent (if you ask AMD, at least). It’s a strictly mid-range system with up to GeForce RTX 2060 graphics, a 1080p display and a 1TB SSD, but the $760 price should make it easier to justify when it arrives in May.
This and other Legion models have a slew of improvements beyond raw performance. They include updated cooling that combines a vapor chamber system, dual liquid-crystal polymer fans and software to push your CPU and graphics as much as possible during a game while avoiding thermal throttling. You can also expect more responsive, ghosting-resistant and accurate keyboards, with Corsair-made RGB lighting on the Legion 7 (the 5 and 5i ‘settle’ for four-zone RGB). And while you probably won’t use the trackpad for many games, it’s 39 percent larger to allow for more precise input. Higher-spec systems come with up to a 240Hz refresh panel.
The remaining range also appears in May and starts at $830 for the 15-inch Legion 5i, $1,130 for a 17-inch version and $1,600 for the Legion 7.
If these are overkill, there is a new ‘entry’ gaming laptop, the IdeaPad Gaming 3 (below). The 15.6-inch machine doesn’t have the next-gen cooling, lighting or RTX graphics options of the Legion line, but it should still have respectable performance with up to a Core i7 H-series processor, GeForce GTX video (Lenovo isn’t more specific than this), a 512GB SSD and a 120Hz 1080p display. Really, the price is the hook — the IdeaPad will debut in May for $730.
Update 4/18 9AM ET: Lenovo initially said the price of the Ryzen-based Legion 5 was $850, but now says it costs $760. We’ve updated our piece accordingly.
Author: Jon Fingas, @jonfingas
April 16, 2020
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Source: Engadget
