The best Lenovo gaming laptops in 2024

The best Lenovo gaming laptops strike a balance between price and performance that set them apart from the rest. The Hong Kong-based manufacturer has a long history of producing some of the industry's most impressive notebooks, and its gaming selection is by no means failing to live up to the brand’s high expectations. 

Lenovo isn’t the first brand that comes to mind when you think of gaming laptops. When I think “Lenovo,” I think of premium 2-in-1s like the Yoga 9i Gen 7 or some of the best ThinkPads to have graced the business laptop market. However, Lenovo’s contributions to the gaming space are also among the best with the manufacturer’s smaller catalog of options focusing on quality over quantity.

At Laptop Mag, we’ve rounded up our selection of the best of the best from Lenovo’s gaming lineup to help you make the right choice when it comes to investing in your next battle station. Whether you’re looking for an entry point into the world of PC gaming or want to flex your wallet on a hardcore gaming machine, these are the best Lenovo gaming laptops in 2024.

The Quick List

Best Overall Lenovo Gaming Laptop

While AMD and Nvidia continue to battle it out for dominance in the tech scene, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is an example of how good things can be when they come together. The Legion line of gaming laptops are among the most premium offerings from the Hong Kong-based OEM, and when it comes to selecting the best components for them, Lenovo isn’t picking sides.

Outfitted with an AMD 5000-series CPU, the Legion 5 Pro is already a formidable machine for most computing tasks. The Ryzen 7 processor is a multi-tasking monster, capable of juggling impressive workloads while remaining energy efficient — contributing heavily to the Legion 5 Pro’s respectable battery life when compared to other laptops in this category. However, add in Nvidia’s impressive GeForce RTX 3070 GPU and you have a machine that can do it all — and do it in style.

In our review, we put the Legion 5 Pro to the test against some of the most demanding AAA games on the market and Nvidia’s GPU offered buttery-smooth visuals at over 60 fps throughout. Better still, each of those frames was perfectly showcased by the Legion 5 Pro’s wonderfully vivid 16-inch screen with its super-speedy 165Hz refresh rate.

See our full Lenovo Legion 5 Pro review

Best do-it-all Lenovo gaming laptop

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 isn’t technically a gaming laptop. In fact, we rate it as one of the best business laptops currently on the market. That being said, the inclusion of a powerful 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor alongside an Nvidia RTX 30-series GPU leaves the potential for some serious gaming on the table — and yet another feather in the cap of Lenovo’s impressive notebook.

Gaming laptops can be a pretty big investment, so why not invest in a laptop with the potential to do just about everything else at the same time? The ThinkPad X1 Extreme is exactly that, thanks to its spritely SSD, volant video transcoding, incredible typing experience, and overall punchy performance.

Lenovo’s ThinkPad is targeted at professionals. With that in mind, it’s the ideal machine for video editors, programmers, and designers. However, there’s truth in the saying that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Thankfully, you can enjoy the best of both worlds with the ThinkPad X1 Extreme, a do-it-all device that will get you through your workload during the day and your Steam library in the evening.

See our full Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 review.

Best 16-inch Lenovo gaming laptop

Make a checklist of all the things you’d want from a gaming laptop and then see how the Lenovo Legion 7i measures up. If your judgment is anything like ours, you’ll be amazed you didn’t catch Lyme disease in the midst of so many ticks. It may be missing out on Intel’s latest Alder Lake processors, but Lenovo’s machine is by no means outdated, remaining a stalwart choice for those seeking an excellent gaming experience for a price south of $2,000.

The Legion 7i’s blistering performance comes from the combination of an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 graphics. During our benchmark testing, we let the Legion 7i’s incredible gaming potential loose on a swath of graphically demanding titles where it demolished the mainstream gaming laptop average in frames per second — even at max settings.

If the proof of the pudding is in the eating, then your eyes will be set for a feast, thanks to a wonderfully bright and colorful 16-inch, WQXGA screen. Lenovo’s display runs at a rapid 165Hz, resulting in silky-smooth pictures with minimal ghosting and screen tearing. With its sleek gunmetal grey design, RGB lighting, and mighty muscle, the Lenovo Legion 7i is more than worthy of a place on any prospective buyer’s shortlist.

Read our full Lenovo Legion 7i (Gen 6, Intel) review.

Best 4K Lenovo gaming laptop

Here we find another ThinkPad designed for the business world with a suspiciously powerful GPU that screams “let’s slack off and play games.” The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 4 is an ideal candidate for a gaming rig if you don’t mind it looking a little bland from the outside. Then again, if you’re into Planet Zoo-esque business sims, this may only add to the immersion.

Another thing adding to your immersion is the ThinkPad P1’s stunning display. Both bright and crisp, the P1’s 4K screen offers dazzling pictures that’ll make every frame of gameplay look worthy of a screenshot. The only downside of which may be the display’s 60Hz cap, which won’t allow you to reap the benefits of super high frame rates, and in turn, limit its potential for competitive shooters. However, the power behind the P1 is more than capable of making full use of the screen to supply a smooth and steady 60 fps experience across a wide spectrum of modern AAA games.

The source of that power? A polygon crunching Nvidia Geforce RTX 3070 Max-Q GPU backed up by a potent 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor with up to 64GB of RAM. Yes, the ThinkPad P1 may look unassuming to the naked eye, but beneath its unflinchingly mild-mannered exterior sits some solidly, souped-up tech for one of the best gaming experiences around.

Read our full Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 4 review.

Best entry-level Lenovo gaming laptop

Kitted out with Intel’s latest 12th Gen Alder Lake mobile processors, Lenovo’s latest revision of the IdeaPad Gaming 3i is a performance powerhouse. This entry-level gaming laptop is a great fit for those on a budget with a thirst for the latest games. While you won’t be hitting ultra graphics on more demanding titles, the IdeaPad’s RTX 3050 Ti graphics will see you sailing past the minimum and recommended specs for a wide range of modern titles.

Games that make use of Nvidia’s DLSS technology will result in you squeezing even more performance out of the IdeaPad’s entry-level GPU. DLSS allows you to render games at a lower resolution before using AI to upscale the image to your current resolution, resulting in faster frame rates without impacting image quality. That increase in frames per second results in a smoother gaming experience, especially on the IdeaPad Gaming 3i’s 15.6-inch display thanks to its speedy refresh rates of up to 165Hz.

If you’re looking for a gaming laptop that won’t break the bank, then Lenovo’s IdeaPad is a great match. A sub-$1000 price tag seems like a steal when you take into account its powerful internals and speedy screen. However, every budget laptop has its drawbacks and you will have to live with a relatively weak battery life, dull pictures, and an all-plastic build.

How to Choose the Best Lenovo Gaming Laptop

When shopping for a gaming laptop, there's a lot to consider. To help you choose a system, here are five key points to keep in mind when choosing a system.

Budget: What you get for the money

You can find good inexpensive gaming laptops for under $1,000. However, more powerful mainstream gaming laptops are often priced between $1,500 and $2,000. Premium systems typically cost more than $2,000 and come stacked with a host of high-powered goodies such as high-powered specs and tricked-out software.

Screen Size: 15 inches is the go-to

It's very rare that you'll find a 13 or 14-inch gaming laptops nowadays as smaller bezels and lighter frames have paved the way for seriously thin-and-light gaming laptops. That means the days of chunky 15.6-inch laptops putting a strain on your back are over (almost).

From there, you have the 17.3-inch desktop replacements that like their smaller counterparts are becoming super svelte. But there are still the big behemoths that don't skimp on the specs. However, weighing upwards of 8 pounds, those big boys are made for your home gaming station. 

Screen Resolution: 1080p for high refresh rates, 4K for detail

When it comes to gaming laptops displays, you want to strike a balance between frame rates and aesthetics. And in case you're planning to get a truly mobile system battery life is also deserves consideration. We recommend checking out a system with a 1080p resolution. Panel makers are now serving up screens with high refresh rate, topping out at 360Hz with a 3 millisecond response rate. But don't count out 4K screens yet as we're starting to see laptops with 4K displays with 120Hz. Keep in mind that laptops with lower resolutions tend to have longer battery life overall.

Refresh rate: 120Hz is the sweet spot

Depending what kind of games you're playing, particularly first person shooters and MOBA, you'll take anything that will enhance accuracy. Surprisingly, the higher a display's refresh rate is, the more accurate your shot become. It's a phenomenon that we've experienced first hand during many demos. And while 60Hz is passable, right now we recommend investing in a panel with at least a 120Hz refresh rate. 

Intel or AMD?

A couple of years ago, the answer to this question would have been undoubtedly Intel. But AMD has made a furious comeback with its new Ryzen CPUs, which are delivering great overall performance. Thanks to the architecture in the new Ryzen chips, they're super power efficient without sacrificing productivity. The Ryzen 5000 series CPUs have consistently impressed with its performance versus battery life.

Not to be outdone, Intel's 11th Gen chips are nothing to sneeze at. Laptop manufacturers have started rolling out systems with the Intel's 11th Gen H-series Tiger Lake chips. The 10-nanometer chips are extremely powerful, but still at the low-end of the spectrum with the overclockable HK-series CPU, due to launch soon. Why do you want to invest in an overclockable processor, because with the touch of a button, you can squeeze even more power out of the system. It comes in handy when you're multitasking or playing a really demanding game. 

Battery Life: At least 4.5 hours

Unless it's plugged in, gaming laptop battery life tends to be very short, especially when gaming. However, gaming laptop battery life has gotten increasing longer over the years. So much so, that anything under 4.5 hours is considered below average. But we've just reviewed our first gaming laptop that's lasted into the double digits. With results like that, we expect gaming laptops will match their non-gaming counterparts sooner than later. Our most power-efficient gaming laptop ran over 11 hours and sits on our longest-lasting laptops page.

Specs: 1080p / Core i5 / 16GB Are Best Bets

You can spend a lot of time delving into specs, but here are the key components to think about. If you just want really good mainstream performance, go for a Core i5 CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and a 1080p screen.

How We Test the Best Lenovo Gaming Laptops

We put each laptop through extensive benchmark testing — both synthetic and real-world — before they end up in the hands of our reviewers. We evaluate each aspect of the laptop, including its performance, battery life, display, speakers and heat management.

In our benchmark testing, we use a Klein K10 colorimeter to detect the brightness and sRGB color gamut of the laptop's display. For performance testing, we run the laptop through a gauntlet of benchmarks, including Geekbench 4.3 and 5.0 and 3DMark professional graphics tests. 

To determine real-world performance, we task the laptop to convert a 4K video to 1080p resolution and to duplicate a 4.97GB multimedia file. Our real-world graphics test is the Dirt 3 benchmark with medium settings at 1080p resolution.

We also run heat tests by playing a 15-minute full-screen video and measuring temperatures in different areas of the laptop. Last but not least, our battery test consists of continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. For MacBooks and premium Windows 10 laptops, a runtime of over 9 hours is considered a good result whereas gaming laptops and workstations that can stay powered for longer than 5 hours deserve praise. 

These tests are complemented with extensive hands-on testing from our reviewers who critique everything from the laptop's materials to the feel of its touchpad.

Why Trust Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag reviews over one hundred different laptops every year, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field, as we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest in gaming. 

We are 100% independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. In fact, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades, and we continue to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on. 

Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it. 

Our editorial trustworthiness is enforced by one of the world's largest technology publishers, Future Publishing. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.