Lenovo is launching a whole new legion of... well, Legions. The new set of gaming laptops will be outfitted with new 10th Gen Intel processors, but one, in particular, will be toting around AMD's new Ryzen R7 CPU, which could give it amazing battery life.
The laptops launching are the Legion 7, Legion 5i 15, Legion 5i 17 and Legion 5 (AMD), which will all arrive sometime in May 2020. The Legion 7 and Legion 5i 17 are the mainstream gaming models, starting at $1,599 and $1,129, respectively. If you're looking for a new budget gaming laptop, the Legion 5 (AMD) starts at just $849 and the Legion 5i 15 will go for $829.
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Lenovo Legion 5 15 (AMD) and Legion 5i 15
These systems are nearly identical apart from their inner components. For the Legion 5 15 (AMD), you can outfit it with either an AMD Ryzen R5 or Ryzen R7 CPU, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 or 1650 Ti GPU, 8GB of RAM and up to a 1TB PCIe SSD. Meanwhile, the Legion 5i 15 comes with either a 10th Gen Intel Core i5 or Core i7, up to an RTX 2060, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB PCIe SSD.
Both laptops come in at 14.3 x 10.2 x 1 inches and 5.5 pounds, which is slightly thicker and heavier than we prefer. The Intel version also come with a new Hunter Moss Green color option, which we're excited to see (anything is better than gray or black).
These laptops are packed with four USB 3.1 ports, one USB Type-C port, an HDMI 2.0 port, an RJ45 Ethernet port and a headphone jack. We're disappointed that there is no Mini DisplayPort.
Each system also comes with different display options. The AMD model's 15.6-inch, 1080p display has either a 240Hz refresh rate (100% sRGB / 500 nits), a 144Hz refresh rate (100% sRGB / 500 nits) or 60Hz refresh rate (100% sRGB / 300 nits).
On the Intel version, you can get a display with up to 240Hz refresh rate, 100% sRGB color gamut, 500 nits of brightness with Dolby Vision-enabled and Nvidia G-Sync support.
Lenovo is introducing its new Legion TrueStrike Keyboard, which features 1.5 millimeters of key travel and a full number pad with less than a 1 millisecond response time. It also has optional four-zoned RGB Lighting with anti-oil and abrasion-resistant key coatings. Lenovo also increased the trackpad's size by 39%.
Both laptops pack a 60 Wh battery, and while Lenovo hasn't detailed the exact battery life, we imagine the Legion 5 15 (AMD) will get solid results. AMD Ryzen CPUs have shown how they can affect battery life in the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, which lasted an unprecedented 11 hours and 32 minutes.
Legion 5i 17
The Legion 5i 17 is a step up into mainstream gaming and comes with slightly better components than the 5i 15. You can outfit the Legion 5i 17 with up to a 10th Gen Intel Core i7 CPU, an RTX 2060 GPU, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB PCIe SSD.
In terms of footprint, the Legion 5i 17 comes in at 15.8 x 11.4 x 1 inches and 6.6 pounds. It's packed with the same ports as its 15-inch siblings. In terms of the displays, you can get its 17.3-inch screen paired with a 1080p, 60Hz (72% NTSC / 300 nits) panel or a 1080p, 144Hz Dolby Vision (72% NTSC / 300 nits) panel.
Like the other Legions, the Legion 5i 17 will get the company's new TrueStrike Keyboard, which we're excited to test out. However, unlike the cheaper Legions, this machine comes with an 80 Whr battery that Lenovo claims can get up to 8 hours of battery life. That would be a decent result so let's hope it's accurate.
Legion 7
The most premium model of the Legion is the Legion 7, a 15.6-inch laptop that's even slimmer than its siblings yet totes more power. You can get this machined configured with up to a 10th Gen Intel Core i9 CPU, an RTX 2080 Super Max-Q GPU, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB PCIe SSD.
In terms of footprint, the Legion 7 comes in 14.2 x 10 x 0.8 inches and 4.6 pounds. It's packed with three USB 3.1 ports, one USB Type-C port, one Thunderbolt 3 port, an HDMI 2.0 port, an RJ45 Ethernet port and a headphone jack.
In terms of the displays, you can get its 15.6-inch screen paired with a 1080p, 144Hz (100% Adobe sRGB / 500 nits / VESA HDR 400) panel or a 240Hz version with the same features.
Other features, apart from the new keyboard and touchpad, include a top-bezel webcam with a privacy shutter. And like the 17-inch Legion, this model comes with an 80 Whr battery rated for 8 hours of battery life.
Outlook
Between the Legion 7, Legion 5i 15, Legion 5i 17 and Legion 5 (AMD), Laptop Mag is going to be quite busy come May 2020. We're excited to see if AMD lives up to the hype around battery life once again with the Legion 5. Only time will tell. Stay tuned to our full review and benchmarks of Lenovo's new Legions.
