Lenovo Legion Professional 7i Gen 9
The Lenovo Legion Professional 7i gaming laptop computer does all the things you’d need, and even a bit greater than that.
With all of the bells and whistles in all the precise locations, the Lenovo Legion Professional 7i is the sort of laptop computer you possibly can anticipate will deal with all the things you might probably need and nonetheless shock you. It’s a bit too huge and heavy to think about actually transportable, however the Gen9 laptop computer is cooking with energy due to high-end Intel CPUs and as much as an RTX 4090. Its display is stable although possibly a bit mundane for its worth, and but it’s really easy to think about the laptop computer as your go-to system for at-home gaming and even some common work duties. It begins at $3,220.
Execs
Nice efficiency throughout the board
Keyboard feels good and laptop computer itself is sturdy
Further options like numpad don’t detract from total high quality
Cons
Display is vibrant and quick however comparatively mundane
Not the lightest or most-portable gaming laptop computer
The Lenovo Legion Professional 7i 16 comes near having virtually all the things you might need or want in a gaming laptop computer, virtually to the purpose of extra. There might not be many of us on the market who demand numpad controls on a cellular system. Why? As a result of why not? The one factor it’s lacking is an SD card slot. Understanding simply what number of issues have been shoved into this beast of a laptop computer, I’m actually stunned by its absence.
The dream for gaming laptops is, finally, we’ll discover one which comes with the “all the things however the kitchen sink” of options, energy, battery, show, and portability. In a number of methods, this newest model of the stable Legion Professional sequence comes the closest to that dream. My model of the Ninth-gen Legion Professional 7i 16 got here with an Intel Core i9-14400HX, a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 with 12 GB of GDDR6 VRAM, and 32 GB of RAM. It’s filled with energy. And whereas it nonetheless doesn’t really feel as very similar to a brick as I first assumed, it’s not going to slot in my backpack’s laptop computer holder due to that rear shelf behind the display. It received’t overheat even after hours of gaming, however when set to efficiency mode the followers might begin to sound like a Boeing jet deposited yet one more turbine subsequent to my window after the corporate’s newest botched takeoff.
Sometimes, the extra energy you place right into a laptop computer, the extra you’ll begin to see the concessions and compromises, however what’s nice concerning the Legion Professional 7i is that none of it ever looks like an excessive amount of to bear. It has an amazing keyboard and a pleasant, vibrant LCD display that may additionally push 240 Hz refresh charges for all these titles that require you to maximise framerates to “professional” ranges. From the again, it doesn’t look too garish, however inside you’ll nonetheless discover a full RGB backlit keyboard with a number of enjoyable preset or customized lighting results.
With specs like these, you’ll Inevitably draw a comparability from the Legion Professional 7i to the Razer Blade 16. The large momma of all gaming laptops comes with an OLED show that additionally pushes 240 Hz and goes for $4,000 with the RTX 4080 and simply 1 TB of storage. Examine that to the Legion Professional 7i’s $3,220 MSRP with two 1 TB SSDs. You may discover some offers that may drop the worth of each machines, however at base, it’s nonetheless deal.
At 16 inches, you may also wish to take a look at the Alienware m16 R2, which is a way more transportable laptop computer that also places out honest frames at sub-$2,000. You would go for an enormous boy like the 18-inch Alienware or the upcoming Razer Blade 18 for much more display actual property, however when the Legion Professional 7i works so rattling properly at 16 inches, I don’t personally see a lot purpose to go huge except you’re devoted to conserving your laptop computer in the identical place more often than not. And but, the Legion Professional is just a bit too huge and a bit too cumbersome to wish to take with you in all places in comparison with extra compact gaming laptops.
Nonetheless, the Legion Professional does so properly in all the required classes that it’s laborious to not advocate. It’s most likely the most effective laptop computer at its worth level, and that’s as a result of Lenovo’s laptop computer feels so good to make use of you possibly can ignore any niggling concern that rears its head.
Lenovo Legion Professional 7i Construct High quality
Retains Cool and Seems Cool
Taking a look at it from the shell, the one factor that provides the Legion Professional 7i away as a gaming laptop computer is the big exhaust ports uncovered in panels on the rear and flanks. It has a sort of diesel engine look to it that’s not obvious till you get shut. That, and the glowing RGB gentle casting the basic gamer glow between your self and the laptop computer may provide you with away should you’re attempting to be low-key.
Nonetheless, it’s subdued sufficient that it may move as a daily work laptop computer in a espresso store, as long as you don’t overlook to show off the RGB utilizing the marginally clunky Lenovo Vantage app that comes pre-installed. I want there have been a shortcut to show off all the flamboyant lights like there may be for the completely different thermal modes, however I personally don’t care if anyone’s watching me sort on my not-subtle-at-all keyboard. The Lenovo Spectrum choices supply extra lighting modes than I’ve seen on many different gaming laptops. My private favorites are the context-sensitive modes like “Kind lighting” or “Audio ripple.”
The keyboard is unquestionably a standout. Lenovo calls this its “TrueStrike” keyboard, however all you actually need to know is the keys are nonetheless massive sufficient for my medium-sized mitts regardless of the full-sized numpad. The keys themselves have a good bit of heft and 1.5mm of journey, which I discovered completely acceptable for each typing and gaming. The aluminum inside has a really small quantity of give to it, however not sufficient that you simply’ll discover your heavy palms sinking into the body. General, the laptop computer feels sturdy, although I didn’t precisely discover the trackpad something to jot down house about. I’ve encountered just a few cases of poor palm rejection, however there was nothing as dangerous as I’ve encountered on the Razer Blade.
It’s not heavy, however you’ll really feel it when you have it urgent towards the perimeters of your backpack. At 5.77 kilos, you received’t be holding it one-handed outstretched, and it’ll begin to really feel just a little thick in your lap. It’s fairly skinny for the size of the PC at .86 inches, however the shelf provides some further size and at 10.32 inches I discovered it fairly laborious to pack. It’s all doable, however once more the Legion will usually remind you of the compromises for carrying round a gaming laptop computer versus a piece PC.
Throughout gameplay, when I’ve the followers going at full blast, I by no means felt the Legion Professional changing into unmanageable. The keyboard itself solely ever registered about 98 levels Fahrenheit across the WASD keys. The fan vents on the perimeters closest to the display registered between 115 and 125 in some locations, however apart from making your desk a bit toasty it by no means impacted efficiency. All in all, the Legion was persistently the ol’ dependable I may rely on regardless of the circumstance.
Lenovo Legion Professional 7i Efficiency and Battery Life
Handles Something You Can Throw At it, however It Received’t Final Lengthy Unplugged
In my time with the Legion Professional, I by no means discovered there was a second I couldn’t play the video games I needed on a minimal of excessive settings far past 60 FPS. In fact, that’s anticipated with an RTX 4080 in tow, however the HX-series Intel CPU isn’t any slouch both.
Geekbench and Cinebench scores have been about what I anticipated, assembly about 2800 in single-core and 16860 in multicore settings on Geekbench 6. On Cinebench it’s the same story, and it’s clear that the Core i9-14400HX can also be completely able to rendering duties. On our Geekbench check, the place we time the pc because it renders a single picture of a BMW, the Legion managed to complete in about 1 minute and 40 seconds, simply barely slower than a MacBook Professional 16 with an M3 Max chip.
With the specs, there are only a few video games accessible at present that provides you with any hassle. A title like Horizon Zero Daybreak would simply hit over 100 FPS on the best settings. Benchmarks in Cyberpunk 2077 pushed near 100 FPS on the best settings, and it may hit simply above 50 after I turned on all of the extraneous ray tracing choices. I performed another titles like Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League and Warhammer 40K: Darktide and located no issues pushing my framerates properly above 90 in each titles even when pushing a lot of the settings to their limits.
You received’t want all of the Legion’s capabilities always, even for some choose video games. Lenovo Vantage additionally comes with the choice to enter GPU Working Mode, which permits the PC to change between the built-in GPU on the i9 or the RTX 4000 graphics card. You must most likely have it on should you’re attempting to get a bit extra out of your fairly minimal battery life.
There’s a purpose past this laptop computer’s measurement and weight why it most likely received’t grow to be your on-the-go each day driver. Throughout common use, I’ve discovered it could final barely 4 hours earlier than going into low-power mode and begging for a cost. I may squeeze out some extra juice on decrease energy settings whereas turning off just a few pointless options and decreasing brightness, however off-cable I discovered I couldn’t even get to lunchtime with out discovering an outlet close by. On the very least, the 330W brick that comes with the laptop computer provides quick charging, and I may get it again to only below 100% in round 40 minutes. That’s utilizing the proprietary port on the again of the Legion. It does help USB-C charging as much as 135W however don’t anticipate the identical charging time on the smaller cable.
Lenovo Legion Professional 7i Show
An Extremely-Quick Display That’s Lots Vivid, But it Feels a Bit Too Mundane
The Legion Professional’s IPS LCD 16-inch show capps out at 2560×1600 decision, which is honest for its measurement however I wouldn’t name it the prettiest display I’ve had the pleasure of viewing on a gaming PC. Fortunately, it’s nonetheless very vibrant. Lenovo declares its display’s peak brightness is 500 nits, however I recorded it at a full display of 520 nits. That’s fairly honest, and it doesn’t look dangerous by any stretch because it helps Dolby Imaginative and prescient together with just a few added options like G-Sync.
The principle promoting level remains to be the 240 Hz monitor should you can decrease the settings to achieve that refresh price within the first place. Would I desire a barely better-looking show with a decrease refresh price? In all probability, however I additionally think about an OLED show would bump up prices by a number of hundred {dollars}, so I’ll take what I can get. You can even fold out the display a full 90 levels if that basically issues to you.
The bezels aren’t as small as attainable, however they’re pretty good for this measurement of laptop computer. The webcam up high is an FHD digicam at 1080p. It’s honest sufficient, although it’s nonetheless grainy below my workplace’s fluorescent lights. The digicam does include a bodily button to show it off on the facet, however no particular shutter on the digicam itself. Maybe that’s as a consequence of the way it’s positioned as a notch that additionally acts as your means for cracking open the laptop computer.
There’s So A lot to Like In regards to the Legion Professional 7i
Whereas reviewing the Legion Professional 7i, I discovered myself so snug so usually that I began actively attempting to search for points. However there’s actually not a lot to complain about. The 2024 version of the Legion Professional feels rattling good, and there are such a lot of goodies packed inside you’re feeling like you possibly can deal with something they throw at you.
However once more, all gaming laptops are a compromise to some extent, the Legion Professional 7i simply manages to masks these challenges higher than most different cellular units in the marketplace. It nonetheless doesn’t have good battery life, and the show is vibrant but just a little too mundane even with 240 Hz refresh charges. After which there are just a few options which may really feel a bit pointless, just like the numpad. However I do know there’s any person on the market on the lookout for a full-keyboard laptop computer with the kind of energy the Legion 7i is packing below the hood. For those who’re on the lookout for Razer Blade-level efficiency with out the premium you pay for a Razer product, the Legion Professional 7i is a superb compromise. Hell, should you simply want the most effective all-around laptop computer you will get that’s additionally not a Mac, you received’t do a lot better than Lenovo’s 16-inch beast.
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