Lenovo refreshes Legion gaming lineup with beefier internals, adds AMD Ryzen inside

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New range gets simplified branding and debuts a micro-ATX desktop tower

 

 

 

Bottom line: In terms of generational spec bumps, Lenovo's most noticeable upgrade to the Legion gaming portfolio is the addition of AMD's Ryzen 4000 Series mobile chips, which appear alongside Intel's 10th-gen H-Series CPUs and can be paired with Nvidia's latest RTX and non-RTX GPUs. Laptops packed with this hardware also get Lenovo's improved battery, keyboard, display, and thermal technologies, as well as carrying a simplified branding scheme indicating performance tiers.

The Ryzen 4000 series marked AMD's impressive comeback in the laptop space, making it just a matter of time until more OEMs started taking notice. Lenovo is among the first to do so with its refreshed and rebranded Legion gaming lineup that includes the new Legion 7i, Legion 5i, Legion 5, Legion 5Pi, Legion Y740Si, and the Legion Tower 5i. The addition of "i" with each model name denotes an Intel CPU inside.

Legion 7i

Starting with the top-tier model, the Legion 7i comes with a 15.6-inch 1080p IPS display and can be equipped with up to a Core i9-10980HK, RTX 2080 Super Max-Q, 32GB RAM and 1TB of PCIe SSD storage with optional 32GB of Intel Optane.

 

Although the display size and resolution are fixed, buyers can either choose a 240Hz or a 144Hz panel with varying brightness, response times, G-Sync and HDR support. The laptop also packs an 80 Wh battery, which should last for up to 8 hours in non-gaming sessions.

 

 

Lenovo is also touting a new 'TrueStrike' keyboard on these laptops, which translates to having anti-ghost tech with 1.3 mm key travel, fully-sized arrow keys and support for Corsair's iCUE software.

 

The Legion 7i starts at $1,600 for the base-spec version (i5-10300H, GTX 1660Ti, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD), weighs just over 2kg and is expected to ship in May.

Legion 5i, 5 and 5Pi

In the mid-tier, only the Legion 5i comes in two display sizes (15.6-inch and 17.3-inch) and can be specced with up to a Core i7-10875H, RTX 2060, 16GB RAM, 1TB of PCIe SSD and 1TB of 7200 rpm HDD storage.

 

 

Both variants feature 1080p IPS panels that go up to 144Hz in the 17.3-inch model and up to 240Hz in the 15.6-inch model. Powering these displays are three other non-RTX GPU options, which include the GTX 1650, 1650Ti and 1660Ti.

 

Two battery sizes of 80 Wh and 60 Wh are available, with up to 5 hours of rated usage. Pricing starts at $830 for the smaller model and $1,130 for the bigger sibling.

 

For AMD fans, the Legion 5 should be an appealing option that can be specced with either a Ryzen 7 4800H or Ryzen 5 4600H, along with an RTX 2060 GPU. The laptop only comes with a 15.6-inch 1080p IPS display but can be further configured with refresh rates of 60Hz, 120Hz, and 144Hz.

 

Other specs like the RAM, storage, and battery are identical to the Legion 5i, with price starting at a competitive $850. Both Intel and AMD versions will ship in May.

 

 

The last model in the Legion 5 series is the 5Pi, which Lenovo won't be selling in the North American market.

 

This model, however, is pretty similar to the Legion 5i, except that it bears a different design and can be specced with up to 32GB of RAM. Pricing and availability for this model are yet to be announced.

 

Legion Y740Si

For those with lighter gaming demands, the iGPU-powered Y740Si comes with up to a Core i9-10880H, 32GB RAM and 1TB of PCIe SSD storage. The display comes in 4K and 1080p resolutions but is fixed at 15.6-inches. The laptop is also the only remaining model in Lenovo's 2020 Legion lineup to carry a "Y" in its name.

 

 

An aluminum build also helps with reducing weight, while support for eGPUs should help with heavy graphical workloads. This notebook starts at $1,200 and ships in May.

Legion Tower 5i

An interesting new addition to the Legion lineup is the Tower 5i. A micro-ATX desktop PC using an Aorus motherboard that takes full advantage of its size and can be configured with up to an RTX 2080 Super 8GB, 64GB RAM, 2TB PCIe SSD and 4TB of 7200 rpm HDD storage.

 

 

Lenovo only states "Intel Core Processors" with no SKUs in the official documentation, but the tower reportedly supports 10th-gen Intel H-series chips and will have an AMD variant in the future. Top-spec models will also pack a 650W gold-rated PSU.

 

The Tower 5i starts at $800 and will be available to purchase in May.

IdeaCentre Gaming 3i and 5i

Aside from the Legion series, Lenovo also announced two new entries in the more affordable IdeaCentre lineup. The Gaming 3i laptop can be configured with up to an i7-10750H, GTX 1650Ti, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD and 2TB of HDD storage. It comes with a 15.6-inch 1080p display with options to choose between 60Hz, 120Hz, and 144Hz panels.

 

 

The 5i desktop likely uses Intel's mid-tier 10th-gen chips and can be maxed out with an RTX 2060, 32GB RAM and 512GB of m.2 PCIe SSD storage. For some reason, Lenovo won't be selling the desktop in North America but notes that both the Gaming 3i and 5i will receive AMD variants later this year. While the latter's price and availability are yet unknown, the 3i notebook will start at $730 and begin shipping in May.

 

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