Key specs:
CPU: Intel Core i7-12700H or Core i9-12900H
GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060/3070/3070 Ti
RAM: 16 GB or 32 GB
Storage: 512 GB or 1 TB
Display screen measurement: 16 in 2560 x 1600 IPS
Weight: 5.4 lbs (2.49 kg)
Dimensions: 14.7 x 10.4 x 1.05 in (360 x 264 x 27 mm)
Lenovo has a protracted historical past of nice enterprise laptops and a more recent status for top-notch gaming {hardware}, so it’s no marvel that the Lenovo Legion 5i Professional tries to straddle each worlds. Which may sound odd on paper, however it is sensible – a number of folks use gaming laptops for work in addition to play as a result of they embody highly effective elements.
A machine just like the Lenovo Legion 5i Professional has the form of high-end internals that can scythe their manner by programming and improvement, and it’s obtained the ability for after-hours gaming too. There’s tons to love elsewhere, from an immersive 16-inch show with a excessive decision to spectacular connectivity.
Costs for this rig begin at $2,079 within the U.S. and £1,799 within the U.Ok., and people are affordable figures contemplating the {hardware} inside even the entry-level Lenovo Legion 5i Professional. However can Lenovo’s newest laptop computer justify a spot in our run-down of the greatest laptops for coding and programming?
Lenovo Legion 5i Professional overview: Design & Options
- A mature exterior with a great deal of connectivity
- A quick, responsive keyboard with a quantity pad
- A physique that’s thicker and heavier than most rival machines
The Lenovo Legion 5i Professional doesn’t look as outlandish as many different gaming laptops, and that’s not essentially a foul factor – it’s a glossy rig comprised of darkish aluminum, and its mature seems to be bode properly when you could have to leap between an workplace and a LAN celebration.
You’ll discover loads of connectivity alongside the refined seems to be. On the left-hand aspect there are Thunderbolt 4 and USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 connectors, each of which sort out DisplayPort and energy supply, and on the right-hand aspect there’s a full-size USB port. On the rear there’s one other USB-C port that provides energy supply alongside two extra USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, one in all which is all the time on for gadget charging.
Elsewhere there’s an HDMI 2.1 port and a webcam with a privateness shutter, and on the within there’s Gigabit Ethernet, dual-band 802.11ax wi-fi, and Bluetooth 5.2. And, all through, your complete rig may be very sturdy.
There’s not a lot lacking, though it’s a disgrace the Legion doesn’t have biometric sign-in choices – the webcam doesn’t help Home windows Hey and there’s no fingerprint reader.
The practicality continues to the keyboard. Its base is stable, and the buttons are quick and crisp. There’s a quantity pad, and also you get that candy RGB LED backlighting. It’s a superb typing unit. The trackpad isn’t pretty much as good: it’s spongy and positioned awkwardly on the left-hand aspect of the laptop computer. We’d advocate utilizing a USB mouse as a substitute.
The one different design difficulty comes on the scales. The Lenovo’s 16-inch body is 1.05 inches (27 mm) thick and weighs 5.4 lbs (2.49 kg), so it’s heavy in comparison with rivals. The Dell XPS 15 and Apple MacBook Professional 16, as an example, hover round 4.4 lbs and are each lower than 0.75 inches (19mm) thick.
Lenovo Legion 5i Professional overview: Specs & Efficiency
- Heaps of processing and gaming energy out there from all specs
- First rate thermal efficiency, too – the Lenovo isn’t too scorching or loud
- Intel’s processors compete properly with rival chips from Apple and AMD
Even the entry-level Lenovo affords ample energy for programming, improvement, and gaming. The $2,079/£1,799 mannequin contains an Intel Core i7-12700H processor, which has eight cores and a prime pace of 4.7 GHz – it’ll hammer by just about all content material creation and improvement instruments.
The Core i7 chip is quicker than AMD’s equal processors and it outpaces the Apple M1 and M2 CPUs in a great deal of essential duties, too. You’ll solely get extra grunt when you go for the Core i9-12900H, and it’s out there within the Lenovo’s £1,999 mannequin. Sadly, the Core i9 model isn’t at present out there within the U.S., and also you’ll solely want that CPU if you wish to run actually difficult software program.
There’s loads of energy on the graphics aspect, too. The entry-level mannequin contains an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, which is a mid-range core with 6 GB of devoted reminiscence. It’ll play the highest single-player video games at clean framerates with out a lot tinkering, and it’ll deal with esports video games on the speeds required by the 165 Hz show.
It’s additionally able to tackling graphical workloads, together with content material creation and rendering. As with the processor, you’ll solely want one thing beefier if you’ll want to run actually demanding software program.
Fortunately, Lenovo has you lined. The agency’s $2,599/£1,899 mannequin combines the Core i7 processor with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3070 Ti. It’s a much more highly effective core, and it’ll run each recreation at prime settings for years into the longer term – and it’ll tackle these more durable workloads. The Core i9-12900H laptop computer makes use of the RTX 3070, which simply sits behind the RTX 3070 Ti and delivers comparable efficiency.
The Lenovo Legion 5i Professional is offered with both 16 GB or 32 GB of reminiscence – the previous is okay for on a regular basis workloads whereas the latter is best for programming. There are 512 GB and 1 TB SSD choices, and when you’re comfy with upgrades there’s a second SSD slot inside.
The Legion isn’t notably scorching or loud, both. There’s actually fan noise when you push the internals, however it’s by no means distracting. And whereas the underside does get scorching, 16-inch portables have a tendency to sit down on desks quite than laps – in order that’s not an issue.
Lenovo Legion 5i Professional overview: Display screen & Audio system
- Beneficiant decision and facet ratio create an immersive expertise
- High quality ranges are good for mainstream work, with a great deal of brightness and nice distinction
- Doesn’t have the colour breadth for HDR and Adobe-based workloads
An rising variety of laptops, together with the Lenovo, now use a 16:10 facet ratio quite than the standard 16:9. That’s nice as a result of it offers customers extra vertical house, which will increase usability – you’ll have more room in browser home windows and apps and also you’ll see extra of your video games.
The 16-inch diagonal provides immersion when in comparison with conventional 15.6-inch shows, and the 2560 x 1600 is crisp – video games and apps look sharper than on 1080 p panels.
The Lenovo’s peak brightness stage of 476 nits means this laptop computer will be seen indoors and outdoors, and the distinction ratio sits at almost 1200:1 – so there’s loads of vibrancy. The delta E of two.11 means colours are correct, and the panel renders nearly all the sRGB gamut.
For mainstream gaming, improvement, and programming the Legion’s display screen works properly. Keep in mind, although, that it doesn’t have the gamut means to deal with the DCI-P3 or Adobe RGB colour areas, so the Legion will not be appropriate for working in HDR environments or in Adobe’s design instruments.
The audio system are muddy within the mid-range and the bass may very well be extra distinct. A headset could be higher if you wish to get pleasure from audio. That stated, they’re nice for background music and on a regular basis gaming.
Lenovo Legion 5i Professional overview: Battery life
- As with most gaming laptops, count on an hour or two of longevity at peak efficiency
- You’ll get 4 to seven hours in less-demanding conditions
It’d take inspiration from its skilled stablemates, however the Lenovo Legion 5i Professional’s battery life sits firmly within the gaming camp.
In a modest work benchmark the Lenovo lasted for 4 hours and it ran video for seven hours. So, as with most different gaming laptops, count on half a day of use when you don’t push the {hardware}. However, if you wish to play video games the Legion will run out of juice after an hour, and in more durable work functions it’ll handle two hours of use.
Lenovo Legion 5i Professional overview: Value
The Lenovo Legion 5i Professional affords good worth when put next with different laptops which are appropriate for gaming and work, just like the Alienware x15 R2 (opens in new tab).
At time of writing, the entry-level Lenovo with the Core i7-12700H and RTX 3060 prices $2,079 within the U.S. (opens in new tab) and £1,799 within the U.Ok. (opens in new tab), and an equal Alienware prices $2,149 and £2,049. Step as much as the RTX 3070 Ti and the state of affairs stays the identical: the Lenovo sits at $2,599 and £1,899 whereas the Alienware soars past $2,600 and £2,000.
These costs evaluate properly to the MacBook Professional 16, too, which begins at $2,499 or £2,399. These laptops are slimmer and lighter than the Lenovo, and so they have implausible Retina shows alongside higher battery life – however there’s no denying their greater costs.
One other one in all our favourite programming laptops is the glossy, mild, and longer-lasting Dell XPS 15. Its entry-level costs are extra comparable with the Lenovo, however it does get very costly when you add 4K shows and it doesn’t have high-end graphics choices.
Past this, our selection programming and coding laptops are units just like the Microsoft Floor Laptop computer 4 and HP Envy x360 13. They’re cheaper and smaller than the Lenovo, and with higher battery life – however they’re far slower.
Must you purchase the Lenovo Legion 5i Professional?
If you’d like a robust laptop computer for programming, coding, and gaming at a very good value then you need to take into account the Lenovo Legion 5i Professional. Its processors are wonderful, it’s out there with nice graphics cores, and it may also be configured with 32 GB of reminiscence.
Elsewhere, it’s a blended bag. The Lenovo has a very good keyboard, loads of connectivity and a good high-resolution show, however its battery life is poor and the chassis is cumbersome. The show can also’t deal with workloads outdoors of the sRGB gamut.
Finally, if you would like a great deal of energy for programming, coding, and gaming then the Lenovo Legion 5i Professional delivers the products for comparatively inexpensive costs – however if you would like longevity or high-end finesse, you’ll must look elsewhere.
If this laptop computer isn’t for you?
That Dell XPS 15 is the most effective various on Home windows – it’s usually a bit pricier than the Lenovo, however it’s sleeker, lasts longer away from the mains, and gives a great deal of processing energy. And if you wish to get pleasure from gaming, too, take into account the Alienware x15 R2 (opens in new tab).
Away from Home windows, the Apple MacBook Professional 16 stays implausible. Whereas the M1 chips can’t all the time compete with Core i7 and Core i9 silicon, they’re nonetheless very quick – and Apple’s laptops are slimmer, lighter, and longer-lasting than the Lenovo.
Or, when you’re after one thing to your research, then the greatest laptops for college kids is likely to be a bit kinder to your pockets.
