Hands On with the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro
Retail Price: $1,699.00
DISCLAIMER: LENOVO SENT US A LOANER REVIEW UNIT OF THE LENOVO LEGION 5 PRO BUT ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE OUR OWN
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In a world where brands like Razer are producing thinner and sleeker gaming laptops, Lenovo has recently released the complete opposite of thin and sleek in the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro. Weighing in at a little over five pounds, this gaming laptop is packed with a ton of features and may very well be the highest-end gaming laptop we’ve taken a look at yet on the channel.
Subtle Yet Satisfying
Lenovo’s Legion 5 Pro comes in a single matte storm grey color. The front features the Legion logo that lights up when plugged in. On first impressions, this laptop looks like a beast simply from its sheer size. Although it’s meant to be a gaming laptop, the outside design is subtle enough to use for work and professional settings as well. That is if you’re willing to lug it around with you. Unlike today’s thinner laptops that require compromises when it comes to ports and space, the Legion 5 Pro is unapologetically gracious with its ports. The left side includes a USB-Type C port along with a headphone jack while the right side of the laptop includes a USB-A port with E-Shutter button. The back of the laptop features three additional USB-A ports, an additional USB-C port, HDMI port, RJ45 slot and charging port. Across all these sides are four vents with an additional bottom vent that should keep the laptop cool when playing games. I’m also a fan of the subtle Legion logos stamped across these areas that are noticeable but not too outlandish. The Legion 5 Pro sells at a starting price of $1,699 but our version has an MSRP of about $2,000. As of the publishing date of this article, the Legion 5 Pro is marked up on third-party sites up to $2,600 in a lot of places.
Built for Performance
Since we are looking at a gaming laptop here, we should also talk about the specs housed into this thick laptop. This version of the Legion 5 Pro that we were sent is configured to have an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of SSD. It also includes Nvidia’s highly sought after RTX 3070 graphics card (there are cheaper versions of the Legion 5 Pro that use an Nvidia RTX 3060 instead). As for the display, the Legion 5 Pro has a 16” QHD (2560 x 1600) IPS display with a 16:10 aspect ratio. Although I’m only just unboxing this laptop for now, I’m already excited to see how performance stacks up with these specs. Bezels are incredibly thin on this device and just from initial impressions, I can already tell the Legion 5 Pro was created to immerse users on the laptop.
Additional First Thoughts
Even though it will take me a little more time to get a feel of how this laptop performs, there are a few other features I’m excited to test out. The Legion 5 Pro uses Lenovo’s TrueStrike keyboard and has fully programmable RGB backlighting. As someone who also works extensively on their laptop and uses number pads frequently, I’m excited to test this layout not only for gaming but for work as well. While I prefer my keys to have a little more curve in them, these keys initially seem tactile enough. The trackpad on this laptop is also quite spacious and fairly clicky. For those curious, there’s also a 720p camera and Lenovo’s Harman speakers. And yes, this laptop passes the one-finger test. As a final note, considering the size of this laptop, there’s an equally weighty 300W power brick for charging the Legion 5 Pro. If you’re a fan of portability, I have to say this laptop is quite the opposite in regards to both size and weight.
All things considered, I’m really excited to test out Lenovo’s Legion 5 Pro. There’s a lot to like in this laptop and considering the spec sheet on this baby. I’ll be putting it through a lot of Steam and Epic Game tests. Be sure to stay tuned for the final review and let us know what you want to see in the comments below.
Lida
Always the number cruncher, the former narrative journalist turned data scientist, can’t help but find herself bursting with excitement with each new generation of tech gadgets. After all, predicting future trends is Lida’s forte. Any gadget that survives Lida’s torturous, adult working woman itinerary of over 700 notifications a day deserves praise!