Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Review: Heavyweight Gaming

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Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Review: Heavyweight Gaming Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Review: Heavyweight Gaming

Specifications

PROCESSOR
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H
8 cores, 3.2 – 4.4 GHz
VIDEO CARD
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Notebook 8GB
RAM MEMORY
32 GB LPDDR4, 3200 MHz
STORAGE
1024 GB NVMe PCIe 3.0, M.2
DISPLAY
16″, matte, 2560×1600, IPS, 165Hz
PORTS
4 x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1
2 x USB Type-C 3.2 Gen2
1 x HDMI 2.1 (4K, 120Hz)
1 x RJ45
WIRELESS INTERFACES
Wi-Fi 6.0 802.11ax
Bluetooth 5.1
BATTERY AND CHARGER
Li-Pol battery, 80 Wh
AC adapter 300W
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHTS
35.6 x 26.4 x 2.7 cm
2.5 kg

 

Playful but not toy

If the usual Legion 5 are designed concisely and strictly, then the Pro version focuses a little more on the gaming breed. The calm design of the case is combined with a luminous logo of the series and powerful grilles of the cooling system. The discreet gray color of the lid hides fingerprints well.

Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Review

The body of the laptop is made of aluminum, the thickness of the device does not exceed 2.7 cm, and the weight is 2.5 kg. The parameters are similar to many gaming flagships in this price range. The laptop can be opened with one hand – thanks to the proper weight distribution. The lower part with all the stuffing weighs quite a lot, and the upper part weighs little. On the side face there is a separate mechanical button responsible for the webcam. It is enough to move it – and the camera will turn off completely. This solution will appeal to connoisseurs of privacy.

The rear of the Legion 5 Pro resembles a built-in dock.

Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Overview

It placed a whole scattering of ports and additional grilles for more efficient cooling of the system. Case materials, structural rigidity, fitting parts, ergonomics – everything is at the highest level, as befits a laptop of this class. Of course, this is not an ultrabook that is easy to carry around all day, but the weight and dimensions of the novelty are offset by serious performance.

 

Keyboard and connectors

The keyboard has a small stroke, the buttons are pressed comfortably and do not knock. There is a digital block with a standard layout. RGB backlighting is uniform, two gradations of brightness are available. Lenovo Vantage proprietary utility allows you to fine-tune the colors and various effects for the four zones. The touchpad is in line with the trends: large and comfortable. It can be used if there is no mouse at hand. The only thing missing is a fingerprint sensor, which is still rare in gaming devices.

Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Review

We were pleased with the abundance of ports: four USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, a pair of USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, one of which supports charging up to 100 W, a wired network input, a hybrid headset, HDMI and a proprietary power connector.

 

Maximalist display

Looking at the screen, you immediately pay attention to the anti-reflective coating and laconic frames on the sides. Thanks to the latter, a 16-inch matrix was placed in a case comparable to 15.6-inch laptops. The characteristics of the IPS display are impressive: resolution – 2560×1600, aspect ratio – 16:10, response – 3 ms, refresh rate – 165 Hz. High hertz makes everything that happens on the screen smoother, which is especially true for online shooters. G-Sync and AMD FreeSync technologies are supported to prevent picture tearing.

The color gamut is 100% sRGB. This is a rare figure for a gaming model.

Contrast is unquestionable, and blacks don’t look grey. The uniformity of the backlight is excellent, there are no glare. The picture is smooth, juicy, with natural color reproduction. There is support for HDR in Dolby Vision format. The maximum brightness level is 500 nits, so the laptop is comfortable to use even on the street. The display is really top – it helps out in any scenario, whether it’s gaming, photo editing or watching movies.

Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Overview

An important nuance: each laptop is individually calibrated by the vendor using X-Rite equipment. Even if you reinstall the OS, the color profiles will be restored from the cloud by the model serial number. The screen is connected via a hardware MUX – a video signal switch that allows you to directly connect the display and both graphics adapters (built-in and discrete). This accomplishes two goals at once. In games, the hardware is not limited by the bandwidth of the integrated graphics, which sends the signal to the screen. And when running on battery power, discrete graphics are turned off completely, providing impressive autonomy.

 

Power to envy your neighbors

Responsible for the performance of the gadget is an eight-core AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor with 16 threads and a typical TDP of 45 W, which can be almost doubled in auto-overclocking mode. Under heavy load, the power system is able to allocate up to 80 watts to the processor. With the removal of this amount of heat from the case, everything is fine – this is facilitated by four radiator grilles on the bottom panel of the device. The powerful CPU is complemented by an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card in the laptop version and 32 GB of DDR4 RAM. The novelty was equipped with a 1 TB SSD. There is also a slot for a second SSD.

Test results

PCMARK 10
total result is 6192
GEEKBENCH 5
Single-core – 1148
Multicore – 7484
3D MARK
Time Spy – 10 360
CRYSTAL DISK MARK
3569 – reading
2980 – entry

The mobile version of the GPU received fewer cores than the desktop one, and it runs at lower frequencies. However, as we know from performance tests, the mobile RTX 3070 can perform faster than the laptop RTX 3080 if the vendor takes care of decent cooling. In addition, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro has the most powerful modification of the video card: TGP is 140 watts. The performance is enough to run actual AAA hits. Even in the extremely demanding blockbuster Cyberpunk 2077, the system delivers 45 fps on the Ultra preset with QHD resolution. At 1080p and high settings, the frame rate increases to 80 fps.

Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Review

Based on the results of testing, we can state that Lenovo Legion 5 Pro gives a purely positive gaming experience. The 165Hz refresh rate, along with G-Sync technology, make the image as smooth as possible. The 16-inch 2560×1600 screen provides better picture detail than classic laptops with 15.6-inch FHD displays. The massive cooling system successfully removes heat from the processor and video card, preventing them from heating up above 85 degrees.

GTA V
QHD, Ultra — 92 fps avg, 47 fps 1% min
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
QHD, Ultra — 71 fps avg, 57 fps 1% min
Forza Horizon 4
QHD, Ultra — 84 fps avg, 49 fps 1% min
The Witcher 3
QHD, Ultra — 74 fps avg, 43 fps 1% min
Cyberpunk 2077
QHD, RTX On — 42 fps, 1080P, RTX Off — 81 fps

Lenovo has installed a new AI hardware management system in the laptop that optimizes the device’s work profile for the running application. That is, automatically activates the performance mode, balance or silence. In the latter case, the novelty functions like a typical ultrabook: almost silently. Under heavy load, the fans start to make a noticeable noise. However, the rustle of the coolers does not exceed reasonable limits and does not muffle the sounds of the game from the speakers, which is often the case with cheap gaming models. A completely passive mode at low loads is not provided, but it is for the better – in comfortable temperature conditions, iron will live longer.

Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Overview

The laptop has decent acoustics. The power of the built-in stereo speakers is enough for gaming at home. The sound has volume and low bass, the volume does not disappoint either: you can watch movies without connecting speakers.

 

Suddenly good autonomy

Historically, gaming laptops have had modest autonomy. Manufacturers usually put small batteries that are discharged after a couple of hours of operation. It is clear that most often such devices are used at home, but a laptop can help out in different situations – sometimes you need to work away from a power outlet or watch a video on an airplane. Thanks to the Ryzen 5000-series chips, which, despite their outstanding performance, can be truly energy efficient.

Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Review

The Legion 5 Pro has room for an impressive 80 Wh battery. It is enough for the device at medium brightness to last about 6 hours in everyday tasks like editing documents. And if you turn off the increased screen hertz (the Fn + R hotkey is responsible for this), the battery will last up to 7.5 hours. In games, which is expected, the battery drains much faster – a powerful video card consumes a lot of energy. The included 300W adapter fully recharges the battery in about 80 minutes. True, the power supply is huge and weighs almost a kilogram.

 

Summary

Legion 5 Pro captivates with top-end features and attention to detail. A powerful graphics card allows you to run most games at maximum speed, and a colorful 2.5K display renders a smooth and clear picture. At the same time, it is clear that the laptop was created by engineers, not marketers. The components chosen are not the most expensive, but the vendor, thanks to a well-thought-out cooling system, squeezed the maximum performance out of them. We also note a wide range of ports and decent autonomy. Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is one of the best gaming laptops in its class, so it definitely deserves attention.

Outstanding performance for laptops is not uncommon. But when a 15-inch model beats many 17-inch laptops, it’s impressive. Lenovo Legion 5 Pro works smartly, cools well, sounds decent and pleases with autonomy. It’s a fairy tale!

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