Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gaming Laptop REVIEW

Legion Pro 7i sets the bar for PC gaming.

I’ve always been a gaming person, and over the years, I’ve tried out different gaming console experiences, but I never dove head-first into the world of PC gaming until this year. I’ve always liked the feel of a controller in my hands and while you can use a controller on a PC, it just isn’t quite the same with some games. In about four months, I have spent more time on Windows machines than I have in years. I have discovered that it takes the right machine to provide an enjoyable gaming and computing experience. That machine is the Lenovo Pro 7i.

Skip the backstory / Go to Legion Pro 7i specifics

Call of Duty: Mobile Led to PC Gaming

In 2021, I started playing Call of Duty: Mobile (CODM). At first, it was a way to cope with the loss of my grandmother, but it quickly became a way to commune with friends. It’s a nightly occurrence that we get together online to play. Sometimes, we are just goofing around, and other times, we are working to improve our skills as snipers or to complete a tournament. Our clan works together as a unit and it’s really a completely different gaming experience than anything I’ve ventured into before.

There are several ways to play CODM. Even though it’s a ‘mobile’ game, you can use a mobile phone (iOS or Android), tablet, or even a Windows PC through the use of an emulator. Many people will say this is taboo, but CODM is a joint development venture between TiMi Studio Group (developer) and Activision (publisher). TiMi Studio Group is a subsidiary of Tencent Games, which also owns Gameloop, which is an Android emulator for PC. There are other emulators out there, but they will result in an instant ban from CODM if used. Gameloop is allowed (or rather overlooked) as a CODM platform because it’s made by the same game developer as the game itself.

My method of choice was my iPad. When I started playing the game, I used my iPhone. I added a gamepad pretty quickly as I have some nerve damage in my left arm that prevents my fingers from comfortably hitting the right areas on the iPhone’s touchscreen for effective gameplay. At one point, I discovered that certain areas of the screen just didn’t look right to me (I have some eye health issues, too), so I migrated over to my iPad Pro (12.9-inch, 6th generation, Apple M2 chip). The bigger screen and the use of an Xbox Elite 2 controller really upped my gameplay.

That gaming method lasted for around 2.5 years until February, when I decided to try my hand a CODM on a PC. There were a couple of reasons I decided to make this switch.

1. My iPad Pro seemed to be overheating. This was causing the screen to dim unexpectedly. That didn’t help with my eyesight issues.
2. I wanted a new challenge and learning keyboard/mouse gaming sounded like an interesting gaming experience to try.
3. I wanted a bigger screen. The iPad can connect to external monitors but it doesn’t fill the screen entirely, and the output signal from the USB-C port is limited to 60Hz. The 120Hz frame rate really does make a difference for me when I play. So, I wanted to keep that.

These reasons led me to the PC gaming world.

Choosing the right PC

While I wanted to dive right into gaming on a PC there was one thing standing in my way: the lack of a decent gaming PC. I tried using a mini PC that we reviewed recently and it just wasn’t powerful enough to provide the level of gameplay I wanted. It has a AMD Ryzen 7 5700U CPU and integrated graphics. Did it function? Yes — but barely.

At this point, I decided to jump all the way into the proverbial PC gaming pool and get a desktop PC that would be future-proof for a while. I found the Velztorm Praetix Gaming Dekstop, which seemed to suit my needs. Here are the main specs.

• Processor: Intel i9-14900K 2.40GHz
• GPU: GeForce RTX 4090 24GB
• Memory: 64GB DDR5
• Storage: 1TB PCIe SSD + 2TB HDD

While this was a ‘pre-built’ PC option for the buyer, it is actually custom-built by Velztorm. I was able to communicate directly with them and discuss the components that were being used in the machine before it arrived.

I used it for a couple of weeks and then was faced with a new conundrum. “What do I do when we travel?” We considered packing the PC up and taking it on the road, but the desktop machine features liquid cooling, and we didn’t think that moving around like that would be the best option. So, I started looking for a laptop.

Matching Desktop and Laptop Specs

When it came to finding a laptop, I knew that I wanted something that would be as powerful as my desktop machine while giving me the same portability that I got with my iPad Pro. The bonus there was that the laptop would be fully contained, whereas the iPad Pro required several different accessories to make it work the way I wanted to game.

When I started this search, I sort of had blinders on, and I focused on the 2024 Razer Blade laptop series. They had the specs I wanted and a remarkable dual-mode mini LED display that promised 1000 nits of brightness. I bought it and started using it, only to find that it wasn’t perfect. The screen was nice, but the laptop got hot very fast, and the battery life was terrible.

While I planned on plugging my laptop into power when I was gaming, I still hoped to use it for other tasks, and the lack of battery life hindered that. And, even though it ran Gameloop/CODM fine, there was a stutter when I played — on the laptop and the desktop.

I tried to optimize the systems as best as I could by eliminating certain applications/operations that weren’t 100% necessary for my needs and reducing the resource load on the computers. Even though I was able to accomplish enhancing the computers so they were less resource-intensive, gameplay in CODM still wasn’t as smooth as I wanted it to be. I just assumed it was because of I was using an emulator because I had the same stutter on the desktop. So, I lived with it.

In late May, I was given the opportunity to test out the Legion Pro 7i from Lenovo. It’s classified as a high-end gaming laptop, but it’s specs weren’t the same as the Razer Blade, so I didn’t expect that it would run better than the Razer. From the moment I opened the laptop, the Legion experience has been miles beyond anything I had with the Razer.

Legion Pro 7i Details

The Legion Pro 7i was announced in January at CES as part of Lenovo’s Legion PC Lineup. All the machines in this product line take full advantage of AI power at their core, as noted in their CES Announcement.

“As the world enters the breach of AI-enabled technology, Lenovo is proud to be at the pinnacle of this charge. With Lenovo Legion’s newest lineup of hardware AI chip-powered laptops, gamers are empowered to reach impossible new heights thanks to fully user-customizable AI-assisted performance increases,” said Jun Ouyang, Lenovo’s Vice President and General Manager of the Consumer Business Segment, Intelligent Devices Group. “In addition to advances in gaming AI, Lenovo Legion’s new Coldfront: Hyper thermal technology—created in collaboration with our friends at Intel—is a disruptive breakthrough that redefines thermal design, increasing heat transfer efficiency while decreasing noise and skin temperatures, forging a path ahead in the future of portable PC gaming power.”

While the 2024 Legion laptops feature Lenovo’s Coldfront: Hyper, an advanced thermal solution designed for high-performance gaming laptops, the Legion Pro 7i has something more — Coldfront: Vapor. This system utilizes a vapor chamber instead of traditional heat pipes to distribute heat more evenly, along with dual fan systems and four-way airflow for better air circulation.

The Legion Pro 7i also comes equipped with Lenovo Vantage, a range of tools that control and monitor system optimization, hardware configuration, security, device settings, and more. The Lenovo AI chip is powered by Lenovo AI Engine+ which is deployed through Vantage. This ecosystem provides an optimal environment for gaming as it monitors in-game FPS and dynamically adjusts power throughout the system to maintain the highest performance possible.

Legion Pro 7i Pricing and Availability

At the time of publishing, there are currently three models of the Legion Pro 7i available from Lenovo:

• Legion Pro 7i Gen 9 Intel (16″) with RTX™ 4080 → Windows 11 Home 64 edition / Part Number: 83DE005CUS
• Legion Pro 7i Gen 9 Intel (16″) with RTX™ 4080 → Windows 11 Pro 64 edition / Part Number: 83DE001SUS
• Legion Pro 7i Gen 9 Intel (16″) with up to RTX 4090 / Part Number: 83DECTO1WWUS1

The version I had for testing was Part Number 83DE005CUS. It has a list price of $3269.99 but is currently offered at $2,417.99 from lenovo.com.

System Specs

See the full system specs on Lenovo’s Products Specifications Reference page.

• Processor: Intel® Core™ i9-14900HX, 24C (8P + 16E) / 32T, P-core 2.2 / 5.8GHz, E-core 1.6 / 4.1GHz, 36MB
• Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4080 12GB GDDR6, Boost Clock 2280MHz, TGP 175W
• Chipset: Intel® HM770 Chipset
• Memory: 1x 16GB SO-DIMM DDR5-5600
• Memory Slots: Two DDR5 SO-DIMM slots, dual-channel capable
• Max Memory: Up to 32GB DDR5-5600 offering
• Storage: 2x 1TB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe® 4.0×4 NVMe®
• Storage Support: Up to two drives, 2x M.2 SSD / M.2 2280 SSD up to 1TB
• Storage Slot: Two M.2 2280 PCIe® 4.0 x4 slots
• Audio Chip: High Definition (HD) Audio, Realtek® ALC3306 codec
• Speakers: Stereo speakers (super linear speaker), 2W x2, audio by HARMAN, optimized with Nahimic Audio, Smart Amplifier (AMP)
• Camera: FHD 1080p with E-shutter
• Microphone: 2x, Array
• Battery: Integrated 99.9Wh
• Power Adapter: 330W Slim Tip Tiny GaN (3-pin)
• Special Features: AI Chip: LA2-Q / Hybrid thermal solution (air cooling + liquid metal)
• Display: 16″ WQXGA (2560×1600) IPS 500nits Anti-glare, 100% DCI-P3, 240Hz, DisplayHDR™ 400, Dolby Vision®, G-SYNC®, Low Blue Light, High Gaming Performance
• Keyboard: Per-key RGB Backlit (with Lighting Lens), English (US)
• Touchpad: Buttonless Mylar® surface multi-touch touchpad, supports Precision TouchPad (PTP), 75 x 120 mm (2.95 x 4.72 inches)
• Case Color: Eclipse Black
• Case Material: Aluminium (Top), Aluminium (Bottom)
• Dimensions: 363.5 x 262.1 x 21.95-25.9 mm (14.31 x 10.32 x 0.86-1.02 inches)
• Weight: 2.62 kg (5.78 lbs)
• Operating System: Windows 11 Home 64, English
• Bundled Software: Office Trial
• Ethernet: 100/1000M (RJ-45)
• WLAN + Bluetooth: Intel® Killer Wi-Fi® 6E AX1675i, 802.11ax 2×2 + BT5.3
• Ports:
  • 1x USB-A (USB 5Gbps / USB 3.2 Gen 1), Always On
  • 3x USB-A (USB 5Gbps / USB 3.2 Gen 1)
  • 1x USB-C® (USB 10Gbps / USB 3.2 Gen 2), with Lenovo® PD 140W and DisplayPort™ 1.4
  • 1x USB-C® (Thunderbolt™ 4 / USB4® 40Gbps), with DisplayPort™ 1.4
  • 1x HDMI® 2.1, up to 8K/60Hz
  • 1x Headphone / microphone combo jack (3.5mm)
  • 1x Ethernet (RJ-45)
  • 1x Power connector

User Experience

One thing I want to point out here is that this laptop was provided to us by Lenovo for review purposes. So, it arrived pre-installed/set up for us to use. With that in mind, I left the system as-is and only added what I needed for testing. Those applications included:

• Gears of War 5
• Gameloop / CODM
• Call of Duty: Warzone (Steam)
• CrystalDiskMark
• Geekbench 6
• Novabench
• Firefox (because I hate using Edge)

Typically, when I get a new PC for testing, I will remove certain pre-installed software packages such as Microsoft Office or McAfee. This time, however, I left it all as configured. With that in mind, I am going to look at some specific use cases/features of this laptop when discussing my experiences. Let’s start with thermals.

Thermals

As mentioned in the item description, this Legion laptop takes advantage of Lenovo’s AI Engine+ as well as the Coldfront: Vapor technology to keep the system at an optimal temperature. I also mentioned how warm the Razer Blade seemed to get with just basic use. Well, the Legion is the complete opposite. I will hear the fans spin up during startup, restart, or when I start up Legion Vantage, but other than that, I’ve rarely heard or felt them kick on, and the system stays cool. Even when I was gaming on it, the temperature stayed even and within normal range. This was a stark difference from the Razer Blade, which always made me feel as though I was on an aircraft carrier. I also thought that maybe the RGB backlit keyboard would exhibit some intensified heat, but that wasn’t the case. The design of the Legion Pro 7i is ideal for its function. The system stays cool, and I don’t feel as though I could cook an egg on its surface.

Battery Life

This is another area where the Razer Blade fell short for me — and sustainable battery life is a must-have for me. The Legion Pro 7i features a 99.9 Wh battery, which is the largest capacity a Lithium-ion battery can be and still be taken on a plane. The Razer’s was 95.2 Wh. It had a reported battery life of up to 7.5 hours, but I never saw that. I think the longest that laptop lasted until I had to plug it in was about 3 hours. To be fair, I did keep the brightness on the screen and the keyboard backlighting turned up, which does decrease the battery life. The Legion Pro 7i has a recorded 9-hour battery life, and I’ve been impressed with how long it has lasted — even when running the same way I ran the Razer. I enjoy the RGB backlighting, and so I use it. And as I mentioned, I need a brighter screen due to my eyesight issues. So, I turn the brightness up. I realize that the battery life will be affected by these things, but the Legion Pro 7i outperformed the Razer Blade 16 in this area.

Lenovo Vantage

I despise manufacturer software. I have tried to like Razer Synapse, Asus Amroury-Crate, Corsair’s iCue, and even Logitech and SteelSeries system configuration software. All of them bog down the system and are heavy on resources. When I started up the Legion Pro 7i, I wasn’t surprised to find a system configuration software package; I was surprised by how much I liked it. Here’s why.

• It’s not as big of a resource hog as other system config apps I’ve experienced.
• It has a clean interface and is easy to navigate.
• It shows you all the system tools in one place.
• You can connect with Lenovo support directly through this app.
• You have the option to review and upgrade your warranty if you choose to.
• It gives you control over your keyboard RGB lighting effects.
• You get a complete picture of your system’s health and the use of Lenovo Smart Performance (if your plan covers it) in this app.

There are a lot of people who complained online about Vantage and having ads pushed on them. What they seem to be referring to is the built-in ads for Lenovo Warranty Support Plans — nothing else. Whereas there are Google-style ads being served inside Armoury-Crate. While I don’t like services being pushed on me, I would much prefer that type of ‘ad’ than ones that aren’t related to the system at all.

Performance – General

Because I see the use of this laptop for more than just gaming, I wanted to review its performance both under general circumstances and gaming ones. Starting with General Performance, I was very pleased. Again, the system feels very clean — even on startup. I didn’t see a lot of system junk upon startup, and it just felt like a smooth system. I did run some benchmarking tests as well as standard use tests to validate my observations.

Processes on start-up: This is an area that I recognize immediately. There always seems to be a system slowdown upon startup, so I took a close look at the processes that were present shortly after starting the system. To test this, I restarted the machine and then launched Task Manager. It showed that after all the startup events were executed, there were 230-234 processes running. After running for about 2.5 minutes, there were around 250 processes running. During this time, the CPU only had around 2% utilization, but it did spike to 13% at one point. Memory usage showed 7 GB was in use with 24.3 GB available. The GPU showed 1% utilization. This was with nothing actively running except Task Manager and Killer Intelligence Center. There were 103 background tasks running, and this particular setup did have ten startup apps, including Edge, which has a high startup impact. Even with this amount of performance load, this Legion Pro 7i ran smoother than my Razer Blade 16 or my desktop PC, which were each running around 100 processes after startup.

Geekbench 6 Score: Geekbench is a popular benchmarking tool that tests the performance of computer hardware. It mimics real-world tasks such as image processing, machine learning, and data compression. The results of these tests are then compiled into a score, which can be used to compare one system to another. I ran the CPU and GPU benchmarking tests on the Legion Pro 7i and got the following scores.

• CPU Single-Core Score: 2999
• CPU Multi-Core Score: 17243
• GPU OpenCL Score: 163045

Based on the Geekbench Processor Benchmark chart, which shows information gathered from user-submitted Geekbench 6 results, the Intel Core i9-14900HX has an average single-core score of 2756 and an average multi-core score of 16218. The Legion Pro 7i surpassed both of those user-submitted averages by 8.82% and 6.32%, respectively. The OpenCL benchmark chart showed a user-submitted average score of 160973 for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, which is 1.29% less than the Geekbench score for the Legion Pro 7i.

Novabench Score: This is another well-known benchmarking software tool. It is similar to Geekbench in that it measures system performance. The big difference — and the reason that I like to do both tests — is that Novabench not only tests CPU and GPU performance, but it also looks at RAM and disk performance, too, so that you get a ‘big picture’ view of the entire system working together. The overall score for the Novabench tests was 5809, and the system ranking showed that the system ranked higher than the 2024 median and all-time median scores.

Performance – Gaming

As far as gaming performance goes, I don’t have any complaints. Gameloop and CODM worked flawlessly, as did Gear of War 5. I even tried Call of Duty: Warzone using Steam. I was shocked at how good the gaming experience was compared to my desktop and Razer Blade because the GPU is a step down from what the desktop and Razer had in them, and the Legion didn’t have as much RAM as either of them. But somehow it ran the same games smoother, making the overall gaming experience more enjoyable. I did connect an external mouse rather than use the trackpad for mouse movements, but that was just for a more precise shoot/aim function. Even though there are more powerful gaming laptops spec-wise, the Legion Pro 7i fulfills gaming needs just fine.

Display / Brightness

The display of the laptop is a beautiful 16” WQCGA IPS screen. It has a resolution of 2560×1600, which is not 4K, but it does feature a refresh rate of 240Hz and comes equipped with DisplayHDR 400. The screen is an anti-glare screen and it has a brightness rating of 500nits. While this is about half of the Razer Blade’s Dual-Mode Mini LED Display brightness rating, the Lenovo laptop screen also has PureSight technology, which provides 100% DCI-P3 color gamut and ensures that users get the best hue, shade, and tone as accurately as possible. Enabling HDR also really bumps the brightness up quite a bit. Picture quality and game graphics have been out-of-this-world good on the Legion Pro 7i screen. I have no complaints in this area.

Keyboard / Touchpad

The keyboard is very enjoyable to work on. While they aren’t mechanical keys, there is good travel and actuation along with 100% anti-ghosting. It’s a full-size keyboard and includes a number pad, even though the keys on the number pad are a bit narrower than other keys on the keyboard. I’ve not had many issues getting acclimated to the layout of the keyboard, although there were a few times that I tried to press the Backspace key with my right pinky, only to have it in the number lock key instead. It was an easy adjustment, though, and the best part is that it feels like a real keyboard. With the Razer Blade, I had to use an external keyboard for gaming because the keys just didn’t feel right when I tried to game. I believe it had something to do with the shape of them. Because the Legion Pro 7i features a full-size keyboard, the deck for the trackpad is a bit shorter than that of other laptops. I’ve seen some people complain about this, but I rather liked this design change. The keyboard and trackpad were both very responsive, and the lighting effects were gorgeous.

Speakers

The sound quality is another area that I have seen criticized quite a bit. I’m not entirely sure what other people are hearing because my experience has been fantastic. The natural sound that the Harman speaker system produces is above average for laptop speakers. I did find one small issue though. Sometimes, the sound quality would degrade and then be cut out completely. I found that the cause was in the Nahimic software. It is a good software option for certain aspects of the listening experience, such as surround sound, but there are certain parts that can interact poorly with third-party software or external audio devices. I found that turning off the effects in Nahimic fixes most audio issues with the Legion. Aside from that one glitch, the sound quality and power of the speakers have been wonderful.

Connectivity

I love the connection ports that have been included. And I love the fact that with the exception of of a couple of easy-access USB ports and the headphone jack, everything else is positioned on the back of the laptop for cable management purposes. This was a breath of fresh air when I discovered this. I also want to comment that one (1) Thunderbolt 4 port is included with the connection ports on the Legion Pro 7i. I saw several other reviews that stated that the Gen 9 Legion Pro 7i did not have Thunderbolt 4 included, but it does. It does not have a biometric/fingerprint reader, but I can overlook that. When you go to Sign-in Options under system settings, it does show that Windows Hello is not available due to the lack of a compatible camera or fingerprint reader. There is a built-in web camera, so I’m curious if part of it is locked based on how this review unit was set up for us.

Conclusion

The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i exceeded all my expectations by leaps and bounds. When it arrived for testing, I was cursing the Windows operating system because of all the issues I had with the Razer Blade and the desktop PC. While I would prefer to customize the setup a bit so there is less bloatware, I can’t argue that the Legion Pro 7i is a fantastic system. In fact, I ended up purchasing a Lenovo Legion 9 (16IRX9) to replace the Razer Blade. If I had experienced this laptop sooner, I wouldn’t have purchased the desktop or the Razer.

For more information, visit Lenovo.com