{"id":1705906,"date":"2026-10-01T02:22:35","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T02:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ytoFYsKwYCuFAMASvEhHuW"},"modified":"2026-10-01T02:22:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T02:22:35","slug":"lenovo-legion-5i-gen-10-gaming-laptop-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/lenovo-legion-5i-gen-10-gaming-laptop-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Lenovo Legion 5i Gen 10 gaming laptop review"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“I’m sure you’ll enjoy reviewing this single-channel Lenovo laptop,” Dave joked, as we ended a call discussing the new PC Gamer benchmark database. I laughed, as you do, because it’s one of those things that I’ve written about extensively in recent months, (and moaned at PC Gamer, a lot more about besides), and one I hoped I wouldn’t see here today. Because, you know, it’s mildly insane. And yet\u2026 Here we are. Oh… oh boy. <\/p>\n

I’m actually reviewing a slew of mid-range laptops currently. This, the MSI Katana 15 HX<\/a>, and the Asus TUF Gaming A16<\/a>. And you know what those other two plucky little lappies have? Well, you’ve probably already guessed, 2x 8 GB of DDR5, both running at 5,600 MT\/s. Not so with Lenovo’s Legion 5. This wee beauty comes in with just a single 16 GB stick running at a “rapid” (that’s sarcasm) 4,800 MT\/s. The gaming equivalent of buying a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, and fitting it with a diesel engine from a 1997 Peugeot 106 (an exaggeration, yes, but I’m just so passionate about RAM channels this feels like an almost personal betrayal to me).<\/p>\n

Now the logical assumption here is that, for a gamer, this has minimal impact on the overall result, right? You’re not going to see any issue at all, because most of your performance comes from the GPU, and its VRAM doing its job. The likelihood of CPU bottlenecks, particularly at 2560×1600, is fairly muted. In short, doing the tasks that this little laptop was designed to fulfill should be a doddle with or without the extra channel bandwidth. Heck, it might even make it into the best gaming laptop<\/a> buying guide, Lenovo probably said, (11 years of journalism folks).<\/p>\n

And, that’s kinda true, but the problem is, that in those moments that the RAM bandwidth bottleneck suddenly becomes a thing. It’s a problem. A big bloody problem. And not of the same caliber as your GPU getting a little too hot and clock speed falling off by a couple 100 MHz. As soon as that channel saturates, that Peugeot 106 engine blows a head gasket.<\/p>\n

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Buy if…<\/h3>\n
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\u2705 You want a beautiful crisp OLED display on the cheap: <\/strong>Gaming? Tick. An aesthetic delight? Tick. The most beautiful screen you’ve seen for sub 1.5K? Also tick.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Do not buy if…<\/h3>\n
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\u274c You’re likely to play games at high frame rates, or do memory intensive tasks: <\/strong>The lack of a 2x8GB RAM setup is no bueno for anything even mildly bandwidth sensitive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Lenovo Legion 5i – Features<\/span><\/h2>\n
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\"Lenovo
Future<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lenovo
Future<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lenovo
Future<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n
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Processor<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Intel Core i7 13650HX<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Cores<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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6 Performance, 8 Efficient <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Threads<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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20 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Boost clock speed<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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4.9 GHz <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Graphics<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 8GB <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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RAM<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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16GB (1x16GB) DDR5-4800 MT\/s <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Storage<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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1 TB Kioxia LS KBG60ZNT1T02 PCIe 4.0 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Display<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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15.1-inch OLED <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Resolution<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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2560 x 1600 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Refresh<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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165 Hz <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Battery<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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80 Whr <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Power brick<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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245 W <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Weight<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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1.9 kg <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Dimensions<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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344.9 x 255.35 x 19.95 to 21.54 mm <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Price<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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\u00a31,348 \/ $1,499 (US model features Core i7-14700HX) <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

RAM beef aside, the Lenovo Legion 5’s notable feature list, outside of the usual bells and whistles, and AI strapped moniker, is fairly slim. The big selling point, without question, is the 15.1-inch OLED display. That beautiful piece of engineering, that graces the 5’s sublimely slim form factor. <\/p>\n

With some serious pixel density thanks to a 2560×1600 res. (sitting at a suave 199.93 PPI), it cranks out an impressive 165 Hz refresh rate. And the colors, oh my days, the colors on this thing are exemplary. It’s one of the few laptops I keep coming back to, and keep gaming on time and time again, throughout the last month, because the display is just that gorgeous to look at. <\/p>\n

In fact, every time I flick the lid up, or pop my finger on the power button, I’m genuinely amazed by how vibrant and smooth it looks. Power Wash Simulator 2 has never looked this good, and don’t even get me started on Sort Them Ducks.<\/p>\n

There’s more to it than just a fancy screen though, as it comes with support for twin M.2 SSDs, and features WiFi 7 straight out of the gate. The port selection is fairly solid too, with wired ethernet running alongside dual USB C and twin USB 3.2 Type A as well, along with an HDMI out. <\/p>\n

Lenovo Legion 5i – Value<\/span><\/h2>\n
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\"Lenovo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

(Image credit: Future)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back to the screen for a second though, and why that impresses on me so much, is that the price is so damn tight. Particularly for the modern AI age. \u00a31,348 in the UK. That nets you that 20 thread chip, a decent RTX 5060 (actually running at a reputable power wattage for once), a solid PCIe 4.0 SSD, and of course you get all of those bells and whistles I mentioned above, with arguably the best-looking screen I’ve seen in the past six months. <\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the US market no longer sports the exact spec that I have here, but its closest kin, comes in at a still respectable $1,499 (when not on offer), and features the slightly more modern Core i7 14700HX as well, which nets you some additional cores for an extra eight threads overall.<\/p>\n

Lenovo Legion 5i – Sound<\/span><\/h2>\n
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\"Lenovo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

(Image credit: Future)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’ve been quietly surprised by just how good the speaker setup is on the Legion 5 too. There are two small tweeters situated within the bottom edge of the trackpad, on either side facing outwards, that give it a surprising amount of depth in the audio, and there’s a comfortable amount of bass output as well here, somehow. Maybe Lenovo could lend its sound engineers out to MSI, for like a play date or something.<\/p>\n

Is it tinny? Well, yeah, a little. It’s not exactly going to hold up compared to your Audioengine A2+ wireless units or anything of the sort. But if you’re strapped in a pinch, and feel like ditching those pesky headphones, it does a respectable job of handling itself in that situation.<\/p>\n

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