Lenovo Legion Pro 7i review: Blazing performance, good price

List: IDG / Matthew Elliott

The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 delivers doubtlessly the most up-to-date from Intel and Nvidia for a portion of the tag of top class gadgets that feature better-grade RTX 40-series GPUs. We’ve reviewed two admittedly spectacular RTX 4090-based gaming monsters—the $4,300 Razer Blade 16 and the $5,300 (!) MSI Titan GT 77 HX 13V—which may per chance perhaps well be extra record items than doable objects for most. This laptop will match into many extra budgets. 

You’re going to be ready to outfit the Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 with an RTX 4080 or RTX 4090 GPU, nonetheless our check model functions a RTX 4070 GPU and is roughly half of the tag of the Razer Blade 16 we reviewed no longer too long prior to now. It lacks the hanging create of the slab-like Razer as effectively as its twin-mode record, nonetheless the stamp and construct quality is surely appropriate for a midrange gaming laptop. And the 16-lumber record is spacious, crisp, colorful, and rapid. After dreaming about proudly owning a $4,000 or $5,000 next-gen gaming laptop, the following-gen Pro 7i Gen 8 is a solid replace for in the occasion you snap support to reality and your financial constraints.

Looking out to search out extra alternatives? If that is the case, verify out our roundup of the top gaming laptops on hand on the novel time.

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 8: Specifications

Our Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 check arrangement charges $2,175 from Lenovo and functions the following specs:

• CPU: Quad-core Intel Core i9-13900HX
• Memory: 32GB DDR5 5600MHz
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070
• Storage: 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
• Model: 16-lumber QHD (2560×1600) 240Hz record
• Webcam: 1080p with digital execute swap
• Connectivity: 1 x Thunderbolt 4 USB Kind-C, 1 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, 4 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, HDMI 2.1, Ethernet, combo audio jack
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.1
• Biometrics: None
• Battery skill: ninety 9 Watt-hours
• Dimensions: 0.86 x 14.3 x 10.3 inches
• Measured weight: 5.46 kilos (energy brick weighs 2.65 kilos)
• Ticket: $2,175

The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 begins at $2,070 for a tool with the Intel Core i9-13900HX CPU, GeForce RTX 4070 graphics, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. Our check arrangement functions two upgrades to the baseline model: 32GB of RAM that provides $55 and a 1TB SSD that provides $50. The top-discontinue model in the road charges $3,600 and functions RTX 4090 graphics and a 2TB SSD. The Core i9-13900HX is the top CPU equipped and all gadgets feature the same 16-lumber, 16:10 record with a 2560×1600 resolution and immediate 240Hz refresh rate.

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 8: Per-key RGB and entire-size arrow keys

The Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 appears to be like to be like extra like an overgrown company laptop than a gaming laptop unless you fireplace up the RGB lighting. The aluminum chassis is unlit gray all the scheme thru, and aside from a pair of little Lenovo badges and the next Legion wordmark, there is a sure lack of chrome accents. The enormous vents on the aspect edges and support edge are your easiest hints that right here’s a high-powered gaming laptop.

The laptop weighs 5.46 kilos, which is moderate for a 16-lumber 16:10 laptop. The sleek Razer Blade 16 truly weighs a little of extra at 5.52 kilos, while two other 16-lumber 16:10 gadgets, the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE at 5.29 kilos and the HP Victus 16 at 5.44 kilos, are a little lighter. The Legion Pro 7i Gen 8’s huge energy brick, nonetheless, will weigh you down. The 300-watt brick weighs a hefty 2.65 kilos, making the final chase weight a terrific eight kilos.

The aluminum chassis feels barely sturdy, even supposing it does flex a little through the keyboard. Mashing the WASD keys shut to the left edge felt extra rigid than pressing keys nearer to the center of the keyboard, nonetheless there is effectively some flex to the keyboard deck. It lacks the rock-solid feeling of the Razer Blade 16. The keys themselves felt rapid, and I esteem Lenovo finding room for each a amount pad and 4 beefy-size arrow keys. It’s a clear create replace to scheme shut profit of the added station afforded by the gigantic 16:10 record and employ it to lengthen the arrow keys.

The Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 gives per-key RGB lighting, a fun feature that isn’t persistently equipped on a midrange gaming laptop. Most midrange gadgets enable you to customise the stamp of the keyboard with various lighting patterns or presumably with a four-zone lighting, nonetheless the Pro 7i Gen 8 gives maximum RGB flexibility with per-key lighting. You’re going to be ready to space up to six RGB lighting profiles and also you may per chance well cycle thru them the employ of the Objective key and spacebar. There’s also an LED stripe that runs alongside the entrance edge of the laptop that you simply may per chance well even customise with RGB lighting. It has six zones you may per chance well customise. The per-key lighting and LED stripe alongside the entrance edge slide a protracted scheme to making the laptop stamp like a gaming model and no longer an overgrown ThinkPad.

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 8: Powerful, colorful, and rapid record

The record is stellar, especially for a midrange model. It’s huge at 16 inches and has a 16:10 aspect ratio that’s taller than a worn 16:9 widescreen record. It’s crisp with a 2560×1600 resolution that’s finer than the 1920×1200 resolution found on many midrange 16-lumber gadgets. And it’s rapid and colorful with a blazing 240Hz refresh rate and rated for 500 nits of brightness. My personal measurements with a lux meter showed it became once truly a little brighter than its ranking, reaching a height brightness of 550 nits. Colours looked brilliant, edges of pictures and text looked appealing, and games showed tender circulation. 

The laptop functions a modern 1080p camera that produces a crisp, effectively-balanced image. There’s also a execute swap for the webcam on the laptop’s left edge that interrupts the energy to the camera to execute particular your privacy when it’s no longer in employ.

If the record has you dreaming of getting a top class gaming laptop AV arrangement at a mainstream tag, the audio system will snap you support to reality. Some better-discontinue 16-lumber gadgets resembling the Razer Blade 16 salvage room for four audio system—two tweeters and two subs. You easiest derive a pair of 2-watt audio system with the Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 and so that they form muddy audio with no separation between the highs and mids. Without any subs, the bass response is predictably lacking. 

The port replace is varied and effectively situated. There are two USB-C ports, one in all which gives Thunderbolt 4 serve. There are four USB Kind-A ports—two in the support and one in all each aspect of the laptop. This USB-A association enables left and supreme mousers to attach their gaming mouse to their most traditional aspect. The audio jack will be with ease situated on the entrance half of of the top aspect for each derive admission to. And with the audio system being what they are, you’ll are seeking to serve your headphones nearby. 

Our Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 check arrangement is predicated on the Core i9-13900HX CPU and GeForce RTX 4070 graphics. It also offers a generous 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. The Thirteenth-gen Core i9-13900HX functions Intel’s hybrid structure with efficiency and efficiency cores; it has eight efficiency cores, 16 efficiency cores, and a entire of 32 processing threads. The RTX 4070 is a midrange GPU in Nvidia’s most up-to-date GeForce 40 series in the support of the RTX 4080 and 4090 graphics processors. In our check arrangement, it’s space to dash at its maximum of 140 watts. That’s a combination of the GPU’s maximum energy scheme of 115 watts and 25 watts equipped by the CPU by means of Dynamic Boost.

We started off checking out with PCMark 10, which measures efficiency on day to day computing work including office productiveness duties, net browsing, and video chats. With a ranking impending 8,000, the Legion Pro 7i Pro 8 proved itself to be overqualified as a productiveness machine. 

Our HandBrake benchmark assessments how a laptop is ready to handle crushing CPU hundreds over a lengthy duration—in this case, transcoding a 30GB MKV file to a layout well suited for Android tablets the employ of HandBrake, the free video encoding utility. The Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 barely broke a sweat on the check, edging the Strix G18 as one in all the quickest instances we’ve considered on the check. It’ll pull double duty as a gaming machine and relate advent laptop.

Next up is Cinebench, one other CPU-intensive check nonetheless one which renders a complex 2D scene over a temporary duration of time. The trio of laptops with Thirteenth-gen Core i9 chips beaten the competition, illustrating the energy of Intel’s most up-to-date know-how of Core processors.

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 8: Graphics efficiency

Now we derive to the merchandise—3D efficiency. First up are two artificial assessments, 3DMark’s Time Seek and Port Royal. On Time Seek, the Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 trailed each RTX 4090-based laptops nonetheless edged the RTX 4070-based Asus ROG Strix G18 and a pair of laptops with previous-gen RTX 3080 Ti GPUs. On Port Royal, the outcomes were largely the same, even supposing the Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 performed in between the two RTX 3080 Ti laptops.

On our staunch-world sport benchmarks, the Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 started off with a bang, averaging 166 fps on our Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark at 1920×1080 resolution on the Absolute very top quality preset. That became once truly better than the RTX 4090-based MSI Titan GT 77 HX 13V and easiest four frames per 2d lower than the RTX 4090-based Razer Blade 16. The two RTX 4090 machines were ready to flex their muscles on the extra tense Metro Exodus check, and the Legion Pro 7i Gen 8’s efficiency fell extra based on the opposite RTX 4070 laptop and the pair of RTX 3080 Ti systems.

To check a laptop’s battery lifestyles, we loop a 4K video the employ of Windows 11’s Films & TV app, with the laptop space to Airplane mode and earbuds plugged in. We space the display masks brightness at a quite colorful 250 nits to 260 nits, which is an efficient brightness for observing a movie in an office with the lights on. No topic the employ of a huge, 99Whr battery, the Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 failed to closing even five hours on our battery drain check. That’s a temporary runtime even among gaming laptops, which hardly provide decent battery lifestyles. Nonetheless, you are now doubtlessly not to lug this gigantic, 16-lumber laptop around with any regularity and can employ most of your time with it plugged in.

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 8: Could well perhaps aloof you aquire it?

Prices can immediate spiral out of alter when purchasing for a gaming laptop that offers doubtlessly the most up-to-date know-how from Intel and Nvidia. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 delivers the merchandise while staying on budget. It gives ultimate tag by pairing a highly efficient Core i9-13900HX CPU with no longer RTX 4080 or RTX 4090 graphics, nonetheless the extra tag-efficient RTX 4070 GPU. And its roomy, 16-lumber 16:10 record is colorful, appealing, and rapid enough to lengthen the laptop’s tag even extra. For a midrange gaming laptop, the moderately staid create is enough. We’d demand a extra attention-grabbing and rigid enclosure for the next-discontinue gaming laptop, which is why we wouldn’t imply scaling up in the Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 line and selecting one in all the pricier gadgets with an RTX 4080 or RTX 4090 GPU. As configured, this machine is an ultimate instance of a mainstream gaming laptop that delivers for the tag.