ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Legion Professional 7i (2025) is a top-tier gaming laptop computer, on sale now for $2,799.
- It effortlessly runs the newest gaming titles, exudes premium energy, and incorporates a 16-inch OLED show that calls for your consideration.
- Apart from the excessive worth, all that {hardware} runs sizzling, it is power-hungry, and it has an enormous, cumbersome energy provide.
The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i is the newest gaming laptop computer within the Legion collection, sticking to an accessible 16-inch measurement and placing all its stat factors into the standard of the show and {hardware}.
Additionally: This 16-inch Acer with an OLED screen has no business being this good for the price
The result’s a classy laptop computer with dramatic (however absolutely customizable) RGB lighting, a smooth kind issue, and a stacked set of {hardware}. It begins out with 32GB of RAM, (upgradable to 96GB), 2TB of storage, a 24-core Intel Core Extremely 9 processor, and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 GPU. All this, mixed with the 16-inch 500nit, 240Hz refresh OLED show makes for not solely a aggressive gaming machine, however a succesful workstation for professional creatives, animators, and designers.
A design with commanding presence
The Legion Professional 7i is hefty, to make sure, however for a gaming laptop computer, it’s really on the smooth facet. This places it in a kind of center floor: it is a little bit too large to be one thing you’d need to recurrently commute with, however it’s definitely not sure to the desk.
Sadly, the matte black end is a fingerprint magnet, like lots of Lenovo’s different laptops (ahem — ThinkPads) that, if this bugs you prefer it bugs me, will compel you to maintain a fabric readily available. All of that is mitigated by the keyboard lighting, nevertheless, which will be adjusted per key to be as delicate or loud as you need.
Additionally: Why I recommend these new Sony gaming headphones to more than just gamers
The gamer aesthetic is in full impact right here, with a dramatic single bar of sunshine throughout the entrance of the clamshell that displays onto the floor and appears completely superior. The again is illuminated throughout the diamond-shaped fan exhausts, and the “Legion” emblem pulses with the remainder of the results.
The complete-size keyboard with distinguished arrow keys, appropriately-sized quantity pad (and a delicate branding on one letter key particularly) feels premium and well-made, if slightly customary. Key journey feels good, and the trackpad — aligned over the house bar — is ample and useful.
The facility button on the prime middle of the keyboard acts as a visible indicator of your efficiency profile: Quiet is blue, Balanced is white, and Efficiency is purple. (It is known as Silent mode each due to the fan and since muting the laptop computer mechanically disables the lighting results.)
Additionally: Why I recommend this Asus laptop over the MacBook Pro to creators and professionals
All of those components are individually customizable within the Legion app and will be shut off fully if it’s good to save battery energy or hold a low profile within the workplace or espresso store.
That being mentioned, this isn’t precisely the kind of laptop computer you may need to convey to the tiny bistro desk in your neighborhood espresso store. It is large, it is heavy (5.67 kilos), and it’s thirsty for energy. Even when you do have entry to a close-by outlet, the 400W energy brick is so huge that it is primarily the burden of one other laptop computer.
It is chonky, sure, however it’s additionally highly effective — offering 70% battery energy in simply half-hour, a surprisingly speedy quantity of juice for the large 99.9Wh battery. The charger connects by way of a proprietary port on the left facet of the laptop computer (not the again), which some will discover extra handy, however is barely much less so when you’re utilizing the laptop computer as a desktop and are used to having your connections within the again.
By way of different I/O, the laptop computer has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI and USB-A on the left facet, two extra USB-As, a headphone jack, and a 2.5GB Ethernet jack. In the event you do not need to plug the laptop computer instantly into your modem, it additionally helps Wi-Fi 7 for quick connectivity.
The show is all in regards to the visuals
The Legion Professional 7i’s show is considered one of its greatest options. It’s vibrant and vivid and completely pops at 500 nits and a 240Hz refresh fee. It options 100% of the SRGB shade gamut, 93% Adobe RGB, and 100% P3 and swirls with deep, inky blacks and wealthy neons.
Additionally: Why I’m still taking this 2024 Dell laptop to the office – even though it’s for gamers
The 16-inch show is non-touch and has WQXGA decision at a 16:10 facet ratio. It’s powered by the GeForce RTX 5080 GPU and presents a various set of use case potentialities for players, creatives, animators, and designers. Simply notice that it is a significantly shiny show, and can replicate mild sources relying on its positioning, particularly with how darkish the blacks get.
Efficiency: Convey on the boss struggle
Let me not mince phrases right here. This factor is a beast. The Legion Professional 7i is designed to shred by way of essentially the most demanding titles on the market proper now, and the {hardware} on board effectively equips it to take action.
The Nvidia GeForce 5080 GPU paired with the 24-core Intel Core Extremely 9 ends in responsive, snappy efficiency in “Cyberpunk 2077” and “Baldur’s Gate 3”, with older titles not breaking a sweat.
Additionally: Why my favorite MacBook Pro alternative is this Windows laptop with a striking design
That being mentioned, all this highly effective {hardware} heats up. Temperatures throughout intense gaming classes can simply strategy that 100°C mark, which is just too sizzling for sustained use. In Efficiency mode, the followers can hearth at max energy, which considerably brings the temp down, however you may additionally need to hearken to them cranking.
The cooling system is environment friendly, expelling sizzling air out the again and bleeding a minimal quantity of warmth out by way of the entrance to the keyboard. Nonetheless, the fan does take some getting used to, because it pops on even throughout regular day-to-day duties like multitasking and net shopping.
The Legion Professional 7i is a pleasure to recreation on, nevertheless, with its well-designed keyboard, attractive show, and unbelievable efficiency. The expertise carries over to the audio, as its audio system are above common for a laptop computer. Two are upward-facing and two are downward, leading to a sound that is a little bit extra engrossing and full than most laptops’ shallow sound profile.
By way of benchmarking, the Legion Professional 7i proves it may grasp with spectacular numbers, particularly in multi-core efficiency.
Cinebench 24 MC | Geekbench 6.2.2 SC | Geekbench 6.2.2 MC | |
Lenovo Legion Professional 7i | 1,887 | 3,084 | 19,981 |
Apple MacBook Professional M4 | 1,000 | 3,823 | 14,849 |
Asus ProArt P16 | 1,096 | 2,804 | 12,787 |
Minisforum AI X1 Professional | 1,243 | 2,960 | 15,375 |
The caveat of a gaming laptop computer
Like several laptop computer with this quantity of {hardware} on board, the 99Wh battery is extraordinarily variable. This isn’t a skinny and light-weight Copilot+ PC with a battery that drains at a trickle when it isn’t on.
The truth is, it depletes surprisingly rapidly simply sitting round, one thing to remember when you go away it unplugged for a day or two and anticipate to return again to it prepared to fireplace up.
Additionally: Looking for an affordable laptop with an OLED? Here’s one I recommend for $534
The efficiency mode you activate will drastically affect how lengthy your battery lasts, in addition to what you are doing. For instance, I took this laptop computer to the workplace and labored unplugged in Balanced mode, solely to search out the laptop computer did not fairly make it by way of the workday. It received to 1% proper round six hours, and that is after regular duties that are not significantly demanding.
In the event you’re speaking about gaming, you may get round 1.5 hours of recreation time unplugged, which really is not all that unhealthy for a gaming laptop computer of this caliber. All of that is to say that the Legion Professional 7i performs about as anticipated contemplating the {hardware} on board and the OLED show. Whereas it is doable to hold round, you may be compelled to maintain the charging brick in tow as its thirst for energy is actual.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i appears like an 18-inch gaming laptop computer in a extra refined, 16-inch kind. I really like the show, the stalwart but nonetheless smooth construct, and the {hardware} that gives what you are on the lookout for in a gaming laptop computer: efficiency.
Ultimately, Lenovo employed a considerate design right here to compensate for the gadget’s weaknesses. It runs sizzling however has a really efficient cooling system. It is extremely power-hungry, however it prices method quicker than you’d anticipate.
Additionally: Is Lenovo’s new SteamOS handheld worth the hype? I tested it, here’s my verdict
The elephant within the room is the sky-high beginning worth, at $3,000 for the 32GB configuration, going as much as $3,600 in order for you the top-of-the-line GeForce RTX 5090 GPU. I would completely suggest this laptop computer to players on the lookout for a robust, out-of-the-box gaming laptop computer that hits all the fitting notes, so long as it is inside your funds.
The Legion Professional 7i is a classy, highly effective machine that dares you to run your favourite recreation at max settings and can finally go away you feeling spoiled.
