Product Specification
- CPU: Intel Core i7-12700H
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti
- RAM: 16GB DDR5
- Storage: 512GB PCIe Gen 4 M.2 SSD
Pros
- Stylish, sleek form factor
- Gorgeous display
- Strong performance
- Plenty of ports
Cons
- Webcam = potato
- SSD is slightly slower than competition
The Lenovo Legion 5i Pro illustrates that 2022 has been a great year for gaming laptops. This year, we’ve seen beastly rigs push the envelope with pure, unadulterated power while others disrupted the whole industry with fascinating new form factors.
Then there’s the third category: really good gaming laptops that have been born through years of iterative development. That’s the category the Lenovo Legion 5i Pro falls into with its supreme thermal performance, great-to-use keyboard and touchpad, and its refined visual design.
I wrote about why you should just get a gaming laptop now and ignore the RTX 40 Series, because chances are you’ll see a bit of a price premium added to them. Does the Legion 5i Pro prove me right? As you can see by that score, the answer is quite the resounding “yes.”
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro Price and Configurations
The Lenovo Legion 5i Pro starts at $1,499(opens in new tab). I would say the retail price is listed as $1,789, but I wouldn’t believe that number for a second. From past experience, we’ve seen Lenovo up its on-site prices significantly to make the actual cost look like a deal.
Inflated pricing is a whole other rant for another day, but to prove my point, a configuration with the same specs is on Amazon(opens in new tab) for the same price — with no indication of a discount. So, just ignore the original pricing published on the Legion 5i Pro’s page. As of this writing, its current price tag is the laptop’s true valuation.
To match the specs we got in both of our laptops:
- Intel Core i7-12700H processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GPU, 16GB DDR5 RAM, 512GB SSD: $1,860
- Same as above, but with 32GB DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB SSD: $2,050
This puts it squarely in the same territory as the likes of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 ($2,000) and more powerful versions of the MSI Vector GP76 ($2,699).
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro Design
In a tidal wave of super masculine-looking gaming laptops, the Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (and 5 Pro) is a sleek system that you would not be embarrassed to whip out in public. That’s quite the achievement, given the massive 16-inch display this thing is packing.
The external shell is adorned with refined, polished stylings, from its metallic-gray lid to the premium plastic underside and rear chin.
The RGB is kept tastefully minimal so it doesn’t look like you’re hosting a rave party on your deck. Plus, the dimensions are tight and the weight is respectable at 14.1 x 10.4 x 1 inches and 5.5 pounds.
This is a svelte system that, quite frankly, embarrasses the Vector GP76 (15.6 x 11.2 x 1 inches, 6.4 pounds), but doesn’t quite match the svelte nature of the ROG Zephyrus G15 (14 x 9.6 x 0.8 inches, 4.8 pounds). This aside, it’s abundantly clear that you’re getting something nice here.
