Lenovo Legion 5 Pro gaming laptops aren't just for gamers any more
Lenovo's Legion gaming laptop range is getting an overhaul for CES 2022, and in addition to adding more performance they're getting a style revamp to appeal to a broader audience. Rather than heavily-molded casings and in-your-face LED lighting, the new Legion Pro and Legion models pair their Intel and AMD processors with more restrained designs that, Lenovo says, it expects to appeal to creators as well as traditional gamers.
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro and Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 2022
Flagships of the 2022 Legion range, the Legion 5i Pro and Legion 5 Pro adopt Intel and AMD chips respectively. There's a 16-inch WQHD+ display with 240Hz refresh support, with the promise of variable refresh rates (165-240Hz) down the line. The screen itself is a 2960 x 1600 IPS 16:10 aspect panel with up to VESA DisplayHDR 400 certification and up to 500 nits of brightness.
In the Legion 5i Pro, there's up to a 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H processor, up to GeForce RTX 30 GPU (with 8GB of dedicated memory), and up to 32GB of 4800MHz DDR5 memory. Storage is up to 1TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD. As for the Legion 5 Pro, that has AMD's next-gen Ryzen processors and up to the same NVIDIA graphics as the Intel model.
The 80 Whr battery comes with a 230W slim adapter; Lenovo says that's good for a 0-80% charge in 30 minutes. Connectivity includes USB Type-C with 135W charging support, Thunderbolt 4, ethernet, and several USB-C and USB Type-A ports.
For cooling, meanwhile, there's a larger exhaust area, new fans, and a better heat pipe system. Lenovo has squeezed a big copper block under the CPU to act as a heat sink, while the fans should be quieter courtesy of slimmer blades.
The Legion 5i Pro will go on sale in February, priced from $1,569.99. It'll be followed in April by the Legion 5 Pro, priced from $1,429.99.
Lenovo Legion 5i and Lenovo Legion 5 2022
More affordable, the Legion 5i and Legion 5 are Lenovo's thinnest and most powerful iterations so-far. They have 15-inch displays running at up to 2560 x 1440 resolution, with up to 165Hz refresh rate and up to 300 nits of brightness. There's Dolby Vision and NVIDIA G-Sync support, just as on the more expensive Pro models.
In the Legion 5i, there's up to 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H processors, while the Legion 5 gets next-gen AMD Ryzen 6000 processors. Both can be equipped with up to GeForce RTX 30 GPUs with 8GB of dedicated memory. There's up to 32GB of 4800MHz DDR5 memory, up to 1TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage, and all in something 15% thinner than last year's models.
The top panel now uses an aluminum magnesium blend, and Lenovo has tamped down the aesthetic for something more mature. There's a TrueStrike keyboard – less noisy than that of the old model – plus dedicated media keys, a larger trackpad, and a full number pad. The Legion Spectrum app can be used to adjust key color backlighting, while the Legion AI Engine automatically adjusts CPU and GPU throttling to balance performance and battery life.
The Legion 5i will go on sale in February, priced from $1,199.99. It'll be followed in April by the Legion 5, which will start at $1,129.99.