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Latest Lenovo Legion gaming PCs feature cooler thermals, extended battery life and keyboard improvements

Written By published April 16, 2020

The latest wave of Lenovo Legion PCs equips gamers with advances such as cooler thermals, keyboard improvements and extended battery life.

The latest 10th Gen Intel Core H-Series or AMD Ryzen 4000 Series mobile processors power this lineup, and up to the recently announced NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti and RTX 2080 SUPER GPUs with Max-Q Design deliver higher clock speeds and new levels of realistic graphics.

The 2020 lineup includes the Lenovo Legion 7i, Lenovo Legion 5i, the Lenovo Legion 5 and the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i for entry-level gaming. There are also two new towers: Lenovo Legion Tower 5i and IdeaCentre Gaming 5i. (The lowercase letter “i” in the model name indicates an Intel CPU.)

Lenovo Legion TrueStrike keyboard

In competitive gaming, the way keyboards feel and their layout can make a huge difference. The Lenovo Legion TrueStrike keyboard has 100% anti-ghosting, sub-millisecond response times and soft-landing switches, resulting in hair-trigger accuracy and the feel of superior key travel via its second transition curve design—so players experience a more tactile gaming experience.

Another thing that can boost performance: advanced thermal efficiencies. Lenovo Legion Coldfront 2.0 provides an improved synergy of hardware and software that promotes better airflow and lower system temperatures. The advanced system now features Dual Burn support, which pushes the CPU and GPU to their in-game limits so that gamers can experience more predictable FPS (frames per second) without the need for thermal throttling. Meanwhile, these Lenovo Legion devices stay cool to the touch despite sustaining top speeds, thanks to tactically placed heat sinks that dissipate more heat away from the motherboard.

For a bump in battery life on the go, Lenovo Vantage software can manually disable the dedicated graphics card or G-SYNC via Hybrid Mode. Lenovo engineers worked with the team at NVIDIA to develop a more seamless, automatic way for gamers to better manage their integrated graphics through Advanced Optimus, which debuts on select Lenovo Legion gaming PCs.

Advanced Optimus draws on physical components of a gamer’s dedicated NVIDIA graphics card to intuitively detect which of their system’s graphics sources is best suited to power the application open on the screen. It switches back and forth from integrated (for light workloads) and discrete graphics to dramatically extend battery life [1] without the added hassle of a reboot for max framerates when gaming.

Soup up in-game performance even more with improved Lenovo Q-Control 3.0. Upshift to Performance Mode to turbo-charge past the competition with higher CPU voltage and higher FPS. Then, while streaming eSports highlight reels, downshift into Quiet Mode to lower battery drain and fan noise, or set it and forget it by enabling Balanced Mode for automatic adjustments based on which apps are open.

Lenovo Legion 7i

The Lenovo Legion 7i laptop has a 15-inch Full HD display (1920 x 1080) with 100% Adobe sRGB color accuracy, with VESA DisplayHDR 400 for a higher level of precise detail. An all-metal exterior envelopes that display and up to 10th Gen Intel Core i9 H-Series overclocked mobile processors. Multitasking, streaming and content creating are made even easier with ample storage of up to 1TB PCIe SSD [2] and up to 32GB DDR4 memory. Enhancing the more powerful 80WHr battery is an energy release feature for a more consistent battery life of up to 8 hours [1]. All of this weighs in at just 4.62 pounds.

Players will keep up with all the action of graphically intensive AAA titles with up to 240Hz smooth refresh rates enabling response times under 1ms via OverDrive and NVIDIA G-SYNC technology. Get up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GPU with Max-Q Design for ray tracing in-game, engineered to improve lighting and reflection effects.

The 15-inch Lenovo Legion 7i laptop will start at $1,599.99 and is expected to be available starting in May [3].

Lenovo Legion 5

The Lenovo Legion 5i and Lenovo Legion 5 are mainstream Windows 10 gaming laptops offering players several configuration options and next-level NVIDIA GeForce graphics. For the former, choose between two sizes (15-inch and 17-inch) with up to the latest 10th Gen Intel Core H-Series mobile processors. The latter is the first Lenovo Legion laptop with AMD Ryzen 4000 H-Series Mobile Processors.

The Intel-based 15-inch Lenovo Legion 5i will start at $829.99 and the 17-inch Lenovo Legion 5i laptop will start at $1,129.99. Both sizes are expected to be available starting in May [3].

The AMD-based 15-inch Lenovo Legion 5 will start at $849.99 and is expected to be available starting in May [3].

Lenovo Legion Tower 5i

The Lenovo Legion Tower 5i is the tower for the avid gamer who wants a high-performance home battle station. Push system performance to the highest settings, while staying quieter and cooler during cinematic gaming experiences with the tower’s optional liquid-cooling system. It’s optimally built for overclocked system performance—ideal for those heated marathon sessions. With cool blue LED lighting, optional RGB internal lighting and its chassis in a Phantom Black hue, gamers can choose to showcase their personality and high-power internals with transparent side panels.

It will start at $799.99 and is expected to be available starting in May. The Lenovo Legion Tower 5 will offer AMD Ryzen desktop processors as an option later this year [3].

Players who want to level up from amateur games to more intensive battle royale play without breaking the bank can check out the new IdeaPad Gaming 3i laptop and the IdeaCentre Gaming 5i, a new home battle station.

IdeaPad Gaming 3i

Designed to eliminate screen stuttering and slow game loads, the 15-inch IdeaPad Gaming 3i laptop with optional 120Hz refresh rate features an up to 10th Gen Intel Core i7 H-Series mobile processor. High-octane gaming sessions on this new laptop can last longer than before, supported by improved thermals with an extra heat pipe dedicated to the discrete GPU in its thermal array, plus dual thermal vents for better airflow.

The laptop will start at $729.99 and is expected to be available starting in May. The IdeaPad Gaming 3 will offer AMD Ryzen mobile processors as an option later this year [3].

The new IdeaCentre Gaming 5i sports cool blue ambient lighting at the front and is equipped with notable performance features, such as up to Intel Core processors and up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GPU. The expandability of this tower will grow along with your gaming needs. Ample port selection makes connecting to peripherals like the recently unveiled Lenovo Legion Y25-25 Gaming Monitor a snap.

The Lenovo IdeaCentre Gaming 5i and IdeaCentre Gaming 5 desktop towers will not be available in North America. Pricing and availability will vary per geography [3].

The 25-inch Lenovo Legion Y25-25​ Gaming Monitor will start at $319.99 and is expected to be available starting in June [3].

Editor’s note: We published a post on Lenovo’s additions of AMD Ryzen processors to its Legion lineup.

[1] All battery life claims are approximate and based on test results using the MobileMark 2014 ver 1.5 battery life benchmark test. Actual results will vary and depend on numerous factors including product configuration and usage, software, operating conditions, wireless functionality, power management settings, screen brightness and other factors. The maximum capacity of the battery will naturally decrease with time and usage. See https://bapco.com/products/mobilemark-2014/ for additional details.

[2] Actual available capacity is less and varies due to many factors, including formatting, partitioning and operating system, etc. which utilize part of this capacity. The available capacity may change with software updates.

[3] Prices may not include tax and do not include shipping or options and are subject to change without notice; additional terms and conditions apply. Reseller prices may vary. On-shelf dates and color options may vary by geography and products may only be available in selected markets. All offers subject to availability. Lenovo reserves the right to alter product offerings, features and specifications at any time without notice.