[Review] Lenovo Legion Pro 5i Gen 8 Delivers on Gaming Performance Yet Again
A 2023 refresh that shouldn't be overlooked
By Calvin Khor — 01 Nov 2023, 04:25 PM
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i Gen 8 has all the features of a modern gaming laptop, including powerful components, a fast display, a sleek and minimalist design, and a lightweight USB-C charging option
Even in 2023, there exists the classic dilemma between laptop and desktop PCs. While we can go on and on about portability and less cable management versus performance and upgradability, the demand for gaming laptops nevertheless remains strong.
After years of reiterating, most major gaming brands now have their designs and niches down to a tee. One of these brands is none other than Lenovo, which has pushed out gaming laptops that are consistently bangers. This time around, it’s the Legion Pro 5i Gen 8.
Sticking to its sleek low-profile aesthetic, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i's onyx grey chassis gives it a sophisticated appearance that does away with the gaudy "gamer" look of yesteryear
Even without the subtle Legion branding, this design has become its identity, one that we highly appreciate. The top panel is made of aluminium, while the rest of the body is made of plastic – a durable and light combination.
In terms of dimensions, the laptop measures 363.4 x 260.4 x 26.75mm (WxDxH) at 2.5kg. It’s not the smallest or lightest but it is to be expected for a laptop in this class.
On the functional side, the keyboard has four customisable RGB zones, as well as exhaust vents that flow air from the back through both sides of the laptop. These vents and fast fans do wonders in keeping temperatures consistent during our gaming sessions, however, fan noise can be quite an annoyance without headphones.
With the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 and Intel Core i7-13700HX, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i can power through most AAA titles without a hitch, and that’s mostly thanks to Nvidia’s DLSS feature
While testing Cyberpunk 2077, the laptop can run at a comfortable 60fps with High settings and Medium Ray Tracing. Again, these frame rates are only possible with DLSS. If we turn Ray Tracing off, the game is boosted to an even better 80-90fps.
For competitive games like Valorant or Counter-Strike 2, frame rates within 120-150 can be achieved even at High settings and at the laptop's native resolution of 2560 x 1600. But ask anyone who plays these first-person shooter titles, and you’ll know that more serious players play at lower settings to truly maximise performance.
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i's fast 165hz display offers vivid colours to complement any game or media you’re consuming, as well as a peak brightness that allows you to use it in any sort of lighting situation
The grimy streets and neon lights of Night City were depicted vibrantly and in great detail during our stroll in Cyberpunk 2077. Likewise, I was confidently hitting my shots in Counter-Strike 2 with the fast display and its low response time of under 1ms.
Overall, the display on the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i is, for all intents and purposes, a gaming monitor – it’s sharp, fast, and offers rich colour. We were more than satisfied with it as avid gamers.
Sporting an 80Whr battery, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i could last roughly six and a half hours, doing a mixture of productivity and media consumption that’s not gaming
With that said, powerful components come at the price of near-constant charging, and the laptop’s 300W charging brick that weighs 2kg is no joke. Together with the laptop, the weight adds up to about 4.5kg.
Thankfully, when we’re mobile and not expecting to game, we opted for charging through USB-C because it significantly reduced our carry weight. We recommend at least 65W to charge and use the laptop simultaneously, but it supports up to 140W.
Starting at a price of RM7,299, we find that the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i perfectly balances performance and a relatively compact build
Our specific configuration with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 and Intel Core i7-13700HX is a future-proof gaming laptop that can handle any upcoming games. Overall, it is a complete gaming laptop package that we can stand behind.
