Legion 5 Pro 16 Review – AMD

Summary
This Legion 5 Pro is equipped with a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, 16" HDR 400 165Hz display, Nahimic 3D audio, 512 GB PCIe SSD all powered by an 8 core AMD Ryzen 7 5800H Processor starting at $1299.99. I think they did a great job of maintaining the brand image but also giving it a “Pro model” look, its exterior just screams performance. Legion 5 Pro moves you up a generation in graphics and tier in monitor resolution. With this hardware package priced around $1699.99, I would definitely take a hard look at this laptop.
Good
  • 165Hz at 2K resolution
  • 8 core AMD processor
  • New pro exterior design
Bad
  • Camera still 720?!?!
  • Lack of Monitor ports
  • No display port
9.2
Amazing
Design - 9
Quality - 10
Performance - 10
Price - 9
Ease of Use - 8

We finally get to meet the newest member of the Legion high-performance gaming laptop family the Legion 5 Pro 16. An upgraded exterior design featuring the latest in gaming hardware technology. This Legion 5 Pro is equipped with a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, 16″ HDR 400 165Hz display, Nahimic 3D audio, 512 GB PCIe SSD all powered by an 8 core AMD Ryzen 7 5800H Processor starting at $1299.99.

If you have read our review on the younger sibling Legion 5 you would know that we are a fan of the sleek minimal design Legion creates. How could we possibly improve on an already so well-designed exterior? How about a subtle rise on the laptop cover with an RGB Legion logo right dead center? You might as well make the exhaust look like an afterburner from a futuristic fighter jet while you’re at it. I think they did a great job of maintaining the brand image but also giving it a “Pro model” look, its exterior just screams performance. Its backside also has been reworked to make for the “afterburner” look with a subtle indent where the ports reside. Here is a list of available ports on the Legion 5 pro 16:

  • E-Shutter button
  • USB 3.2 Gen 1
  • RJ45
  • USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2, DisplayPort™ 1.4, power delivery)
  • 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1
  • HDMI 2.17USB 3.2 Gen 1 (always on)
  • Power in
  • USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2, DisplayPort™ 1.4)
  • Headphone / mic jack

Legion 5 Pro moves you up a generation in graphics and tier in monitor resolution. Its NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 allows you to reach 165Hz on a 16.0″ WQXGA (2560 x 1600) IPS, anti-glare with Dolby Vision, NVIDIA G-SYNC, HDR 400, at 500 nits panel. These PCs are optimized to run within themselves at peak performance. This PC will run any current triple-A title on its native monitor at its higher 2K resolution on maximum graphic settings. Honestly, I cannot believe this AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor has 8 cores. Keeping a processor like this cool for extraneous hours is a tall task but I queued Warzone for 7 hours and the temperature stayed nominal. In this current time of graphic card shortages, a laptop like this is a better value for performance than building a desktop PC. This laptop is a “lil’ pumper”. I do however find myself echoing this statement off the walls. Why on earth do we still have a 720p built-in webcam!?!?! Cell phones have 4K, even 8k resolution cameras built into them. Helloooo??? At least give us a solid 1080p.

With this hardware package priced around $1699.99, I would definitely take a hard look at this laptop. A graphics card alone will cost you more in the current state of this market. Because the Legion 5 Pro has such a strong processor you have options. If you can snag a graphics card down the road you can add an enclosure which basically makes it a desktop PC. With an enclosure, you can also add more monitors, SSD’s, and play on all your favorite peripherals. Standalone you can extend up to one monitor with its single HDMI port. As a performance laptop, I would like to see this as a Display port over an HDMI, but you can get an adapter to solve this. When you’re on the road unplug it from your enclosure and send it into full laptop mode. This just makes the most sense right now until or if we ever reach the point where cards are more available again.

Also included with the Legion 5 Pro 16 is a year of Ultimate support which is a full-service product. If anything happens to your laptop, they send someone out to fix it immediately or replace it if necessary. It’s really important I mention this especially for people who are on the cusp of wanting to build their own PC. A lot of people hate on the larger PC manufacturers like Lenovo but the truth is you will never get support like this building your own PC. Legion 5 pro is a solid option in today’s market to get a peak performance gaming laptop at a fair market price.

Tech specs:

Processor Up to AMD Ryzen™ 7 5800H Processor (3.20 GHz, up to 4.40 GHz Max Boost, 8 Cores, 16 Threads, 16 MB Cache)
Operating System
  • Windows 11 Home
  • Windows 11 Pro
Display 16″ WQXGA (2560 x 1600) IPS, 16:10, 500 nits, 165Hz / 3ms response time, 100% sRGB, VESA DisplayHDR-certified, Dolby Vision™-enabled, NVIDIA® G-SYNC®
Memory Up to 32 GB DDR4 3200MHz
Battery
  • Up to 8 hours* (MM18)
  • Rapid Charge Pro

* All battery life claims are approximate and based on results using the MobileMark® 2018 v1.0.2.46 battery life benchmark test. Actual battery life will vary and depends on many factors such as product configuration and usage, software use, wireless functionality, power management settings, and screen brightness. The maximum capacity of the battery will decrease with time and use.

Storage Up to 2 TB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD
Graphics
  • NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX™ 3050 4GB
  • NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX™ 3050 Ti 4GB
  • NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX™ 3060 6GB
  • NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX™ 3070 8GB
Audio 2 x 2W Harman® Speakers with Nahimic Audio
Camera 720p with E-Shutter
Dimensions (W x D x H) 21.7-26.85mm x 356mm x 264.2mm / 0.86-1.1″ x 14.01″ x 10.4″
Weight Starting at 2.54kg / 5.4lbs
Color
  • Storm Grey
  • Stingray White
Connectivity
  • 802.11AX (2 x 2)
  • Bluetooth® 5.1
Ports / Slots Left:

  • USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2, DisplayPort™ 1.4)
  • Headphone / mic combo

Right:

  • USB-A 3.2 Gen 1
  • E-Shutter Button

Rear:

  • 3 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (1 always-on)
  • USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2, DisplayPort™ 1.4, power delivery)
  • HDMI 2.1
  • RJ45
  • Power in

USB port transfer speeds are approximate and depend on many factors, such as processing capability of host/peripheral devices, file attributes, system configuration and operating environments; actual speeds will vary and may be less than expected.

Keyboard
  • White backlight
  • Blue backlight (Stingray White model only)
  • 4-Zone RGB backlight (Stingray White model only)
Preloaded Software
  • Lenovo Vantage
  • McAfee LiveSafe™ (trial)
  • Office 365 (trial)
What’s in the box
  • Legion 5 Pro Gen 6 16” AMD
  • 300W AC Adapter
  • 4 Cell 80Wh Internal Battery
  • Quick Start Guide
  • One Month Xbox Game Pass (digital)
  • One Year Legion Ultimate Support
Written by
Gaming since Nintendo! Entrepreneur, gamer, wine lover, America! Come join the fun on the GL Discord!

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