Legion 5i Premium Intel- Review

Legion enters the peak of delivering their 2020 models still maintaining their minimal stealth dark Darthvader type look we love. We had a chance to catch up with the marketing masterminds Matt Bereda (Vice President of Global Consumer Marketing, Intelligent Devices Group, Lenovo) and Chris Piazza (Manager, Global Gaming Product Marketing, Intelligent Devices Group, Lenovo) who brought us up to speed in an interview about everything Legion 2020. They assured us amidst everything happening in the world today the 2020 products would be delivered on schedule.

Today we get to experience the Legion 5i premium edition a 15-inch laptop with the power to play all your AAA titles at max settings. Before going into the laptop, I would like to talk about the partnership between TSM and Legion. It’s especially important to understand the valuable data shared between these 2 companies. TSM is one of the top Esports organizations and content creator groups in the world. We had a chance to speak with Rex Stover (Sr Product Manager of North America Gaming) and Andy Dinh (CEO of TSM) at Twitchcon 2019 who shared their goals for 2020 and spoke about the upcoming TSM facility featuring the Lenovo Legion Lounge. TSM provides Legion with the most up to date data directly from their professional Esports teams which is then implemented into their products.

This specific Legion 5i model is the most upgraded of its kind retailing for $1449.99 but you can pick up the base model for $999. Being able to run the game on your system is most important however I do believe the display component is what defines any gaming experience. Powered by an RTX 2060 with a 15.6-inch 1920×1080 IPS monitor capable of reaching 144Hz at a 1ms response time the 5i screen is brilliant. One thing about the display most people will overlook is the HDR feature. We have 2048×1080 (2K) monitors in studio and a side by side comparison with the HDR 1920×1080 display is only marginally noticeable. Everyone here at GL HQ who played on this laptop described it as feeling “Buttery”. We were also able to power a 2460 x 1080 ultrawide 144Hz 1ms monitor using a gold HDMI cable through the port on the back of the laptop. Having the one extra monitor port makes it easy for you to live broadcast your gaming experience to Twitch, Facebook, Youtube or any of your favorite streaming platforms. Yes, the 5i absolutely 100% has the power to broadcast gaming without any issues but you will have to lower some in game settings.

Its CPU can achieve speeds up to 5ghz through its 6 cores and 12 threads. Nextgen Intel features like Intel Wifi 6, Intel^® Thermal Velocity Boost, and intel smart cache all contribute to its “Buttery” performance. Coldfront Cooling 2.0 uses 67 liquid crystal polymer-coated fan blades and copper pipes to keep this machine temperature optimized. We gamed for 6 – 7 hours at a time without any overheating issues, not once did the laptop even feel hot. Q Control 3.0 is an easy to use software that allows you to manage the performance settings. It’s always hit or miss with these types of factory performance programs and in this case it’s just a super simple program. Everything is on a switch and has an easy description of what it does, it’s all you need. Keyboards are always a struggle with gaming laptops due to the lack of space. Legion calls this technology the Truestrike Keyboard which claims a 100% anti-ghosting and soft landing. Its comfortable and precise I was able to game efficiently with it, but I ended up plugging in my external keyboard due to my fat fingers. Battery power is pretty standard for this meta of technology your looking at 7.7 hours of life. Its rapid charging will also bring you from 0% battery life to %50 in around 30 minutes. All in all, the 5i has some next level features for a gaming laptop of its size.

Legion really dropped the ball on the on-board webcam which is only 720p and puts out horrible video quality. Luckily the 5i has enough power to mount up a nice webcam and make live broadcasting your gaming sessions look clean. Its onboard sound Harmen Karden system has a nice crisp and acoustic feel but lacks power. What gamer does not use a headset anyway? It is a whole different story when you have your headset on with the Dolby Atmos technology. Legion describes it as an all-enveloping atmosphere of surround sound in three-dimensional space; But I say, its sounds super legit. I do wish it had a Display Port because gold HDMI cables are expensive and it’s the only way to get 144 plus frames out of a second monitor. I look at this laptop and see a portable powerhouse that will put most desktops to shame in the power category. Its priced to sell you get an entire rig for the cost of 1 high end graphics card. Cheers to Legion for making a quality product and pricing it right. It’s just so “Buttery”.

This laptop is a portable powerhouse featuring all the latest in gaming technology including:

SPECS