PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

T

urntopage60andyou’llsee
describeLenovo’sLegion5as
“masterclassinmid-price
gaming”.Onpaper,theLegion7ist
KhantotheLegion5’sKirk,inthat
it’sbetteratabsolutelyeverything.
Nosurprise,then,thattheLegion 7
redefineswhatyoucanexpectfrom
£2,000gaminglaptop.
Let’stakethespecsforstarters:
£1,999buysyouthepotent
combinationofaneight-coreAMD
Ryzen 75 800Hprocessor,16GBof
RAM,a1TBSSDandNvidiaGeForce
RTX 3080 graphics(the 1 65W
version).OtherversionsoftheLegion
7areavailable,includingonethat
includesaRyzen 95900 H,2TBof
storageand32GBofRAMforanextra
£900,but,asweshallsee,upgrading
theRAMandstorageissoeasythat
youmaydecidetodothisyourself.

Bulkingup
Aesthetically,Legionlaptopshide
theirgaminglightunderabushel.
Turnthelightshowoffanditcould
passasjustanotherpowerful
workstationlaptop,whichshould
appealtothosewhowantanotebook
forworkaswellasplay.
It’snotalightmachineat2.5kg,
norisitsmallat3 56 x2 61 x23.5mm,
butfull-sizedgamingnotebooksare
neverparticularlyportable.The300W
powerbrickaloneweighs 60 0g,so
you’redefinitelygoingtonoticeitin
yourbackpack.
Lenovoclaimsthelaptop’sbody
ismadefrom“aerospace-grade
aluminium”.It’scertainlyassolidas
theproverbialbrickouthouse,while
thestorm-greycolourbothlooksand
soundsthepartforaseriousgaming
machine.TheLegionbrandingis

embossedinthecornerofthelaptop’s

lid,andthestarinthemiddleofthe

letter“O”glowsinwhatevercolour

thekeyboardandsurroundinglights

arecurrentlydisplaying.

Arearlip(sofamiliartoLegion

laptops)housesanimpressivearrayof

ports:threeUSB-A 3 .1portsanda

USB-C3.2portthatalsosupports

DisplayPort1.4andPowerDelivery.

You’llalsofindHDMI2.1andRJ-45

connectorsandtheDC-insocket.

AddanidenticalUSB-Cportonthe

left-handside,withanaudiojackand

data-onlyUSB-C3.1portontheright,

andyouhavealltheconnectionsyou

couldpossiblywant.

Thesolidkeyboardisfaultlessly

laidout,althoughit’sashamethat

Lenovodoesn’tfindroomfora

fingerprintscanner.Thegoodnews

isthatthenumerickeypadand

distinctcursorkeysmakethisan

idealkeyboardforworkaswellas

play,andIcanonlydescribethe

120 x75mmtouchpadasperfect.

Thenthere’sthelightshow.Each

keyhasitsownRGBbacklight,and

thereareastringofRGBlights

runningaroundthebaseofthe

machine.FireuptheCorsairiCUE

controlpanelandyoucancreate

visualsrangingfrombasicto

downrighttrippy.Ifthat’stoomuch

trouble,youcansimplycyclethrough

aselectionofpresets

usingFn+spacebar,

whichincludes

full-offforwhenit

allgetstooweird.

Youcan’tassign

lightingeffects

toindividual

keys,soifyoulikeyourWASDkeysto

standoutthenyou’reoutofluck.

Removethebackpanelandthe

variousprotectivecoverplates

within,andyoucanaccesstwoM.2

2280 SSDdocks,theWi-Fi6module

andtwoSODIMMslots.Upgrading

thebasic16GBand1TBpackageto

Lenovo’sstatedmaximumof32GB

and2TBshouldthereforebea

straightforwardoperation.

Sightandsound

The16in,2,560x1,660IPSpanelisa

splendidsight.Brightnessmaxesout

atahighlyrespectable 4 90cd/m²,

whilethecontrastratioisasolid

1,208:1.“Solid”isagainthewordto

describethepanel’s

colouraccuracy,withan

averageDeltaEof1.4

matchedwith 9 7%

coverageofthesRGB

gamutoutofa104%

volume.Notexactlywide

gamut,butenoughfor

colourstopackapunch.

Evenmorepertinentlyfor

gamers,therefreshratehitsa165Hz

high,andthere’ssupportforNvidia’s

G-Synctechnology.

Alessquantifiablequalityofthe

screenisitsshape.Ididn’texpect

thedifferencebetween16:10(onthis

Legion7)and16:9(theLegion5)to

beasobviousasitwas.

Theextravertical

spacelendsgamesa

greatersenseof

spaceand

immersion,and

Idon’twantto

goback.

ABOVEEachkeyhas

itsownRGBbacklight,

andthereareastring

oflightsroundthebase

LenovoLegion 7 (Gen

Anoutstandinglaptopwith

asuperbdisplay,awesome

soundsystemandstellar

gamingperformance

PRICE£1,666(£1,999incVAT)
fromvery.co.uk

“Thesoundsystemisevery

bitasgoodasthedisplay:

thetwo 2 Wspeakerspump

outplentyofvolumeand

loadsofbass”

SCORE

BATTERYVideorundown, 6 hrs 1 min

Image

editing

204

Video

editing

292

Multi-

tasking

310

BREAKDOWNSCORES

BENCHMARKS

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OVERALL 286

BELOWTherearlip

housesanimpressive

arrayofports