Lenovo Legion 5i review: This speed demon is a bargain

At a glance

Expert's Rating

Pros

• Great GeForce RTX 4060 performance
• High-end CPU
• Solid build quality
• Nice cooling and vent positioning

Cons

• An RTX 4060 isn’t the fastest GPU
• Display is a little dim
• No fingerprint scanner or facial recognition hardware
• Battery life is on the low side

Our Verdict

The Lenovo Legion 5i is a great value — a 16-inch gaming laptop with a screaming-fast CPU that also squeezes a surprising amount of performance from its GPU.

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The Lenovo Legion 5i is a 16-inch gaming laptop for the masses. While a GeForce RTX 4060 isn’t the highest-end GPU, Lenovo pairs it with a high-end Intel Core i9 CPU along with a great cooling system in an unabashedly chunky chassis. The result is a gaming laptop that delivers surprisingly high performance for the hardware — and at a very reasonable $1,399 retail price.

Further reading: Best gaming laptops 2025: What to look for and highest-rated models

Lenovo Legion 5i: Specs

The Lenovo Legion 5i (Gen 9) is a 16-inch gaming laptop with a variety of configurations — but all of them have an Intel CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics. We reviewed the Lenovo Legion 5i available through Costco for $1,399, although Lenovo offers other configurations elsewhere.

The Costco model includes a 14th-generation Intel Core i9-14900HX CPU with 24 cores, GeForce RTX 4060 graphics, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1 TB SSD. It pairs that with a 2560×1600 display with 165Hz refresh rate and 300 nits of brightness. On paper, it sounds like a solid gaming package for the price — not the highest-end GPU or display, but at a very reasonable price.

The GeForce RTX 4060 graphics hardware here can run at up to 140W of TGP (total graphics power.) That’s one reason why it outshines other gaming laptops with RTX 4060 graphics, which may be running that hardware with a lower power draw.

• Model number: 16IRX9
• CPU: Intel Core i9-14900HX
• Memory: 32GB DDR5
• Graphics/GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060
• Display: 16-inch 2560×1600 IPS display with 165Hz refresh rate
• Storage: 1 TB M.2 PCIe SSD
• Webcam: 1080p webcam with electronic shutter switch
• Connectivity: 3x USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1), 2x USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2), 1x combo audio jack, 1x microSD card reader, 1x RJ45 (Ethernet port), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x DC power in
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, Ethernet port
• Biometrics: None
• Battery capacity: 80 Watt-hours
• Dimensions: 14.16 x 10.33 x 0.99 inches
• Weight: 5.2 pounds
• MSRP: $1,399 as tested

Lenovo Legion 5i: Design and build quality

IDG / Chris Hoffman

This laptop has an understated design. It’s not the sleekest 16-inch gaming laptop. At an inch thick and 5.2 pounds in weight, it’s on the heavy side. The chassis is all grays and blacks. The lid and top of the laptop are made of metal, while the bottom is plastic.

Aside from the laptop being on the chunky side and the word “LEGION” on the lid, there’s not anything here that marks this as a “gaming laptop.” However, the keyboard does have four different zones of LED lighting — that’s where the colorful gamer aesthetic comes in, if you like!

The build quality feels solid. There’s no weird flexing when you hold the laptop, and it’s easy to open the lid with one hand thanks to all that weight. The hinge stays nicely in place. The hinge also tilts further back than the average laptop, going flat if you like.

The laptop’s blocky and chunky design helps with cooling: The cooling system works well, blowing hot air out of the back of your laptop and not out of the left or right side onto your mouse hand. The WASD area of the keyboard stays rather cool to the touch while gaming.

It’s a well-built gaming laptop for this price range, but it’s not a premium all-metal gaming laptop or the thinnest and lightest gaming laptop you’re going to find.

There’s a typical amount of bloatware preinstalled — offers for McAfee and Dropbox will pop up, for example. I’d prefer to see none of these nags, but they’re not a big deal as you can uninstall them from the Control Panel.

Lenovo Legion 5i: Keyboard and trackpad

IDG / Chris Hoffman

The Lenovo Legion 5i includes a full-size keyboard complete with a number pad. It has four zones of LED lighting, so you can configure the lighting however you like — one color, four different colors, animated transitions, or no backlight at all.

The keys are a good size and feel decent to type on. This isn’t the snappiest keyboard I’ve ever used — it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot of key travel. But the keys don’t feel mushy. It’s not the most premium keyboard, but it’s totally fine for gaming, typing, and anything else you might use a laptop keyboard for.

The trackpad is a good size and is in a good position — a little to the left, below the space bar. It feels nice and responsive when moving the cursor around, and the click feels fine and not mushy or clunky. (I do prefer haptic trackpads, but those are still tough to find.)

Lenovo Legion 5i: Display and speakers

IDG / Chris Hoffman

The Lenovo Legion 5i includes a 16-inch IPS display with a 2560×1600 resolution and a 165 Hz refresh rate. On paper, that sounds pretty good — and it does look good when gaming. It’s a good screen. I was perfectly happy with it when playing everything from Indiana Jones and the Great Circle to the new season in Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred.

The display is on the dim side, though. It has 300 nits of brightness, I’d really like to see at least 400 nits. More premium displays often deliver much brighter screens as well as higher refresh rates. They may also use OLED panels — the IPS panel here doesn’t have the vivid colors you’ll find on a gaming laptop with a nice OLED display. These aren’t deal-breakers given the price of this machine, but you should be aware of what you can find in other machines.

This laptop’s speakers are okay. They’re loud enough to outcompete the laptop’s fans while gaming, and they have decent clarity. As usual with laptop speakers, though, there’s just not enough bass. I’m almost never a huge fan of built-in laptop speakers compared to a good pair of headphones or external speakers, so I’m picky. The speakers here are very average.

Lenovo Legion 5i: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

IDG / Chris Hoffman

The Lenovo Legion 5i has a 1080p webcam. Webcam quality often isn’t a priority on a gaming laptop, but thee camera here captures an unusually good picture compared to the 720p webcams you’ll see on some gaming laptops. In fact, the picture seems clearer than some of the 1080p webcams I’ve seen on other gaming laptops. For a gaming laptop in this price range, this is a nice webcam.

Lenovo also includes an e-shutter switch at the right side of the laptop. When flipped, this physically disconnects the webcam hardware from the laptop. It’s always nice to see this kind of physical privacy switch.

The integrated microphone setup isn’t as impressive. It did a great job of canceling out background noise, but voice quality wasn’t as good as the best microphones I’ve used on other laptops. I’d classify it as an average microphone for a gaming laptop like this one. That’s fine as many gamers opt for external microphones or headsets.

Unfortunately, this laptop does not have any biometrics — no fingerprint reader and no IR camera for facial recognition. You can’t use Windows Hello to sign in without adding some extra hardware. That’s disappointing, as the circular power button above the keyboard looks like a great place for a fingerprint reader.

Lenovo Legion 5i: Connectivity

IDG / Chris Hoffman

The Lenovo Legion 5i has a good number of ports. In total, you get three USB Type-A ports and two USB Type-C ports.

• On the left, you’ll find one USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1) port, two USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2) ports, and a combo headphone jack.
• On the back bar, there’s a DC p