Legion 5i Pro Gen 7 2022 Review : Eye-catching beast!

The latest Gen 7 lineup of Lenovo Legion gaming PCs were announced last summer, and their new updated looks were truly eye-catching. We were very keen on reviewing the Legion Slim 7i as a potential new gaming laptop to replace our current one. Unfortunately, review units of the said model are still not yet available, so they sent us another gaming laptop for us to review: the Legion 5i Pro Gen 7 2022 edition. Could this be your next gaming laptop? Read on to find out!

LEGION 5I PRO GEN 7 2022 REVIEW SPECS:

Display16" Full HD (1920x1080) 165Hz-240Hz refresh rate IPS Display with 100% sRGB
CPU3.5 GHz 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H Processor
GPUNVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6GB GDDR6
Storage1TB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0x4 NVMe
RAM16GB DDR5-4800
Ports2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A; 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (Always On); 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C DisplayPort; 1x Thunderbolt 4; 1x HDMI 2.1; RJ45 Ethernet; 1x 3.5mm headphone jack
ConnectivityWiFi 6 802.11ax; Bluetooth 5.1
Webcam720p
Operating SystemWindows 10 Home
SRPP119,995

THE LOOKS AND FEEL

Legion 5i Pro Gen 7 2022 Review

This is my 5th time to review a Legion gaming laptop, my 4th in the Legion 5 series and my first time to review the Legion 5i Pro. Last year’s version had a “Y” logo on the lid. I’m glad they changed it to the usual Legion branding logo to avoid confusion for non-gaming customers. For a change, they placed the Legion logo at the top center of the lid, compared to the sides seen on other Legion 5 models. Color is also different. Instead of the usual dark gunmetal color, we got the lighter Storm Grey for a change.

Legion 5i Pro

Thickness of the Legion 5i Pro is at 19.9mm when opened and 26.6mm when closed. This is actually slimmer then the Legion 5 and 5i I reviewed before, but we hardly noticed it. Found on this side are the Thunderbolt 4 port and a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port.

Legion 5i Pro

On the right side are the webcam shutter switch, 3.5mm headphone jack, and a USB Type-A port. As you have noticed, the vents on both sides are placed on the rear end.

Legion 5i Pro

What I like about Legion laptops is the location of most of its ports. The common USB peripherals you use can be plugged in at the back so you it won’t be a hindrance to both sides of the laptop. The purpose of these ports on the side can are for connecting a flash drive or external drive which will only take a short while to transfer files. There’s an RJ-45 ethernet hub, USB Type-C, HDMI, two USB Type-A ports and a port for the charger. Sandwiched in between are more vents where the cooling fans are located.

Legion 5i Pro

Ah, yes! This keyboard of Lenovo is my favorite among all laptop brands! It’s so nice to use it again but I have to admit that I am not used to having the numpad key on the right side anymore. Nevertheless, it’s still a good thing to have. It’s also nice to have RGB again on a gaming laptop (the Legion 5 I reviewed only had a white backlit keyboard while the Legion 5 Stingray White had blue.) Keys are soft but responsive – just the way I want it to be.

What I find annoying is the trackpad placement. While gaming, my left hand controlling the WASD keys tend to touch the touchpad, which affects my gameplay most of the time.

Like the previous Legion 5 laptops, the Legion 5i Pro is quite heavy for me to carry. At 2.49kg, I found it tedious to carry around. I tried to bring it once outside to work in a coffee shop. After that, I never bothered bringing it out again.

THE SOUND AND DISPLAY

Legion 5i Pro

Gaming laptops usually have a 15.6″ screen display which is adequate for both gaming and photo/video editing. 2022 is the year gaming laptops upgrade their display to 16″, and the Legion 5i Pro is one of those first laptops. The Legion 5i Pro comes with a 16″ Full HD+ IPS display with 165Hz refresh rate. The reason for the larger screen is the support for 16:10 aspect ratio. Even with its thin bezels, Lenovo still managed to place a small 720p webcam on top of the screen. There is a webcam switch on the right side of the 5i Pro just in case you want to turn it off. We enjoyed playing fps games thanks to its super fast refresh rate which is really advantageous. With an IPS display that supports almost 100% sRGB, the Legion 5i Pro can definitely be used for photo and video editing.

Sound quality is pretty good thanks to its Nahimic Audio settings found in the Legion Vantage software. It’s pretty audible for gaming so sometimes I was able to play games without using my gaming headset. You can change different audio modes according to your preferred setting.

THE PERFORMANCE

Legion 5i Pro

Powering our Legion 5i Pro Gen 7 2022 review unit is the latest 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor codenamed Alder Lake while Its GPU is an NVIDIA RTX 3060. There are other variants with the more powerful Intel Core i9 processor and NVIDIA RTX 3070 or 3070 Ti but they come with a higher price tag. The past two Legion 5 units we reviewed had AMD Ryzen 5 4600H and Ryzen 7 5800H CPUs so I did some benchmark tests with the Legion 5i Pro and compare its results with the other two.

Legion 5i Pro
Legion 5i Pro
Legion 5i Pro
Legion 5i Pro

These benchmarks prove that the new 12th Gen Intel processor is the real deal surpassing their AMD counterparts on Legion 5 laptops. With these specs, the Legion 5i Pro is very much capable to do all types of work: heavy excel spreadsheets, photo editing, and video rendering. We used Davinci Resolve 17 to edit and render videos and it was able to render a 4K video with ease.

Legion 5i Pro

We installed two FPS games, VALORANT and PUBG to test the Legion 5i Pro’s gaming capabilities. Honestly, we can’t expect anything less by playing these two games on the laptop. Gameplay is silky smooth thanks to its fast refresh rate and we averaged 300+ frames per second on both games. We wished we had more time to test it with other graphic-intensive games but we reckon these minimum specs of the Legion 5i Pro can already handle the latest AAA games.

I have high regards for Lenovo’s Coldfront 2.0 Technology which keeps their gaming laptops cool in the middle of a heated game. I adjusted the 5i Pro to Performance mode on the Lenovo Vantage software and it still managed to keep the laptop cool. I observed that Coldfront 2.0 was effective in keeping the 5i Pro at 80 degrees Celsius for both games. Fan noise at Performance mode doesn’t sound much like a loud airplane, at least compared to my current gaming laptop which makes me feel I’m in an airfield.

THE BATTERY LIFE

Legion 5i Pro

I’ve had good experiences with Legion’s batteries in the past so I was expecting the same results with the Legion 5i Pro Gen 7 2022. Unfortunately, this must be the only gaming laptop I’ve used in recent years that could last up to 4 hours – doing office-related work. The Legion 5i I reviewed before lasted longer at 5 hours while their AMD counterparts lasted longer by at least 7 hours. Lenovo’s huge charger can charge the 5i Pro quickly but it’s just too big to lug around with the heavy laptop. Nowadays I only bring a small gear bag with me and the combination of these two would often force me transfer all my stuff to a bigger bag.

DR’S CONCLUSION

Legion 5i Pro

The Legion 5i Pro Gen 7 2022 isn’t cheap with is starting price of P119,995 for an Intel Core i7 + NVIDIA RTX 3060 variant. If you are looking for a gaming laptop with the latest CPU and GPU, excellent screen and good thermals, then I suggest purchasing the Legion 5i Pro. The price is worth, especially it comes with a Lenovo 3-year warranty just in case something goes wrong with your machine.

PROS:

  • It comes with the latest and powerful processor and graphics card
  • Bigger screen with better aspect ratio
  • RGB keyboard
  • 3-Year Warranty

CONS:

  • Big and heavy laptop to lug around
  • Large power brick
  • Shorter battery life compared to its AMD Legion laptops

Purchase a new gaming laptop from the Lenovo Legion Official Store at Shopee

8 Total Score

The Legion 5i Pro Gen 7 2022 isn't cheap with is starting price of P119,995 for an Intel Core i7 + NVIDIA RTX 3060 variant. If you are looking for a gaming laptop with the latest CPU and GPU, excellent screen and good thermals, then I suggest purchasing the Legion 5i Pro. The price is worth, especially it comes with a Lenovo 3-year warranty just in case something goes wrong with your machine.

PROS
  • It comes with the latest and powerful processor and graphics card
  • Bigger screen with better aspect ratio
  • RGB keyboard
  • 3-Year Warranty
CONS
  • Big and heavy laptop to lug around
  • Large power brick
  • Shorter battery life compared to its AMD Legion laptops
Add your review  |  Read reviews and comments
We will be happy to hear your thoughts

Leave a reply

Digital Reg | Since 2004
Logo