Laptops with 16-inch screen panels are starting to appear on the market. In the gaming segment, Lenovo presents Legion 5 Pro which comes with AMD Ryzen mobile 5000 series processor specifications and Nvidia RTX 30 series graphics card. Curious about how the first Lenovo gaming laptop with a 16-inch screen is capable of? Check out his review as follows.
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro design
Lenovo Legion’s signature minimalist design line is still maintained. The difference is, the gaming aura is now a little more prominent. This design is still familiar. The pull of two slashes and the glowing Y Legion logo on the aluminum case immediately reminds us of the Legion Y545 variant.
For the model we are reviewing, it comes in Storm Grey. Hopefully Lenovo Indonesia will also present a white version (Stingray White) which does look cooler and not on the market.
The body dimensions of the Legion 5 Pro are quite large. The body design is very sturdy. Although it is included in the category of a 16-inch laptop, its body dimensions are only slightly larger than a 15-inch laptop. The body is also rather thick with a weight of about 2.45 Kg. Relatively heavy and not ideal for mobility.
One plus of this laptop is not stingy connectivity. Like other Legion variants, the main connectivity port placement is on the back of the body. On the left side is a USB Type-C port (USB 3.2 Gen 2 and DisplayPort 1.4.) and a 3.5mm audio port. On the right side there is only one USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port. This port is accompanied by an E-shutter lever to disable the webcam camera. So, privacy can be protected when the webcam is not in use.
Meanwhile, on the back of the body there are three USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports. One of these ports supports Always-on USB Charging for recharging other device batteries when the laptop is turned off. In addition, there is one USB-C port (USB 3.2 Gen 2, DisplayPort 1.4, power delivery), HDMI 2.1, RJ45 and a port for power supply. Like the Legion 5/5i and Legion 7i, there is no SD memory card reader slot. If you need these features, you can choose the Legion Slim 7i variant.
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro screen
As the first Lenovo gaming laptop with a 16-inch screen, the screen sector is indeed one of its superiors. The screen aspect ratio is 16:10. It looks taller than the standard 16:9 screen. This makes the field of view wider.
The IPS display panel it carries has a resolution of 2K 2560 x 1600 pixels. As a result, the display on the screen looks very sharp. The colors are also very attractive and accurate. This display panel supports the standard 100% sRGB color coverage. To ensure color accuracy, Lenovo has calibrated the screen from the manufacturer to the X-Rite standard from Pantone. Very reliable to support content creation.
As a gaming laptop, the screen panel also supports a 165Hz refresh rate. It’s very comfortable to play games on this high screen refresh rate. The maximum screen brightness is up to 500 nits. So, do not abstain when used in very bright lighting conditions. This laptop also supports Dolby Vision, HDR 400, Free-Sync and G-Sync.
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Keyboard
Shifting to the Legion 5 Pro keyboard area still brings the Legion’s flagship Lenovo TrueStrike keyboard. The size and spacing of each button is perfect. This keyboard is very responsive with 100% anti-ghosting feature support. Very comfortable to use for typing or playing games. As a complement, there is also support for RGB backlit lights that can be adjusted to color output, light and dark levels and lighting effects according to taste.
Shifting to the trackpad area, the Legion 5 Pro now comes with a larger trackpad size. The trackpad area is 23% larger. The trackpad is also very responsive with the touch of a finger. The left and right mouse click buttons that it carries are also very comfortable and not noisy when pressed.
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Audio
Shifting to the Legion 5 Pro audio sector brings 2x2W speakers. The audio sector is now supported by the Nahimic 3D Audio feature. This feature replaces Dolby Atmos for gaming in the previous Legion. From our tests, the sound output from the Legion 5 Pro speakers is not the best in the Legion line. The sound is quite clear but a bit underpowered. Even so, the speakers are enough to accommodate gaming activities or enjoy multimedia content.
Features of Lenovo Legion 5 Pro
In Legion 5 Pro there are quite a lot of new features that we found. In addition to the e-shutter lever for disabling the webcam and keyboard backlit light that we mentioned earlier, the Lenovo Vantage app is also still available.
In Lenovo Vantage gamers can monitor the CPU, RAM, and GPU to make a series of settings on this laptop faster and easier. Users can also monitor laptop performance through the Smart Performance feature. This feature will automatically scan the laptop system and optimize its performance. Lenovo Vantage also provides a hybrid mode feature which, if active, will allow the laptop to automatically switch to the integrated GPU and disable Nvidia’s discrete GPU for more efficient use of power.
There is also a conservation mode to limit battery charging to a certain percentage, a rapid charge feature to speed up battery recharging and a flip to start that allows the laptop to automatically start up when the laptop screen is opened without the need to press the power button.
The performance mode that can be accessed by pressing the FN+Q hotkey is also still available. There are three options to choose from, namely Quiet, Balance, and Performance. On the Lenovo Vantage Legion 5 Pro there is also the X-Rite Color Assistant for color calibration. X-Rite Color Assistant provides three color calibration presets with different standards.
To boost the audio on this laptop, you can find the Nahimic Audio 3D feature. The Nahimic Audio 3D app offers a comprehensive array of setup options. Various sound setting mode and effect options are available. This option can be selected and we think the effect is more optimal when playing games using gaming headphones.
Another new Legion 5 Pro feature is the function to change the screen refresh rate. This function can be accessed via the hotkey FN+R. By pressing the hotkey, gamers can immediately choose a screen refresh rate of 60 Hz to save battery, or 165Hz for gaming without the need to enter Windows settings again.
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Performance
Entering the performance sector, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro specifications are entrusted to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor. For the unit we received, it comes with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 6GB graphics card. The RAM configuration it carries is 16GB. There are two RAM slots and it is still expandable up to a maximum of 32GB. For storage space, there is an M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0×4 NVMe SSD with a capacity of 1TB. If not, there is still one M.2 slot that can be installed an additional SSD. So, it is more flexible and can be adapted to your needs. Legion 5 Pro benchmark results are as follows:
This Lenovo Legion 5 Pro specification manages to provide a very fast user experience for various needs. Running daily productivity applications such as Microsoft Office and browsing is certainly not a problem. For the needs of creative content such as photo and video editing at high resolution, it is still very reliable.
For gaming performance is also satisfactory. Relying on Performance mode in our Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition game test, we were able to play quite smoothly in the range of 40 fps for Extreme graphics settings, Ultra Ray Tracing, and DLSS in the Quality option. Meanwhile, in Cyberpunk 2077 testing, you can still get around 50 fps in Full HD resolution and DLSS Quality. For RDR2, you can still get an average in the range of 40 fps with ultra graphics options, DLSS Quality and at 2K resolution.
The specifications for the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro with RTX 3060 are indeed reliable for AAA games. However, for these games, even though the screen resolution is 2K using the DLSS and Ray Tracing options, it will indeed be more comfortable to play in Full HD resolution. If you play at 2K resolution, of course there needs to be a compromise. Graphics settings can be set to medium or high settings, and other effect options don’t need to be set to the most optimal options for a smoother gaming experience.
Cooling system
Legion 5 Pro’s thermal management now features the third generation Legion Coldront cooling technology. From our tests, when gaming in Performance mode, the CPU and GPU temperatures that run fast at maximum speed if monitored will indeed be very hot. However, Legion Coldfront 3.0 is quite capable of keeping system performance stable. Another compromise keyboard surface area feels a bit warm. The hottest area is on the right side of the body. This is quite reasonable like most other high-performance gaming laptops. The left side of the WSAD area is relatively cool and safe. At least, it doesn’t interfere with the overall gaming experience. The performance of the cooling fan also sounds a bit noisy. For a quieter and cooler usage experience, of course you can still choose the FN+Q Quiet mode.
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Battery
For non-gaming use, we use the Quiet mode setting, Windows power settings in the power saver, enable hybrid mode, and turn off the Always On USB Charge feature. Then, don’t turn on the Bluetooth connection, Location and backlit keyboard, as well as the 30% light and dark level. With this scheme while connected to WiFi for browsing and typing documents in office applications, we can get up to almost 5 hours of usage time.
Not the best when compared to other Legion variants we’ve tested before with the same scheme. This more extravagant battery could be due to the higher resolution of the screen panel and its more powerful performance. Like other Legion variants, the battery also supports the Rapid Charge feature to shorten the recharge time of the battery.
Conclusion
Combining a charming 16-inch 2K screen, AMD Ryzen 7 5800H performance and Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU, Legion 5 Pro is almost perfect. The high screen resolution and very fast performance can not be denied an impact on the relatively short battery life. However, this can still be ruled out. In fact, in our opinion, a gaming laptop would be more ideal to use with a continuously charged state to get the most optimal gaming experience.
The price of the Legion 5 Pro is in the range of 25 million Rupiah. The combination of features, performance and all the advantages it offers does not make it the best gaming laptop on the market today. Nevertheless, in our opinion the Legion 5 Pro managed to be one of the best Legion 5 variants ever.
Legion 5 Pro is suitable for:
Gamers: The legion 5 Pro’s powerful specs are ideal for AAA gaming. The 16-inch 2K screen with a 16:10 ratio is very comfortable for gaming.
Creator content: Accurate display with 100% sRGB color coverage standard and has been calibrated from the manufacturer is perfect for content creation.
Pros of Lenovo Legion 5 Pro:
+ Fast performance
+ 16-inch 165 Hz 2K display
+ Accurate screen colors and equipped with X-Rite Color Assistant for color calibration
+ Large SSD capacity and still expandable
+ Easy-to-use keyboard
+ Full connectivity
+ Webcam with e-shutter for privacy
Disadvantages of Lenovo Legion 5 Pro
– Audio is less powerful
– Not equipped with a microSD slot
– Not equipped with a fingerprint sensor or IR Camera
– Maximum performance is a bit hot
– Battery is a bit wasteful
– Cooling fan is a bit noisy
