Review Lenovo Legion 5 Pro

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 the specifications of an AMD Ryzen mobile 5000 series processor and an Nvidia RTX 30 series graphics card. Are you curious about what Lenovo’s first gaming laptop is capable of with this 16-inch screen? Check out the reviews as follows.

Lenovo Legion 5 Pro design

The minimalist design lines typical of the Lenovo Legion are still maintained. The difference is, the gaming aura is now a little more prominent. This design is still familiar. The two slashes and the Y Legion logo which can light up on the aluminum case immediately remind us of the Legion Y545 variant.

The model we are reviewing comes in Storm Gray color. Hopefully Lenovo Indonesia will also present a white color version (Stingray White) which looks cooler and not marketable.

The body dimensions of the Legion 5 Pro are quite large. The body design is very sturdy. Even though it is in the 16-inch laptop category, its body dimensions are only slightly larger than a 15-inch laptop. The body is also rather thick with a weight of around 2.45 kg. Relatively heavy and not ideal for mobility.

One added value of this laptop is not stingy with connectivity. Like the other Legion variants, the main connectivity port placement is on the back of the body. On the left side there is a USB Type-C port (USB 3.2 Gen 2 and DisplayPort 1.4.) and a 3.5 mm 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 deactivate 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 to recharge other devices’ 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 flagships. The screen aspect ratio is 16:10. Looks taller than a standard 16:9 screen. This makes the viewing area wider.

The IPS screen panel it carries has a 2K resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. As a result, the display on the screen looks very sharp. The colors are also very charming and accurate. This screen panel supports the 100% sRGB color coverage standard. To ensure color accuracy, Lenovo has calibrated the screen from the manufacturer to Pantone’s X-Rite standard. Very reliable to support content creation.

As a gaming laptop, the screen panel also supports a 165Hz refresh rate. It’s very comfortable playing games at this high screen refresh rate. The maximum screen brightness level is up to 500 nits. So, no abstinence when used in very bright lighting conditions. This laptop also supports Dolby Vision, HDR 400, Free-Sync and G-Sync.

Keyboard Lenovo Legion 5 Pro

Shifting to the Legion 5 Pro keyboard area still carries the Legion flagship Lenovo TrueStrike keyboard. The size and spacing of each button is perfect. This keyboard is very responsive with support for 100% anti-ghosting features. Very comfortable to use for typing or playing games. As a complement, there is support for RGB backlit lights that can be adjusted to color output, dark light 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 to the touch of a finger. The left and right mouse click buttons that he brings are also very comfortable and quiet when pressed.

Audio Lenovo Legion 5 Pro

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 on the previous Legion. From our tests, the sound output from the Legion 5 Pro speakers is indeed not the best in the Legion line. The sound is clear enough 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 number of new features that we found. In addition to the e-shutter lever for disabling the webcam and the backlit keyboard that we mentioned earlier, the Lenovo Vantage application is still available.

In Lenovo Vantage gamers can monitor the CPU, RAM and GPU to make a series of settings for this laptop more quickly and easily. 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 deactivate the Nvidia discrete gpu so that power usage can be more efficient.

There is also a conservation mode to limit battery charging to a certain percentage, a rapid charge feature to speed up battery recharging and flip to start which allows the laptop to automatically start up when the laptop screen is opened without the need to press the power button.

The performance mode which can be accessed by pressing the hotkey FN+Q is also still available. There are three options to choose from, namely Quiet, Balance, and Performance. The Lenovo Vantage Legion 5 Pro also provides 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 application offers a comprehensive range of setting options. Various mode options and sound adjustment effects are available. This option can be selected and in our opinion the effect feels 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 FN+R hotkey. By pressing the hotkey, gamers can immediately choose a screen refresh rate of 60 Hz to save battery life, or 165 Hz for gaming without the need to enter Windows settings anymore.

Performa Lenovo Legion 5 Pro

Entering the performance sector, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro specifications are entrusted to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor. The unit we received comes with a 6GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card. The RAM configuration it carries is 16GB. There are two RAM slots available and a maximum upgrade of up to 32GB is still available. 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 with an additional SSD. So, it is more flexible and can be adjusted according to needs. Legion 5 Pro benchmark results as follows:

The specifications of the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro have succeeded in providing a very fast user experience for various needs. Running everyday productivity applications like Microsoft Office and browsing is certainly not a problem. For the needs of creative content such as editing photos and videos at high resolution, they are still very reliable.

The gaming performance is also satisfying. Relying on the Performance mode in our Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition game test, we were able to play quite smoothly in the 40 fps range for the Extreme, Ray Tracing Ultra, and DLSS graphics settings in the Quality option. Meanwhile, in Cyberpunk 2077 testing, you can still get around 50 fps at Full HD resolution and DLSS Quality. For RDR2, you can still get an average of around 40 fps with ultra graphics options, DLSS Quality and at 2K resolution.

The specifications of the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro with RTX 3060 can indeed be relied upon 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 at Full HD resolution. If playing at 2K resolution, of course, there needs to be a compromise. Graphics settings can be set to medium or high, and other effect options don’t need to be set to the most optimal options for a smoother gaming experience.

Cooling system

The Legion 5 Pro’s thermal management now features third-generation Legion Coldront cooling technology. From our tests, when gaming in Performance mode, the temperatures of his CPU and GPU running 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 is that the keyboard surface area feels a bit warm. The hottest area is on the right side of the body. This is quite reasonable like most average high-performance gaming laptops. The left side of the WSAD area is relatively cold 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 settings, Windows power settings in the power saver, activate hybrid mode, and turn off the Always On USB Charge feature. Then, don’t turn on the Bluetooth connection, Location and backlit keyboard, and 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 that we’ve tested before with the same scheme. This more wasteful battery can be due to the higher resolution of the screen panel and its performance which is indeed more powerful. Like other Legion variants, the battery also supports the Rapid Charge feature to shorten the battery recharge time.

Conclusion

Combining a stunning 16-inch 2K screen, AMD Ryzen 7 5800H performance and Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU, Legion 5 Pro is almost perfect. It is undeniable that the high screen resolution and very fast performance have 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 while constantly being charged to get the most optimal gaming experience.

The price for 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 has succeeded in becoming one of the best Legion 5 variants ever.

Legion 5 Pro is suitable for:

Gamers: The Legion 5 Pro’s punchy specs are ideal for AAA gaming. The 16-inch 2K screen with a 16:10 ratio is very comfortable for gaming.
Creator content: An accurate display with standard 100% sRGB color coverage and factory calibrated is perfect for creative content.

Pros of Lenovo Legion 5 Pro:

+ Fast performance
+ 2K 16-inch 165 Hz
screen + Accurate screen color and equipped with X-Rite Color Assistant for color calibration
+ Large SSD capacity and can still be expanded
+ Comfortable keyboard to use
+ Complete 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