Gaming notebook: Lenovo Legion 5 with Ryzen 4000 processor and up to 120 Hz display
Lenovo equips the Legion 5 with the powerful AMD Ryzen 4000 processor, the mid-range GPU GeForce GTX 1650 and a 120 Hz display (optional 144 Hz display option available as well in the upper model of the Legion 5).
The Legion 5 from Lenovo is the first affordable (mid-range) gaming notebook in our testing that contains a processor from the current Ryzen 4000 generation. With these 7-nanometer processors, AMD has been shaking the notebook market for a few months because they point to Intel’s mobile processors in all waste heat classes with up to eight CPU cores.
In concrete numbers: the Legion 5 test device contains the six-core Ryzen 5 4600H, the smallest model of the 45-watt series, but it clearly shows Intel’s identical counterpart Core i7-9750H with 3500 to 2800 points in Cinebench R20 with regard to the number of cores and waste heat behind. When it comes to single-threading performance, both are roughly the same. Intel’s tenth-generation Core i processors, which are soon to be available, should not be able to close the gap when all cores are under load, because they continue to roll off the assembly line in the older 14-nanometer process. Shame on you Intel.
Mid-range gaming Laptop
The sudden dominance of Ryzen processors has apparently also surprised notebook manufacturers. In any case, it is hard to explain why AMD’s chips continue to be used primarily in mid-range gaming notebooks like the Legion 5 tested here – in combination with graphics chips à la Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650, which are used for 3D games in Full HD – Sufficient resolution with a medium to high level of detail. High-end GPUs such as GeForce RTX 2070 and 2080, which allow higher refresh rates as well as realistic reflections and other ray tracing effects, remain reserved for all previously announced gaming notebooks with barebones with slower Intel processors.
Within the Legion 5 series there is also this traditional, outdated design: Lenovo equips the AMD notebook in the largest configuration with the even faster eight-core Ryzen 7 4800H, but only provides the slightly faster GeForce GTX 1650 Ti to the side. You can get Intel sister models of the Legion 5 in maximum configuration with GeForce RTX 2060.
For the tested equipment variant with Ryzen 5 4600H and GeForce GTX 1650 900 euros are called, the mentioned top model with Ryzen 7 4800H and GeForce GTX 1650 Ti goes for 1000 euros over the counter. At the time of going to press, another € 900 configuration was listed in price comparisons, combining Ryzen 5 and GTX 1650 Ti – however, there is no Windows pre-installation / license. All three models come with 16 GB DDR4 RAM and a 512 GB SSD, which is as useful as it is sufficient.
In the Ryzen 5 model, the matte Full HD display shows images at 120 Hz, in the Ryzen 7 variant even 144 Hz are provided. The plus compared to the usual refresh rate of 60 Hz, which is common for notebooks, is not only noticeable in games: the mouse pointer moves visibly more smoothly on the Windows desktop, the same applies to scrolling on websites or in documents.
The illuminated keyboard not only convinces with sufficient key travel and a noticeable keystroke, but also with a successful layout. The cursor block was pulled forward, resulting in four large arrow keys – very helpful and thoughtfully designed for when playing certain games. This pleases racing drivers, role players and Excel fighters alike. The latter are also impressed by the dedicated numeric keypad, although its keys are narrower than in the main field – blind hacking of columns of numbers therefore needs to be practiced. With Fn + Esc, you can determine in operation whether the function keys have a classic assignment or take on special functions.
The Design
The lid is not attached to the back of the case, as is usually the case with notebooks, but about two centimeters further forward – this ensures an independent and recognizable design and viewing options when using the laptop. Lenovo has moved most of the interfaces/connection to this area. Players have left and right space on the desk for an additional mouse and pad, without other cables in the way.
A mechanical slider in front of the webcam prevents spying attempts, but the camera is not suitable for Windows Hello – too bad. A fingerprint reader is also missing and you also have to do without an SD card reader.
The 60 Wh battery integrated in the laptop case ensures a typical battery life of around ten hours, but of course when it comes to gaming all bets are off. The recharging takes a comparatively long time; Even under continuous load, the notebook only uses about two thirds of the 170 watts of the power supply. A USB-C Power supply not provided which is very disappointing. If the CPU and GPU load continues, the cooling system becomes noisy up to 3.185 sone. Alternatively, a whisper mode can be activated using the key combination Fn + Q if (temporarily) reduced performance is sufficient and acceptable.
The Legion 5 has enough power and performance for current 3D games in full HD resolution and, thanks to AMD’s Ryzen processor, outperforms many more expensive Intel notebooks in terms of CPU performance. Gaming features such as the 144 Hz panel, the optimized keyboard layout and the interface placement are also welcome when using the office.
Currently, Lenovo’s website shows delays in availability as several Legion 5 laptops have gained popularity and stock is flying off the shelves everywhere. Links contained in this post are not affiliate links. All opinions are my own and I have not been compensated in any way for this post.
Image Source: Lenovo.com
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