Lenovo’s ‘Legion’ series of laptops have a reputation for being well-rounded gaming beasts with not many chinks in their armour. Lenovo’s latest iteration in this series, the Pro 7, was launched in March 2024. The laptop is decked with top-end specs and hardware like the Intel Core i9 processor, NVIDIA GE Force RTX 4080/4090 GPU, 32GB DDR5 RAM, a 16-inch 240Hz IPS display, and more. These premium features come at the price of Rs 3,02,757. With that price tag, we expect this laptop to dominate over the best gaming machines in the market. We got our hands on the Lenovo Legion Pro 7 earlier this month, here is our review of the gaming laptop.
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In This Article
Lenovo Legion Pro 7 16IRX9H (2024) Review: Design and Display
The Legion 7 Pro’s tasteful and elegant design immediately separates it from other gaming laptops. If you take this laptop out in public, it’ll take a keen eye to clock it as a gaming device. Lenovo’s decision not to include gaudy graphics and RGBs in this laptop’s design is something we appreciate a lot.
The all-black lid has a matte finish and minimal branding. A small Lenovo logo is positioned on the upper left while the glossy Legion branding is engraved on the bottom right corner. The two hinges supporting the lid are very sturdy and facilitate a seamless 180-degree movement.
The aluminium chassis of the laptop gives it a rugged and sturdy feel. Its thick, strong shell adds a lot of weight to the device, but that’s something you expect from a high-end gaming laptop. The Legion Pro 7 weighs 2.62kg, which isn’t light by any means. While the laptop is portable, it will surely make its presence felt when you’re carrying it around in your backpack.
The diverse range of ports on the Legion Pro 7 is one of our favourite things about the laptop. The left edge of the device houses USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1) and Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2) ports along with three air vents. The right side contains a 3.5mm headphone jack, a camera e-shutter switch, and a USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1) port along with another 3 air vents. The back of the laptop holds six air vents with an ethernet (RJ-45) port, a USB Type-C (PD 140W & DP 1.4) port, an HDMI port, 2 USB Type-A ports (one always on), and a power connector port. The speaker grilles are housed on the bottom end of the side edges.
The 6-row keyboard has dedicated multimedia keys, a vertical numpad, and per-key RGB lighting. A sleek light bar runs along the bottom end of the keyboard. There are tons of customisation options for the RGB lighting, which we will get into later. We were pleased with the typing experience on this keyboard. The keys have a decent travel and the layout is ergonomic. While nothing beats a good mechanical keyboard for gaming, this is as good as it gets on a laptop. We would have liked the trackpad to be slightly larger, but it wasn’t a major issue as we relied on an external mouse for gaming.
Moving on, the 16-inch WQXGA (2,560 x 1,600p) IPS panel has a refresh rate of 240Hz and can reach a peak brightness of 500 nits. For gaming needs, the refresh rate of this display is certainly overkill, but when you look at the price tag of the laptop, it makes sense why Lenovo would go all-out. The viewing experience provided by the IPS panel is exceptional. We streamed content across major OTT services like Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar, and were pleased with the rich colours and amazing details on display. Of course, the rich contrast and deep blacks that you find in an OLED display are missing here. The Harman speakers on the laptop deliver a well-rounded output but fail to reach the volume required to fill a room (especially when the ceiling fan and AC are functional).
Lenovo Legion Pro 7 16IRX9H (2024) Review: Performance
Powering the Lenovo Legion Pro 7 is the 14th-Gen Intel Core i9-14900HX processor. Buyers can choose between NVIDIA GeForce 4080 or 4090 graphics. There’s 36GB RAM and 1TB of storage space onboard the device. The maxed-out variant of the Legion Pro 7 fetches Rs 3,74,991. Needless to say, the raw power on offer is simply stunning.
The Legion Pro 7 crushes any task you throw at it. We used it as our primary device for work as well as leisure and the sheer versatility of its performance is admirable. The laptop went through tasks like handling online meetings, web browsing, document editing, and more, like a hot knife through butter. More demanding tasks like video and photo editing were handled by the Legion Pro 7 expertly, without breaking a sweat. On Geekbench 6, the laptop scored 2,776 points in the single-core test and 10,779 points in the multi-core test.
The gaming prowess of the Lenovo Legion Pro 7 is something to behold. We went through multiple gaming titles and were pleased with the seamless, lag-free gaming experience even at the highest possible graphics. If you want to try a hand at Cyberpunk 2077 on a laptop, there’s no better device than the Legion Pro 7. We played the game at 2,160p resolution and 60fps (with Frame Gen) frame rate and had an enjoyable, stutter-free experience. Since the Legion 7 Pro supports ray tracing, the difference in the shadows and ambient lighting while playing high-end games is immediately noticeable. The air vents did a good job of keeping the temperature in check, but we wouldn’t recommend placing the device on your lap as the bottom panel can warm up quite rapidly.
OS duties on the Lenovo Legion Pro 7 are handled by Windows 11 Home Single Language edition. Lenovo’s in-house Vantage and Legion Arena apps enhance the software experience even further. Lenovo Vantage gives a quick overview of vital components like the GPU, CPU, VRAM, and SSD while also offering a ton of customisation options. Using the software, you can program the macro key and customise the keyboard backlighting.
You can set up 7 profiles for the RBG lighting and toggle them using the Ctrl + Spacebar shortcut. Also onboard is Tobii, which uses the camera to track your head and eye movement and adjusts the in-game camera accordingly. Legion Arena is a library for all the installed games on your laptop. You can connect this app to platforms like Ubisoft, Xbox, Epic Games, and more.
The 4-cell Li-Polymer 99.9kWh battery on this laptop can last up to 5 hours with conservative usage. The limited battery life is perhaps the weakest aspect of the laptop. During the week-long review period, we used the Lenovo Legion Pro 7 for a variety of tasks. On a full charge, it took just over 1 hour of gaming for the laptop to drain its battery. On general usage, the battery life can be pushed to 4-5 hours. The 330W power brick can fully charge the battery pack within 90 minutes.
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Verdict
The Lenovo Legion Pro 7 sets the benchmark in performance for all gaming laptops. If you’re looking for the meanest, most powerful gaming machine that you can carry around in your backpack, this is your guy. Of course, it requires shelling out more than Rs 3 lakh, which is an obscene amount of money.
The laptop’s performance leaves no room for complaints. It can handle the most demanding gaming titles and deliver an exemplary gaming experience. The battery life of the laptop needs work and raises some concerns over its portability since it requires charging after an hour of intense gaming.
Lenovo Legion Pro 7 16IRX9H (2024): Pros
- Clean design
- Vibrant display
- Powerhouse performance
- Good customisation options
Lenovo Legion Pro 7 16IRX9H (2024): Cons
- Battery life is limited
- Pricey
