Pros & Cons
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- Well-priced entry-level models
- Effective gaming performance for the money
- Vivid OLED screen
- Multi-zone RGB keyboard
- Wi-Fi 7 and Thunderbolt 4
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- Merely average battery life
- Underwhelming speakers
Lenovo Legion 5i Gen 10 Specs
| Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested) | 1 |
| Boot Drive Type | SSD |
| Class | Gaming |
| Dimensions (HWD) | 0.85 by 13.58 by 10.05 inches |
| Graphics Memory | 8 |
| Graphics Processor | Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Laptop GPU |
| Native Display Resolution | 2,560 by 1,600 |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
| Panel Technology | OLED |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-14700HX |
| RAM (as Tested) | 32 |
| Screen Refresh Rate | 165 |
| Screen Size | 15.1 |
| Tested Battery Life (Hours:Minutes) | 5:22 |
| Variable Refresh Support | None |
| Weight | 4.19 |
| Wireless Networking | Bluetooth 5.4 |
| Wireless Networking | Wi-Fi 7 |
Mainstream gaming laptops walk a fine line: They must provide more premium features to justify stepping up from budget models without crossing into high-end pricing. Lenovo’s Legion 5i Gen 10 ($1,499.99 in our Walmart-specific test model; otherwise starting at $1,559.99) hits that sweet spot in our review configuration, pairing an Intel Core i7-14700HX CPU with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 GPU. Its standout OLED display makes a compelling case for spending a bit more all on its own, delivering visual quality tough to match at this price. Aided by frequent sales—Lenovo often sells it for well below list price; ditto for this Walmart-exclusive build—the Legion 5i is a well-rounded performer with few compromises. It earns our Editors' Choice award for midrange gaming laptops.
Configurations: Many Options, But Watch for Sales
Positioned above budget gaming fare like the Lenovo LOQ 15, the Legion 5i offers premium features such as an OLED screen, a multi-zone RGB-lit keyboard, and enthusiast-grade graphics silicon. Our midrange review unit brackets mainstream gaming with a Core i7-14700HX “Raptor Lake” processor, a GeForce RTX 5060 graphics chip, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, though it's not listed on Lenovo's web store. The closest model we've seen is listed for $1,499 at Walmart, with half the memory (16GB), on sale for $1,199 at publishing time. Meanwhile, a variant costing $1,159 on Walmart further reduces the storage to 512GB. Lenovo's own site starts with an RTX 5050 configuration for $1,559.99.
The varying pricing and specs pose a challenge for shoppers. For instance, not all retailers match Walmart’s discounts at the time of this review; Best Buy sells a less capable RTX 5050 model for $1,559. On the flip side, a $1,649 Walmart model steps up to a Core i9-14900HX and an RTX 5070, providing significantly more horsepower for similar money. Meanwhile, newer Core Ultra 2 Series chips are also in play: a $1,489 Best Buy model pairs a Core Ultra 7 255HX with an RTX 5060. Lenovo’s own site tends to price higher, with a similar Core Ultra 7 model retailing for $1,709.99.
Bottom line: Lenovo's pricing on the Legion 5i is volatile. Sales can dramatically shift the value proposition, underscoring the importance of cross-shopping retailers.
Although this review focuses on the Intel-based Legion 5i, AMD fans can opt for the same basic chassis with the standard Legion 5 (without the “i”). One Walmart listing features a Ryzen 7 260 and an RTX 5060 for $1,049. You can find other models with Copilot+ capabilities, thanks to a Ryzen AI 7 350, though at much higher prices.
Finally, don’t confuse the Legion 5 series with the more powerful Legion Pro 5 line, which bumps the display to 16 inches (up from 15.1), increases the refresh rate to 240Hz (versus 165Hz), and supports higher-tier GPUs. Pricing starts at $1,464 with an IPS panel, climbs to $1,649 with OLED, and tops out near $1,849 with an RTX 5070 Ti. (The standard Legion 5i caps out with the RTX 5070.)
Design: An Aggressive Look, and Ample Connectivity
The Legion 5i looks gamer-serious: Its all-black frame, reflective Legion lettering, and finned rear thermal shelf clearly signal its performance roots. Most of the chassis is sturdy plastic, while the lid uses lightweight aluminum for a high-quality touch. The laptop overall feels reassuringly solid.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)Instead of the 15.6- or 16-inch panel typically found in this class, the Legion 5i opts for a slightly smaller 15.1-inch diagonal with a taller 16:10 aspect ratio. Measuring 0.85 by 14.6 by 10.1 inches, the Legion is trimmer than the HP Victus 15 (0.93 by 14.1 by 10 inches) and the MSI Katana 15 HX (1.0 by 14.1 by 10.3 inches), which adhere to the classic 15.6-inch, 16:9 screen format. On the other hand, the Legion 5i is about the same size as the Alienware 16X Aurora (0.92 by 14.05 by 10.45 inches). Weight is where the Legion 5i really stands out: At 4.19 pounds, it’s significantly lighter than the HP (5.06 pounds), MSI (5.29 pounds), and Alienware (5.66 pounds) laptops.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)Lenovo included well-rounded connectivity in the Legion package. Along the sides are two USB Type-C ports (one supporting Thunderbolt 4, the other 10Gbps), three USB-A connections (two 5Gbps, one 10Gbps), an Ethernet jack, and an audio port. Around back, you'll find HDMI 2.1 video output and the proprietary power jack. Wireless support includes Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. The webcam delivers a clear image and features an IR sensor for Windows Hello biometrics, with an e-shutter switch to add a layer of personal security.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)Screen and Inputs: Stunning Picture, Happy Fingers
The Legion's OLED display steals the show, producing vivid colors, deep contrast, and eye-opening brightness that elevate any visual content. Its 165Hz refresh rate ensures smooth gameplay, and the 2,560-by-1,600-pixel resolution works well within the capabilities of the RTX 5060 (as our benchmarks will show). While the screen's glossy surface is reflective, it manages glare reasonably well in typical indoor lighting.
Audio, however, doesn’t match the display’s entertainment potential. The built-in speakers produce a thin, bass-light sound that underwhelmed in the electronic and acoustic tracks I sampled. In fact, I find the speakers almost unusable without enhancements from the included Nahimic audio software. That said, software alone can’t compensate for the limited hardware.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)Lenovo’s keyboard provides crisp, responsive tactile feedback with an ample 1.6mm of key travel and comfortable cushioning at the bottom of the keystroke. Visually, the Legion 5i features 24 attractively bright lighting zones, whereas many competitors, including the Alienware 16X Aurora, have just a single light. You can customize all those zones via Lenovo Spectrum in the Vantage app, tweaking speed and brightness, and adding preset effects like wave and strobing. (The laptop features no other sources of external lighting.) Meanwhile, the touchpad complements the keyboard well, featuring a spacious anti-glare surface and satisfying tactile click response.
In everyday use, I found the Legion 5i a reliable partner for both productivity and gaming. Its cooling system kept surface temperatures comfortably mild, and the fans remained unobtrusive even while gaming. What truly drew me in was the stunning OLED display, which is simply a joy to look at (more on that later). The excellent keyboard and touchpad convinced me this could be a superb productivity laptop; I easily hit my peak typing speed on MonkeyType.
Performance Testing: Potent Midrange Gaming
To recap, our Legion 5i Gen 10 features a Core i7-14700HX (20 cores, 5.5GHz turbo), the GeForce RTX 5060 (configured to 115W maximum graphics power), 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. The closest model on sale retains all these specs save for 16GB of memory. Therefore, what you can find in stores should perform extremely closely to our results, except in cases of heavy multitasking. Additionally, you can upgrade the laptop's memory and storage by removing the bottom panel, which houses two SO-DIMM RAM slots and two M.2 Type-2280 SSD slots.
In our comparison tests, we pitted the Legion 5i against the Alienware 16X Aurora ($1,649 as tested) and several budget models: the HP Victus 15 ($1,199), the MSI Katana 15 HX ($999), and Lenovo’s own LOQ 15 ($1,129.99 as tested).
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The Legion 5i’s Core i7-14700HX ought to outpace most of those laptops in the CPU tests, being much stronger than the lower-wattage AMD chips in the HP and LOQ, and containing more cores than the MSI’s Core i7-14650HX, though the Alienware’s newer Core Ultra 7 255HX chip will likely surge ahead. On the graphics front, the Legion’s RTX 5060 should fare favorably against the lower-tier GPUs in the HP and MSI, and should match the LOQ and the Alienware, which use the same card.
Productivity and Content Creation Tests
Our primary overall benchmark, UL's PCMark 10, puts a system through its paces in productivity apps ranging from web browsing to word processing and spreadsheet work. Its Full System Drive subtest measures a PC's storage throughput.
Three more tests we rely on are CPU-centric or processor-intensive: Maxon's Cinebench 2024 uses that company's Cinema 4D engine to render a complex scene; Primate Labs' Geekbench 6.3 Pro simulates popular apps ranging from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine learning; and we see how long it takes the video transcoder HandBrake 1.8 to convert a 12-minute clip from 4K to 1080p resolution.
Finally, workstation maker Puget Systems' PugetBench for Creators rates a PC's image editing prowess with a variety of automated operations in Adobe Photoshop 25.
Everyday productivity tests didn’t faze any of these laptops, particularly the Legion 5i, which essentially tied the Alienware in PCMark’s main test. In the CPU tests, the Legion 5i fell firmly into second place behind the Alienware, with both systems completely outclassing the others. Photoshop was the only test where the Legion decisively outgunned the Alienware.
Gaming and Graphics Tests
We challenge all systems’ graphics with a quintet of animations or gaming simulations from UL's 3DMark test suite. The first pair, Wild Life (1440p) and Wild Life Extreme (4K), uses the Vulkan graphics API to measure GPU speeds. The second two, Steel Nomad's regular and Light subtests, focus on APIs more commonly used for game development, like Metal and DirectX 12, to assess gaming geometry and particle effects. Last, we turn to Solar Bay to measure ray tracing performance in a synthetic environment.
Our real-world gaming testing is based on the in-game benchmarks for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Cyberpunk 2077, and F1 2024. These three games—all benchmarked at the system’s full HD (1080p or 1200p native) resolution—represent competitive shooters, open-world games, and simulation games, respectively. If the screen supports a higher resolution, we rerun the tests at the QHD equivalent of 1440p or 1600p.
We run the Call of Duty benchmark at the Minimum graphics preset—aimed at maximizing frame rates to test display refresh rates—and again at the Extreme preset. Our Cyberpunk 2077 test settings aim to push PCs to the limit, so we run it on the Ultra graphics preset and again on the all-out Ray Tracing Overdrive preset without DLSS or FSR. Finally, F1 represents our DLSS effectiveness (or FSR on AMD systems) test, demonstrating a GPU’s capacity for frame-boosting upscaling technologies. The capacity of these frame-rate boosts varies with the version of frame generation tech available: DLSS 2 and 3 stitch one AI-generated frame between every pair of originally rendered frames, while the latest DLSS 4 inserts up to three additional frames. (FSR can generate up to four new frames per original, while XeSS can only stitch in one new frame per original frame.)
In synthetic benchmarks, the Legion 5i, Alienware, and LOQ delivered close results—no surprise, given their shared RTX 5060 GPU—though the Legion 5i often pulled slightly ahead. Meanwhile, the RTX 5050-powered Katana marked a clear performance dip, with the RTX 4050 Victus landing another notch below.
We tested the Legion 5i and Alienware systems using real-world game benchmarks at 1200p, compared with 1080p for the other contenders. The Alienware showed a modest edge over the Legion, likely due to its more potent CPU, while the LOQ also reported competitive results, possibly because of the slightly lower resolution.
Only the Legion 5i and Alienware participated in our higher-resolution 1600p benchmarks, where the Alienware retained a slight lead overall. While the Legion 5i experienced a noticeable dip in frame rates at this resolution, the gameplay remained consistently smooth and playable.
Battery Life and Display Tests
We test each laptop and tablet's battery life by playing a locally stored 720p video file (the open-source Blender movie Tears of Steel) with display brightness set to 50% and audio volume set to 100%. We make sure the battery is fully charged before the test, with Wi-Fi and keyboard backlighting turned off.
To gauge display performance, we also use a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and its Windows software to measure a laptop screen's color saturation—what percentage of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 color gamuts or palettes the display can show—and its 50% and peak brightness in nits (candelas per square meter). We have not yet finished testing the Lenovo LOQ 15 on its display performance, so it's missing from those charts.
Even with a sizable 80Wh battery, the Legion 5i joins the Alienware at the back of this battery-life pack, lasting just 5 hours and 22 minutes. The next-best (the MSI Katana) lasted much longer, at 8 hours and 11 minutes, while the HP and LOQ both topped 10 hours.
The Legion 5i's power-hungry OLED saps its share of battery life, but the trade-off is worth it. The display delivers exceptional visual performance, reaching an outstanding peak brightness of 530 nits and covering nearly all the DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB color gamuts. While the Alienware’s IPS panel proved brighter, it didn't quite match the Legion's vibrancy. In contrast, the panels on the Victus and MSI showed noticeably weaker results, clearly marking themselves as budget models.