Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Affordable in the Legion series | Display could be brighter |
Slick, portable design | Mediocre Speaker |
Balanced between portability, task and gaming | |
Lenovo Legion Slim 5i Gen8 Price: Starting at RM6,209.
Lenovo's Legion series is renowned for delivering exceptional hardware at an attractive price. Among Lenovo's offerings, the Slim series stands out, providing flagship-level performance with a focus on portability by reducing thickness. Excitingly, Lenovo has recently introduced the Legion Slim 5i (Gen 8). Let's get into the review.
Design
Starting with the design, the Legion Lenovo Slim 5i carries forward the signature Legion design, striking a balance between a professional aesthetic with subtle gaming accents. When the laptop is closed, you'll find the Lenovo logo on one side and an embossed Legion emblem adorning the opposite corner.
Below the display lies the keyboard, featuring vibrant RGB lighting that adds a touch of flair to the otherwise business-like ThinkPad-style gaming laptop. Lenovo dubs it their TrueStrike Gaming Keyboard, and the 1.5mm key travel provides a satisfying typing experience.
The keyboard offers a full layout, complete with a numpad, and all the keys are generously sized, including the arrow keys, making it easy for your fingers to adapt naturally. The Slim 5i's touchpad is spacious with a smooth surface, delivering a comfortable experience for your fingertips.
Our Lenovo Legion Slim 5i possession boasts the Storm Grey color variant, and when focusing solely on this unique iteration, the combination of its aluminum lid and the matte-grey finish exudes a premium aesthetic that not only captures attention but also embodies a sense of sophistication and style that sets it apart from the rest.
Display
Turning our attention to the display, the laptop boasts a top-of-the-line 16-inch WQXGA IPS display with an impressive resolution of 2560 x 1600. The 16:10 aspect ratio is a great addition, providing users with extra vertical space that significantly enhances productivity.
This panel is designed with a rated peak brightness of up to 350 nits, allowing comfortable use of the laptop outdoors even under direct sunlight. It is Anti-Glare, Non-Touch, 100%sRGB ensuring an exceptional visual experience.
Whether you're engrossed in a movie or immersed in a rich gaming environment, the Legion Slim 5i's display consistently delivers outstanding performance as this display boasts an impressive 165Hz refresh rate. If you're a fan of competitive games like Valorant or CSGO, you'll love the higher refresh rate a lot. Plus, with a quick 3ms response time, there are unnoticeable latency issues during gaming sessions.
Specification
The Legion Slim 5i comes equipped with the Intel Core i7-13700H coupled with 16GB of DDR5-5200MHz dual-channel RAM. There’s the NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4050 Laptop GPU 6GB GDDR6 for graphical prowess and a 1 TB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 TLC with Cutting-edge Legion Coldfront 5.0 cooling system.
Benchmark and Performance
I ran a series of synthetic benchmarks on the laptop, and its performance matches or even surpasses that of gaming laptops with similar specifications. The laptop excels in Cinebench, as well as achieving impressive scores in both 3DMark and PCMark.
Cinebench R23
GPU Test
CPU Core Test
PCMARK 10
Gaming Performance
I played Elden Ring, and it runs smoothly on high settings without many problems. It feels like I'm playing the game as smoothly as possible as long as I do not set ray-tracing to the highest.
However, unfortunately, in Starfield, the FPS consistently stayed around 40. This might be due to the game's optimization not being as good, but it does run constantly at the said FPS without any stuttering.
Lenovo Vantage
When it comes to pre-installed applications, the Lenovo Vantage app stands out as your go-to solution for personalizing the laptop. You can use it to modify the RGB lighting, fine-tune fan profiles, and even optimize GPU performance, all conveniently accessible through this app.
Moreover, there's the Legion Arena app available as well. This application functions as a centralized gaming hub, showcasing all your installed games, regardless of their source. It offers a swift and convenient way to launch your preferred game.
Webcam
Featuring an up-to-1080p webcam equipped with an electronic shutter, this laptop showcased its ability to capture me crystal clear as I tested the webcam on Discord's webcam streaming platform, impressing me with its exceptional video quality and performance even in low-light conditions, making it the ideal choice for virtual meetings, content creation, and connecting with friends and family.
Battery
Beneath the core hardware lies an impressive 80WHr battery with commendable longevity. What's even better is that the laptop incorporates Rapid Charge Pro technology. Essentially, you can charge this device from 0 to 50% in less than 30 minutes. Alternatively, you can also employ a USB-PD charger for added convenience.
Verdict
In the conclusion, The Lenovo Legion Slim 5i is the perfect gaming laptop for people who seek moderation in everything. In terms of its value, it stands as a suitably portable gaming laptop, providing outstanding performance and a stunning display. It proves to be an ideal selection for gamers in search of a portable device that can seamlessly manage creative tasks as well. The Legion Slim 5i (Gen 8) effectively bridges the gap between portability and the capabilities of a powerful gaming laptop.
Personally, I would love to have the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i as I'm currently using it to write this article and review Starfield. It runs smoothly, handling even the latest games like Elden Ring and Starfield with ease. The keyboard is nice to type on, and both the webcam and microphone deliver clear, high-quality audio and video for video calls with my friends. Additionally, it's very portable, being neither too heavy nor giving off the dull, plain office laptop vibe.
