While it’s a straightforward update, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (Gen 9) retains many of the excellent features of its predecessor. Last year, I dubbed the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 predecessor the “ideal mid-range gaming laptop.” Lenovo updated the Intel models with the incredibly potent 14th-generation processors for Generation 9, bringing them up to date. It remains an outstanding gaming laptop for the price, even with the little changes that have occurred. But there’s a problem with that right there. Even though gaming laptops have advanced significantly over the past year, the Legion Pro 5i still lacks adequate battery life and a good display. If the Legion Pro 5i sounds like the perfect fit for you, continue reading.
At $1,694, Lenovo is selling the Legion Pro 5i that we tested. Hardware specifications include an Intel Core i9-14900HX processor, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD drive, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card. Moreover, it features a 16-inch IPS display with 2,560 x 1,600 pixels and a refresh rate of 165 Hz, rated at 300 nits. With an RTX 4060 GPU and 16GB of RAM, the least expensive model, which retails for $1,399, has the same processor and SSD storage. Further possibilities include upgrading to a 500-nit panel at 100% DCI-P3 and 2TB of storage space.
The Legion Pro 5i’s design has remained largely unchanged from last year. It features a minimalistic dark gray aluminum lid with a gorgeously reflective Legion logo at the bottom right and the classic Lenovo logo at the top left. At the back is a thermal shelf with each port labeled alongside a power indicator. Lifting the lid reveals a minimalistic deck, and while it is plastic (specifically PC-ABS), it feels sturdy.
The hinges are also rather strong, maintaining the weight of its lid and barely wobbling when I shift its position. The Legion Pro 5i weighs 5.4 pounds and measures 14.3 x 10.3 x 0.9-1.1 inches. It’s the lightest of other 16-inch competitors, like the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 (5.7 pounds, 14.1 x 11 x 1 inches) and Alienware m16 R2 (5.8 pounds, 14.3 x 9.8 x 0.9 inches). Razer Blade 14 (4.1 pounds, 12.2 x 9 x 0.7 inches) is unsurprisingly lighter, considering it’s 14 inches.
Most will be happy with the Legion Pro 5i’s collection of ports, although you might wish it included Thunderbolt 4. It has a USB Type-A port and USB Type-C with DisplayPort 1.4 support on its left side. It has another USB Type-A port and an audio jack on its right side. On the back, it has an ethernet port, another USB Type-C with DisplayPort 1.4, an HDMI port, two more USB Type-A ports, one always on, and a power connector.
Built with a 16-inch, 2,560 x 1,600-pixel display at 165Hz refresh rate, the Legion Pro 5i’s panel looks fine enough, but it could be brighter and more colorful. I watched the trailer for the highly anticipated animated film Despicable Me 4. I was satisfied by the color depth in its bright, sunlit suburban streets alongside the dimly lit night sky overlooking a castle embedded in a mountain. I only wish the display could get a little brighter and illuminate the darkest scenes. I traversed the plains of Elden Ring’s new expansion Shadow of the Erdtree.
I was stunned, overlooking the enormous dying tree towering over a series of castles as a flaming titan stomps throughout an expansive plain. I was speechless while dark shadows resembling massive transparent fabrics overwhelmed the sky. Sure, this display isn’t the brightest or most colorful in the world, but games as gorgeous as this one will still look great on it.
The Legion Pro 5i did about average on our color tests, reproducing 78 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut. This is only a little bit worse than the 82 percent gaming laptop average. The Alienware m16 R2 (70 percent) couldn’t quite compete, but the Razer Blade 14 (79 percent) was in the same ballpark. The Predator Helios Neo 16 (92 percent) has the most colorful display of the bunch by a huge margin. It maintained its inoffensive yet not particularly spectacular performance on our brightness tests, hitting a peak of 346 nits. This is a bit worse than the 364-nit average for mainstream gaming laptops. While the Alienware m16 R2 (288 nits) is alarmingly dim, the Razer Blade 14 (370) and Predator Helios Neo 16 (447) are brighter.
We tested the Legion Pro 5i’s stereo speakers by playing a game, listening to music, and watching a film. While we’d love the audio to be louder, it’s clear, balanced, and punchy, making it a decent choice if you don’t plan to use an external solution. I listened to DJ Shadow’s electronic dance track “Blood on the Motorway” and was impressed by how well it balanced the intense percussion, piano, synths, and xylophone without losing the weight of each element. Even the few moments when vocals are present are never overpowered by the rest of the track.
However, it’s not particularly resounding at maximum volume, so while it maintains clarity and weight, it could be louder. The issue of low volume was especially noticeable when watching the Despicable Me 4 trailer, as I could barely hear Gru’s voice against “Sweet Child O’ Mine” in the background. Even when there isn’t music present, and characters are talking singularly, it’s as if the laptop was at half volume when it was actually turned up to the max. When playing Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, the audio was clear and weighty enough to immerse me in the pitter-patter of raindrops against a compelling string symphony accompanying its opening area, but I still wish it could get louder. It doesn’t help that the fans are noisy while gaming, which can overpower the speakers.
The Legion Pro 5i has an enormous legacy to live up to in this category: When I reviewed the previous model, I said it had the “perfect keyboard.” Thankfully, the deck is almost entirely identical. The only exception is the new inclusion of a Copilot key that replaces the right Ctrl. Otherwise, it’s the same, but what makes the keyboard so fantastic. Built with a 4-zone RGB keyboard, the Legion 5 Pro boasts the inclusion of a decently sized number pad and, best of all, a dedicated nook for arrow keys.
These computers all too frequently have arrow keys that are half the size, which can make them more difficult to use. The arrow keys hang somewhat below the keyboard since Lenovo only moved the trackpad a little bit to the left and created a special nook for them. Its delightful clickiness makes it ideal for precise gaming when combined with its full-sized shift and enter buttons.
My performance on the 10fastfingers typing test, which measures my comfort level with the device, was 120 words per minute with 99 percent accuracy. This is about average for what I can do on my mechanical keyboard. There won’t be any miracles from the 3 by 4.9-inch trackpad, and you’ll probably be using an external mouse nonetheless if you don’t intend to utilize a controller when gaming. Even with that, moving files between folders still involves some friction, and since the top of the trackpad isn’t clickable, it’s simple to unintentionally cease pushing.
Built with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card with 8GB of vRAM, the Legion Pro 5i boasts more than enough graphical power for mid-range gamers looking to enjoy demanding titles without spending a fortune. I played the Elden Ring expansion Shadow of the Erdtree on maximum graphics settings with ray tracing turned all the way up and managed around 50 fps as I explored Scorched Ruins in the opening area.
During strong action scenes, it will sometimes decrease to about 40 frames per second; otherwise, it maintains a consistent 60 frames per second. The Legion Pro 5i sustained an average of 71 frames per second when we played Red Dead Redemption 2 at 1080p on medium graphics settings. This beats both the Predator Helios Neo 16 (RTX 4060, 65 fps) and Alienware m16 R2 (RTX 4070, 65 fps) in addition to being an improvement above the category average (65 fps).
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