Lenovo Legion 5i (2025)

Buy / avoid: Best for gamers who want a balanced laptop for gaming, school, work, and content creation. Skip it if 8GB of VRAM worries you, or if you need G-Sync, Advanced Optimus, Adaptive Sync, or better speakers. Buy an RTX 5060 or 5070 config with the 80Wh battery on sale; choose AMD for longer battery life or Intel for better CPU performance. Avoid lower-end 60Wh battery which doesn't cost much less, lower quality IPS screen, or older CPU configs unless the price is clearly lower. Testing notes: In our testing, the Legion 5 weighed less than last gen, but still offers full upgrade options, cool keyboard temps, quieter fan noise than most gaming laptops, strong RTX 5070 performance, and a bright 2560x1600 OLED screen with fast response times. Trade-offs: The main compromises are the 8GB VRAM limit, weak speakers, forward side ports, no rear port icons, and missing sync/display switching features on the OLED panel. The sweet spot is the RTX 5060 model with 16GB+ RAM, 1TB SSD, and the 80Wh battery because it gives the best balance of performance, portability, battery life, and screen quality. Alternatives: If you want 12GB VRAM or better gaming performance, check out Lenovo's higher tier Legion Pro 5i.