Earlier this month, alongside a host of rival systems makers, Lenovo revealed its updated Legion gaming PCs - with the newest Nvidia (RTX Super Mobile GPUs) and Intel (Comet Lake H-series CPUs) technologies. Now these PCs have started to arrive and Lenovo has gone into much more detail about the models on offer. It has penned a blog post talking about the new "cooler thermals, extended battery life, TrueStrike keyboard upgrades and more immersive displays," across the range.
Lenovo Legion Coldfront 2.0
Lenovo says that its new thermal management tech, dubbed Lenovo Legion Coldfront 2.0, provides better airflow and lower system temperatures, while keeping your Lenovo Legion laptop cool, quiet and slim. Particular attention has been taken to make sure the keyboard deck remains cool while minimising the apparition of thermal throttling.
Dual Burn support, doesn't sound very appealing but is in fact a technology which "pushes the CPU and GPU to their in-game limits," for better gaming performance. A multi-sensor array helps monitor what is happening thermally in the system and adjust clocks and active cooling appropriately.
Lenovo specifically mentions that its Legion 7i and Legion Y740Si use Vapour Chamber Cooling Systems with dual liquid crystal polymer fans.
Legion TrueStrike Keyboard
Some effort has been put into refining the keyboard experience offered by the Legion range. The new Legion TrueStrike Keyboard builds upon Lenovo's already good reputation for tactility and response in this area with 100 percent anti-ghosting, sub-millisecond response times and 'soft-landing' switches that mimic deep keystrokes.
Other enhancements
Elsewhere throughout the new Legion range you will see improved display panels with features such as Dolby Vision, HDR, 100 percent sRGB and fast refresh rates (up to 240Hz) and response times as low as 1ms. Smarter power management and user-customisable profiles allow for Quiet, Balanced, Performance modes with Advanced Optimus in play for smart switching of the Nvidia dGPU and G-Sync feature.
In addition to laptops Lenovo has beefed up its range of Legion desktops, gaming accessories, and peripherals. For example its IdeaCentre Gaming 5 will offer AMD Ryzen desktop processors as an option later this year. There is a new gaming monitor to pair with its desktops, the Lenovo Legion Y25-25 Gaming Monitor. Moreover, you can choose between various Legion mice and keyboards to finish off your system.
Pricing and Availability
- Upgraded Lenovo Legion Y740Si laptop with up to the latest 10th Gen Intel Core i9 H-Series mobile processors starts at $1,199.99, and Lenovo Legion BoostStation eGPU starts at $249.99 as a standalone accessory or option to bundle with a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB or AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 8GB GPU. Both are available starting in May 2020.
- The 15-inch Lenovo Legion 7i laptop will start at $1,599.99 and is expected to be available starting in May 2020.
- The 15-inch Lenovo Legion 5Pi laptop will not be available in North America. Pricing and availability will vary per geography.
- The Intel-based 15-inch Lenovo Legion 5i1 will start at $829.99 and the 17-inch Lenovo Legion 5i1 laptop will start at $1,129.99. Both sizes are expected to be available starting in May 2020.
- The AMD-based 15-inch Lenovo Legion 5 will start at $849.99 and is expected to be available starting in May 2020.
- The Lenovo Legion Tower 5i desktop will start at $799.99 and is expected to be available starting in May 2020. The Lenovo Legion Tower 5 will offer AMD Ryzen desktop processors as an option later this year.
- The 15-inch Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i laptop will start at $729.99 and is expected to be available starting in May 2020. The IdeaPad Gaming 3 will offer AMD Ryzen mobile processors as an option later this year.
- The Lenovo IdeaCentre Gaming 5i and IdeaCentre Gaming 5 desktop towers will not be available in North America. Pricing and availability will vary per geography.
- The 25-inch Lenovo Legion Y25-25 Gaming Monitor will start at $319.99 and is expected to be available starting in June 2020.
- The Lenovo Legion M600 Wireless Gaming Mouse will start at $79.99 and is expected to be available starting in April 2020.
- The Lenovo Legion M300 RGB Gaming Mouse will start at $29.99 and is expected to be available starting in April 2020.
- The Lenovo Legion K300 RGB Gaming Keyboard will start at $49.99 and is expected to be available starting in May 2020.
You can delve into the official blog post for more model specific details but NotebookCheck noted something good about the new Lenovo Legion range. The 2020 IdeaPad and Legion gaming laptops will follow a new naming convention and directly replace the 2019 models as follows:
- IdeaPad L340 ---> IdeaPad Gaming 3
- Legion Y540-15 ---> Legion 5 15"
- Legion Y540-15 w/ Intel ---> Legion 5i 15"
- Legion Y540-17 w/ Intel---> Legion 5i 17"
- Legion Y740-15 w/ Intel ---> Legion 7i
Note that Lenovo thus starts to use the common PC naming convention of using a 3 for the entry level, 5 for mid-range, and 7 for higher-end products.
