Lenovo Legion 7 2021 Kicks Off Gaming Laptop Refresh With AMD And NVIDIA

Lenovo has a quartet of new gaming laptops for its Legion line, with options not only for those wanting maximum performance but gamers who need some portability along with their play. Making their debut at CES 2021, the flagship of the range is the Legion 7 with a new, 16-inch display that promises more usable space.

According to Lenovo, the Legion 7 is the world's first 16-inch QHD gaming laptop. It squeezes a 2560 x 1600 IPS panel with 16:10 ratio and 500 nits of brightness into an aluminum chassis, powered by up to NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX mobile GPUs and AMD Ryzen 9 CPUs.

There's up to 32GB of 3200 MHz DDR4 memory and up to 2TB of M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD storage. Lenovo says the battery should last up to 8 hours – though that will of course depend on what you're actually doing or playing – and there's a choice of regular WiFi 6 or Killer WiFI AX1650 connectivity. You also get a Corsair iCUE RGB keyboard, 2x2W Harman speakers, and a 720p webcam with E-Shutter.

Connectivity includes two USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2, a USB TypeC 3.2 Gen 1, three USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1, HDMI 2.1, ethernet, and an audio jack, all spread around the sides and rear. Lenovo has used its Coldfront 3.0 cooling technology, with up to 63-percent larger vapor chambers than on the old version.

The Lenovo Legion 7 is expected to go on sale in June 2021, priced from $1,669.99.

Putting portability a little closer to the top of the agenda, the Legion Slim 7 has a 15.6-inch display and is Lenovo's thinnest and lightest gaming laptop with its 1.9 kg magnesium and aluminum casing. It also uses the new GeForce RTX laptop GPUs, with AMD Ryzen processors. The display runs at 3840 x 2160 4K resolution, with a 60Hz refresh rate; or, there's a Full HD version with 165Hz refresh.

Despite the size, there's still a choice of white backlit keyboard or Corsair iCUE RGB, a fingerprint reader in the power button, and a 720p webcam with privacy shutter. As with the Legion 7, you can add the Killer WiFi 6 module, too.

The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 will go on sale in May 2021; Lenovo says pricing will be confirmed closer to release.

Straddling performance and price, the Legion 5 Pro mixes together new AMD Ryzen CPUs and GeForce RTX GPUs in a striking design. There's a 16-inch 2560 x 1600 display with up to 500 nits of brightness, Dolby Vision, and VESA DisplayHDR 400 certification. Lenovo is aiming for 8 hours of battery life, and you can have up to 16GB of 3200 MHz DDR4 memory and up to 2GB of M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD storage.

The keyboard comes in white, blue, or 4-zone RGB backlight options, and there's WiFi 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5.1, and 2x2W Harman speakers. Ports include two USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2, four USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1, HDMI 2.1, ethernet, and an audio jack.

The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro will go on sale in March, priced from $999. It'll be offered in Storm Grey and Stingray White.

Finally, the Legion 5 promises to be the most affordable of Lenovo's new gaming notebooks. It'll be offered with either a 15.6-inch display – up to FHD with 165 Hz refresh – or a 17.3-inch display – up to FHD with 144 Hz refresh – and use up to AMD Ryzen 7 processors. They'll be paired with NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs.

The 15-inch Legion 5 can have up to 32GB of memory and up to 2GTB of storage, with up to 7.1 hours of battery life targeted. It'll include either white, blue, or 4-zone RGB keyboard backlighting, and have WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, and 2x2W Harman Kardon speakers.

The 17-inch Legion 5 can have up to 16GB of memory, up to 1TB of SSD storage, and Lenovo is aiming for up to 8 hours of battery life. It'll have WiFi 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5.1, and a mixture of USB Type-C and Type-A ports along with HDMI and ethernet.

The Lenovo Legion 5 will go on sale in March, in 15- and 17-inch configurations. It'll be priced from $769.99.