We often say that there is no such thing as the perfect gaming laptop, but the new Lenovo Legion 7 does come pretty close. With a top of the range Ryzen 7 and powered by RTX graphics, the Lenovo Legion 7 gaming laptop is a portable powerhouse. It has colourful RGB, a full-size keyboard with a number pad, a 165Hz refresh rate, and rich powerful sound.

Unboxing

The Lenovo Legion 7 arrives in a uniquely eye-catching box, plastered with holographic Lenovo logos on one side which reflect spectacularly. On the other, Legion lettering is proudly stamped with a bold black-on-black aesthetic. A bit of matte, a bit of glossy – it’s one of guest presenter James’ favourites. He’s continually impressed with the Lenovo Legion line-up, which we’ve previously covered on the Ebuyer YouTube channel.

The included power adapter is located in a separate compartment. The form factor of gaming laptop chargers consistently trends on the larger side, compared to palm-sized bricks needed for laptops with power-sipping chips and integrated graphics. However, the Lenovo Legion 7 power adapter is relatively slimline, considering the 300W power profile required for the AMD Ryzen 7 processor and NVIDIA RTX 3060 graphics card. This enables easier transport, ideal for on-the-go university students or frequent LAN party attendees.

Getting hung-up on seemingly inconsequential details like the packaging may feel unnecessary, but it quickly conveys Lenovo’s commitment to quality throughout all aspects of this gaming laptop. If they’re paying close attention to something as simple as the unboxing experience, imagine the utmost attention given to the laptop itself.

First impressions

Removing the laptop from the protective sleeve, first hands-on impressions are promising. Lenovo has subtly iterated upon their design since we last checked out another Legion gaming laptop and we’re big fans of the direction they’re heading. The screen bezels have shrunk considerably to the point there’s the slightest raise bump to facilitate the webcam – thankfully they didn’t remove it outright! It doesn’t encroach on the taller 16:10 aspect ratio and 165Hz display.

Compacted to squeeze into a laptop’s densely packed form factor, the keyboard impressively retains a full-sized layout including dedicated, properly sized arrow keys and a number pad. An infuriating number of laptops, even supposedly gaming ones, resolve to mutating the arrow keys with chopped-up sizes impractical to use in-game. Underneath the keyboard is a suitably sized glass trackpad for accurate mouse-less movements.

Ports

You shouldn’t overlook the port selection on a gaming laptop. While ports aren’t exactly the most glamorous consideration, they’re hugely important. Skimming through a spec sheet, a couple of USBs may appear to be enough, but for gaming you’ve got so many peripherals and accessories to account for. Essentials frequently included an external gaming mouse (check out our gaming mouse guide), keyboard, headset, controller, monitor and sometimes more. Let’s see if the Lenovo Legion 7 can comfortably house gamer must-haves.

Kicking things off on the right-hand side, we’ve got a super-speed USB Type C port and a physical toggle for the webcam. Great to see privacy-orientated features even on a gaming laptop.

Spinning round to the rear, here’s where we find the bulk of the ports, intentionally situated far from a typical mouse position. This means you won’t awkwardly bump cables protruding out from the sides while gaming, a much-welcomed consideration. There’s a full-fat RJ45 ethernet port for plugging directly up to the network for a more reliable internet connection.

We’ve got an additional USB Type C port which is extremely beneficial for future proofing this laptop’s connectivity. Three USB 3.0 ports enable plenty of room for peripherals. One of these features an increase power output for facilitating fast charging speeds. A full-sized HDMI makes hooking up to an external display such as a high refresh rate gaming monitor or 4K TV seamless. And a dedicated power jack.

Finally, a further USB Type C is found on the left-hand side, as well as the obligatory headphone-microphone combo connector. Spinning around the laptop there’s a reassuring abundance of ventilation, from the well perforated bottom cover to the massive exhaust vents at the rear, to help prevent thermal throttling on the AMD Ryzen 7 processor and NVIDIA RTX 3060 graphics card.

RGB, screen and speakers

Powering up the laptop, we’re pleasantly surprised by the RGB implementation. Not only does the Lenovo Legion 7 feature a fully addressable RGB keyboard, a wrap-around RGB strip adds to the attention-grabbing glow.

It’s clearly focused on delivering an impeccable gaming experience, but the screen and speakers manage to hold up surprisingly well in day-to-day tasks. Gradually building up the volume, the speakers are already adequately loud at the halfway point, impressive given their space-constrained chassis.

It isn’t specifically an HDR-certified screen, but the colour reproduction and dynamic range is a noticeable step up from more middling gaming laptops. Importantly, the 16:10 aspect ratio offers up a little extra vertical screen real estate for scrolling up and down web pages, video editing timelines and more.

Gaming performance – Grand Theft Auto 5

We’ve downloaded a couple games to test the Lenovo Legion 7 in a real-world scenario, no questionable synthetic benchmarks. First up, Grand Theft Auto 5. Although it’s a fair few years old, it remains immensely popular, extremely well optimised and boasts a robust built-in benchmarking mode. The graphical settings are highly adjustable to get the optimal performance out of this laptop. We’re running at 2560×1600, the panel’s native resolution. Due to the taller aspect ratio, this is higher than even 1440p. While 60 frames-per-second has become the common standard for PC gamers we’re enthusiastically aiming for at least 100 frames-per-second – if not more, ideally – to fully utilise this laptop’s 165Hz high refresh rate display.

With the benchmark loaded, straight off the bat we’re sitting at around 120 frames-per-second. This bodes well, as typically the Grand Theft Auto 5 benchmark is heaviest on performance earlier on and the frame rate steadily improves as you go further through. Switching over to the next scene, the frame rate skyrockets to an astonishing 180 frames-per-second. Even at a higher resolution than 1440p, we’re still easily exceeding the 165Hz refresh rate. You’re getting so many more pixels compared to conventional 1080p displays, effectively double the amount. On a 16-inch display, the resolution is razor-sharp.

Rounding out this eye-opening demonstration, we’re getting anywhere inbetween 120-180 frames-per-second in Grand Theft Auto 5. On a laptop! Equally impressive is the noise, or rather lack thereof. Even under a full-on gaming load, the Lenovo Legion 7 is incredibly quiet, a remarkable achievement for an AMD Ryzen 7 and NVIDIA RTX 3060 equipped gaming laptop. Underwhelming cooling solutions and aggravating, whining fans are common compromises on gaming laptops, so Lenovo is bucking the long-lasting trend here.

Gaming performance – Counter Strike: Global Offensive

Grand Theft Auto 5 is a primarily story-driven game. To test the Lenovo Legion 7’s competitive credentials, Counter Strike: Global Offensive is a prime candidate. Pushing upwards of 300 frames-per-second, the specifications are clearly a winning combination. Look no further than the iconic double doors of the Dust 2 multi-player map for a flawless example of why refresh rate matters. Peeking in-between the doors, you’ll notice your opponents trying to slip past even earlier on a high refresh rate display. It’s such a miniscule timeframe, so seeing the actions split-seconds earlier means you’re more likely to land the killing blow.

Wrapping up our unboxing, we have to say we’re continually impressed by the Lenovo Legion line-up. With the Legion 7 gaming laptop, Lenovo pushes an even higher resolution with an immersive 16:10 aspect ratio and high refresh rates display, an astonishing quiet cooling solution and more. This gaming laptop is the complete package. Check it out, over at Ebuyer: Lenovo Legion 7 Ryzen 7 16GB 512GB SSD RTX 3060 16″ WQXGA Win10 Home Gaming Laptop