Lenovo’s new Legion 7i gaming laptop is finally here,
so let’s find out what’s new in the 2022 version!
My configuration has Intel’s new 16 core 24 thread Core i9-12900HX processor, Nvidia RTX
3080 Ti graphics, 32 gigs of DDR5 memory, a 16” 2560 by 1600 165Hz screen, and 99Wh battery.
These new HX processors from Intel are going to offer higher multi-threaded performance than ever
before, but I’ve already got a whole video explaining those linked in the description.
Now this is the Legion 7i and the i stands for Intel. You can also get the Legion 7 without
that i on the end which is the AMD version. Now Lenovo have offered an AMD configuration
of the Legion 7 in the past, but that one had an AMD Ryzen processor with Nvidia graphics.
Now this year the AMD version is an all AMD Advantage configuration
with up to Ryzen 9 6900HX processor and Radeon RX 6850M XT graphics.
So this is the first time Lenovo’s going all AMD in the Legion 7, and it also means that if
you do want the Nvidia graphics, you have to go with the Intel processor this generation.
Now I need to note that this is an engineering sample, so it means we’re not allowed to do in
depth testing and some things could change between now and when the laptop actually launches. So just
think of this as a bit of an early preview, but there still is quite a lot I can show you.
Alright let’s start out with the design changes.
This year’s Legion 7i has an aluminum magnesium metal unibody, and it feels nice and sturdy.
Last year’s Legion 7i had a little RGB lighting in the letter O of Legion on the
lid. This year we’ve still got the Legion text, but the whole thing lights up now.
You’ve got the option to turn that lighting off any time with the function + L shortcut though.
There’s still RGB lighting in all of the air exhaust vents, and of course the RGB light bar
that runs along the front and some of the left and right sides, just like last year.
Thankfully, the biggest problem that I had with last year’s Legion 7i is now gone, and that’s the
Corsair iCUE software which was used for managing the RGB lighting effects. This would just drain
the battery life fast, so a lot of people ended up either removing it or disabling it.
Now this year’s Legion 7 and 7i have Lenovo’s new Spectrum software,
so basically Lenovo have gotten rid of the Corsair software and done it themselves.
Unfortunately my early engineering sample doesn’t actually have the software installed so I’m not
able to show it to you at this time. Again stay tuned for the full review coming soon.
I’ve seen a preview of it though and it looks like it’s got some interesting features. There’s
a screen sync option which makes RGB lighting the same as whatever's displayed on the screen.
So if you’re watching a movie or something and it’s got a lot of blue then all the
RGB will be lit up blue as well so that it becomes ambient lighting.
The touchpad feels smooth and accurate.
The camera above the screen has been upgraded from 720p to 1080p.
The screen also goes the full 180 degrees back for sharing now, something it didn’t do before.
We’ve still got the function plus R shortcut to quickly swap the screen’s refresh rate between
165Hz and 60Hz, but I noticed the change was pretty much instant now, the screen doesn’t
go black for a second or two anymore while it changes, which is a nice improvement.
I asked Lenovo if there were any plans on making this an option that we could
have apply automatically when we unplug the charger because it does
improve battery life. I was told it’s not there yet, but maybe in the future.
As for ports, on the left we’ve got two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports,
and both have support for external monitors with DisplayPort 1.4.
We can also see the new polished metal edges here, which run around the entire laptop.
On the right we’ve got a 3.5mm audio combo jack,
a switch to physically disconnect the camera for privacy, and a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C port.
The rest of the ports are on the back, from left to right we’ve got the 2.5 gigabit ethernet port,
a 4th USB Type-C port, 3.2 Gen 2 for this one,
HDMI 2.1 output, 2 USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A ports and the power input on the right.
So basically this means that the new Legion 7 only has 2 USB Type-A ports, but it does also
have 4 Type-C ports. I think pretty much every time they’ve put out a new Legion 7 they’ve
changed one of the Type-A ports to Type-C, which I don’t really have too much of a problem with.
I know Type-C is clearly the future and every time that I go and buy a new peripheral I do try
to make it Type-C because most laptops seem to have adequate Type-C ports these days. I guess
if two Type-A ports isn’t enough for you then you might need to look at some cheap adaptors.
Also the move from slow gigabit last year to 2.5 gigabit is a welcome change in such
a premium device, and now this year the ethernet port faces the preferred way with
the cables tab sticking up rather than down so it’s easier to remove. The rear Type-C port can
also be used to charge the laptop with up to 135 watts, an increase from last year’s 100 watts,
so faster charging and more performance on Type-C.
The icons above the rear ports still light up, which I think is a great feature because you can
easily see where cables need to go without turning the laptop around, even in a darker room. And
we’ve still got the option to press the function + U shortcut to turn these lights on or off.
Just like last year, the new Legion 7 still has a MUX switch, but it takes things to the next
level by introducing Advanced Optimus. At least on the 7i version, as that has Nvidia graphics.
I don’t currently know if the all AMD Advantage version is going to have their equivalent of
SmartAccess Graphics. But I certainly hope so because it’s a nice feature. It’s a great
feature because it lets you change between the integrated and discrete graphics without needing
to reboot the machine. The change can happen automatically in Windows when you load up a game.
The bottom panel was far easier to open compared to previous Lenovo laptops
because the side vent doesn’t stick out like older versions.
Inside under the usual metal covers we’ve got the largest possible 99.9Wh battery down the front,
an increase from last year’s 80Wh maximum. There are 2 PCIe Gen 4 M.2 SSD slots just above on the
left and right sides, two DDR5 memory slots in the middle, and Wi-Fi 6E card on the right.
Despite this new larger battery, Lenovo claims that it takes just
30 minutes to charge to 70% with their Super Rapid Charge
using the included 300 watt power brick, or 80 minutes to get to 100% from zero.
Both the CPU and GPU are using a phase change thermal compound, and the whole back section
of the laptop is covered by a vapor chamber cooler. Combined with new 12 volt fans, 67%
thinner fan blades and improved air intake we may have a good shot at getting good
performance from the new 16 core HX processor, despite the fact that this year’s Legion 7
actually ends up being slightly thinner at the slimmest point.
In spite of that thinner design, the keyboard now has 1.5mm of key travel, more than the 1.3mm
in last year’s 2021 version, which should translate to a nicer typing experience.
I thought that the keyboard felt nice to type with,
but I can’t really compare it with last year’s model unless I have them both side by side.
You can also easily remove the keycaps now, which should help improve maintenance and cleaning,
and Lenovo are offering 4 ceramic keys you could swap out WASD with.
The idea behind ceramic keys is that when you’ve got your hand sitting on WASD
they should transfer heat less compared to the rest of the laptop, so it should
be more comfortable. But unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to try them out
because they weren’t included with my engineering sample, again stay tuned for that full review.
The WASD keys also have force sensor technology, which is just fancy words for pressure sensitive.
Basically this means in games actions can change based on how hard you press the keys down.
Like maybe holding down the W key will walk your character forward but then
pressing down harder will turn into a run.
This is managed through the included hydra software and would need game support,
and there are a number of profiles for specific games already included.
Something I noticed straight away after turning it on was the new power button light.
Last year’s Legion 7 had a little colored light in the middle, now we’ve got a full light ring.
Just like the older model, the color changes to reflect which performance mode is active, and this
year’s power button also acts as a fingerprint scanner, yet another new addition to the Legion 7.
I just realized I’ve been saying Legion 7 and 7i pretty interchangeably throughout this
video. For the most part I would expect both laptops to be basically the same in terms of
the overall chassis design. The main difference between the CPU and GPU configurations between
Intel and AMD would affect things like performance, which isn’t things we’re
looking at here today anyway. So yeah basically this video should apply to both configurations.
So then, when can you actually get these new laptops?
In the US market I’ve heard we’re looking at May this year starting at $2450 USD for the 7i,
so soon, and then June for the all AMD Advantage option starting at $2050 USD.
Here in Australia we’re not getting any of them until July.
So yeah expect different releases in different regions as usual.
I’ll share game benchmarks, thermals, battery life and more in the full review as soon as I can,
so make sure you’re subscribed for that upcoming video, you definitely don’t want
to miss it. For now though you can find out what Intel’s new HX processors have to offer us
in new laptops like this Legion 7i in this video next, so I’ll see you over in that one!