Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro (16″, 2022) review

All hail to the second generation of IdeaPad Pro notebooks. This is a product that really got a lot of deserved attention last year, and now – we are looking forward to seeing what Lenovo did to improve it.

Obviously, one of the changes is stepping up from the Tiger Lake-H35 to the Alder Lake-H processor family. This by itself will bring a huge performance upgrade. We are more intrigued about the optional dedicated Arc graphics card though. Unfortunately, we were not able to find a configuration equipped with it, so we had to settle for an iGPU model only.

Once again, you are treated to a WQXGA (2560×1600) display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and an optional 120Hz refresh rate. Keep in mind that even the base 60Hz model should be pretty good for professional work. Of course, you are going to learn more about the display later on.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/lenovo-ideapad-5i-pro-16-2022/

Contents


Specs Sheet

Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro (16", 2022) - Specs

  • LEN160WQXGA (LEN9151)
  • Color accuracy  2.3  1.5
  • HDD/SSD
  • up to 1000GB SSD
  • RAM
  • up to 16GB
  • OS
  • Windows 11 Home, No OS, Windows 11 Pro
  • Battery
  • 75Wh, 75Wh, 4-cell
  • Body material
  • Aluminum
  • Dimensions
  • 356 x 251 x 16.9 mm (14.02" x 9.88" x 0.67")
  • Weight
  • 1.95 kg (4.3 lbs)
  • Ports and connectivity
  • 1x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), Sleep and Charge
  • 1x USB Type-C
  • Thunderbolt 4, Power Delivery (PD), DisplayPort
  • HDMI
  • 2.0
  • Card reader
  • SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC
  • Ethernet LAN
  • Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ax
  • Bluetooth
  • 5.2
  • Audio jack
  • 3.5mm Combo Jack
  • Features
  • Fingerprint reader
  • Web camera
  • FHD with IR, Fixed Focus
  • Backlit keyboard
  • Microphone
  • Dual Array Microphone with Noise Cancellation, Support for Lenovo Voice Assistant/ Amazon Alexa
  • Speakers
  • 2x 2W Stereo Speakers, Dolby Atmos
  • Optical drive
  • Security Lock slot

All Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro (16″, 2022) configurations

#CommissionsEarned

What’s in the box?

Inside the package, we found some paperwork and a 100W USB Type-C charger.


Design and construction

Lenovo has insisted on making this machine out of aluminum. It has an enviable appearance and cool-to-the-touch feeling. Interestingly, its weight starts from 1.95 kilos, which is 50 grams heavier than last year, while its thickness measures 16.9mm.

As you can imagine, this is pretty slim for a 16-inch notebook, and some people might think that it can compromise the rigidity of the product. Well, the lid is a bit bendy, to be frank, but the base is rather sturdy.

Also, the lid can be opened with a single hand. This is courtesy of the smooth hinges and the protruding notch, which lets you grip the lid more easily. In addition, the laptop sports thin bezels surrounding its matte display. The top one houses a Full HD Web camera, with an IR face recognition sensor.

Moving to the base, we find a slim grill going from one end of the laptop and finishing at the power button. Its sole purpose is for ventilation, as there are no speakers beneath it. What is below it, however, is the keyboard. It is a backlit unit with a NumPad section and decently-sized Arrow keys. Ultimately, it doesn’t have the long key travel of the ThinkPad units, but it is still pretty comfortable for typing. It’s also worth noting that the deck flex is quite minimal too.

When it comes to the touchpad, we see a unit with a decent size (75 x 120mm). Its surface is made out of Mylar, which is pretty good at imitating glass. Hence, the gliding it provides is pretty smooth, while the tracking is very accurate.

Last but not least, the bottom panel is home to the speaker cutouts, as well as a rather large ventilation grill. Hot air, respectively, gets exhausted through two vents in between the base and the lid of the notebook.

Ports

On the left side, there is a USB Type-C charging plug (with data transfer and Power Delivery 3.0 capabilities), an HDMI 2.0 connector, a Thunderbolt 4 port, and an Audio jack. Then, on the right, you get two USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports, and an SD card reader.


Disassembly, upgrade options, and maintenance

To take this notebook apart, you need to undo 9 Torx-head screws. Then, pry the bottom panel starting from the gap between the bottom panel and the base. After that, carefully make your way around the entire laptop and lift it off the chassis.

Inside, we see a 75Wh battery pack. It lasts for 13 hours of Web browsing, or about 8 hours and 30 minutes of video playback. To remove it, you need to unplug the battery connector and undo all 7 Phillips-head screws that hold it in place.

Here, the memory is soldered to the motherboard. The maximum amount it comes with is 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM. Storage-wise, there is one M.2 PCIe x4 slot, which supports Gen 4 drives.

Cooling-wise, there are two heat pipes, connected to two heat sinks and two fans. In addition, the VRMs are cooled by a metal heat spreader.


Display quality

Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro (16″, 2022) is equipped with a WQXGA IPS panel, model number LEN160WQXGA (LEN9151). It comes with a 60Hz refresh rate. Its diagonal is 16.0″ (40.6 cm), and the resolution – 2560 x 1600p. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:10, the pixel density – 189 ppi, their pitch – 0.13 x 0.13 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 46 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels).

Viewing angles are good. We offer images at different angles to evaluate the quality.

Also, a video with locked focus and exposure.

The maximum measured brightness is 337 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 330 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of 7%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 6620K (average) – slightly colder, almost matching the 6500K optimum for sRGB.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective. The illustration below shows how matters are for operational brightness levels (approximately 140 nits) – in this particular case at 80% Brightness (White level = 141 cd/m2, Black level = 0.08 cd/m2).
Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color-sensitive work (a maximum tolerance of 2.0 ). The contrast ratio is very good – 1680:1.

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people on HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The yellow dotted line shows Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro (16″, 2022)’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers 90% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976.

Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.

We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.

Below you can compare the scores of Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro (16″, 2022) with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).

The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.

The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale, and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions.

Response time (Gaming capabilities)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 17 ms.

After that, we test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “Gray-to-Gray” method from 50% White to 80% White and vice versa between 10% and 90% of the amplitude.


Health impact – PWM / Blue Light

PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.

Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro (16″, 2022)’s display doesn’t flicker at any brightness level. This makes the screen comfortable for long periods of use.

Blue light emissions

Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light.

Gloss level measurement

Glossy-coated displays are sometimes inconvenient in high ambient light conditions. We show the level of reflection on the screen for the respective laptop when the display is turned off and the measurement angle is 60° (in this case, the result is 50.2 GU).


Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro (16″, 2022) configurations with 16.0″ LEN160WQXGA (LEN9151) (WQXGA 2560 x 1600) IPS.

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].

Read more about the profiles HERE.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office Work

Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.

Design and Gaming

This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.

Health-Guard

Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.

Get all 3 profiles with 33% discount


Sound

Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro (16″, 2022)’s Dolby Atmos speakers produce a sound of okay quality. Its low, mid, and high tones are clear of deviations.


Drivers

All drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/5-series/ideapad-5-pro-16iah7/downloads/driver-list

Battery

Now, we conduct the battery tests with the Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits, and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with. Lenovo equipped this machine with a 75Wh battery pack. It lasts for 13 hours and 2 minutes of Web browsing, or 8 hours and 37 minutes of video playback.


CPU options

You can get this laptop either with the Core i5-12500H, or the Core i7-12700H.


GPU options

Graphics-wise, there is the integrated Iris Xe Graphics or a dedicated Intel Arc A370M with 4GB of GDDR6 memory.


Gaming tests

cs-go-benchmarks

CS:GOHD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings)HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings)
Average FPS147 fps99 fps65 fps

DOTA 2HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings)HD 1080p, High (Check settings)
Average FPS180 fps115 fps61 fps

Temperatures and comfort

Max CPU load

In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering.

Average P-core frequency; Average E-core frequency; CPU temp.; Package Power

Intel Core i5-12500H (45W TDP)0:02 – 0:10 sec0:15 – 0:30 sec10:00 – 15:00 min
Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro (16″, 2022)3.49 GHz @ 2.68 GHz @ 62°C @ 74W3.47 GHz @ 2.67 GHz @ 78°C @ 73W3.17 GHz @ 2.47 GHz @ 84°C @ 60W
Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-58)3.77 GHz @ 2.83 GHz @ 75°C @ 98W3.92 GHz @ 3.00 GHz @ 80°C @ 101W2.85 GHz @ 3.07 GHz @ 80°C @ 85W

Interestingly, the IdeaPad 5i Pro (16″, 2022) undertakes a completely different approach, compared to the thermal management of the Nitro 5. It tries to run its P-cores as high as possible, for as long as possible. Respectively, the Nitro 5 boosts its P-Cores really high for a rather short period of time and then drops around 1.00 GHz. However, it relies on the E-cores to do the heavy lifting, whereas the IdeaPad 5i Pro is a bit more lenient on the E-cores.

Comfort during full load

Probably because of the lack of a dedicated graphics card, the IdeaPad 5i Pro runs pretty quietly under extreme load. Moreover, it doesn’t get too hot either.


Verdict

Even though our configuration didn’t come with a dedicated GPU, we can say that it can eat light titles like CS:GO and DOTA 2 for lunch! Or breakfast … or dinner. Depending on Lenovo’s eating preferences. Nevertheless, the company seems a bit wary of its power adapters.

You see, last year, (at least) three of Lenovo’s laptop series shipped with insufficient chargers. And guess what? All of them featured the same 135W unit. Thankfully, the IdeaPad Gaming 3 of 2022 has received a properly powerful adapter. What is also interesting is that the laptop we reviewed today, which doesn’t have a dedicated GPU, comes with a 100W USB Type-C charger. But from what we saw in the Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-58), Alder Lake-H can sometimes draw more than 100W of power itself.

This is a tutorial on how not to run the most successful laptop business of 2022. On the other hand, the battery life is decent, and the I/O is good for content creators with its Thunderbolt 4 port and SD card reader.

Speaking of creators, Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro (16″, 2022)’s IPS panel has a high resolution (2560×1600), comfortable viewing angles, and a very good contrast ratio. It covers 90% of the sRGB color gamut and produces accurate colors with the help of our Gaming and Web design profile. Furthermore, the panel doesn’t use PWM for brightness adjustment. This, together with the 16:10 aspect ratio and the accurate color representation means that you will get a quite comfortable device for professional work.

We were disappointed to see that you still can not upgrade your memory. And the maximum available capacity is 16GB, which is a bit petty. On the bright side, the LPDDR5 RAM works in quad-channel mode.

Before we think of recommending this laptop, we would want to test the Arc dedicated GPU version. Or at least some laptop that comes with an Intel Arc GPU. Because, if it’s done right, we feel it can be a game changer.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/lenovo-ideapad-5i-pro-16-2022/

Pros

  • Thin and light outfit
  • Strong aluminum chassis
  • Covers 90% of the sRGB color gamut and has accurate color representation with our Gaming and Web design profile
  • High resolution and 16:10 aspect ratio
  • Thunderbolt 4 + SD card slot
  • Reasonable performance for its class
  • IR face recognition


Cons

  • Low power charger
  • Soldered memory
  • Only 16GB maximum RAM

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Mark
Mark
1 year ago

This laptop has the worst touchpad I ever used in laptop. It does not work properly half of the time. Also fans does not stop even in idle and they pulse which is annoying.

Gavin
Gavin
1 year ago

The fan rarely stops, it is a step down comparing with the model of 2021, which is dead silent most of the time browsing internet.