The Lenovo Legion 9i Gen 8 (16″, Intel) is the flagship device of the manufacturer. It's not just a gaming laptop, it can impress gamers with its powerful hardware and fast display with G-SYNC and NVIDIA Advanced Optimus support. The enthusiast can tweak the custom power mode in the Lenovo Vantage app where you can play with the CPU and GPU power tables. The color-accurate 3.2K Mini LED display can be a wet dream for content creators. One of the most impressive specs of the machine is its hybrid Legion ColdFront thermal solution that combines liquid and air cooling plus liquid metal. Curiously, the co-engineered with Cooler Master system is dedicated to the GPU VRAM and it turns on when the video card hits 84°C. Because of the unorthodox cooling approach, the motherboard is inverted which makes upgrading the RAM unnecessarily complicated. Still, the SSDs are easily accessible. The hardware under the bonnet is top-notch - an Intel Intel Core i9-13980HX (which is the only CPU option) and the 175W GeForce RTX 4080 or RTX 4090. All that is paired with fast 32GB or 64GB DDR5 memory. The two SSDs can work in RAID 0 mode. Most laptops with such specifications are big and heavy but Lenovo has found the right balance between performance and dimensions. For connectivity, you can rely on Wi-Fi 6E (or Wi-Fi 7), Bluetooth 5.3, and a good amount of ports. You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/lenovo-legion-9-16-gen-8/ Specs, Drivers, What's in the box Drivers All drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/legion-series/legion-9-16irx8/?linkTrack=Caps%3ABody_BrowseProduct What's in the box? Inside the package, you find the laptop itself fitted in a smaller sturdy box for extra protection. Lenovo provides a big 330W GaN power adapter and a smaller 140W one that can be used when you are away from home and don't need the full power of the laptop. Design and construction The design is similar to the Lenovo Legion Slim 7i / S7 (16″ Intel, Gen 8) except for the lid. It's made of forged carbon chips which is a weigh-saving technique but also every device looks different thanks to the forged process. In reality, the finish feels soft and kind of rubberized to the touch, which is really cool. The base is made of magnesium-aluminium alloy. This notebook shines bright when it comes to dimensions - it has a profile of just 18.9 mm and the weight is 2.56 kg. This is a real achievement considering the top-end hardware under the bonnet and the hybrid cooling. Overall, the rigidity of the chassis is good. You can flex the lid a bit and the base can be slightly bent between the Space key and the touchpad but that's nothing serious. The Legion logo has a backlight. The lid can be opened very smoothly with a single hand. There is a protrusion on the top of the lid for easier opening. The bezels around the display are thin. The upper one houses a 1080p Web camera with an E-shutter placed on the right side of the device. There are two RGB stripes - one on the front and one on the back of the notebook. There are some LED status lights on the hinge cover. The full-size per-key RGB Lenovo TrueStrike keyboard (wow, that's a long name) has large keycaps that offer long key travel and clicky feedback. The finish of the keys is pleasantly grippy and the board is quiet during typing. You can control the whole RGB craziness via the Lenovo Vantage app. The board also has a NumPad and big Arrow keys that are a bit separated from the main deck which makes them pretty cozy for work. Above the board, we can see a long ventilation grill that slightly reveals two of the cooling fans. The Power button is placed in the middle, right below the hinge mechanism. The glass touchpad is wide but short (58 x 120 mm). It's smooth but its accuracy could be better. You can clearly see the three cooling fans through the sizable ventilation grill on the bottom plate. There, we can spot two long rubber feet and two speaker cutouts. The hot air is being exhausted through two vents on the back and two on the sides. Ports On the left, there is an Audio jack and an SD card reader 3.0. The majority of the ports are on the back - a 2.5Gbit LAN port, a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port with an Always On function, two Thunderbolt 4 connectors (both support data transfer, Power Delivery 140W and DisplayPort 1.4), an HDMI 2.1 for up to 8K 60Hz external displays, and a power plug. On the right, we can spot a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port and a USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 1) port. Display quality, Health impact (PWM), Sound Lenovo Legion 9i (16″, Gen 8) is equipped with a 3.2K Mini LED panel, model number CSOT MNG007ZA2-2 (CSO1629). It comes with a 165Hz refresh rate. Its diagonal is 16.0" (40.6 cm), and the resolution - 3200 x 2000p. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:10, the pixel density – 236 ppi, and their pitch – 0.11 x 0.11 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 37 cm, which is excellent for a laptop (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 measured maximum brightness depends on the content of the picture. On a black background, white fill at 3% of the screen area, Brightness slider at 100%, the maximum brightness (Luminance) was 860 cd/m2 in the center of the screen (HDR Off). We measured a great contrast ratio - 16300:1 (ANSI Contrast). 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 Legion 9i (16″, Gen 8)'s color gamut coverage. Its display covers 100% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976, and 98% of DCI-P3, ensuring a super vibrant and attractive picture. 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 the Lenovo Legion 9i (16″, Gen 8) with the default settings (left) compared to the DCI-P3 color space and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right). The default settings are very good. 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 = 2.9 ms. More importantly, the backlight has significant pulsations (more on the PWM graph below). There are gaming monitors that feature a deliberately pulsating backlight mode for a clear picture in dynamic scenes. In the current case, from a gaming perspective, things are great, but that's not the best solution for your eyesight in the long run. Health Impact: 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 display 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 Legion 9i (16″, Gen 8)'s backlight has significant pulsations. Their frequency is high, but the filling coefficient is very low. The last segment of the chart below is from another display, which has a similar maximum brightness but does not use PWM. This display might not be very comfortable for the more sensitive users. Health Impact: 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. Health Impact: 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 64.9 GU). Sound Lenovo Legion 9i (16″, Gen 8)'s speakers produce a sound of very good quality and high maximum volume. Its low, mid, and high tones are clear of deviations. Buy our profiles Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for Lenovo Legion 9i (16″, Gen 8) configuration with 16.0" CSOT MNG007ZA2-2 (CSO1629) (3200x2000) Mini LED. *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 bg.laptopmedia@gmail.com. Read more about the profiles HERE. Performance: CPU, GPU, Gaming Tests All benchmarks and tests were conducted with the "Performance" profile activated in the Lenovo Vantage. Also, the "dGPU mode is turned on and the “Best performance” preset is applied in the Windows “Power & Battery” menu. CPU options The only CPU variant is the Core i9-13980HX. GPU options GPU-wise, you can choose between the GeForce RTX 4080 (Laptop, 175W) and GeForce RTX 4090 (Laptop, 175W). Gaming tests Assassin's Creed Valhalla Full HD, Low (Check settings) Full HD, Medium (Check settings) Full HD, High (Check settings) Full HD, Ultra (Check settings) Average FPS 231 fps 211 fps 189 fps 170 fps Borderlands 3 Full HD, V.Low (Check settings) Full HD, Medium (Check settings) Full HD, High (Check settings) Full HD, Badass (Check settings) Average FPS 243 fps 206 fps 179 fps 160 fps Far Cry 6 Full HD, Low (Check settings) Full HD, High (Check settings) Full HD, Ultra (Check settings) Average FPS 205 fps 166 fps 156 fps Gears 5 Full HD, Low (Check settings) Full HD, Medium (Check settings) Full HD, High (Check settings) Full HD, Ultra (Check settings) Average FPS 298 fps 226 fps 212 fps 204 fps The FPS results in the four tested titles are very good, but not as high as the ones of the MSI Vector GP78 HX (13V) with the same 175W GeForce RTX 4090. If you want to use the MUX switch, you have to select the dGPU mode. [eBook Guide + Tools] How to MAX OUT your Laptop Temperatures and comfort, Battery Life 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 i9-13980HX (55W TDP) 0:02 - 0:10 sec 0:15 - 0:30 sec 10:00 - 15:00 min Lenovo Legion 9i Gen 8 (16″ Intel) 3.68 GHz @ 2.96 GHz @ 74°C @ 165W 3.64 GHz @ 2.99 GHz @ 83°C @ 165W 3.16 GHz @ 2.57 GHz @ 89°C @ 122W MSI Vector GP78 HX (13V) "Extreme Performance" preset 4.61 GHz @ 2.58 GHz @ 77°C @ 220W 4.45 GHz @ 2.52 GHz @ 83°C @ 203W 3.86 GHz @ 2.41 GHz @ 83°C @ 148W MSI Vector GP78 HX (13V) "Balanced" preset 4.48 GHz @ 2.51 GHz @ 78°C @ 215W 4.34 GHz @ 2.49 GHz @ 82°C @ 195W 3.77 GHz @ 2.35 GHz @ 83°C @ 139W ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (G834, 2023) 3.53 GHz @ 2.96 GHz @ 76°C @ 147W 3.46 GHz @ 2.91 GHz @ 82°C @ 142W 3.35 GHz @ 2.81 GHz @ 84°C @ 133W In short and medium loads, the Core i9-13980HX inside this Lenovo gadget can maintain higher clocks than the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (G834, 2023). No matter the load, the MSI Vector GP78 HX (13V) has the upper hand in terms of P core frequencies and power limits but the Legion 9i can offer a higher E core clock. Still, considering the fact that the Lenovo device is a 16-incher while the other two machines in the table below are bigger and thicker, we can conclude that the cooling of the Legion 9i is capable. Real-life gaming NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 2 min) GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 30 min) Lenovo Legion 9i Gen 8 (16″ Intel) 1835 MHz @ 76°C @ 174W 1832 MHz @ 78°C @ 174W ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 17 G733 (2023) 1871 MHz @ 70°C @ 172W 1881 MHz @ 74°C @ 172W MSI Vector GP78 HX (13V) "Extreme Performance" preset 1955 MHz @ 71°C @ 168W 1950 MHz @ 73°C @ 168W MSI Vector GP78 HX (13V) "Balanced" preset 1719 MHz @ 70°C @ 155W 1705 MHz @ 74°C @ 154W The GeForce RTX 4090 can sustain a 174W TGP and 1832 MHz core clock after 30 minutes of gaming. Comfort during full load The noise under load isn't super intrusive, it's on the limit, but it's okay for gaming. If the fans are set to Auto mode, their maximum rotating speed is in the 3600 - 3800 RPM range which isn't that noisy. If you bump the speed manually to the max, you can expect 5400 RPM for the CPU and GPU fan, and 9000 RPM for the GPU Power fan. During gaming or heavy CPU stress, the whole base feels warm but not scorching hot which is comfortable enough for playing games. Four power modes are available in the Lenovo Vantage app. 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. This notebook's 99.99Wh battery lasts for 4 hours and 21 minutes either Web browsing or video playback. To achieve that, you have to use the iGPU-only mode, select the "Balanced" preset, untick the GPU OC option, and turn on the Adaptive Refresh Rate function. Disassembly, Upgrade options, and Maintenance If you want to have a sneak peek at the powerful internals, you have to undo 8 Phillips-head screws. After that, you can pop the bottom panel with a thin prying tool starting from the back. You don't have to pry the front side, raise the plate carefully until you hear a slight click sound and you can lift it away from the chassis. Here's how the bottom plate looks on the inside. The battery is a big 99.99Wh unit. To remove it, pull out the connector before undoing the six Phillips-head screws that are keeping the model in place. The capacity is enough for 4 hours and 21 minutes either Web browsing or video playback. The SSD section is protected by a metal plate. There are three thermal pads on the inside of the shroud - two for the NVMes and one for the Wi-Fi card. The two M.2 slots are compatible with Gen 4 SSDs. RAID 0 is also supported. Because the motherboard is inverted, the two RAM slots are placed on the other side of the board. They fit up to 32GB of DDR5-6400 MHz RAM or 64GB of DDR5-5600 MHz RAM. Part of the hybrid Legion Coldfront thermal system is visible. It comprises liquid and air cooling. We can see three fans and five heat sinks, there rest is hidden on the other side of the mainboard. Interestingly, the liquid cooling isn't always active. It runs over the GPU VRAM and it kicks in when the video card reaches 84°C. In our case, this didn't happen because the maximum reached temperature during testing is 78°C. Storage performance Our laptop is equipped with two 1TB SAMSUNG MZVL21T0HCLR-00BL2 in RAID 0 mode. Below you can see some benchmarks of these Gen 4 SSDs. Verdict The biggest advantage of the Lenovo Legion 9i Gen 8 (16″, Intel) is the compact dimensions (for a top-tier gaming laptop) combined with high-end hardware. It's not a heavy 30 mm 18-incher - it weighs a bit over 2.5 kilos and has a profile under 19 mm. You get only top-of-the-line hardware including the Intel Core i9-13980HX and you can get one of the two most powerful NVIDIA Ada Lovelace GPUs with 175W TGPs. Speaking of which, the performance of this device is expectedly great. It feels blazing fast for casual tasks such as Web browsing, social media, or watching YouTube videos. The capable hybrid cooling solution allows good CPU clock and power limits under load as well as 174W GPU TGP after half an hour of gaming. The temperature of both chips is always under control. The noise under load is adequate considering the hardware - the fans aren't quiet during gaming but they aren't as loud as a vacuum cleaner. Our only concern is the implementation if the liquid cooling that turns on only when the video card reaches 84°C. During our testing, the graphics card core wasn't close to this thermal limit so the water cooling wasn't active at all. That's a bit of a strange case. The FPS values in the tested heavy gaming titles are good. Expectedly, no game can challenge this powerhouse, even on Ultra details. Some other laptops can achieve a bit higher scores but they are noticeably thicker and heavier than the Legion 9i. The next thing that impresses us is the display. The 16" 3.2K 16:10 Mini LED panel (CSOT MNG007ZA2-2 (CSO1629)) has 100% sRGB and 98% DCI-P3 coverage and great color-accuracy out-of-the-box. You can enhance it even further with our "Design and Gaming" profile to an average dE value of just 0.6 which is a mind-blowing result. So, this laptop is a multipurpose machine that can also be used for color-sensitive work. The screen also out-of-this-world contrast ratio of 16300:1 and wide viewing angles. The only downside here is the PWM usage but our "Health-Guard" profile can make your life easier if you plan to use the notebook for long hours. The build quality is corresponding to the high price of the machine. You have a unique-looking lid made of forged carbon chips and a magnesium-aluminium base. It's hard to ask for more in this section. For future upgrades, you get two SODIMM slots for a fast 32GB DDR5-6400 MHz RAM or if you need more memory, you can opt for 64GB of DDR5-5600 MHZ. Unfortunately, the RAM slots aren't visible because they are positioned on the other side of the inverted motherboard. We were hoping for at least one Gen 5 SSD slot but at the end of the day, you can rely on two Gen 4 slots. The connectivity and the I/O are on point - five USB ports including two Thunderbolt 4's and an SD card reader. The input devices are comfortable and there is an E-shutter for the Web camera. The laptop offers plenty of RGBs that can glow in different colors but if you don't like such extras, you can turn off the illumination entirely. The Lenovo Legion 9i Gen 8 (16″, Intel) is a powerhouse of a notebook that has compact dimensions for a gaming machine, high-end hardware, tons of ports, a comfortable keyboard, good build quality, and a great 3.2K Mini LED display. You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/lenovo-legion-9-16-gen-8/