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日本Lenovo Legion Slim 7i / S7 (16″ Intel, Gen 8) review – surprisingly powerful thin gaming laptop
Verdict
Well, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7i (16 Intel, Gen 8) is one of the biggest surprises of 2023. One of the main advantages of this machine is the mix of its dimensions and powerful hardware. The device weighs 2 kg and the profile thickness is 17.6-19.9 mm. This sounds great for a laptop with Raptor Lake-H processor options and NVIDIA Ada Lovelace video cards with hefty TGPs.
Our notebook is the maxed-out configuration when it comes to CPU, GPU, and RAM. Ergo, Core i9-13900H, the 140W version of RTX 4070, and 32GB of RAM. The cooling solution is capable enough to handle the powerful internals while gaming, and you can also use the machine for photo and video rendering. The Core i9 can maintain a high P and E cores clock during prolonged periods of stress and the same goes for the GeForce RTX 4070 (Laptop, 140W). The GPU chip in this laptop reaches 115W TGP and almost 2500MHz under load and that is the best-performing mobile GeForce RTX 4070 that we have tested up to date. Given the size of the machine, these results are mind-blowing.
The 1600p display with G-Sync support (BOE NE160QDM-NZ3 (BOE0BBE)) covers 96% of the sRGB color gamut and it becomes suitable for professional color-related work thanks to our Design and Gaming profile (the color accuracy reaches an average dE value of 1.0 which is awesome). The display is PWM-free so it’ll not cause an eye stain while gaming but as always, you should take a small break after an hour or two. The panel also boasts good contrast (1290:1), a high maximum brightness, comfortable viewing angles, and a 16:10 aspect ratio (so the screen is taller and you get more vertical workspace). The pixel response time is just 7.9 ms and that’s a great compliment to the 240Hz refresh rate of the panel. Given the snappy hardware, this laptop is an almost perfect gaming device that doesn’t weighs a ton.
The notebook feels good to the touch because the build quality feels premium. The machine features an aluminum build with a smooth anodized finish and overall the chassis is rigid. You can open the lid with a single hand and the bezels around the display are thin. You can bend the lid a bit if you want to do it on purpose but in general, the unit is stable. The base is sturdy and it houses a backlit keyboard that is suitable for typing and gaming. This is possible because the board has a long key travel and clicky feedback. It’s also spill-resistant, it has a NumPad and big Arrow keys. The touchpad with its glass surface offers effortless gliding and good accuracy.
The battery life is good for a potent device like this one. The huge 99.9Wh capacity is enough for 9 hours and 5 minutes of Web browsing or 7 hours and 9 minutes of video playback. In terms of upgrade options, there is 16GB of soldered memory and one SODIMM slot for dual-channel mode that can handle up to 16GB of DDR5-5200MHz RAM. For storage, you can rely on two M.2 slots compatible with Gen 4 SSDs. Speaking of which, the NVMe in our notebook is the 1TB SAMSUNG MZVL21T0HCLR-00BL2 and it’s showing great results in the benchmarks.
The I/O is quite modern, it offers a Thunderbolt 4 connector, a USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 2) port, three USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 2) ports, an Audio jack, an SD card reader, and an HDMI 2.1 connector. Yeah, Lenovo is generous when it comes to ports regarding this laptop. The Lenovo Vantage application offers plenty of customizations and you can fine-tune the device. There are three performance presets and a “Custom Mode” where you can play with the power limits of the CPU and the GPU. The two cooling fans are loud in “Performance Mode”, may be too loud for some of you. However, you can use the “Balance mode”, and if you tick the Legion AI Engine+ option, this will dynamically adjust the power limits and clocks of the processor and the video card because the integrated AI chip can detect gameplay and in-game FPS. This leads to lower noise while gaming. However, as we said, we got the most powerful configuration, so if you choose a laptop with less powerful internals, the fans should spin at lower RPM. Performance-wise, heavy games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Far Cry 6 are working great on this device and you can max out the visual quality.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7i (16 Intel, Gen 8) is an excellent gaming laptop. It has a fast IPS G-Sync display, Raptor Lake-H CPU options, NVIDIA Ada Lovelace GPU variants with high TGP values, and great cooling that ensures stable performance during gaming or working.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/lenovo-legion-slim-7i-s7-16-intel-2023/
Pros
- Great performance
- 2x M.2 PCIe x4 Gen 4 slots, 1x DDR5 RAM SODIMM slot for dual channel mode
- Fast display with quick response times (BOE NE160QDM-NZ3 (BOE0BBE))
- Covers 96% of the sRGB color gamut and has accurate color representation with our Design and Gaming profile (BOE NE160QDM-NZ3 (BOE0BBE))
- 240Hz refresh rate and G-Sync support (BOE NE160QDM-NZ3 (BOE0BBE))
- PWM-free (BOE NE160QDM-NZ3 (BOE0BBE))
- Compact and light, for a powerful gaming laptop
- Great keyboard
- Good port selection
- The Lenovo Vantage application offers plenty of customization options
- Has a MUX switch
- Capable cooling solution
- High CPU P and E cores frequencies and power limits during any kind of load
- The GPU can maintain 115W TGP and ~2500MHz core clock
- The WASD area and the palm rest zone are cool enough for comfortable gaming
- The touchpad has a smooth glass surface
Cons
- The noise levels under load are on the high side
