Lenovo Legion 5i (16, Gen 9) review – It Crushes the Competition with a Record-Breaking Stress Test


Design and construction

The Lenovo Legion 5i (16″, Gen 9) looks clean and mature. The design isn’t too gamer-ish and the Luna grey color contributes to a more stealthy appearance. The anodized finish isn’t a fingerprint magnet. The lid is made of aluminum while the rest is plastic. Well, we were hoping for an all-metal chassis but on the bright side, the rigidity is on point. It’s almost impossible to press down the lid in the middle and you can twist the unit but not too much. The base is solid, we saw a bit of flex below the keyboard but it’s hard to notice that during normal usage.

The lid can be opened with a single hand and that happens in a very smooth way thanks to the protrusion at the top and the well-tuned hinge mechanism. The device stops the scales at 2.30 kilos and the profile is 19.7-25.2 mm. That seems normal for a 16-incher with a big cooling solution.

The bezels that surround the 1600p display are very thin and that’s why the laptop looks up-to-date. The “hump” houses a 1080p Web camera with an E-shutter switch that is placed on the right side of the laptop.

The max angle of the opening is close to the 180-degree mark.

The keyboard can glow in a single white color or you can pick the optional 4-Zone RGB unit. No complaints regarding the board – the keycaps are grippy and they offer long travel and clicky feedback. We are happy to see full-sized Arrow keys and a NumPad section. All this makes the keyboard suitable for both typing and gaming.

The touchpad is decently sized – 75 x 120 mm. The Mylar surface isn’t among the smoothest but the accuracy of the pad is good.

The bottom plate is business as usual – three rubber feet, two speaker cutouts, and a big ventilation grill. The heat is being exhausted via two vents on the back of the laptop.

Ports

On the left, there is a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port with an Always On function, two USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 2) ports that support DisplayPort 1.4 (the former also offers 140W PowerDelivery), and an Audio combo jack. The back houses an HDMI 2.1 for up to 8K 60Hz external displays and a power connector. On the right, you get a LAN, an E-shutter switch, a 3-in-1 microSD card reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC), and two USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports.



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