Lenovo Legion 5i Pro 2022 Review (Core i7-12700H, RTX 3060)

In the gaming industry, every manufacturer is continuously introducing new gaming machines, but not everyone can achieve a level of quality and excellent performance. However, suppose you are looking for a worth buying notebook. In that case, you can check our review section, where we have refined some excellent notebooks from many gaming laptops and other categories.

The notebook we bring for today’s review is another kind of masterpiece if you love gaming. The notebook is named Lenovo Legion 5i Pro 2022, the latest Intel’s 12th-generation H-Series CPU Powered gaming notebook with RTX 3000 series GPU. It is worth mentioning that it is the all-new 7th-generation Legion series notebook. Moreover, the model we received is the one with 2x Samsung’s 980 Pro 1TB SSDs in RAID 0 mode, maybe the best-ever laptop in terms of disk performance.

Not only that, but the notebook also has the combo of Intel Core i7-12700H CPU and RTX 3060 Mobile GPU, which ensures that all the latest games (demanding higher specs) can be carried easily. To make the review better, we have also added the comparison of the notebook with the other version powered by AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS CPU.

Under the specifications table, every notebook aspect has been discussed in detail.

Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (2022): Specifications

Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (2022): Design, Body, and Appearance

The Legion 5i Pro 2022 looks quite simple in terms of appearance and design. There is no noticeable design at all on the whole body. The model we received comes in Dark Grey. The net weight of the notebook is just 2.5kg, but it still didn’t feel heavy during the handling. Moreover, the maximum thickness of the notebook is 26.4mm, which seems acceptable being a gaming notebook. There is a large-sized LEGION logo on the display shell.

If you are looking for a significant change in design, you might find it hard as there is no significant change. We also observed (while using) that the notebook has all the aesthetics of Lenovo Legion as found in predecessor models. However, changing the display shell’s logo made the notebook look reasonable.

We have a more significant 16-inch display. The larger screen is one of the main requirements in gaming notebooks these days. However, with it, there might be chances that you lose quality in other factors like body weight and thickness, but we can say that Lenovo has designed it well; we got no complaints in terms of design, appearance, or handling of the body.

Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (2022): Display

We already mentioned that the all-new Legion 5i Pro 2022 features a bigger 16 inches 16:10 aspect ratio IPS LCD Display (same size as the previous model), supports a higher 2K+ (2560*1600p) resolution and 165Hz refresh rate.

The display also got highlights like 500nit maximum brightness, 100% sRGB color gamut, 3ms response time, Dolby Vision and Nvidia G-Sync support, and the TUV Rheinland certification for better blue light filtration. We also did a display test to check its maximum capabilities.

For testing, the Spyder X was used, on which we found the following results: 99% sRGB Color Gamut, 75% Adobe RGB Color Gamut, 75% DCI-P3 Color Gamut, and 72% NTSC Color Gamut. The screen’s maximum brightness measured was 462 nits, almost the same as the official’s statement (i.e., 500nits). The static contrast ratio is 1150:1. The measured average Delta-E value was 1.30 (3.38 highest and 0.35 lowest). Overall, the display results were quite good, meeting the requirements of a decent-level gaming experience.

Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (2022): Keyboard

On opening the notebook, the second main thing we have is the Island Style RGB Backlit keyboard which also has the numeric pad. As it is a large 16-inch notebook, the keyboard can’t be fitted into the body without a numeric pad, so the company has added it.

After the profound observation, we found that the key travel is 1.5mm, and the anti-ghosting feature is also supported to avoid accidental touches. Moreover, the size of the arrow keys is also a bit larger than other keys, which increases the ease of the gaming experience.

The keyboard also has RGB Backlit in 4-zone, which means that the keyboard has four different colors (included in RGB) in four specific areas. It is worth mentioning that this option depends on the user’s decision whether they want it or not. The model we got supports this feature.

Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (2022): Ports

The term “Expansibility” (commonly known as Ports) plays an essential role in gaming notebooks as gamers require different kinds of external I/O or storage devices. The all-new Legion 5i Pro 2022 has plenty of ports on three sides (right, left, and black).

Starting from the left side, it has only 2 Type-C ports; one of them is a Thunderbolt 4 port, while the other is a Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 port (also supports DisplayPort 1.4). On the right side, we have an E-Shutter Button (camera on/off switch), a USB Type-A 3.2 Gen1 port, and a 3.5mm headphone/mic combo jack.

The company has put enough ports for your daily usage on the backside (below the display shell): this includes an RJ45 (LAN) Port, 1x USB Type-C 3.2 Gen2 port (supports DisplayPort 1.4 and 135W Power Delivery), 1x HDMI Port, 2x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen1 port and a charging port.

With this number of ports, we are sure that there is less probability that the user might ever need to buy any dock to expand the port number. Further, we also observed that putting the LAN Port on the notebook’s backside is a positive gesture. Connecting the LAN Cable to the LAN Port doesn’t feel messy at all.

Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (2022): RAM and SSD

The model we received for review comes with a total of 16GB DDR5 Dual Channel (2*8GB SK Hynix RAM Modules). It is worth mentioning that the RAM’s frequency is clocked at 4800MHz, and the bandwidth rate is 50% higher when compared to previous DDR4 Memory. The higher bandwidth plays an important role in tremendous increases in framerate reliability and system power efficiency. Moreover, it can also be upgraded up to 32GB.

In addition to this powerful RAM, the new Legion 5i Pro (2022) also features a 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD storage, including 2x Samsung 980 Pro 1TB SSDs to form RAID 0 mode. As mentioned before, the notebook might be the most powerful (in the current market) notebook in terms of disk performance. Moreover, the company has used the OEM Version of SSD (Samsung PM9A1, Samsung 980 Pro is a retail version). However, there is no performance difference between both.

To test the SSD’s capabilities, we used the AS SSD Benchmark software. On testing, we found that the maximum read speed is 8,135MB/s while the write speed is 7,365MB/s. We also did another test with CrystalDiskMark, on which the results were even more impressive. Testing revealed that the maximum read speed is almost 13GB/s (12,992.6MB/s) while the writing speed was 10GB/s. Moreover, the 4K Random Read speed was 90MB/s, and the write speed was 238MB/s. Overall, the SSD’s result was superb. It is one of the reasons that many gamers would choose this notebook.

Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (2022): Battery and Charging

Inside the new Legion 5i Pro (2022), there is an 80Whr (5182mAh) lithium-ion battery, which also supports Rapid Charge (up to 230W). The company has also added a 230W AC Charger inside the retail packaging box of the notebook. It is worth mentioning that the battery can be fully charged in around 40 minutes (when the notebook is powered off).

We also did a short test for battery in which we used PCMark 10 Modern Office software. On completion of the trial, the measured time of battery life was around 5 hours and 42 minutes, and still, the remaining battery was 18%. On average, the battery can last for 7 hours when fully charged, which seems pretty decent timing for a gaming notebook.

Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (2022): CPU and its Benchmark

The all-new Legion 5i Pro 2022 is powered by the latest 12^th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H CPU, which features 14 cores (6 Performance cores and 8 Energy-efficient cores) and 20 threads. The six performance cores come with a 4.7GHz maximum acceleration frequency and a full core frequency of 4.1 GHz, providing a powerful gaming performance. The rest eight energy-efficient cores help provide strong multi-threading performance.

Except for the core performance, it is also worth mentioning that the CPU is based on 10nm Golden Cove architecture, while the IPC has also risen sharply. Thanks to the all-new Intel 7 Processor Technology, the core frequency can also be increased, through which the single-core performance can be more naturally improved. The addition of Hybrid Architecture and the E-Cores has taken the multi-core performance to another level. With all these circumstances, it is clear that the Intel Core i7-12700H would be the winner (with a considerable difference) compared to the Ryzen 9 6900HS.

We also did a proper benchmark test for testing the CPU’s capabilities; the comparison of it with the Ryzen 9 6900HS is also mentioned (@80W power consumption). Note: All these benchmark tests are done with beast mode turned on, in which the power consumption gets unlocked to 100W.

• CPU-Z: 748 points on Single-Core and 8098 points on Multi-Core
• Cinebench R15: 263cb on Single-Thread and 2,852cb on Multi-Threading
• Cinebench R20: 689cb on Single-Core and 7,158cb on Multi-Core
• Cinebench R23: 1,826cb on Single-Core and 17,561cb on Multi-Core

Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (2022): GPU and its Benchmarks

In addition to the latest 12^th Gen Intel Core CPU, the Legion 5i Pro (2022) also features the RTX 3060 Mobile GPU from Nvidia. The GPU is one of the latest and decent options currently available. In terms of specifications, the GPU is based on an 8nm manufacturing process, having 6 GB GDRR6 Memory (from Samsung).

After the introduction, it’s time for the benchmark test. We only did a single GPU test. We have compared the independent display direct connection (for testing GPU’s capabilities only) and the hybrid mode (including the usage of Intel Iris Xe, Integrated GPU in CPU).

3DMark Fire Strike Extreme: In hybrid mode, the RTX 3060 GPU has a graphics score of 10,685 points, while the power consumption was 135W. While in the display direct connection mode, the RTX 3060’s performance was 2% lower (compared with hybrid mode), but the max frequency was slightly higher than 2GHz, and the power consumption was the same (135W).

Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (2022): Gaming Test

The review would be incomplete without a gaming test for this notebook. In the gaming test, we again compared the performance of both hybrid mode and independent display direct connection (like we did in the GPU test). Following are the games with their benchmark results:

• Forza Horizon 5: 77fps in Hybrid Mode and 81fps in Independent Display Direct Connection Mode (4 fps higher than Hybrid Mode).
• Counter-Strike: GO: 403fps in Blended Mode, 426fps in Single-Display Direct Connection (almost 8% increase in the second mode).
• Age of Empires 4: 116fps in Hybrid Mode and 121fps in the second mode (5 fps difference).
• Gears of War 5: 86fps in hybrid mode, 89fps in independent display direct connection (3fps difference).

In the results, it is clear that the advantage of using direct connection mode is no longer as evident as it used to be. It can be seen that there is almost no difference in both ways of gaming. Possibly, the upgrade to DDR5 Memory can be the reason as the bandwidth of DDR5 Memory (clocked @4800MHz) is almost 1.5 to 2 times higher than the DDR4 Memory (clocked @3200MHz). The independent display outputs the picture through the core display in the hybrid mode, and the bandwidth bottleneck will be much smaller.

In this case, we recommend you go with hybrid mode as the difference is too small, and using the hybrid mode helps prevent overheating and reduces laptop power usage. We can also expect that the direct connection mode (of the independent display) will no longer be necessary for Intel’s 12th-generation Core CPU-powered notebooks and in the upcoming gaming computers.

Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (2022): Heat Dissipation and Stress Testing

On the teardown of the notebook, it was observed that the internal design of Legion 5i Pro (2022) is quite decent and neat; there is nothing complex in understanding the components’ placement. The heat dissipation system (named “Legion Coldfront 4.0” thermal system by Lenovo) can also be seen, including a dual-fan and four heat pipe cooling systems.

Moreover, the CPU and GPU share three heat pipes. In addition, there is a separate heat pipe for the GPU’s power supply circuit as well. It is worth mentioning that both RAM and SSD slots are covered with a metal heat sink, so there would be no heat-generating source. As said by the officials, the heat dissipation system in Legion 5i Pro (2022) has a 140% more powerful fan system with 40% thinner fan blades (compared with previous generation models). Not internally, but the exterior design of Legion 5i Pro 2022 is also best for heat dissipation as it consists of big vents on four sides (back, right, left, and bottom).

We also did a stress test to check how efficiently this notebook can manage the pressure and heat. The test is mentioned below and has been done on both CPU and GPU, combined and separately with the help of the AIDA64 Extreme Test (for CPU) and Furmark Test (for GPU).

CPU Stress Test: We also turned on the beast mode before this test. The test was conducted for 30 minutes, and the power consumption of the CPU (Core i7-12700H) was stable at 100W. The core’s frequency was 3.7GHz while the temperature reached 95°C.

GPU Stress Test: This test was conducted for 1 hour and 30 minutes. It was found that the power consumption was stable at 141W while the core temperature reached up to 80°C.

Combined Stress Test: When the test started simultaneously, the power consumption of the CPU and GPU were 45W and 130W, respectively. And the temperature of the CPU reached up to 84°C, while the GPU’s temperature was 82°C.

Summarize:

The all-new Legion 5i Pro 2022 can easily handle all the heavy games of the current era. Thanks to its more potent hardware, excellent heat dissipation system, and other components, the notebook will not disappoint in any aspect. The all-new Intel’s 12^th Gen Core i7-12700H CPU has a 12% strong performance in the single-core test while 32% in the multi-core test compared with the Ryzen 9 6900HS.

Moreover, the notebook also features the combo of DDR5 RAM clocked at 4800MHz and Samsung’s 2x PM9A1 1TB SSDs to form a RAID 0 mode. On testing, we also found that the maximum sequential read speed of SSD can reach up to 13GB/s, while the Sequential Write Speed can be up to 10GB/s. This performance can be regarded as unique in today’s notebook field.

And the final and exciting we found in this notebook is its hybrid mode performance. Generally, in other notebooks, the FPS can be increased up to 10% or higher when the direct connection of the independent display mode is turned on, but in the case of Legion 5i Pro 2022, things are a lot different. A difference of only 3% (on average) was observed when it was turned on. That’s why we recommend the consumers use hybrid mode, which helps get more battery life and less heat-producing.