Budget-friendly Lenovo IdeaPad L340 coming with GTX 1650 graphics for $869

If the Lenovo Legion series is out of your price range, then this new gaming-centric IdeaPad L model may be just for you. Called the Lenovo IdeaPad L340, the entry-level gaming laptop takes a more subtle and traditional look in contrast to the larger and gamer-y design of the Legion laptops.

The L340 will launch in 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch SKUs with up to the Core i7-9750H CPU and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 GPU. This is in contrast to the 2019 Legion refresh which will sport the more powerful GTX 1660 Ti instead along with a longer list of luxury extras. Keep in mind that this new IdeaPad L340 utilizes almost the same chassis design as last year's IdeaPad L340 but now with discrete Nvidia graphics.

Other notable features are Intel Optane and a cool blue lighting color scheme to contrast the more powerful red Legion Y7000. 

Based on our short time with the unit, the L340 is definitely targeting budget gamers who want a no-frills solution for the latest games. It's thinner than we were expecting and certainly much more portable than the Gigabyte Sabre series or Dell G3/G5 series that the L340 will be directly competing against. We fully expect the Turing GTX 1650 to perform similarly to the last generation Pascal GTX 1050 Ti. For a budget 1080p gaming machine, that should be sufficient even for the most demanding titles.

The 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch L340 will launch in May for a starting price of $869 and $919, respectively. Despite the naming, the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 series is not a part of the Legion family nor is it related to the ThinkPad L Series.