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MagyarLenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 laptop review: Slimmer than the Razer Blade 16
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7i Gen 8 replaces last year's Legion Slim 7i Gen 7 with newer 13th gen Raptor Lake-H CPUs, Nvidia Ada Lovelace GPUs, and a revised chassis design. It complements the thicker and more powerful Legion Pro 7 series.
Our review unit is a higher-end configuration with the Core i9-13900H, 140 W GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, and 2560 x 1600 240 Hz IPS display for approximately $1600 USD retail. Other SKUs are available with the lesser Core i7-13700H, RTX 4060, or higher resolution 3200 x 2000 165 Hz display starting at about $1500.
Competitors to the Legion Slim 7i G8 include other thin-and-light 16-inch gaming laptops like the Razer Blade 16, HP Omen 16, Asus ROG Zephyrus M16, or the Alienware x16 R1.
More Lenovo reviews:
Potential Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90 % | 07/2023 | Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 i9-13900H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU | 2.1 kg | 19.9 mm | 16.00" | 2560x1600 | |
| 87.4 % | 06/2023 | HP Omen 16-wf000 i7-13700HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU | 2.4 kg | 23.6 mm | 16.10" | 2560x1440 | |
| 88.4 % | 06/2023 | Alienware x16 R1 i9-13900HK, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU | 2.6 kg | 18.57 mm | 16.00" | 2560x1600 | |
| 88.8 % | 06/2023 | Lenovo Legion Pro 7 RTX4090 i9-13900HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU | 2.7 kg | 26 mm | 16.00" | 2560x1600 | |
| 88.4 % | 03/2023 | Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ i9-13980HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU | 2.4 kg | 30.4 mm | 16.00" | 2560x1600 | |
| 91.2 % | 02/2023 | Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 i9-13950HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU | 2.4 kg | 21.99 mm | 16.00" | 2560x1600 |
Case — Now With More Ventilation Grilles
The chassis may appear similar to last year's Legion Slim 7i 16 G7 from the front, but most of the external changes are along the back and bottom sides. The rear edge, for example, is now flat for a cleaner look while the ventilation grilles are noticeably larger this time around for improved cooling.
Chassis materials are otherwise the same gray aluminum finish and feel as seen on other Legion 7 models. The base remains rigid despite the thin profile and the lid is relatively firm as well. The small hinges aren't as solid as the larger ones on the Asus ROG Strix G16, but they allow for a full 180-degree opening which is uncommon on gaming laptops.
Lenovo doesn't call it the Legion Slim 7 for nothing. When compared to the Legion Pro 7, our Slim version is significantly lighter by 600 g and noticeably thinner by over 6 mm. In fact, the Legion Slim 7 is one of the thinnest and lightest 16-inch gaming laptops available second only to the slightly thinner and lighter MSI GS66.
Connectivity — Thunderbolt 4 Support
Port options are varied with most along the rear edge much like on the Alienware series. Unlike on the Alienware, however, the two USB-C ports on our Lenovo are along the left edge for easier access.
Note that only one of the two USB-C ports supports Thunderbolt 4. If certain accessories don't work on one port, then be sure to try the other. Our Lepow external monitor, for example, would work on the USB-C 3.2 port but not the USB-C Thunderbolt port.
SD Card Reader
Transfer rates through the SD card reader are average at around 80 MB/s with our UHS-II test card which is about half the speed of the card reader on the Blade 16.
| SD Card Reader | |
| average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Alienware x16 R1 (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
| Alienware x16 R1 (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
Communication
An Intel AX211 comes standard for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity. Performance is steady and reliable when paired to our 6 GHz Asus AXE11000 network.
| Networking | |
| iperf3 transmit AXE11000 | |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7 RTX4090 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 | |
| HP Omen 16-wf000 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| iperf3 receive AXE11000 | |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7 RTX4090 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| HP Omen 16-wf000 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 | |
| iperf3 transmit AXE11000 6GHz | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 | |
| HP Omen 16-wf000 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| iperf3 receive AXE11000 6GHz | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 | |
| HP Omen 16-wf000 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
Webcam
The 2 MP webcam remains the same as on last year's model. There is no IR support, but a webcam kill switch comes standard.
Maintenance
The bottom panel is secured by eight Phillips screws for easy removal. Owners have direct access to two M.2 2280 PCIe4 slots, WLAN module, and battery. RAM consists of 16 GB of soldered DDR5-5200 plus one expandable SODIMM slot underneath the aluminum shielding near the center.
Accessories And Warranty
There are no extras in the box other than the AC adapter and paperwork. The standard one-year limited manufacturer warranty applies if purchased in the US.
Input Devices — Spacious With Per-Key RGB Lighting
The keyboard and clickpad have not changed when compared to last year's Legion Slim 7i G7 and so the UI experience remains the same. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as the 1.5 mm key travel and firm feedback are still more comfortable for typing when compared to the shallower keys of the Blade 16. We also appreciate the large arrow keys since these same keys are often frustratingly small on other gaming laptops like the Asus ROG Strix series or the MSI Pulse series.
Display — Identical To The Legion Pro 7
Two panel options are available as follows both with G-Sync support:
- 2560 x 1600, 240 Hz, 5 ms response times, 100% sRGB, 500 nits, Pantone certified
- 3000 x 2000, 165 Hz, 3 ms response times, 100% DCI-P3, 430 nits, Pantone certified
Our 1600p configuration comes with the exact same MNG007DA2-3 IPS panel as found on the larger and more expensive Legion Pro 7 for an identical viewing experience between the two models. This is a high-end panel fit for both gaming and amateur graphics editing despite being the base option. Backlight bleeding, however, is more noticeable than we would like as shown by the screenshot below.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 86 %
Center on Battery: 474.6 cd/m²
Contrast: 1217:1 (Black: 0.39 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 2.12 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5.1, calibrated: 0.57
ΔE Greyscale 2.8 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
72.5% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
99.4% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
70.4% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.22
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 CSOT T3 MNG007DA2-3, IPS, 2560x1600, 16.00 | HP Omen 16-wf000 BOE0B7D, IPS, 2560x1440, 16.10 | Alienware x16 R1 BOE NE16NZ4, IPS, 2560x1600, 16.00 | Lenovo Legion Pro 7 RTX4090 MNG007DA2-3 (CSO1628), IPS, 2560x1600, 16.00 | Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ TL160ADMP03-0, IPS, 2560x1600, 16.00 | Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 CSOT T3 MNG007DA4-1, IPS, 2560x1600, 16.00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | -1% | 21% | -1% | 19% | 22% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 70.4 | 69 -2% | 99.2 41% | 69.5 -1% | 97 38% | 98.5 40% |
| sRGB Coverage | 99.4 | 99.2 0% | 100 1% | 99.8 0% | 99.9 1% | 100 1% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 72.5 | 71.2 -2% | 88.6 22% | 71.6 -1% | 84.9 17% | 89.7 24% |
| Response Times | 27% | 21% | 29% | 42% | 5% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 12 ? | 4.6 ? 62% | 5.1 ? 57% | 10.9 ? 9% | 5.1 ? 57% | 6.6 ? 45% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 8.9 ? | 9.7 ? -9% | 10.3 ? -16% | 4.6 ? 48% | 6.6 ? 26% | 12 ? -35% |
| PWM Frequency | ||||||
| Screen | -5% | -11% | -5% | -4% | -12% | |
| Brightness middle | 474.6 | 310.9 -34% | 302.2 -36% | 491 3% | 470 -1% | 456.8 -4% |
| Brightness | 445 | 296 -33% | 285 -36% | 472 6% | 459 3% | 437 -2% |
| Brightness Distribution | 86 | 91 6% | 89 3% | 91 6% | 93 8% | 83 -3% |
| Black Level * | 0.39 | 0.35 10% | 0.26 33% | 0.4 -3% | 0.42 -8% | 0.35 10% |
| Contrast | 1217 | 888 -27% | 1162 -5% | 1228 1% | 1119 -8% | 1305 7% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 2.12 | 2.18 -3% | 1.63 23% | 1.6 25% | 1.86 12% | 3.7 -75% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 4.73 | 3.58 24% | 4.13 13% | 5.15 -9% | 3.87 18% | 6.42 -36% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 0.57 | 0.52 9% | 1.17 -105% | 0.97 -70% | 0.93 -63% | 0.66 -16% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 2.8 | 2.8 -0% | 2.5 11% | 3 -7% | 2.7 4% | 2.6 7% |
| Gamma | 2.22 99% | 2.18 101% | 2.23 99% | 2.211 100% | 2.246 98% | 2.3 96% |
| CCT | 6542 99% | 6002 108% | 6590 99% | 6979 93% | 6711 97% | 6108 106% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 7% /
0% | 10% /
0% | 8% /
1% | 19% /
7% | 5% /
-3% |
* ... smaller is better
The display comes pre-calibrated with average grayscale and color deltaE values of just 2.8 and 2.12, respectively. Calibrating it ourselves with an X-Rite colorimeter would improve these averages even further to just 0.8 and 0.57, respectively. An end-user calibration is therefore not entirely necessary, but our calibrated ICM profile is nevertheless available above for free for interested users.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 8.9 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 5.1 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 3.8 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows fast response rates in our tests and should be suited for gaming. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 18 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (21.8 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 12 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 6 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 6 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.2 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 19 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (34.3 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected |  | ||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 18694 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
The display is noticeably brighter than on the Omen 16 or Alienware x16 R1 for easier readability outdoors. In fact, its maximum brightness setting is only about 10 percent dimmer than on the MacBook Pro 16.
Performance — 13th Gen Core i9
Testing Conditions
We set our unit to dGPU mode and Performance mode with both GPU Overclock and Overdrive active prior to running the benchmarks below. Lenovo Vantage is the control center for adjusting performance, updates, warranty, RGB, and other features.
Advanced Optimus or MUX is supported.
It's important to note that our unit has an unoccupied SODIMM slot and so it is running on 16 GB of single-channel soldered RAM only. AIDA64 memory benchmark results are therefore much lower than on most other gaming laptops.
Processor
The Raptor Lake-H Core i9-13900H offers a respectable 25 percent boost in multi-thread performance over the Alder Lake-H Core i9-12900H. Most notably, it performs essentially identically to the more expensive Core i7-13700HX and Core i9-13900HK. If you ever find yourself deciding between any of these three 13th gen CPUs, then the Core i9-13900H option would be the best bang for the buck.
Downgrading to the base Core i7-13700H configuration is expected to decrease processor performance by about 20 to 25 percent.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
* ... smaller is better
AIDA64: FP32 Ray-Trace | FPU Julia | CPU SHA3 | CPU Queen | FPU SinJulia | FPU Mandel | CPU AES | CPU ZLib | FP64 Ray-Trace | CPU PhotoWorxx
| Performance Rating | |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7 RTX4090 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| HP Omen 16-wf000 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13900H | |
| AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7 RTX4090 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 | |
| HP Omen 16-wf000 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13900H (6788 - 19557, n=19) | |
| AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 | |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7 RTX4090 | |
| HP Omen 16-wf000 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13900H (6108 - 11631, n=19) | |
| AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7 RTX4090 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 | |
| HP Omen 16-wf000 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13900H (3655 - 10716, n=19) | |
| AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 | |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7 RTX4090 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| HP Omen 16-wf000 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13900H (10871 - 50488, n=19) | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 | |
System Performance
PCMark results are excellent with results that are comparable to other high-end gaming laptops. However, we experienced wake-from-sleep issues where the laptop would frequently take up to 10 seconds before the screen would properly turn on compared to just a couple of seconds at most on other laptops.
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
| PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7 RTX4090 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 | |
| HP Omen 16-wf000 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13900H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (7738 - 13575, n=7) | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| CrossMark / Responsiveness | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13900H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (1037 - 1952, n=6) | |
| HP Omen 16-wf000 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 | |
| PCMark 10 Score | 8538 points | |
Help | ||
| AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7 RTX4090 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| HP Omen 16-wf000 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13900H (37448 - 74486, n=19) | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7 RTX4090 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| HP Omen 16-wf000 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13900H (41599 - 75433, n=19) | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 | |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7 RTX4090 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13900H (36152 - 88505, n=19) | |
| HP Omen 16-wf000 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 | |
| Average Intel Core i9-13900H (82.3 - 101.7, n=19) | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| HP Omen 16-wf000 | |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7 RTX4090 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 | |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
LatencyMon reveals DPC issues related to the Nvidia NVLDDMKM driver much like what we observed on the Legion Pro 7 even after several retries. 4K video playback at 60 FPS is nearly perfect with just one dropped frame during our test video.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7 RTX4090 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 | |
| HP Omen 16-wf000 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices — Up To Two M.2 SSDs
Our unit ships with a 1 TB Samsung PM9A1 which is one of the fastest consumer-based PCIe4 x4 drives available. Unfortunately, transfer rates would throttle from 6700 MB/s to as low as 3300 MB/s when stressed as shown by our table below to suggest poor heat dissipation. The Razer Blade 14 ships with the exact same Samsung SSD and it would exhibit no such problems.
| Drive Performance Rating - Percent | |
| Alienware x16 R1 | |
| Lenovo Legion Slim 7i 16 Gen 8 | |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7 RTX4090 | |
| HP Omen 16-wf000 | |
| Razer Blade 16 Early 2023 | |
| Asus ROG Strix G16 G614JZ | |