Lenovo's Legion 7a 16 is too expensive at $2049 when the Legion 5 15 offers the same gaming performance for $1350
We just reviewed Lenovo's new gaming laptop Legion 7a 16 Gen 11 and the manufacturer managed to reduce the weight of the new model by around 200 grams, so the 16-inch gamer weighs less than 1.8 kg. If you are looking for a very mobile machine, you have found your device. You also get a very good OLED screen with high peak brightness and high-frequency PWM flickering, which should not be an issue for most users. During our review, however, we already mentioned some disadvantages over the previous model, including the lower performance (both CPU as well as GPU) or the lack of replaceable memory, even though this would be possible with the Zen5 processor.
In addition to these issues, the price is probably the biggest problem and we can definitely see the impact of the current memory/storage prices, because the RRP for the SKU with the GeForce RTX 5060 is $2049. We recommended the previous generation of the Legion 7 16 as an alternative, because it is a bit cheaper. But are these prices really justified for the amount of gaming performance you get?
This brings us to the slightly smaller Lenovo Legion 5 15 G10 for $1350, which we reviewed last year with the older AMD Zen 4 processor (you can also get it with the Intel Core i7-13650HX) and it is still pretty portable with a weight under 2 kg. It also uses the mobile GeForce RTX 5060, but with a higher TGP of 115 vs. 95 Watts on the current Legion 7a 16. This compensates for the slightly lower performance of the Zen 4 CPU, which is also noticeable in the gaming benchmarks below, where both models are virtually identical.
| Performance rating - Percent | |
| Lenovo Legion 7 16 AGP11 | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 15AHP G10 | |
| Cyberpunk 2077 - 1920x1080 Ultra Preset (FSR off) | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 15AHP G10 | |
| Lenovo Legion 7 16 AGP11 | |
| Baldur's Gate 3 - 1920x1080 Ultra Preset AA:T | |
| Lenovo Legion 7 16 AGP11 | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 15AHP G10 | |
| F1 24 - 1920x1080 Ultra High Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
| Lenovo Legion 7 16 AGP11 | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 15AHP G10 | |
| F1 25 - 1920x1080 Ultra High Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
| Lenovo Legion 7 16 AGP11 | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 15AHP G10 | |
| GTA V - 1920x1080 Highest AA:4xMSAA + FX AF:16x | |
| Lenovo Legion 7 16 AGP11 | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 15AHP G10 | |
| Final Fantasy XV Benchmark - 1920x1080 High Quality | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 15AHP G10 | |
| Lenovo Legion 7 16 AGP11 | |
| Strange Brigade - 1920x1080 ultra AA:ultra AF:16 | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 15AHP G10 | |
| Lenovo Legion 7 16 AGP11 | |
| Dota 2 Reborn - 1920x1080 ultra (3/3) best looking | |
| Lenovo Legion 7 16 AGP11 | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 15AHP G10 | |
| X-Plane 11.11 - 1920x1080 high (fps_test=3) | |
| Lenovo Legion 5 15AHP G10 | |
| Lenovo Legion 7 16 AGP11 | |
The Legion 5 15 does not offer Advanced Optimus, G-Sync or VRR, but the image quality of the 165 Hz OLED panel is subjectively outstanding and just as good (which also includes the peak brightness of more than 1000 nits). Personally, we would not pay that much more for these features, especially since you can even get the Legion 5i 15 with the faster RTX 5070 for $1429 on Amazon right now.
All in all, the new Legion 7a 16 Gen 11 is in a tough spot as long as the previous Gen 10 models are still available. Please see our comprehensive review for more information about the new Legion 7a 16 Gen 11.
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