This ThinkPad feature is missing on Lenovo's Legion laptop series

A common critique of Lenovo these days is that they are watering down their ThinkPad series design wise, to make them closer to the other Lenovo laptop brands. There is definitely some truth to that, at least in terms of looks. However, under the hood, some differences between the ThinkPads, which are mostly designed by Lenovo's US and Japanese teams, and Lenovo's consumer brands, which are designed by Lenovo China, still persist.

We recently reviewed the Lenovo Legion 5 15AGP11, a mid-range gaming laptop. Legion is one of the more popular Lenovo consumer brands, and probably the one that comes closest to ThinkPad in terms of brand-recognition. On the surface, there are some similarities, like the similar looking keyboard, as well as the camera bump on the lid that all recent ThinkPads also sport. Like many of the ThinkPads, the Legion also has a good port selection, and offers the user upgradeability options.

Lenovo Legion: Upgradeable, but careful with the screws!

When you want to access the internals, there are a total of ten screws that have to be removed. This is where the Legion differs from a ThinkPad, betraying its consumer heritage: On recent ThinkPads, the screws of the bottom cover are captive, they always stay inside the cover, even after they are loosened. On the Legion, this is not so, as the screws come right out.

This may seem like an insignificant difference, but it just shows the attention to detail the ThinkPad designers have: If the screws come out, they can get lost, leading to them missing, potentially impacting the integrity of the laptop. It also makes servicing a ThinkPad, made for corporate fleets and repairability, significantly easier.