The best Lenovo gaming laptops strike a balance between price and performance that set them apart from the rest. The Hong Kong-based manufacturer has a long history of producing some of the industry’s most impressive notebooks, and its gaming selection is by no means failing to live up to the brand’s high expectations.
Lenovo isn’t the first brand that comes to mind when you think of gaming laptops. When I think “Lenovo,” I think of premium 2-in-1s like the Yoga 9i Gen 7 or some of the best ThinkPads to have graced the business laptop market. However, Lenovo’s contributions to the gaming space are also among the best with the manufacturer’s smaller catalog of options focusing on quality over quantity.
At Laptop Mag, we’ve rounded up our selection of the best of the best from Lenovo’s gaming lineup to help you make the right choice when it comes to investing in your next battle station. Whether you’re looking for an entry point into the world of PC gaming or want to flex your wallet on a hardcore gaming machine, these are the best Lenovo gaming laptops in 2022.
What are the best Lenovo gaming laptops?
The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro was released in 2021 but continues to shine with its brilliant hardware and gaming performance. The Legion 5 takes the powerful performance of an AMD processor and pairs it with impressive Nvidia RTX 30-series graphics to create one of the most well-rounded gaming laptops you’re likely to find within its price bracket. Unleash the power of the Legion 5 Pro onto your Steam library and you’ll enjoy stunning visuals alongside impressively high and stable frame rates.
Lenovo’s fourth revision of the ThinkPad P1 is a solid business laptop with a fantastic keyboard and a beautiful 4K screen. A sturdy 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor keeps things relentlessly ticking, and pairing that with up to 64GB of RAM will create the ultimate portable business workstation. Even the heaviest of workloads will fall before the might of the ThinkPad P1… Except when they won’t, because the ThinkPad also has an awesome RTX 3070 GPU capable of high-quality graphics and top frame counts for ultra-smooth gameplay. Say goodbye to your productivity, and hello to Al Mazrah as you shave hours off of your workday chasing wins in Warzone.
Lenovo’s refresh of the IdeaPad line of gaming laptops gives customers a fantastic entry-level option when it comes to PC gaming. The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i has everything you need to dive straight into the action, including a fantastic 12th Gen Intel processor, up to 16GB of RAM, and solid graphics from an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU. Add to that the IdeaPad’s silky smooth 15.6-inch display with up to a 165Hz refresh rate and you’re left with a machine performing well above the expectations of its $1,000 price tag.
The best Lenovo gaming laptop
While AMD and Nvidia continue to battle it out for dominance in the tech scene, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is an example of how good things can be when they come together. The Legion line of gaming laptops are among the most premium offerings from the Hong Kong-based OEM, and when it comes to selecting the best components for them, Lenovo isn’t picking sides.
Outfitted with an AMD 5000-series CPU, the Legion 5 Pro is already a formidable machine for most computing tasks. The Ryzen 7 processor is a multi-tasking monster, capable of juggling impressive workloads while remaining energy efficient — contributing heavily to the Legion 5 Pro’s respectable battery life when compared to other laptops in this category. However, add in Nvidia’s impressive GeForce RTX 3070 GPU and you have a machine that can do it all — and do it in style.
In our review, we put the Legion 5 Pro to the test against some of the most demanding AAA games on the market and Nvidia’s GPU offered buttery-smooth visuals at over 60 fps throughout. Better still, each of those frames was perfectly showcased by the Legion 5 Pro’s wonderfully vivid 16-inch screen with its super-speedy 165Hz refresh rate.
See our full Lenovo Legion 5 Pro review
The best do-it-all Lenovo laptop
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 isn’t technically a gaming laptop. In fact, we rate it as one of the best business laptops currently on the market. That being said, the inclusion of a powerful 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor alongside an Nvidia RTX 30-series GPU leaves the potential for some serious gaming on the table — and yet another feather in the cap of Lenovo’s impressive notebook.
Gaming laptops can be a pretty big investment, so why not invest in a laptop with the potential to do just about everything else at the same time? The ThinkPad X1 Extreme is exactly that, thanks to its spritely SSD, volant video transcoding, incredible typing experience, and overall punchy performance.
Lenovo’s ThinkPad is targeted at professionals. With that in mind, it’s the ideal machine for video editors, programmers, and designers. However, there’s truth in the saying that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Thankfully, you can enjoy the best of both worlds with the ThinkPad X1 Extreme, a do-it-all device that will get you through your workload during the day and your Steam library in the evening.
See our full Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 review.
Best 16-inch Lenovo gaming laptop
Make a checklist of all the things you’d want from a gaming laptop and then see how the Lenovo Legion 7i measures up. If your judgment is anything like ours, you’ll be amazed you didn’t catch Lyme disease in the midst of so many ticks. It may be missing out on Intel’s latest Alder Lake processors, but Lenovo’s machine is by no means outdated, remaining a stalwart choice for those seeking an excellent gaming experience for a price south of $2,000.
The Legion 7i’s blistering performance comes from the combination of an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 graphics. During our benchmark testing, we let the Legion 7i’s incredible gaming potential loose on a swath of graphically demanding titles where it demolished the mainstream gaming laptop average in frames per second — even at max settings.
If the proof of the pudding is in the eating, then your eyes will be set for a feast, thanks to a wonderfully bright and colorful 16-inch, WQXGA screen. Lenovo’s display runs at a rapid 165Hz, resulting in silky-smooth pictures with minimal ghosting and screen tearing. With its sleek gunmetal grey design, RGB lighting, and mighty muscle, the Lenovo Legion 7i is more than worthy of a place on any prospective buyer’s shortlist.
Read our full Lenovo Legion 7i (Gen 6, Intel) review.
The best 4K Lenovo laptop
Here we find another ThinkPad designed for the business world with a suspiciously powerful GPU that screams “let’s slack off and play games.” The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 4 is an ideal candidate for a gaming rig if you don’t mind it looking a little bland from the outside. Then again, if you’re into Planet Zoo-esque business sims, this may only add to the immersion.
Another thing adding to your immersion is the ThinkPad P1’s stunning display. Both bright and crisp, the P1’s 4K screen offers dazzling pictures that’ll make every frame of gameplay look worthy of a screenshot. The only downside of which may be the display’s 60Hz cap, which won’t allow you to reap the benefits of super high frame rates, and in turn, limit its potential for competitive shooters. However, the power behind the P1 is more than capable of making full use of the screen to supply a smooth and steady 60 fps experience across a wide spectrum of modern AAA games.
The source of that power? A polygon crunching Nvidia Geforce RTX 3070 Max-Q GPU backed up by a potent 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor with up to 64GB of RAM. Yes, the ThinkPad P1 may look unassuming to the naked eye, but beneath its unflinchingly mild-mannered exterior sits some solidly, souped-up tech for one of the best gaming experiences around.
Read our full Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 4 review.
The best entry-level Lenovo gaming laptop
Kitted out with Intel’s latest 12th Gen Alder Lake mobile processors, Lenovo’s latest revision of the IdeaPad Gaming 3i is a performance powerhouse. This entry-level gaming laptop is a great fit for those on a budget with a thirst for the latest games. While you won’t be hitting ultra graphics on more demanding titles, the IdeaPad’s RTX 3050 Ti graphics will see you sailing past the minimum and recommended specs for a wide range of modern titles.
Games that make use of Nvidia’s DLSS technology will result in you squeezing even more performance out of the IdeaPad’s entry-level GPU. DLSS allows you to render games at a lower resolution before using AI to upscale the image to your current resolution, resulting in faster frame rates without impacting image quality. That increase in frames per second results in a smoother gaming experience, especially on the IdeaPad Gaming 3i’s 15.6-inch display thanks to its speedy refresh rates of up to 165Hz.
If you’re looking for a gaming laptop that won’t break the bank, then Lenovo’s IdeaPad is a great match. A sub-$1000 price tag seems like a steal when you take into account its powerful internals and speedy screen. However, every budget laptop has its drawbacks and you will have to live with a relatively weak battery life, dull pictures, and an all-plastic build.
