Lenovo Legion Slim 5i Review: It has an elegant design and a power-packed spec sheet (which you can customize), but is the Legion Slim 5i notebook the one you need?
In a largely predictable and obsessed with slimness notebook world, gaming notebooks are a flash of unpredictability, often daring to be unashamedly big, bulky, and blingy. The Lenovo Legion Slim 5i is a slightly different kettle of gaming fish in that regard. It has all the muscle you would expect in a gaming notebook. But it manages to pack into a form factor that manages to be relatively slim and stays stylish without getting outlandish. But does it deliver enough to appeal to the gaming on-the-move crowd?
Table of ContentsLenovo Legion Slim 5i specs and design: Think Thor in a James Bond suit!
Mention the word “gaming notebook,” and it is a fair chance that most people will think that you are referring to a hefty notebook that almost seems like a desktop in portable desktop, complete with fancy blinking lights and a very edgy design. They would be right, most of the time. But not in the case of the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i.
A quick clarification: the Legion Slim 5i is a gaming notebook first. The ‘Slim’ is in the context of gaming notebooks, so do not expect a MacBook Air here. The Legion Slim 5i is indeed slim but by gaming notebook standards. Indeed, it is an impressive 21.9 mm thin, and at 2.54 kg is light for a gaming notebook with a proper keyboard and a 16-inch display panel. It is very portable by gaming notebook standards if you consider what it has packed inside.
In terms of appearance, the Legion Slim 5i is relatively restrained and elegantly understated. The notebook’s cover is aluminum, while the rest is reassuring strong PCB and ABS (basically, a very special kind of plastic). The lower part of the notebook extends slightly beyond the cover, giving the notebook a slightly two-layered look, which we thought looked smart. The Legion Slim 5i has a silver-gray top, and were it not for the word ‘Legion’ embossed vertically on it, you could mistake it for an elegant executive notebook. When it opens, it looks as slim as its name indicates, and the lid rests on very solid hinges.
Related Read: Lenovo Legion 5i Pro Review
Even if you ignore the Legion branding, opening the notebook will drive away any illusions of this being anything but a gaming device. The RGB lights are on show on the keyboard, and you will notice not just a complete six-row keyboard but also a (slightly cramped) number pad next to it and a large-ish touchpad a little to the left side. Right in front of the keyboard is a large, bright 16-inch display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, 165 Hz refresh rate, and 300 nits of brightness. There is a truckload of ports on the sides and back of the notebook. The back houses two USB Type C 3.2 ports, an HDMI port, an ethernet port, and a power connector. On the left side are two more type C ports and a 3.5 mm jack, while on the right is a 4-in-1 card reader and a slider (what Lenovo calls the E-shutter) to switch the webcam on and off.
