Lenovo Legion 15.1" 5i Eclipse Black 2025

A brilliant OLED screen and a monster CPU make this Legion a joy for gaming and work, but the 16GB of RAM is a frustrating limitation at this price. The RTX 5050 is a capable 1440p gaming chip, though not a game-changer. Buy it for the stunning display and raw processor power, but only if you find it closer to the $1700 mark.

The i7-14700HX is an absolute unit, sitting in the 90th percentile for laptops and chewing through CPU-heavy tasks like video encoding and code compilation without breaking a sweat. The 1TB SSD is snappy and well above average. The real conversation starter is the RTX 5050. It lands in the 79th percentile, which is solid, but it's not the chart-topper we hoped for. You'll hit high frame rates in esports titles and enjoy smooth gameplay at 1440p in AAA games with DLSS turned on, but don't expect to max out Cyberpunk at native res without some settings tweaks. The 16GB of RAM is the bottleneck, sitting at a mediocre 63rd percentile. It's enough for gaming today, but it'll choke on heavy multitasking or large creative projects.

Stacked against the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14, the Legion wins on raw CPU power and screen size, but the Zephyrus is far more portable and often comes with more RAM at a similar price. The HP OMEN Transcend 14 is a closer rival with a stunning OLED of its own, but the Legion's port selection and cooling are generally superior. And then there's the Apple MacBook Pro M4 Pro, which absolutely destroys the Legion in battery life and creator-focused efficiency, though it can't touch this Lenovo in pure gaming performance. The Legion 5i carves out a niche as a desktop replacement that can occasionally travel, rather than a true on-the-go companion.

Pricing is a bit of a rollercoaster, ranging from $1700 to $1999 across different vendors. At the low end, this is a very compelling package for that CPU and screen combo. At $1999, you're dangerously close to machines with an RTX 5070 or 32GB of RAM, which makes this specific config a tougher sell. If you can snag it from Memory Express at the lower end of that spread, the value proposition gets a lot brighter. Just know that you're paying a premium for that gorgeous OLED panel and CPU grunt, while making a compromise on RAM.

Lenovo's Legion 5i is back with Intel's beastly 20-core i7-14700HX and the brand new RTX 5050. It's a pairing that screams raw power, and on paper, it looks ready to tear through modern games and heavy creative work. The spec sheet here is seriously stacked for the price, especially when you glance at that gorgeous OLED display.

But specs only tell half the story. We've run the numbers, and while this machine flexes hard in some areas, the new RTX 5050 lands in a weird spot. It's good, but it's not the generational leap some might expect. Paired with just 16GB of RAM, this config feels like a muscle car with skinny rear tires. It'll go fast, but you'll feel the limits sooner than you'd like.

If you need all-day battery life or a lightweight machine for campus or frequent travel, look elsewhere. This thing is a desktop replacement, not a road warrior. Also, if you're a heavy multitasker who keeps 50 Chrome tabs, a game, and a stream open at once, the 16GB of RAM will have you pulling your hair out. Budget for a RAM upgrade immediately, or find a config with 32GB.

The Lenovo Legion 5i 83LY0024CC is a powerhouse with a split personality. It's a phenomenal gaming and CPU-crunching rig anchored by one of the best laptop screens we've seen, but it's held back by a RAM configuration that feels dated for the price. This is for the gamer or creator who plugs in at a desk 90% of the time and wants a top-tier visual experience without paying for a flagship GPU they might not fully utilize.