We’re already more than halfway through 2025 and believe it or not, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 2025 is actually one of my very first gaming laptops with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series GPU to arrive in my lab.
As with all Lenovo Legion laptops, this model features a solid aluminium chassis, an OLED display, support for Wi-Fi 7, and equally heavy-hitting components to match the Blackwell GPU inside of it.
Specifications
Looks And Functionality
As far as aesthetics go, the Legion Pro 7i actually recycles a design that I first saw with the Legion lineup at the start of 2024. The undercarriage of the base has long feet at the top and bottom, the length of the laptop. The logic in this design is that the cooling solution sucks in cold air from the middle and then exhausts it directly out the back, away from the source of cooling air.
Like its predecessor, the refreshed Legion Pro 7i utilises the extended rump design, the rear of it jutting out ever so slightly, while the display hinges securely within the base. Not only that, it’s got some aggressively-designed fins at the exhaust ports, to give it that rugged gamer edge.
Keyboard is still full-sized but at this stage, it’s no longer a dealbreaker.
As is the case with Lenovo’s laptops, the Legion Pro 7i features a full-sized keyboard, complete with the numeric pad. It makes for a tighter typing experience, especially if you’re coming from a laptop that doesn’t have the extra keys. My tastes have certainly shifted from full-sized to the tenkeyless design, but only with laptops. To give you the summary of this: full-sized desktop keyboards, yes. Full-sized keyboards on laptops, no.
The one difference between this year’s model and last year’s is that there are no more ports in the rear. This time round, everything has been shifted to the side. Personally, I think they should have kept I/Os-in-the-rear design, simply because it made for better cable management, as well as minimal interference with the mouse movements. But again, that’s just my two cents on the matter.
The display on the Legion Pro 7i is OLED, and that means a glossy panel. It’s a gorgeous thing to look at, with blacks being deep and inky, whites look near paper quality, and colours that really pop out. On that note, the maximum resolution of the panel is QHD+ (2560 x 1600), which is perfect for me, as it is my sweet spot resolution.
On a related note, the hinge doesn’t open up a full 180° but given the design, having it do that wouldn’t be practical. Also, 16-inches and the 16:10 aspect ratio has more or less found a place on my list of requirements for a gaming laptop; it’s that extra display real estate at the bottom that really help when I’m doing some spreadsheet nonsense for myself.
The downside of the Legion Pro 7i, as it were, is the exorbitant price tag it commands. This model, in particular, retails at RM13,230.
Performance And Battery Life
Considering that this is the first RTX 5080 laptop that I’ve tested this year, let alone the first laptop with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, I can tell you that the Legion Pro 7i is more than capable of carrying the torch of gaming.
Average frames range between 60 fps 145 fps across my suite of games at QHD+, with Doom The Dark Ages being the title that yields the highest frames, and that’s a game with ray-tracing baked in. Oh, and that OLED panel makes everything feel crisp, crunchy, and punchy. I am talking literally having to turn off the lights in the room, just because I couldn’t see the mob hiding in the deep, inky blackness of the environment, or getting hungry because of how the red of a crunchy apple on the display makes my mouth water.
Oh, and while it isn’t listed here, I actually did manage to play the Battlefield 6 Open Beta on the Legion Pro 7i at a very 80 fps average on its maximum resolution. Granted, the second open beta was lacking access to NVIDIA’s upscaling technology but at the end of the day, it still runs.
One of my gripes with the Legion Pro 7i is the amount of brand-related bloatware that’s installed on the laptop. The first handful of minutes during the boot-up sequence, you are inevitably bombarded by a slew of ads and promotions from the brand, urging and “enticing” you to purchase some special product that is on discount, and within a limited time window.
As for battery life, this Pro 7i lasted an average of 6.5 hours on a full charge, and with power saving mode turned on, making it just so-so. I won’t elaborate on this point too much, on account that I believe that if you’re getting this laptop, it’s not because of stellar battery life but its ability to game and do general work.
Regarding the acoustics, it is surprising that the cooling system didn’t sound as intensive as I initially imagined it to be. Overall, the decibel levels are less harsh, and with virtually no sign of coil whine. Although, to be fair, that last part is certain to rear its ugly head over time, through wear-and-tear.
Competition
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 2025
As with all gaming laptops of this generation, the ROG Zephyrus G16 received a refresh. This year’s model comes with an Intel Core Ultra 9 285H CPU, up to an RTX 5090, 32GB LPDDR5x-7467 RAM, 2TB of PCIe 4.0 storage, and a 90Wh battery powering it all.
The display is a 16-inch ROG Nebula Display, which is ASUS’ own branding for OLED, and has native resolution of 2.5K (2560 x 1600) and a refresh rate of 240Hz.
In terms of price, a G16 with specs similar to the Legion Pro 7i actually cost more at RM16,299.
MSI Stealth 16
The MSI Stealth 16 is another obvious contender to the Legion Pro 7i, having also been refreshed with NVIDIA’s RTX 50 Series GPUs. Specs-wise, the laptop comes with up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 285H, up to an RTX 5070, between 16GB and 32GB DDR5-6400 RAM out of the box that can be expanded to 96GB, support for PCIe 4.0 storage, and a massive 99.9Wh battery, which is the legal limit allowed by aviation authorities.
The display itself is a 16-inch QHD+ OLED panel, with a refresh rate of 240Hz.
Conclusion
Again, as one of the first RTX 50 Series gaming laptops that I’ve tested this year, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, one helluva beast when it comes to games. The OLED panel is amazing to look at, literally, though that now just adds a worry for burn-in.
It’s price tag, especially for this SKU, can be intimidating, but such is the price for premium quality products. For another matter, I honestly wish Lenovo maintained the design of keeping some of the I/O ports at the rear of the laptop, instead of just shifting them to the side. That, and at least providing an SD Card reader of some sort. Honestly, you’d think for all that money, you’d be a bit more generous with the choices of ports.
Photography by John Law.
