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00:00Hey guys, I'm Tom from TechJab, and this absolute beast of a gaming laptop is the new Lenovo
00:06Legion Pro 7i Gen 8, and we're looking at one of the biggest upgrades to a gaming laptop
00:11in years.
00:12And also a big thank you to both Lenovo and Microsoft for teaming up with me on this video
00:16and also sending this unit over, although sadly, they do want it back.
00:20I don't get to keep this.
00:21Firstly, they've crammed in one of these, well, up to one of these, obviously the slightly
00:27lower power mobile variants of these desktop cards, and this particular model has the 4080,
00:32but it can go up to the 4090.
00:34We also get the brand new 13th Gen Intel processors, they've upgraded the screen, the cooling,
00:39the AI, tons of connectivity, including Wi-Fi 6E, and also a humongous 99.99Wh battery.
00:47There's also a 240Hz, 3ms QHD+, 500nit display with Dolby Vision and DisplayHDR 400, and
00:55all in a pretty compact, understated design, especially considering this is a 16-inch 16x10 display.
01:01Although once you have the GoFaster RGB on the front and the RGB keyboard going, you're
01:05definitely getting gaming vibes.
01:07Now price-wise, as you'd expect, these are going to be very expensive, they are the cutting-edge
01:11flagship gaming laptops, and we're looking between $3,000 for a 4080 and about $3,500
01:16for a 4090.
01:18Now obviously the Legion Pro 7 Gen 8 is a high-end gaming laptop, but if you want something
01:22that still packs a punch but is perhaps a touch more affordable, then this also arrives
01:27alongside the Legion Pro 5i Gen 8.
01:30Also 16-inch, also Intel 13th Gen CPUs, up to a 99 with 32GB of RAM, 2TB of storage,
01:36and up to an RTX 4070, all at a lower price point, although we do get a slightly different
01:41design and a 165Hz IPS display.
01:44But if you're more team red and prefer AMD CPUs in your gaming laptops, then there's
01:48also Lenovo's equally new Legion Pro 5 Gen 8 and Pro 7 Gen 8 laptops, dropping that i-suffix
01:54but with the latest AMD 7000 series chips.
01:58But all models get Lenovo's own Cold Front 5 cooling and also AI-tuned performance.
02:03And of course they all ship with Windows 11, which is, well, the best OS for gaming really.
02:07We've got Game Mode, which prioritises games at a system level, we have Auto HDR and Direct
02:11Storage for faster storage speeds.
02:14So it's not just the raw performance of cards like this, but it's also the technologies
02:18they unlock, including DLSS 3.
02:21And in some games like Flight Sim, which I have running here, this supports frame generation,
02:27which is one of the key new features of DLSS 3 on the 40 series cards and can make a huge
02:33difference to your frame rate.
02:34There is a trade-off with responsiveness and latency, but then you have NVIDIA Reflex to
02:38offset that as well.
02:39Generally, my experience of gaming with the 40 series on PC, on desktop, is that if you're
02:44playing twitchy, competitive multiplayer games, then you probably wouldn't want frame gen.
02:48And also there are only a handful of games that actually support it right now.
02:51But for some games, like RPGs or Sims, like Flight Sim I have here, and if you do want
02:55to max out that refresh rate at Quad HD with max settings in AAA games, then not just the
03:01power of this, but also that DLSS 3 with frame gen technology really comes in handy.
03:06Okay, okay, but what does that all mean for performance?
03:09First off, in Flight Sim and with ultra settings at native Quad HD+, I got around 54 FPS without
03:14and 60 FPS with DLSS set to balanced.
03:18But then, switching on frame gen actually doubled the frame rate to 120.
03:22So yeah, that definitely works.
03:24And the extra latency isn't really an issue in games like this.
03:27In Forza Horizon 5, with extreme settings, again at QHD+, I got 111 without DLSS and
03:32almost 120 with DLSS in balanced mode.
03:36Then in Halo Infinite, I averaged 156 FPS with ultra settings at QHD+, and it is great
03:41to see a game that looks this good running at this kind of frame rate.
03:45And just for a bit of fun, I booted up Rainbow Six Siege and got a ludicrous 410 frames per
03:49second at ultra settings and native resolution.
03:53Now interestingly, in Time Spy, this Lenovo with its 4080 was only 2% behind a 4090 based
03:59gaming laptop that I've tested recently, and was within 16-18% of the faster card in Geekbench
04:045's GPU tests.
04:06As for the design, it definitely looks classy in this onyx grey colour, and it's impressive
04:11how they've managed to squeeze in top-end chipsets and cooling into a chassis this slim.
04:16Now around the back, apart from plenty of air vents, we get an RJ45 port, HDMI 2.1,
04:21USB-C with 140W power delivery and also DisplayPort 1.4, plus a couple of USB 3.2 Type-As, and
04:28then down the sides we have some more USBs, as well as an eShutter button for webcam privacy.
04:33Now our base models start at 2.6kg, so you are definitely going to notice that in your
04:38backpack, but considering the specs and also the screen size, it's not bad at all, and
04:41also they're fairly premium materials.
04:43Of course you do also have to consider the power brick that comes with it, although this
04:47is smaller and more compact than previous generations, and as I say, they've also packed
04:51in that 99.99Wh battery, which is the largest a manufacturer is legally allowed to use,
04:57and also is flight safe, and also the Rapid Charge ProTech that we have in here lets this
05:01charge, well, rapidly, makes sense, at 140W via USB-C.
05:06We also get this nice big touchpad up front alongside Lenovo's TrueStrike keyboard, and
05:11there's also full-size arrows and numpad keys, plus we get a decent 1.5mm of key travel.
05:17Beyond that, we have swappable keycaps, and of course, full per-key RGB, which you can
05:22customise via the Legion Spectrum app.
05:25Now let's talk about this screen, 16-inch, 16x10, and also we get VRR, G-Sync and 3ms
05:31of response time.
05:32240Hz refresh rate with an IPS display, not mini-LED, not quite as bright, but it still
05:37looks great, so you get tiny edge bezels with a 93.6% screen-to-body ratio if you're asking,
05:42good colour accuracy, which is of course very important if you're also going to use this
05:45for work or creative projects, you can put all that power to other use, not just gaming,
05:50and also it folds flat, near enough, which is great if you're using it with a laptop
05:55stand.
05:56Now obviously having all that power is great, but to really stand out from a lot of the
05:59competition and also get the most out of it, you need to use that power efficiently.
06:04And that's where Lenovo's AI Engine Plus and also Cold Front 5.0 cooling comes in.
06:09The AI Engine Plus uses their LA1 AI chip, along with real-time data from sensors, to
06:14automatically optimise and boost your FPS in games.
06:17And the AI learns as it goes, so it will adapt to the games you play and improve performance
06:21over time.
06:22And if you do want a bit more control, you can always customise performance, fine cooling
06:26and even overclock your system further via the Lenovo Vantage app.
06:30And as for cooling, Lenovo reckons its Cold Front 5.0 system offers best-in-class thermal
06:35tech, with improved ultra-thin 3D fan blades and also a larger air intake and exhaust,
06:40which of course is essential for keeping those clock speeds high.
06:43Now the hardware is obviously the star of the show, but also a big shout-out to Windows.
06:47Windows 11, which comes pre-installed with this, which is obviously the best operating
06:51system for gaming, and it gives us nice extras like separate desktops via task view and loads
06:56of snapping options for multitasking.
06:58And actually one of my favourite features is seamless docking, so if you do hook this
07:02up to an external display, it'll actually remember the layout for that display and your
07:06laptop, so unlike previous generations of Windows and other OSes, it doesn't all get
07:11horrible and jumbled up when it switches between displays.
07:14And also we have my favourite Game Pass, literally the best thing about Xbox, and also Windows
07:19I think for gaming.
07:20You can access so many games, even a few exclusives, and it's all for a pretty affordable subscription
07:25price as opposed to shelling out £60 or £70 for every new game you buy.
07:31And good news, if you are a Lenovo Legion owner, then you get three months of Game Pass
07:35for free, which includes EA Play, which gives you over 100 great games.
07:39And also one thing we don't really talk about with gaming laptops is the ability to stream
07:44games as well, because if you don't have the charger with you, or there's no plug
07:47out, or you're worried about battery life or heat, then you can still stream your games
07:51of course, through GeForce Now or Xbox Cloud Gaming.
07:54You do of course have to have a good stable internet connection, and also you will have
07:58high latency, but it's a nice option to have, and also you can take advantage of the great
08:02screen.
08:03If you're thinking about getting a new gaming laptop, then 2023 looks like a great time
08:07to jump in, as we have new GPUs and new CPUs, both of which are offering a significant gen
08:12on gen improvement.
08:13As for this guy, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 8, well performance is just insane, and
08:18it's a massive jump over the 30 series based laptops from last year.
08:22And while part of me thinks that if you're going to spend this much cash anyway, maybe
08:25you should just pay the extra for the 1490 spec, this has proved that a mobile 1480 is
08:29still a monstrous GPU, and ideally suited for a QHD plus 240Hz setup like this.
08:35And of course we do also have the slightly more affordable Legion Pro 5i Gen 8.
08:39And also remember, so far we've really only seen the flagship specs of these new 2023
08:43gaming laptops.
08:44If you're happy to wait a few months, then we'll have a full GPU range of options in
08:48the Pro 7i and 5i very soon.
08:50But what do you reckon?
08:51Will you be upgrading your gaming laptop this year?
08:54And if you do, which spec are you looking to go for?
08:56Let me know in the comments below.
08:57And as always, I'll see you in the next one.