Lenovo Legion 5/5 Pro/7 2021 Discussion

Nice one! I have the same setup and am really, really liking it. Apart from having to get one speaker replaced out of the box, I'm very happy with the build and keyboard quality too (important to me, as I'm deep into the custom keyboard hobby).

I have the mediatek card and I don't like it at range - speeds seem very variable even when nothing is changing. I've ordered some Kingston Fury dual channel low latency ram and the AX210 wifi card, so I'll install them both together soon.

 

Lenovo sent out a third party repair guy to come and replace a faulty speaker on my L7. He used a damn metal spudger and scratched the edges of my base plate. Photos of him doing the spudging with the metal spudger and the resulting scratches attached. He obviously hadn't watched any tear down videos before cos he had no idea how to get the bottom off and it took like 5 minutes or more for him to get it off. He also used zero anti static protection - no gloves, no wrist strap, nothing. I was tearing my hair out.

At least he fixed the speaker, I guess. Pretty annoying when they come and scratch a near brand-new laptop. I guess it's only superficial, but still, frustrating.

 

My router was like 6 feet from me when I was installing Guardians of the Galaxy. Went pretty quick. So that’s likely why it seemed ok. When I go to bed I’ll probably watch a video or two before I go to bed. So we will see how it works when I’m not right next to the thing.

Sorry to hear about the speaker. Hopefully that’s a smooth repair.

I’d be upset even if was 1+ years old. If you’re repairing something and scuff/scratch something, you’d better be making some calls to make that right.

But we need to address something. What is that HAIR?!? Holy heck! Looks like an octopus!

 

I would have been on the phone with Lenovo and/or the repair company who scheduled the technician right then and there demanding that any scratched parts be replaced immediately and by a different person. That is completely unacceptable.

I had the complete opposite experience with the on-site person who replaced the trackpad on my old Legion 5 Pro. He knew exactly what he was doing, took care when disassembling the laptop with proper ESD protection, and had the repair completed within 30 minutes. In an ideal world, any additional service would be unnecessary, but if such a situation comes to pass again, I hope the same guy does the work.

 

As of now, LEGIONDEALS20 remains a valid coupon code, and you can also stack HOLIDAYSURPRISE with it for an additional $100 off.

 

I just tried this with their 11800H and 3080 model. And it's a bit more expensive than my config. So I think I will stick with what I have. Plus all the AMD models are out of stock.

I wonder if you could stack the first time $100 off email code with this too? Would probably make most of us blush for jumping the gun.

 

It removes the HOLIDAYSURPRISE coupon but it is stackable with LEGIONDEALS20 and IDme.

 

Well it's the same outcome then. Oh well. Again that just means no buyers remorse for us that pulled the trigger already.

 

Received (hopefully for the final time) my 7i yesterday and fired it up today. All looks good, perfect screen and temps are good based on my brief benchmarks. Glad I got the i7 and not the i9 again, definitely runs cooler. Replaced the stock RAM (1Rx8 CL22) with 2Rx8 CL20 and took every precaution I could think of this time when opening the laptop, all good.

I did an undervolt of -.050v in XTU and left everything else re: the CPU stock. I'll use a GPU OC of +150/+500 for my daily settings. I got a couple artifacts at +165 on the core. Was able to get +1500 on the memory without errors but won't use that for my daily settings. Happy with the set up and leaving everything as-is from here on out and not opening the laptop again until I sell it eventually to put the stock RAM back in / not doing anything stupid.

My TS result is with the GPU OC set to +150/+500.

 

Seems like good results to me. I’ve been using the preset +100/+200 in the bios. Might try something higher but I’m getting good temps so I might just leave it.

I gotta swap out this Wi-Fi card though. It just lost connection a handful of times today while I was using the laptop today. It’s almost like it turns itself off when it’s done load web pages and needs a moment to wake back up.

I tried the ryzen control software earlier today and it was just a mess. I’ll stick with what the laptop can do in the bios and be happy with that. Scores higher than my 9900k at 5.0 ghz so that’s not bad for a laptop cpu.

 

That is awesome! Better results than my i9 laptop. My CPU got like a tiny bit better results but it doesn't even matter.

Yeah I have heard nothing but bad things about that Mediatek one. That was the big thing that dissuaded me from the AMD build.

 

It's an easy swap though. Stinks you have to buy one right out of the box, but again not difficult. I'll upgrade my ram while I'm in there too just for some piece of mind. Right now the wifi seems to be holding good. However I'm in the same room as the router. So it seems as soon as you get any range away from the router it starts acting up.

Right now I'm looking to either disable or uninstall icue so I don't have to deal with that draining my battery when I'm off the wall charger. The plain cyan color actually looks nice. So I'm just gonna stick with that.

 

Nice. I disabled it and haven't looked back!

 

To those struggling to open the bottom panel on the Legion 7, don’t waste time breaking your picks or scratching the anodised aluminium. I used a pair of cheap polyco work gloves (see link below if you’re in Australia, otherwise search Amazon) for extra grip and carefully pushed down on either one of the side vents after removing all screws. From then on you can slowly work your way around unlatching the panel.

https://www.werko.com.au/product/kn...293F1hwLV9lndL6fYYL5vOcfEZ3DrBm8aAmAHEALw_wcB

 

Now that I've had the chance to actually use the 7i for work and some games, I have to say this is my favorite laptop I've ever owned. Definitely glad I went with the 3080 since my favorite games are F1 and Forza Horizon, I'll take all the frames I can get. Temps are great and there's no need to undervolt the CPU. No BS TCC offset like my Alienware laptop that will be going back. And the screen, it's been beaten to death, is among the best I've ever used on a laptop.

My laptop carousel is finally over and I can comfortably sell off my desktop and go laptop only (for now, haha). It's all thanks to my wife who spilled coffee on my Asus G14. Had that not happened I'd never have considered going with alternatives or larger laptops.

 

Figured I'd throw in my $0.02 about the Legion 7i after having a chance to use it over the holiday weekend. Overall, it's doing everything I could ask for in a gaming laptop while being a step-up in feel and build quality from most other models I've purchased and subsequently gotten rid of, including the Legion 5 Pro that I foolishly sold a few months ago. Note that my model is the i7 11800H with RTX 3070 and 1 TB SSD. The RAM was upgraded from 16 GB x16 to 32 GB x8.

The Great

• The screen. Spec wise, the resolution, aspect ratio, and refresh rate are just about perfect for both gaming and productivity. The panel in my specific unit is basically flawless when it comes to backlight bleed. It's the best of any matte and/or high-refresh display on a Windows-based laptop I've ever used and probably ranks 3rd among all notebooks for overall quality behind the M1 MacBook Air and Pro and Dell XPS 17.
• The form factor and port layout. It strikes the right balance between the screen real estate you'd get on a larger 17-inch laptop with the portability afforded to a 15-inch. Having most of the connectivity on the back is a huge convenience, as are the backlit port labels.
• The thermals. Truly outstanding, at least on my unit. Idle temperatures are typically in the mid-30s for both the CPU and GPU. In performance mode, the CPU will hit peaks of around 85C but only for a moment when it hits a burst frequency of 4.6 GHz. It then settles down to the mid-70s with sustained clock frequencies of 4.0-4.1 GHz. The GPU doesn't go above 65C while running Furmark or Timespy. It got 98.9% in the 3DMark stress test, which is exceptional for a system that was not tweaked using ThrottleStop or Afterburner.
• The performance. While I haven't played many games on it, the RTX 3070 has handled everything I've thrown at it with aplomb. Were this my only computer, I would have probably gone with the 3080, but as a supplement to a powerful desktop, I couldn't ask for anything more. The flexibility to choose between full dGPU mode with G-Sync or Advanced Optimus is such a great value-add for the consumer. PCI-Express Gen 4 is also the upgrade I never knew I needed. The stock 1 TB Samsung SSD Lenovo shipped on mine is blazing fast.
• The value for money. This is with the assumption that you get one while it's on sale, which fortunately seems to happen often. Utilizing a pair of stackable coupon codes and Rakuten cash back, my i7/3070 configuration was a bit more than $1900 out the door, including 2-year accidental damage warranty, tax, and overnight shipping.

The Good

• The keyboard. I'm very heavy handed when I type, and the key travel on the L7 feels ever so slightly shorter than on the L5. This results in a slightly harsher bottom-out sensation. The metal deck gets warmer under load than on the all-plastic L5, but it's never uncomfortable. It's a very good keyboard, don't get me wrong, though Asus is still the best in the business, IMO.
• The trackpad. Feels nice for a gaming laptop. Better than the plastic Legion 5, but not quite as good as the Dell XPS, Razer Blade, or most Asus Zephyrus variants. There's occasional palm rejection issues, but they are nowhere near as bad as the Legion 5 or 5 Pro.
• The fan behavior and acoustics. I was most worried about this aspect of the laptop given Tiger Lake H seems to run hotter than Ryzen 5000. The L7 has been a pleasant surprise. I experience high-pitched whistle under load, but after testing other laptops, I'm convinced this is a problem with my own ears. I don't hear it when performing everyday tasks that don't stress the CPU or GPU. Idle fan behavior is on the better end of the gaming laptop spectrum. They do spin up from time to time when performing light-duty tasks, but it's not even close to being as frequent or annoying as on other models I've used (looking at you, every Tongfang laptop ever).

The Mediocre

• The battery life. This is more of an Intel problem than a Legion 7 one. Best I can manage is 4-5 hours of browsing, watching YouTube, and office work with the screen at 50% brightness and keyboard lighting disabled. My AMD-based Legion 5 Pro could easily manage 7-8 hours performing the same tasks. At least Type-C charging is supported.
• The accessibility. While it's great that you can upgrade the RAM, storage, and WiFi, the bottom panel design makes it much harder to get to these parts than necessary. It's not a matter of if you'll break a retention clip or two, but when.
• The x16 memory. Sucks that this is still a thing, but performance isn't hampered by it as much on Intel platforms as it is on AMD. For the most part, I'm seeing 5% or less performance improvement using my CL22 x8 RAM. I could realize more gains with faster CL20 stuff, but I'm not interested in spending the money for it right now, at least not until there's confirmation of a rumored XMP-enabled BIOS for these machines.
• The missing fn+R shortcut. Apparently the ability to change the refresh rate from 165 to 60 Hz via fn+R does not work on Intel-based Legion models. This is despite the R key being highlighted when you press fn to see all the other combinations. I've read several complaints on Lenovo's support forum, but someone who is apparently a BIOS engineer said it's just not available. It's not the end of the world, but this was a really nice convenience on my AMD-based Legion laptops.

The bad

• The iCue integration. Corsair and Lenovo share equal responsibility here, with neither company appearing particularly interested in fixing the problems that have plagued the Legion 7 line for the past two years and counting. Yes, you can disable or uninstall it, and the built-in lighting effects are decent enough. However, this should not be necessary. For the next-generation Legion flagship, Lenovo needs to either partner with a different company (my vote would be Logitech) or bring per-key RGB control in-house, integrating it into the Vantage software.
• The power brick. I appreciate Lenovo providing a more-than-adequate AC adapter in the box, but there has to be a way for them to slim it down as the comically large size makes it a pain to lug around the house or to take on the road.

 

I’ll keep this in mind when I pop mine open. Gotta swap out the Wi-Fi card and I’ll swap the stock ram with my Hyper X kit. Mostly because I can. I’m not expecting anything amazing to change with that upgrade. Thermals seems solid so I’ll let any repasting go until it’s time to open it up again to clean it. Hopefully I don’t snap any clips.

 

Alright folks, I ordered a pair of Legion 7 Slim Gen 6's for my two oldest; I'd previously ordered Legion 5's but returned them to get the 3060s (yeah, I know it's not as powerful as the 3070, but my kids aren't at the point where they need ultra-powerful just yet). In any case, I went elsewhere to order Windows 11 Pro and MS Office , and I'd gone to the Lenovo site to download all the drivers I'll need for a fresh install. Well, keep reading, because while on the Lenovo site, I got a pop-up ad for another $100 off, that looks stackable with the other deals. This is probably only good for today (11/30/2021), but here it is just in case.

TL;DR
That $100 off code is:
HOLIDAYSURPRISE

Now, where can I download all the drivers I'll need for a fresh install on a Legion 7 Slim Gen 6?

 

The code has been valid for a few days as I posted about it on the previous page.

This is not necessary as Lenovo's Windows installs are much cleaner than most OEMs. The only software I get rid of is McAfee, which does uninstall without leaving anything behind when you check the option to do a complete removal.

 

Nice, they'll enjoy those laptops!

Here is the Lenovo driver page for your models, I believe. If not, just go to Lenovo's support site and enter in the model number or serial number when you receive them and the drivers page should come up automatically.

https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/...series/legion-s7-15ach6/downloads/driver-list

 

Ah my bad, I missed it.

Well it is necessary in my case because I wanted Windows 11 Pro and didn't order it through Lenovo, but I nevertheless appreciate you informing me that keeping it stock isn't horrible.

 

The product key is embedded in the BIOS so if you try a clean install with the Windows creation tool, it will put Home back. You can just enter your Pro key within the activation section of Windows settings, and it will unlock those features after a reboot.

 

Ran into a weird bug that might be handy for you all to know about incase it happens to you. So for some reason my 5900HX was not boosting past 3900MHz. I didn't give much mind and figured I'd just reboot the laptop after I was done playing. Didn't work. I tried a few things like changing the overclock settings in the bios, making sure my battery charged to 100% instead of 50% using the battery conservation mode. Nothing. What ended up working was cycling through the power profiles with Fn + Q. Why this worked I have no idea. But, if you see something similar that might be the solution.

 

Should I add one more year of Lenovo Legion Ultimate Support for $60 (extends to two years)? Second question - worth it for ADP for the same duration for $48? Do we know if it transfers to a 2nd owner if I sell it? Thanks!

EDIT: I have this model - https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/lapt...series/legion-7i-gen-6-(16″-intel)/82k6005sus

 

Can’t say I know first hand if the warranty stays with the laptop if you sell it. So might be a good idea to ask a Lenovo rep. And I’m not sure what to expect if I need my laptop worked on, but I did buy a second year on mine since it was cheap at purchase. And accidental is always nice as that can normally cover you if they try to say you purposely damaged the laptop. Though I did not get it.

 

How cheap at the time of purchase? My pre-built came with 1 year of Legion Ultimate so I didn't really consider extending - plus I wasn't sure how much I would like the laptop. Is $60 for another year within the realm or should I hold off?

Both here and on places like reddit I have heard varying degrees of horror stories about it, too. But $60 seems reasonable for 2 years and it will make it more attractive when I sell it.

 

I bought mine for my oldest kids, both of which are under 10. I went to three years with accidental protection . It'll hopefully not be used, but if it's needed, it's a lot cheaper than replacing a laptop, motherboard, or display.

 

The motherboard for my 7i would cost me $3300 .. so yeah.

 

Well as is my luck, a dust speck appeared in the middle of my screen toward the bottom, about 1.5 inches above the power button and a bit to the left. Tried lightly tapping and using a small suction cup, no luck so far. I really don't want to deal with the hassle of returning yet again and re-ordering. I do have the 4 year ultimate support with accidental, is it worth it to have a tech just come out and replace the screen or would you just return and re-buy?

If I let a tech come out I will make sure he / she uses appropriate equipment and I'll buy an anti-static mat if I have to. You need to remove the heatsink / vapor chamber which will require a re-paste, which I'm not too eager to do since thermals are fantastic as is. I just can't win.

 

Bummer - sorry to hear that man. I would do both - if you can get the deal that you got before - so you are covered either way under the 30 day return period.

If there are any challenges with scheduling a tech - I would contact for a return and see if they can make a concession so at least you get a few hundred $$ back for the inconvenience of having to rely on a tech coming later (and perhaps outside of your return window). If they don't offer you a monetary amount for the inconvenience that satisfies you, simply return it.

 

Tough decision. I think I would rather get a replacement. Removing the thermal module and repasting could open a whole new can of worms.

 

The price is now about $200 higher, I suppose I could order and try and get them to match the price I bought mine at. I would try and exchange, but I don't want to be in exchange hell and ship back and forth.

Yeah I know. I'll keep trying to dislodge it and see what happens. How does this even happen, I thought the LCD is pretty tightly sealed within the assembly.

 

You need to stop gaming at the beach!

 

Lol. The prebuilt 11800H with 3080 is now out of stock. I will try calling tech support and see what they say, may as well.

Edit- contacted tech support, they won't replace the screen because there's only 1 or 2 pixel issues. I just requested a return and will have to re-order yet again, if at all. Sigh...

 

Sorry man...real bummer. If you call the return line, bring up a monetary amount that would mean you would keep the laptop. They may offer you a partial refund to keep it. You can then "live with it" until you replace it. If there's no price, then move on.

 

Mine was only slightly cheaper at $47. But again that was when I bought the machine. They always charge more after the fact. And since I’ve seen an extra year cost $200 from some companies I think $60 is reasonable.

That’s any company really. So I generally take what I see and hear with a grain of salt. Unless it’s Razer. Those rumors of how bad their customer service can be is all true. They stink.

 

I am in a similar situation though I am well past my return window. I have 4 tiny specks/dead pixels and a couple linear dust specks. Maybe these displays aren't well sealed? I haven't tried customer support yet because I am away from home half the time for work so it is hard to schedule anything.

Not sure it is worth the hassle especially if it might just happen again. I'm pretty careful with my tech, and I haven't had this happen with my previous laptops. I have considered trying to replace it myself so I could try and investigate the seal, but it seems like it would be a pain.

 

You should be approved for a replacement screen since you likely meet the pixel requirements. I thought about replacing it myself too. The LCD assembly is available on Lenovo parts site for $230 but is out of stock through at least December.

It *seems* like a pretty straightforward yet tedious process based on my review of the hardware maintenance manual. Just need to be careful when removing some adhesives and disconnecting some cables. I'd be most concerned about doing a bad paste job.

 

Yeah, I will try contacting them when I know I'll be home for a block of time. It seems they can schedule/repair quickly, though I assume that is only if they have parts. With the weird stock paste being the best option, I'm not sure I trust the tech to do a good paste job either. I would assume Lenovo would send replacement stock paste/pad if they did this repair?

 

This was my experience. While I had to wait nearly a month for a part to arrive, once it did, they contacted me immediately and had an on-site visit scheduled for the next business day.

 

FYI - I believe it was @saturnotaku that warned me, but this 230W "slim" adapter is just as "slim" as the default 300W one. It is the exact size. I did not expect it to be smaller, but just wanted anyone to know! Still worth keeping for the $80 price as I will use it for topping off around the house and productivity versus gaming sessions.

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/accessories-and-software/chargers-and-batteries/chargers/gx20l29347

 

Yeah that's not the slim adapter I was thinking of. This is the one, which is still out of stock:

Lenovo Legion Slim 230W AC Adapter(UL) | Lenovo US

 

Yup it is all good. This one is cheaper and the smaller size doesn't really "buy" me anything. For travel I need 300W or bust.

Speaking of the 300W one, I got an email from Encompass that the ETA has been pushed up a week...so I should get that around the 12th:

https://lenovo.encompass.com/item/12713253/Lenovo/5A10W86289/

I think that was your tip, too @saturnotaku - thanks!

 

BIOS H1CN44WW is out. Disappointing.

BIOS Notification :
1. Fixed
1) None.
2. Add
1) None.
3. Modified
1) BIOS version change

EC Notification :
1. Fixed
1) None.
2. Add
1) None.
3. Modified
1) Modify power LED control method in S3

 

Personally i dont trust Lenovo's BIOS updates anymore especially for the AMD models, The last BIOS update (FSCN20WW) for my Legion 5 bricked a lot of people systems and there was many complaints on their forums and on reddit too so Lenovo was forced to remove it from their site and added back the previous version (FSCN18WW).

 

Balls of steel! So far, so good.

 

Shouldn’t the Legion 5i USB C Thunderbolt 4 port support 40Gbit/s?
I only get 10Gbit/s when connecting my USB 3.2 Gen 2 external SSD.
SSD is working as expected on PC with 3.2 Gen 2 port.

 

You need a Thunderbolt drive/enclosure to take advantage of 40 Gb/s speeds. USB 3.2 Gen 2 tops out at 10 Gb/s.

 

I see you're an iPad user as well. How do I test the transfer speed between the M1 iPP and the Legion via Thunderbolt port, since both are TB4 now?

 

Couldn't tell you as I've never connected my iPad to a PC.