The Lenovo Legion Slim 7i (2022) is the latest generation of the Legion Slim 7i series. This update equips the notebook with Intel’s 12th Generation processors, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs, DDR5 RAM, and faster PCIe 4.0 storage, and a bigger battery while still keeping its chassis relatively thin for a heavy-duty gaming notebook.
| CPU | Intel Core i5-12500H, i7-12700H, i9-12900HK |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, RTX 3060, RTX 3070 |
| OS | Windows 11 Pro |
| RAM | Up to 24GB 4800MHz DDR5 |
| Display | Up to 16-inch Mini-LED IPS, 2560 x 1600, 165Hz, 100% AdobeRGB, HDR400, NVIDIA G-SYNC |
| Storage | Up to 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD |
| I/O Ports | 1x Thunderbolt 4, 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C, 2x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, HDMI 2.1, SD Card Reader, 3.5mm Combo Jack, e-Shutter Switch, Power Input |
| Connectivity | Up to WiFi 6E, MU-MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Battery | 99.99Whr, Super Rapid Charge, 230W Slim Adapter, 135W USB PD |
| Audio | 2x 2W Harman Speakers with Nahimic Audio |
| Others | Optional Per-Key RGB Keyboard, 1080p Webcam with e-Shutter, Power Button Fingerprint Scanner |
| Dimensions | 357.7 x 256 x 16.9mm |
| Weight | 2.17kg |
| Colors | Onyx Gray, Storm Gray |
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7i (2022) comes with the bare necessities when it comes to gaming laptops. Encased in its black box is the notebook itself and its 230W power brick. The brand isn’t bundling any extra accessories with the notebook. It would have been nice if it came with a basic gaming mouse to get you started.
It does, however, come bundled with a lifetime license of Microsoft Office Home & Student 2021, 3-Year Premium Care, 3-Year Accidental Damage Protection, and 3-Year Legion Ultimate Support as part of its standard warranty.
The notebook doesn’t stray away from its lineage but it still looks good and slim for a gaming notebook. The chassis itself is made out of aluminum and plastic with a gray colorway and smooth finish. It is relatively thin for a gaming notebook measuring at 357.7 x 256 x 16.9mm but it still way off from being lightweight weighing in at 2.17kg.
Lenovo has toned down the gaming-focused design throughout several generations of notebooks and that remains the same on the Slim 7i. The design is kept simple with a monotone look only broken by the Legion logo at the top-left of the lid. The notebook can look at home both at home while playing or at the office.
It comes with a 16-inch 2560 x 1600 IPS display with a 165Hz refresh rate. The Slim 7i does have a miniLED variant but it seems it won’t be coming to the Philippines. Nonetheless, the display promises 100% sRGB coverage, is HDR400 certified, and supports NVIDIA G-SYNC.
The bezels are kept thin at the side but there is a lip at the top to house its 1080p webcam. The panel itself has an anti-glare coating and a matte finish so you don’t have to worry about reflections while playing.
Display performance is good. It’s fast thanks to a high refresh rate and there’s minimal ghosting. Brightness is fairly high when measured at around 537.43 cd/m2 at the middle and contrast ratio is excellent for an IPS panel. Colors are fairly neutral though green hues are slightly less defined.
Brightness uniformity across the panel is acceptable. All portions breach the 500 cd/m2 mark with the bottom middle section being the brightest at 544.39 cd/m2. There is a 7% drop on the middle-right section of the display but it should be noticeable under regular use.
The notebook has two 2W Harman Speakers with Nahimic Audio. Midtones and bass sound clean but the latter lacks the punch that we would like from a gaming notebook. Some of the highs do sound strong but can be too much at times. At higher volumes, the highs may also sound tinny at times.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7i (2022) has a full-size, chiclet-based keyboard with RGB lighting. Lighting is per-key instead of being zones, which allows for a lot of customization options. Its RGB lighting and effects can be customized via the Lenovo Vantage software, which we’ll discuss later.
The chiclet switches provide a decent and tactile typing experience. There’s a good amount of travel distance and resistance on each key. The keys do have a flat profile instead of concave ones making it easy to wander from one key to another – even unintentionally.
The trackpad is large and has a smooth finish. It’s responsive and tracking seems accurate when used. It is skewed to the left and your palms may rest on it while typing or playing games. We would have preferred if it had been positioned slightly to the right so it won’t interrupt you when you are using the keyboard.
Placed at the back are most of the ports of the notebook, which includes two USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, a USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A with 10W charging, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a DC-input for its 230W charger.
At the left-hand side is a Thunderbolt 4 port that supports 135W charging and DisplayPort 1.4, and a USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C. On the reverse side are its SD card reader, 3.5mm audio jack, and a switch for the webcam’s eShutter.
We like that Lenovo has positioned the ports that will be used for peripherals, storage, and displays at the back. With their placement, the wires will be away from you and keeps the sides tidy.
Lenovo pre-installs two of its proprietary software on the notebook – Lenovo Vantage and Lenovo Arena – on top of the usual Windows 11 programs and McAfee. First up is Lenovo Vantage. It acts as a command center for the whole device. You can monitor system parameters here like system temperature, performance profile, and updates. You can also access warranty information just in case.
Lenovo Vantage integrates RGB lighting instead of having to download another program. As mentioned, keyboard lighting is a per-key basis so you can set individual colors to each key. There are five levels of brightness that can also be controlled via the keyboard and you can set various effects like Rainbow, Pulse, Wave, Ripple, Type Lighting, and Rain among others. If you have a Legion Aurora Sync-compatible peripheral, it can be synchronized with the notebook here.
Lenovo Arena, on the other hand, is just a launcher from Lenovo. You can launch your games here and you can find other game suggestions based on what’s popular globally or in your region.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7i (2022) that we received has the model number Legion S7 16IAH7 and comes with an Intel Core i7-12700H, 16GB DDR5-4800MHz RAM, and 1TB of PCIe 4.0 storage. It is positioned as a mid-tier model with an Intel Core i5-12500H with RTX 3050 Ti model below and an Intel Core i9-12900HK with RTX 3070 above.
Storage is an SK Hynix HFS00TEJ9X115N 1TB drive. It is based on PCIe 4.0 and plenty fast for most use cases. A run with CrystalDiskMark with 5 runs and 4GiB workload unveils impressive Sequential Reads and Writes of 6,763MB/s and 4,808MB/s, respectively.
The notebook will be tested using synthetic, rendering, and gaming tests to see the performance it can deliver with its CPU and GPU.
The Intel Core i7-12700H is really able to stretch its legs when paired with fast DDR5 RAM. It does well on whatever workload is thrown at it. Older workloads, however, have a hard time utilizing the best performance on Intel’s 12th Generation CPUs. Instead of using its P-cores exclusively to get higher marks, it seems that they are also utilizing its E-cores which might bring the CPU’s score lower.
Its NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 will be good enough for both triple A games and competitive titles. It will be able to deliver a smooth experience on most titles but some of the graphically-intensive settings might need to be lowered down to get 60fps or more. As for competitive games like Rainbow Six Siege, the notebook can run them at more than the 165Hz of the screen.
Despite its thin profile for a gaming laptop, the Legion Slim 7i (2022) does a good job meeting the thermal requirements of its Intel Core i7-12700H and RTX 3060. At idle, both sits a comfortable 42°c with the fans completely silent. While rendering and gaming, the CPU and GPU only reaches the high 80°c mark with constant clock speeds.
It’s also worth mentioning that Lenovo’s design allows the notebook to exhaust all the hot air through the back. This means that the parts you interact with – the keyboard and palm rest – remain comfortable to touch even while under heavy workload. There is a hotspot in the middle but it’s only warm to the touch instead of being hot.
Powering the laptop is a 99.99Whr battery, which lasts around 5 hours under average use. Its components are power hungry while playing with battery life lasting under 2 hours while playing games. It does have a sizeable 230W power brick that fills up the battery from empty to full in around 1 hour and 20 minutes.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7i (2022) offers a fast and consistent gaming experience and a great display all wrapped in a relatively thin package for a gaming notebook. It also has a good battery life for a gaming laptop giving you time to work or play while on-the-go and an excellent array of I/O ports with excellent placement.
Its audio could do with some tuning as the highs are too harsh at higher volumes. Lenovo has also traded power for portability as it is not as fast, at least in games, when compared to bulkier gaming notebooks. The hot spot in the keyboard while under heavy load also detracts from the experience at times.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7i (2022) offers a complete gaming experience while lessening the substantial weight expected from gaming laptops. If you want a notebook that can perform while still being portable and can blend in at home and at the workplace, then the Legion Slim 7i is something you should look out for.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7i (2022) is now available in the Philippines starting at PhP 124,995. It comes bundled with a free Microsoft Office Home & Student Lifetime license, 3-Year Premium Care, 3-Year Accidental Damage, and 3-Year Legion Ultimate Support.
It can be had through Legion Exclusive Stores, Lenovo Experience Stores, Legion Flagship Store on Lazada, and authorized retailers nationwide.
