The Ideapad 5 Pro in our hands is able to prove that gaming and entertainment laptops don’t have to be expensive. The configuration of the equipment that we analyze here costs $1,199 with the possibility of choosing a smaller processor at a lower price.
And you get good benefits for the amount you pay. This PC features a large, high-resolution 2.5K display that scales up to 16 inches, dedicated Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics, and a high-performance AMD Ryzen processor to tackle gaming.
However, Lenovo’s laptop isn’t the only affordable entertainment-focused model. There are models from brands like Asus, MSI, Dell or HP that offer comparable specifications at similar prices, some of which feature in our ranking of best gaming laptops.
Design and build quality
- thin and light
- resistant finishes
- great connectivity
The IdeaPad is designed for everyday gaming use, so its aesthetic is more understated than many rivals, and for many buyers that’s a good thing. The IdeaPad has a sleek exterior with bronze finishes and slim bezels without RGB LEDs, so it’s suitable for any situation or use.
Build quality is consistent and good, which we can’t always take for granted in this price range. It’s even more impressive considering the modest weight of 1.9 kg and the slim body of only 18 mm thick.
On the right side you’ll find two USB C 3.2 Gen 1 ports and an SD card reader, while on the left side you’ll find a USB C connection with fast charging and an HDMI 1.4b video output.
There is also a 720p quality webcam with Windows Hello to enable face login and use it for other purposes such as video calls. Inside, wireless connectivity is provided by dual-band Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1, but without the presence of a Gigabit Ethernet port.
It’s a good set of ports and connectors, but you should note that Lenovo doesn’t have Thunderbolt support, nor does it have a fingerprint reader in addition to unlocking via Windows Hello.
Despite these omissions, the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Pro competes well against its rivals. It is thinner and stronger than the MSI GF63and this laptop doesn’t have a card reader, but it does have a wired internet connection and newer HDMI if that’s important to you.
Other laptops like the Asus TUF Gaming A15 and the Dell G15 15 Game they’re larger than the Lenovo, and both have a wired Gigabit Ethernet connection, but the former has somewhat poor build quality and the latter has slower USB ports.
keyboard and touchpad
- Versatile keyboard layout
- Comfortable keys but slow action
- Touchpad with improved tactile feel
The keyboard is responsive rather than spectacular. The design is good; it has a number pad on the right side, the separate cursor buttons are large and partly compensate for the lack of RGB LED lighting.
For typing, the keys have a reasonable speed, so they’re fine even for guaranteed speed gaming, but they don’t have the snap action you’ll find on the best gaming laptops. If you’re interested, Asus and MSI have better solutions.
For his part, the touchpad it feels hollow and shallow, so it’s not satisfying, but it’s fine for basic everyday use and nothing more. And because the pad is on the left side of the wrist rest, it’s all too easy to activate your Surface while gaming. Using a USB mouse for gaming will be more efficient.
Screen and audio
- Wide and immersive pants
- 120Hz refresh rate
- Poor audio quality
The Lenovo display is more immersive than competing displays, and not just because of its 16-inch size. This panel has a 16:10 aspect ratio for added height, and its 2560 x 1600 resolution also outshines the competition.
The 1,293:1 contrast ratio trumps all rivals and offers great depth of field, with an sRGB coverage level of 97.7% still quite impressive.
This means that the colors that games usually manage will be reproduced quite accurately and brightly, since their value reaches 350 nits. The 7165K color temperature is slightly cool, which means the screen loses some vibrancy, but that’s not a deal breaker.
120Hz refresh rate isn’t high for a laptop video game, but it’s fine for single-player titles or esports. If you want something better, you’ll have to look to budget laptops, like the Asus TUF Gaming A15 which guarantees 165Hz.
Performance and specifications
- AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor
- GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card
- 16 GB RAM
- 1 TB SSD
The IdeaPad 5 Pro combines an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics core with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor. The GPU is a modest chip with 4 GB of memory, while the octa-core processor has a maximum speed of 4.4 GHz.
Added to all of this is the 16GB of dual-channel memory, and a fast SSD with 1TB of storage. This mid-range specification provided rather mediocre benchmark results.
The AMD chip offers a multi-core Geekbench score of 7149. That’s well ahead of the i5-11400H found in the MSI GF63 laptop, and that’s enough power to tackle everyday computing, with plenty of tabs browser and creative work to edit photos.
Even if that’s enough, you won’t have trouble finding more processing power: the Asus TUF Gaming A1 it includes AMD’s new Ryzen 7 6800H and the Dell model is now available with this AMD chip or with Intel’s 12th generation silicon. They are all much faster and better for heavy workloads.
You may also experience slight gaming issues on this laptop. In Cyberpunk 2077For example, it only managed a playable frame rate of 30fps at 2560 x 1600 when using the game’s “Low” graphics settings.
At 1080p and “Medium” settings, the game hits a reasonable 39fps, but loses sharpness as you lower the resolution. Fortunately, the situation is improving with less demanding titles.
In fact, the laptop hit 36 fps on Ultra settings with the Far Cry New Dawn title at native resolution, and I was also able to play Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege at an average of 93 fps.
If you’re willing to play mainstream titles and esports games at lower resolution and graphics settings, you’ll have a good experience.
But if you want to be able to count on a laptop capable of taking on the best next-gen titles at 60fps, you will have to look elsewhere, as is the case with the Asus and Dell machines with their RTX 3060 GPUs.
The IdeaPad 5 Pro was also a bit hit or miss in thermal tests, despite being a pretty quiet laptop. Whatever the task, the IdeaPad is quieter than most models configured for video game.
The downside, however, is that a good gaming session makes the metal above the keyboard incredibly hot, and the bottom isn’t far behind. That’s not a deal-breaker, as it’s the kind of laptop you’ll typically use at a desk and not propped up on your legs for commuting.
If there’s one area where Lenovo impresses, it’s battery life. During an intense work session, the IdeaPad 5 Pro lasted five hours and seven minutes, and it ran for over nine hours in a video test.
This means that if you use this computer for daily tasks, you can easily get through the working day. This is a much better result than the MSI and Asus machines, which offer more performance but less battery life.
The IdeaPad only managed to manage ninety minutes of gaming session, but that’s no surprise and it’s no worse than any other entertainment laptop out there.
Price
The Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Pro (16ACH6) costs $1,199 in Europe and MXN$17,992.61 when you buy it in Mexico, but for that price you get an RTX 3050 Ti graphics card with slightly better performance than the RTX 3050 offers.
If you decide to save some money, you can buy the IdeaPad 5 Pro with a lower processor (AMD Ryzen 5 6600HS) priced at $1,011.12, although it’s not something we recommend as the screen is also worse with a frequency of only 60Hz.
verdict
It’s hard to choose the best budget option at this equipment entry point video game. While some Lenovo competitors offer faster processors and the RTX 3060 graphics core at similar prices, they’re often heavier, thicker, and weaker than the IdeaPad.
In fact, the IdeaPad takes a different approach by offering a thinner, lighter and more mature chassis than most of its competitors. It’s sturdy, has decent connectivity, and its large screen offers excellent quality.
It’s also quiet and has decent battery life, especially when doing anything other than gaming.
However, it is not all good news. The processor delivers midrange pace, but nothing more, and the graphics core can’t run the best games at the highest settings. The keyboard isn’t very fast and the speakers aren’t great.
However, don’t overlook the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Pro, its skills lie in different areas than others and it’s a better option for those who want to get a device that they can combine with gaming and working hours.
specifications
- 16 inch IPS screen
- 2.5K resolution at 2560 x 1600 dpi
- 120Hz refresh rate
- AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor
- 16 GB of RAM memory
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 4GB graphics card
- 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD storage
- 720p webcam for Windows Hello
- Connectivity: 1 USB Type-C, 2 USB Type-A, HDMI 1.4b, combo audio jack, SD card reader
- Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 wireless connectivity
- Windows 11 Home 64 bit
- Battery capacity 75Wh
- 100W power adapter
- Dimensions: 356 x 251 x 16.9mm
- weight 1.93kg
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