Hands On With Lenovo’s Buget-Friendly LOQ Gaming Laptop, Starting at $899

Lenovo just announced LOQ, a new gaming brand, with four new gaming laptops and one desktop. LOQ (pronounced “lock”) will sit below the existing Legion brand as Lenovo's more affordable and mainstream option, while Legion will continue to target midrange and enthusiast gamers. Lenovo launched a fresh slate of Legion laptops as well.

I saw a handful of these new gaming PCs at a preview event in New York, but I took a special interest in the Lenovo LOQ 15i. As one of the most attainable systems with a starting price of $899.99, it should appeal to the widest swath of gamers. Read on for a full rundown of the new LOQ systems and my hands-on experience with the LOQ 15i.

LOQ In: Legion-Inspired Design for the Mainstream

Before focusing solely on the LOQ 15i, here’s a rundown of the full stable of LOQ systems announced for 2023.

The Intel-based LOQ 15i is joined by the LOQ 15 (the lack of ‘i’ denotes an AMD-based version); both are 15-inch gaming machines starting at $899.99. The LOQ 16i and LOQ 16 take that up to 16 inches and raise the price a bit (starting at $1,149.99 and $959.99, respectively), while the LOQ Tower 17i is the desktop option starting at $979.99.

Lenovo's new LOQ logo.
(Credit: Matthew Buzzi)

If you’ve laid eyes on a Legion laptop before, it won’t take long to see where the LOQ line draws its inspiration—more on that when discussing the LOQ 15i below.

Lenovo's LOQ 15i and LOQ 15 will be available in April and May, respectively. The LOQ 16i will launch in May, while the LOQ 16 will launch in June. The LOQ Tower 17i (only available as an Intel model) will hit shelves this fall.

The Lenovo LOQ 15i's display.
(Credit: Matthew Buzzi)

Lenovo LOQ 15i: Wallet-Friendly Gaming Performance

While the LOQ 16 provides a bit more potency, the LOQ 15i is likely to be the most widely appealing system in the bunch. Its $899.99 starting price is immediately appealing, particularly after years of rising PC costs during the pandemic. We’re starting to see a turnaround from this peak (it was difficult to find a gaming machine for less than $1,000 for a few years) between this and the Dell G Series, which we saw during CES 2023.

The new LOQ 15i uses rear IO
(Credit: Matthew Buzzi)

LOQ 15i Design and Build

Visually, the LOQ 15i looks like a Legion-lite laptop. The Legion’s gray design and logo text-imprinted lid are kept here, and you'll see even the rear block in a darker color. The most fun flourish is in the light blue rear vent accent.

(Credit: Matthew Buzzi)

The machine measures 0.87 by 14.1 by 10.4 inches (HWD) and weighs 5.3 pounds, which doesn't feel super light but is still easily portable, and it looks pleasantly slim for a budget system. Lenovo's build quality is mostly solid, though I can definitely feel that it's made of plastic—more premium materials are reserved for more expensive products. Still, it doesn't feel flimsy—it just lacks that higher-end finish.

The Lenovo LOQ has plenty of ports.
(Credit: Matthew Buzzi)

Both the 15- and 16-inch LOQs come with full-size keyboards that include a number pad and an option for four-zone RGB key lighting. Connectivity includes a 10Gbps USB Type-C port, three 5Gbps USB-A 3.2 ports, an audio jack, an Ethernet port, an HDMI port, and an audio jack. The webcam has 1080p resolution and includes a camera shutter button.

The LOQ's USB-C port can support DisplayPort 1.4 as well.
(Credit: Matthew Buzzi)

LOQ 15i Specs and Components

The display here is a 15.6-inch, 144Hz panel that starts at full HD but can go up to a 1440p panel with a 165Hz refresh rate if you extend your budget beyond the base model. Its aspect ratio is a more traditional 16:9 as opposed to the increasingly common 16:10. The screen itself looks sharp and is bright enough at 350 nits.

Lenovo's LOQ display can be configured up to 165Hz refresh rate.
(Credit: Matthew Buzzi)

Of course, it’s the internal components that make or break any gaming machine. Keeping in mind that this is a budget-friendly system, the LOQ 15i base model starts with a Core i5-13420H processor (CPU), an Nvidia RTX 3050 graphics processor (GPU,) 16GB of memory (RAM), and 512GB of solid-state storage (SSD). For the sake of comparison, the LOQ 15 starts with an AMD Ryzen 5 7640HQ.

If you can afford it, the 15i can scale up to an Intel Core i7-13700H CPU, an Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, and 1TB of storage. There is a maximum system wattage of 135W TDP.

With how far 13th Gen Intel chips—as well as Nvidia's RTX 30 and RTX 40 Series GPUs—have brought us in baseline performance, this should be more than enough for mainstream gaming audiences. Enthusiasts and performance hounds may view the RTX 4060 as insufficient, but it's fast enough for most AAA games (even if you have to turn down some bells and whistles) and all modern online multiplayer titles.

Lenovo's budget gaming laptop includes a MUX switch, allowing the laptop to bypass the integrated GPU (IGP), while Nvidia's Advanced Optimus will switch between the IGP and dedicated GPU as needed to save battery. Bypassing the IGP allows the GPU to push directly to the display, which improves performance and reduces latency.

Check back for a full review of the LOQ 15i—and potentially other LOQ systems—when units become available.

New Legions: Slim But Powerful Gaming Machines

In addition to the LOQ systems, there are a few new Legion PCs as well. These follow the same format as the LOQ models, so there are multiple flavors of the same base laptop, mainly dependent on the CPU type.

The Intel-based Legion Slim 7i is a premium option for enthusiasts.
(Credit: Lenovo)

These are the Legion Slim 5i and Slim 5 as well as the Legion Slim 7i and Slim 7, with the “i” again denoting the Intel version. All four of these are 16-inch gaming laptops and are more premium offerings than the LOQ series. You'll also see an all-new size with the 14-inch Legion Slim 5, which is an AMD-only machine.

As you’d expect, the Slim 7 series is more potent than the Slim 5 series, though neither runs to the top of the silicon stacks since they are living up to their slim name as a priority.

The AMD-flavored Legion Slim 5.
(Credit: Lenovo)

The Slim 5i and Slim 5 are aimed at mobile gamers, but still offer power and performance, while the 7i and Slim 7 are targeting enthusiast gamers and content creators. The Slim 7 series maxes out at an RTX 4070 GPU and Core i9-13900H or Ryzen 9 7940HS CPU. The Slim 5 series maxes out at RTX 4060 and the same CPUs.

The 14-inch Slim 5 is the smallest of the bunch, so you can expect a lower ceiling, but its launch is expected much later than the rest, so exact details aren’t available just yet.

The known launch details are as follows:

• Lenovo Legion Slim 7i and Lenovo Legion Slim 7 will both start at $1,769.99 and will be available in April and May, respectively.

• Lenovo Legion Slim 5i will start at $1,349.99 and will be available in April.

• Lenovo Legion Slim 5 will start at $1,199.99 and will be available in May.

• Lenovo Legion Slim 5 14-inch is expected to be available in October 2023, with a price TBA.