Lenovo's Legion gaming laptops get next-gen NVIDIA RTX GPU boost
Along with a low-profile design, Corsair keyboard and 144 Hz G-Sync display.
Lenovo has largely gone low-profile rather than flashy with its Legion gaming laptop design language, but unfortunately, the performance stayed under the radar, too. The company has largely rectified that with its latest Legion models, the budget Y540 and top-end Y740. The 17-inch version of the latter model packs NVIDIA's all-new RTX 2080 Max-Q chip, giving it power that would beat any laptop from last year.
The 15-inch, 5.1-pound model is "only" available with up to RTX 2070 Max-Q graphics, which would still make it faster than most previous GTX models. Each can be had with up to a 6-core Intel Core i7-8750H CPU, 32GB of DDR4 2666Mhz memory, a Corsair iCue RGB backlit keyboard, Dolby Atmos speaker system and optional 144Hz 1,920 x 1,080 G-Sync monitor. The latter supports Dolby Vision with a very bright 500 nits -- well over the minimum HDR standard.
The 15-inch Legion Y540 tones down the specs (and price) a bit with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GPU, but offers similar features, weight and battery life. Both models come with Lenovo's Coldfront dual fan cooling system and offer up to 6 hours of battery life.
Lenovo notes tellingly that the latest Legion models have "no flashy lights or garish colors to distract, thanks to their discreet design." That's a sign that gamers are demanding more low-key laptops, while making them palatable to content creators, who will also drool over the potential graphics performance. The 15-inch Y540 will be available in May starting at $930, while the Y740 will cost $1,750 and $1,980 for the 15-inch and 17-inch models, respectively, and arrive in February.
