The best gaming laptop form factor gets another player in the Legion
Lenovo has just announced a 14-inch, RTX 4060-powered gaming laptop that may well be able to to hit that sweet spot between power, thermals, and portability. Right now, Lenovo has the top spot on our best gaming laptops guide secured, so we’re expecting good things from the slim and frankly pretty stylish upcoming Lenovo Legion Slim 5.
Not only will this be Lenovo Legion’s first foray into the world of OLED gaming laptops, but the 14-inch form factor also, and that’s something we’re really excited for: More current-gen gaming laptops that are actually highly portable.
Right now in the laptop space, there aren’t too many 14-inchers to speak of. There’s the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, which holds the title of “best 14-inch gaming laptop” right now. It’s a high bar as one of the most portable form-factors, but with CPU and GPU thermals sitting at 93°C and 85°C respectively, it’s been clear jamming new hardware in a little chassis would be a challenge for manufacturers. Especially going as slim as
The main current-gen contender for the Legion Slim 5 is Razer Blade 14, which our Dave was unsurprisingly obsessed with considering his track record with Razer’s portable machines. And Razer actually managed to keep things above board with the Blade’s 140W RTX 4070, which topped out at 73°C in our testing, along with the CPU’s 83°C, so things are looking good in that respect when it comes to this generation of laptops.
The Legion Slim 5 will come packing Nvidia’s portable RTX 4060 as its highest configuration. So, while it’s sure not going to smash through Baldur’s Gate 3 at 200-odd fps, a humble 105W of power behind it should see the thermals sitting even lower than the Blade’s, if we’re lucky.
| Header Cell – Column 0 | Lenovo Legion Slim 5 14 Gen 8 |
|---|---|
| Screen size | 14.5-inch |
| Panel tech | OLED |
| Native resolution | 2880 x 1800 |
| Refresh rate | 120Hz |
| Processor | Up to AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS |
| GPU | Up to Nvidia RTX 4060 (105W) |
| RAM | Up to 64GB DDR5-6400 |
| Storage | 512GB or 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD |
| Battery | 73.6Wh |
| Dimensions | 249.12 x 327.49 x 20.79mm |
| Weight | 1.9 kg |
As for the rest of the spec, Lenovo has opted for the same Ryzen 9 7940HS as the Blade, so we know to expect great things in terms of CPU power—95 fps averages in Hitman 3’s Dartmoor CPU benchy say enough, surely.
Lenovo is also going for a 2880 x 1800, 120Hz panel. I always appreciate a good 16:10 ratio, too, which helps when it comes to productivity. And I’m a big fan of the keyboard redesign for the 14-inch chassis. Similar to the Blade, Lenovo has gone sans-numpad, and that TrueStrike board doesn’t look as cramped in this small form-factor.
Coming around September time, the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 will start at $1,440, and will come with three months of free Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
