The Lenovo Legion Y520 is a gaming laptop that promises to deliver a powerful gaming experience at an affordable price point. With its sleek design, robust specifications, and dedicated graphics card, this laptop is designed to cater to the needs of both casual and hardcore gamers.
In this review, we will delve into the various aspects of the Lenovo Legion Y520 and assess its performance, design, display, keyboard, battery life, and overall value for money.
Lenovo Legion Y520 Review: Complete review
Design and Build Quality:
The Legion Y520 boasts a stylish and professional design, featuring a matte black finish with red accents, giving it a distinct gaming aesthetic. The laptop is made of a combination of plastic and metal, which provides a sturdy build quality without adding excessive weight.
It weighs around 5.3 pounds (2.4 kilograms) and measures 14.96 x 10.43 x 1.01 inches (380 x 265 x 25.8 millimeters), making it relatively portable for a gaming laptop.
Display:
The laptop features a 15.6-inch IPS display with a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The display offers vibrant colors, wide viewing angles, and good contrast levels, making gaming and multimedia consumption enjoyable.
The anti-glare coating helps reduce reflections, improving visibility even in brightly lit environments. However, the display falls short in terms of brightness compared to some competitors in the same price range.
Performance:
Equipped with an Intel Core i7 processor, the Legion Y520 provides ample power for both gaming and productivity tasks. The base model comes with 8GB of RAM, which can be upgraded to 16GB for smoother multitasking. The laptop also features a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti graphics card, which delivers solid gaming performance at 1080p resolution.
While it may struggle with some demanding titles on ultra settings, it handles most modern games with ease on medium to high settings.
Keyboard and Trackpad:
The Legion Y520 boasts a full-sized backlit keyboard with red lighting, enhancing the gaming experience and making it easier to type in low-light conditions. The keys have a decent amount of travel and provide satisfactory feedback, although some users may find them slightly mushy.
The trackpad is responsive and accurate, with support for multi-touch gestures. However, it lacks separate physical buttons and can feel a bit small for those accustomed to larger trackpads.
Battery Life:
Considering the laptop’s powerful hardware, the battery life of the Legion Y520 is decent but not outstanding. Under normal usage conditions, such as web browsing and word processing, it can last around 4 to 5 hours on a single charge.
However, during intense gaming sessions, the battery drains significantly faster. It’s advisable to keep the laptop plugged in for extended gaming sessions to ensure uninterrupted gameplay.
Connectivity and Storage:
The Lenovo Legion Y520 offers a good selection of ports, including three USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 port, HDMI, Ethernet, and an audio jack. It also features a built-in card reader and supports Bluetooth 4.1 and Wi-Fi connectivity.
In terms of storage, it comes with a 1TB hard drive for ample game installations and file storage. However, the absence of an SSD in the base model can result in slower boot times and loading speeds compared to laptops with solid-state drives.
Software and Cooling:
The laptop comes pre-installed with Windows 10, providing a familiar and user-friendly operating system. Lenovo includes its proprietary Vantage software, which allows users to customize settings, optimize performance, and update drivers easily.
The Y520 features dual fans and heat pipes to keep the system cool during extended gaming sessions. While it manages to maintain reasonable temperatures, the fans can get noticeably loud under heavy loads.
Conclusion:
The Lenovo Legion Y520 is a solid gaming laptop that offers a compelling combination of performance, design, and affordability. It provides excellent gaming capabilities for its price range, making it an attractive option for gamers on a budget.
The laptop’s sleek design, decent display, a comfortable keyboard, and wide range of connectivity options further enhance its appeal. However, the absence of an SSD and slightly underwhelming battery life may be drawbacks for some users. Overall, the Lenovo Legion Y520 is a reliable choice for gamers looking to unleash their gaming potential without breaking the bank.