Lenovo Legion Y530 - Black Part Number 81lb000bus Review

Lenovo, in revamping its gaming-laptop line for '18, scores with its fresh-looking Legion Y530. This machine punches in a higher place its weight, offering a sharp pattern in a compact, sturdy build that apes a pricier gaming laptop. And despite its upkeep-mindedness (models kickoff at a $949.99 list price), information technology doesn't make any major design concessions. Its Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics chip is no powerhouse, just the Y530 proves to be a competent HD gaming machine with no real flaws. Our $1,029-list test model, as we wrote this, was available for $849.99, a dandy deal. (Lenovo's spider web pricing is notoriously prone to fluctuation.) Versus similarly priced competition, it's simply a bit better than you'd wait in most areas, snagging our Editors' Choice for budget gaming laptops.

Classiest in the Class

Crafting a depression-cost just highly-seasoned gaming laptop is a catchy needle to thread. Shoppers expect a certain level of performance alongside a nice build and a robust feature set, all while keeping the price low. Often, these laptops succumb to build-quality flaws that outcome from cut costs: cheap plastic chassis, subpar keyboards.

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The Legion Y530, on the other mitt, flaunts my favorite design from a Lenovo gaming laptop to engagement, and 1 of the spiffiest in the budget-gaming market. It's not flashy or gaudy, dropping the far-as well-popular red accents for a clean black-and-white scheme, and it however brings some style with its thin body and appealing angles.

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Well-nigh of the ports and some internal thermal-oriented hardware are set in a sort of rear ledge that juts out behind the screen. This gives the laptop a distinct look of its own, while providing actress real estate for the cooling guts, contributing to both the aesthetics and functionality.

The body is entirely plastic, but of a sturdy gauge that belies the laptop's price. The lid has a radial texture, as well as the Legion brand name emblazoned along ane side. In the eye of the "O" is a glowing-white "Y" logo, a holdover from Lenovo's former "Y-Series" nomenclature for its gaming-laptop line, which remains in the model name.

The Y530 measures 0.95 past fourteen.37 by 10.24 inches (HWD) and weighs five.1 pounds, respectably meaty for a gaming laptop. Only the most size-conscious (and generally far pricier) gaming machines are much slimmer and lighter; machines in this upkeep-ability bunch tend to be this size or bigger. This model shaves about half a pound off the Legion Y520, its predecessor, whose build reflected its budget pricing to a much greater degree. In dissimilarity, the similarly affordable Acer Nitro 5 ($849.99 at Amazon) , for one, comes in at 1.05 by 15.35 past 10.47 inches and 5.95 pounds, bigger and almost a pound heavier despite both machines having a 15.6-inch display.

Portability may non exist your primary business for a gaming laptop, just information technology'southward a nice-to-accept, and the sharp design doesn't hurt, either. Between the size and style, the Legion Y530 stands above other inexpensive gaming laptops, looking similar it belongs in a college toll tier.

Equally for that brandish, the Legion Y530 boasts an IPS console with a 1,920-by-one,080-pixel native resolution and an anti-glare coating. The latter does its job, cutting downwardly on reflections, while the overall epitome quality is pretty good, if not a standout. As we saw with the TN-panel version of the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming, a proficient display on a budget machine is non always a given.

Also worth complimenting are the console'due south thin bezels, which go a long manner toward making the system more meaty. The border along the bottom is thick, but the top and side bezels are only a quarter of an inch thick. This allows the laptop to accept a smaller footprint than many of the other gaming laptops we see with a 15.half-dozen-inch screen.

Indeed, a 1080p full Hard disk drive panel is the smartest option for the components hither. The GeForce GTX 1050 is already not going to push 60 frames per second (fps) on maximum settings in demanding games at 1,920 by ane,080; had Lenovo gone with a higher-resolution console, the graphics carte would really struggle to continue up. A console upgrade would also add a good corporeality to the overall cost, so given the upkeep-friendly aptitude of this arrangement, 1080p is more than than serviceable.

Now here's an improvement I tin can get effectually: the keyboard. Lenovo ditched the Legion Y520's red highlighting around the keys in favor of white on the Y530, and I think it's much classier for it. Every bit with the exterior design, it looks like a much more adult laptop, something you could bring out in public or to a meeting if information technology's your full general-apply laptop without it screaming that it's a gaming auto. The keyboard is practiced for a budget organisation—it doesn't feel inexpensive (which definitely happens in this toll tier), offers a satisfying bounce while typing, and is backlit.

The touchpad, as well, ups its game this time around. It drops the quirky geometric flourish from the Legion Y520 for a elementary, clean look with dedicated left and right mouse buttons beneath. Information technology's responsive and tracks well, again a solid endeavor for a budget laptop. The speakers are provided by Harman, and are mostly merely average. They tin get pretty loud for blasting some music or playing a video, merely I noted some distortion at the highest volume level.

Connections, Configurations

As mentioned, most of the ports are located on the rear extension "ledge." In that location, yous will find a USB Type-C port, a USB 3.1 port, a mini-DisplayPort connection, an HDMI output, an Ethernet jack, and the power connector. In addition, on both flanks of the laptop, yous'll notice an additional USB iii.ane port, while the left side likewise hosts the headset jack. The laptop likewise features a 720p webcam, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.1.

Lenovo offers multiple models of the Legion Y530, ranging from $749 to $i,099. Before I explain some of the other choices, for the sake of context, this tester unit I accept in hand (over again, $1,029 list, $849 direct at this moment) comes with an Intel Core i5-8300H processor, 8GB of retention, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 I mentioned, and a 256GB solid-state drive (SSD).

The cheapest Y530 model comes with a 1TB hard bulldoze instead of a smaller but speedier SSD, while the most expensive model pairs a 1TB difficult drive with a 128GB SSD, the latter being the boot drive. Given that relatively tight spread in price between the top and bottom models, these aren't drastically different machines to cull among. Rather, Lenovo offers a few variants to suit your specific needs, but all fall inside this upkeep tier—there'south no high-power Legion Y530 choice. You tin crash-land upwardly the graphics carte du jour to a GeForce GTX 1050 Ti for a bit more power, cull 16GB of memory, and upgrade to a more than powerful Core i7-8750H CPU.

Notation that the keyboard on the least expensive option isn't backlit, and all units bear the same brandish. Admirably, the lesser-end model doesn't fall back on a TN screen in the aforementioned way equally, say, the lowest-end model in the Asus TUF Gaming FX504G ($849.99 at Amazon) line does.

Skillful-Enough Gaming Performance?

The Core i5-8300H is a lower-ability 8th-generation processor, but it'due south even so a very capable fit for this type of system. The efficiency on the newest-gen CPUs from Intel is simply quite loftier, significant that even the least powerful models in the serial have a solid performance baseline. Its PCMark viii score demonstrated this, as that score would have been on the higher cease in the past, and is now coming from a budget system.

Similarly, its multimedia test results point to a new bar for expectations. The Legion Y530, perhaps, shouldn't be your professional workstation, merely those are, over again, better results than we used to see from such systems. Fifty-fifty the Legion Y520, with a Core i7 CPU from the already-efficient Intel 7th generation, posted noticeably slower times and lower scores on this suite of tests. To the Legion's credit, the Acer Nitro 5 shares the same processor and corporeality of memory, but Lenovo's auto still outpaced information technology on boilerplate.

One of the more limiting aspects of this organisation is, of course, the GeForce GTX 1050. You'll have to accept the reality that this is a budget-friendly system in terms of raw graphics performance, more than in any other attribute (which is also a compliment to the build quality), as the GTX 1050 but has muscle-power limitations. As y'all tin see on the Heaven and Valley gaming-simulation tests, playing in Hard disk at Ultra quality settings pushes its limits for maintaining smooth gameplay. Information technology averaged 30fps and 40fps on these tests, respectively, technically holding strong at or above the 30fps floor, but without much wiggle room.

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A Piffling Real-Globe Gaming

What we saw in the Sky and Valley tests was reflected in real-world game testing, as well. We ran some trials with the games Far Cry Fundamental and Rise of the Tomb Raider, using the in-game criterion tools.

On medium item settings at 1080p, the Legion Y530 scored 50fps and 38fps, respectively. Then, with those tests boosted to the maximum quality preset in each case, the Legion Y530 averaged 32fps and 33fps. Medium settings are a respectable compromise between visuals and performance, so those numbers are decent considering the GTX 1050. (Given fluctuations in minimum and maximum frame rates, at those high settings, y'all'll oftentimes be under 30fps.) The reality is that you'll have to kick down a few visual settings in more than-demanding games to maintain a smooth frame charge per unit with this budget system, and 60fps on maximum (or fifty-fifty loftier) settings isn't happening on all but older, much less enervating games.

The bombardment rundown, meanwhile, was solid on the Legion Y530, lasting for seven hours and 59 minutes (seven:59). While not matching the all-twenty-four hour period longevity of some ultraportables, that's good for a gaming laptop, and decent for a laptop you lot may besides use for general tasks off the charger. The Nitro v didn't hold out quite as long (6:22), while the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming lasted for an impressive 11:01.

A New Benchmark for Budget Gamers

The bottom line: For an inexpensive gaming laptop, the Legion Y530 gets y'all through the door for polish Hard disk drive gaming in some way. Though the GTX 1050 has its clear ability limits, "expert enough" is really the principal objective for this type of inexpensive machine, and on that score, mission achieved. On acme of that, the build is higher quality and better looking than nigh of the contest.

If you lot need a flake more than power, going with a version of the Legion Y530 with a GTX 1050 Ti adds some juice, but this is, and volition remain, an entry-level gaming laptop even if you become for Lenovo's elevation configuration. Merely put, though, if budget gaming is indeed what you are after: The Y530 is better accommodating than y'all'd wait for this cost, and it makes some of the competition expect and feel cheap. Given the low price and above-grade design, it earns our Editors' Choice for budget gaming laptops.

Lenovo Legion Y530

Cons

The Bottom Line

Lenovo's Legion Y530 tops today's grade of budget gaming laptops with a sleek, distinctive build, aslope solid performance and a full feature set.

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Source: https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/lenovo-legion-y530