Lenovo Legion 9i (2023) RTX 4090 gaming laptop review

Full review of the Lenovo Legion 9i. Lenovo's new flagship of 2023 and most premium gaming laptop offering. Does it have all the goodies that it needs to succeed as the best of the best. Tune in and find out.
Intel i9-13980HX 24 cores / 32 threads
32GB DDR5 5600MT/s RAM
2x1TB (RAID 0) PCIe NVMe Gen4 SSD
16" 3200x2000 165Hz 1200-nits, 3ms, 100% Adobe RGB, 100% DCI-P3 and 100% sRGB, G-Sync Mini-LED HDR display
NVIDIA RTX 4090 16GB VRAM laptop GPU (max TGP 175W)
WiFi 7, BT 5.3 and 2.5Gb Ethernet
99Wh battery
330W power adapter
2.56 kg / 5.64 lbs

[@TechGuyBeau]

Excellent work my man. Put some respect on this video with a like and sub. Support the up and coming KZbinrs who still look out for the community !!

[@petrzurek5713]

That was actually a fantastic review, good job 👍

[@techknowlux]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@AnonymousBoss1]

I hope Lenovo makes the next gen 9i with 4 fans and more copper heat pipes then it would sell like hot cakes

[@techknowlux]

4 fans lower speed, bigger size and larger vapor chamber would be great.

[@L_223]

Nice review. If possible please try out the acer predator triton 17x, it’s a premium laptop with mini led but I’m wondering if the thermals are decent enough for the slim build

[@techknowlux]

I'll see if I can get my hands on it. It's a pricey beast as well.

[@ShejtanVrbaski]

The termals are unacceptable on Triton 17x. Got my hands on one recently but decided to return it. CPU reaches 100C in Turbo quite frequently with termal throttling as result. Shame. It's really good, premium built laptop - if they hadn't overclocked the CPU in their presets too much - it would have been perfect.

[@bantau88]

fantastic, informed review. Thank You!

[@techknowlux]

Thanks for watching!

[@mahmoudhamed4395]

Hello first I do not know how such a detailed reviewer does hit the mil yet....and I have a question plz about performance in warzone 2 was it bad by any means because u know it is a competitive game and need full high frames, thank you.

[@techknowlux]

Thank you so much. I don't know either. This space is very crowded. Warzone 2, Apex and Fortnite ran grant on this laptop. As long as you go with recommended settings or allow the game to find best settings and play with that you'd be able to hit triple digits no problem on any of those games. The 4090 in this laptop is no joke! The liquid sealed cooling system works so well.

[@ShejtanVrbaski]

Don't really understand why they are making laptops with native resolutions this high. The screen is too small and the hardware is not able to keep up.

[@techknowlux]

@ShejtanVrbaski I agree 1000%. Keep in that a 16" or even a 16.1" display is just maximum 0.5" bigger than a standard 15.6". At that display size the diagonal increase is so minimal that anything beyond 1400p or 1600p is wasted imho. And they take a larger hit on battery life.

[@JimJohn]

nice review.

[@techknowlux]

Thanks!

[@Dserebrakov]

How is the this screen compared to Mini Led ASUS M16 and Strix Scar 16?

[@techknowlux]

Haven't tested the M16 or the Scar 16 but this is stunning. I'd assume they'd be similar because the manufacturer of the displays are only a handful. And most likely Lenovo and ASUS sourced from one of those manufacturers. Being that the Legion 9i released towards the end of 2023, maybe they have a newer revision of the MiniLED panel than the one in the M16 or the Scar 16 meaning better quality. That is just my guess though.

[@aaronscottmatthews7883]

While watching videos or gaming do you often(if ever) notice the dimming zones?

[@techknowlux]

Only if there is a small very bright object on a very dark screen then you have a bit of glow around the object. In daily use, never! It is a beautiful display.

[@VikVaughan]

The screen has this clever "reverse bloom" in most cases which is practically unnoticeable in real life usage. The black areas bleed into the white, instead of white bleeding into back. For some reason this looks much more natural. You won't see it unless you're really looking for it in a test image with blacks and white blocks. It's a fantastic screen. Great colors, good yet natural saturation, great blacks and whites, great contrast. The sharpness is good, and brightness can be eye searing if you're not careful.

[@CurseEnforcer]

Does this gives any better performance than pro 7i 4090?

[@techknowlux]

@CurseEnforcer Very similar performance I would say. It was surprising how good the 9i was. But is it worth the massive price premium for the Mini-LED, a bit better build quality, slightly shifted keyboard layout and that Mini-LED screen. You be the judge.

[@elniky1393]

Would you recommend this laptop over the Asus Zephyrus M16? Also with a mini LED display

[@techknowlux]

I haven't tested the Zephyrus M16 so I cannot speak to it. This laptop has a fantastic display though. I would guess even if the displays are exact same LCD panel or within a few percentage of each other in terms of specs it will be a subjective which overall package you like more.

[@pedroferreira9234]

how can the Pro 7i with the same ssd have half the read speed of 9i?

[@techknowlux]

What an observation. You tell me?

[@VikVaughan]

9i has RAID 0

[@jayblaze53]

Gaming performance is a bit disappointing. The display resolution seems to be a bit too high for the GPU. 2560 * 1600 would have been a perfect resolution.

[@premierapro]

yes

[@techknowlux]

I agree. But maybe this panel only comes in 3200x1200. The 1600p or 1440p resolution at 16 inches is plenty sharp.

[@matthewjohnson8809]

how are the speakers?

[@techknowlux]

Decently loud but tinny at the top end. And bass is just okay it not muddy at the lower end. Typical laptop speakers imho despite all the bells and whistles they say in marketing.

[@VikVaughan]

They're above average for a laptop, but not incredible. Good max volume, doesn't crackle at higher volume but a bit tinny. Not the most base, but not the least. I'd give them a B grade. Very usable but not a full substitute for good headphones or external speakers.

[@TheSonoranSniper]

the design on this is pretty unoptimized even with the "liquid cooling" and "AI Chip"

[@techknowlux]

Not the design but BIOS and software need more time to dial in exactly and balance cpu/gpu power and thermals.

[@Crecross]

Never catch me "gaming" on a laptop 😭

[@techknowlux]

Lol. They're not for everyone. And desktop PC has no comparison. My desktop 4080 smokes all of these laptops even with 4090s and at 4K too.

[@mrrasron1]

Cyberpunk really averaged 45 fps?

[@SAVAGE87able]

Fantastic review I just ordered my 9i 4090 for $3266 pre tax and this video answered all my questions I can't wait to get my hands on this baby thanks for such a detailed video.

[@techknowlux]

You're welcome. I'm glad my video helped you in making a buying decision and answered all your questions. This laptop is a beauty and my favorite right behind the Razer Blade 18 for the year. Aesthetics are top notch with this model.

[@pixlvibz]

Mine comes Thursday... Crazy

[@SAVAGE87able]

@@pixlvibz Nice when did you order it?

[@MiguelRodriguez-my3dg]

I ordered this laptop ! But I got the 4080 version with 5600mhz ram . I’m looking forward to it next week ! I had a legion slim 7 amd but it wasn’t enough power Can you check how the screen looks when changing resolution to 2k instead of the native resolution?

[@techknowlux]

Any resolution lower than the native resolution will look blurry. But as to how blurry will be subjective. I do not like the look for gameplay. I prefer native resolution with DLSS or FSR to upscale the image. Looks much better. You may have to lower from Ultra to High or Medium settings, but this method is preferable to maintain a sharp image.

[@famlukfam]

How does this matchup with the Alienware x16 with i9 and rtx 4090? With discounts they both come out to almost the same price but I’m torn between either - help me choose! P.s. awesome review btw

[@techknowlux]

Thank you so much. Between the x16 and the Legion 9i. No competition in my mind. The 9i is a premium beauty with the peformance to match. Looks and braun in one. The x16 is more about braun and raw horsepower, pushing it to the max. Same price, I'd close my eyes and pick the Legion 9i twice.

[@kmdkmd-jz8pv]

I just ordered the fully loaded version with 6400 ram and a single 2tb ssd. I was able to get it for 4700 Canadian before tax. I have the 7i 4090 right now and I do love it but I need a proper hdr panel.

[@techknowlux]

Thats pricey for sure. But its probably the best hdr panel on a laptop right now

[@steffdia7080]

Does this Lenovo mini led is good as M3 Macbook mini led? Or Lenovo have dots visible on gray?

[@techknowlux]

@steffdia7080 It's really hard to say, because Apple's focus for their displays is quite different than gaming laptops. I would say though that the Apple display is probably better in terms of clarity, brightness and sharpness since they have a glossy overlay... so it'll visually "look" better and clearer as well. With the matte displays, even with Mini-LED, it's less clear, but not by much. Are you more interested in gaming or work as your main laptop use? That'll heavily influence your choice.

[@Mdot555]

Nice review sir! Were you able to install the driver for cpu overclocking in vantage?

[@techknowlux]

Yes I was. Just keep trying. it's really dumb but it does eventually install.

[@Mdot555]

@@techknowlux when I go to update/install in vantage there is nothing there to install, it says I’m up to date🤔