Legion 9 18IAX10 review: Lenovo's first 18-inch gaming laptop is almost a home run

[Redaktion]

Despite being a bit late to the 18-inch gaming ring, the Lenovo Legion 9 18 is easily one of the best in its size category even when up against seasoned models like the MSI Titan or Razer Blade 18.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Legion-9-18IAX10-review-Lenovo-s-first-18-inch-gaming-laptop-is-almost-a-home-run.1110106.0.html

[AdamC]

I don't get the comment about no Thunderbolt 5.  Lenovo's website and spec sheet lists the legion 9i gen 10 as coming with two Thunderbolt 5 ports.

[LL]

Complete idiots with only glossy screen without option.

[Jason Reid]

The Legion 9 18IAX10 comes with two (2) Thunderbolt 5 ports. Check the Lenovo PSREF.

[glossy it is]

Complete idiots with only glossy screen without option.

I prefer glossy: Sharper text and poppier colors.

But, to combat the reflections when used outdoors (not far from your door indeed, because how heavy this laptop is, so you're not going to travel with it) or in (very) well sunlit rooms, maybe a brighter screen could/should have been used. Indoors (ambient light), however, most people set the brightness to 150-250 nits. "A screen at 500 nits indoors will look very bright, and while it gives punchy, vibrant visuals, it's usually more light than you need. Over time, using that level in a normal indoor environment could lead to eye fatigue"

[petar]

Decent desktop-replacement, but way too expensive. Pity that Lenovo didn't decide to also offer the 5070Ti, as a more affordable alternative. Most other vendors (e.g. Asus, Razer, Alienware, Schenker/Clevo) offer their 18" models with the 5070Ti as well. Let's hope Lenovo decide to do this too in the future.

[Huh?]

This review is wrong. Legion 9i always comes with 2 Thunderbolt 5 ports, in any possible configuration. There is no option of having Thunderbolt 4 on it.

I can't take this review seriously if you get facts that are listed on the spec sheet - that you don't even have to test - wrong.

[Huh?]

The Notebookcheck Rating section says that AI Performance is rated as 99/100, yet I don't see any AI testing in the article. How did you arrive at that number?

[cejokol38]

Well, funny thing, I was trying to gather enough money for the latest smartphone, but luck just wasn't on my side. I stumbled upon spinmama while browsing online and decided to give it a try. The first few rounds were disappointing, but after taking a bigger chance, I hit a surprisingly large win. It gave me the boost I needed, and I'd recommend it to anyone wanting a fun way to potentially speed up their savings goals.

[Vegard]

I have this laptop (5090 version). All variants come with 2x Thunderbolt 5 USB-C ports (those on the left). This is the third comment now correcting this very obvious mistake in the review, which is repeated several times.

[lenovo-enjoyer]

Returned mine because of the screen and the keyboard issues.

The screen is way too reflective and glare-prone.
Was unusable on dark-themed websites and apps, and even in bright games my eyes were hurting from the glare after a couple of hours of play time. I have only ever used matte screens before, so I thought it was just an issue of getting used to it, but after using it for a few days it was still bothering the heck out of me, and I was struggling to see things on the screen where the glare happens, effectively covering what I'm trying to see.
I also appears that there is no protective layer of any sort on top of the screen panel, it looks and feels like an exposed panel, at least in the non-3D screen variant that I got, so you have to be very careful cleaning it as it's scratch-prone. Just cleaning some dust off with a micro-fiber cloth left scratches on it.

The keyboard is positioned way too far.
With fingers on WASD, your wrist is inside the laptop, which restricts the downward forearm movement and makes the laptop cut into your arm if you try to position the forearm even a little bit downward.
Also, if you wear a metal wrist watch, accessing the number key row will pull your hand into the laptop enough to result in the laptop and the wrist watch being scratched.
Lenovo really should have moved the entire keyboard one row down - would have resolved all these issues.

It's also a shame the numpad keys are short-width on a freaking 18" laptop.

The 1080p 440Hz display mode, but not utilizing 9955X3D is a bit weird, but I guess they were going for the higher RAM capacity and Thunderbolt 5, both of which only Intel offers.