Lenovo made an effort to refresh a lot of their gaming laptops from last year, mostly with improved hardware inside. They took the saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” quite literally and just made some minor adjustments in the process. All in all, this would ideally provide a better gaming experience for their customers, whether they play casually or competitively.

Such is the case with 2022’s version of the Lenovo Legion Slim 7i, which came in a similar form factor as last year and some key hardware changes. Of course, the idea is for these slight changes to improve overall performance with more emphasis on gaming and content creation. With these in place, this year’s version should stack up pretty well for the perfect on-the-go gaming machine.

Will we see something different this time around with the Lenovo Legion Slim 7i?

Same form, same build, slightly better

From the outside, this year’s Lenovo Legion Slim 7i looks almost identical to that of last year’s model. From the size to the port placement, everything is exactly where it needed to be, without any gimmicks added. If anything, one of the key differences would be that they added air vents at both sides of the laptop, which we’ll touch on later.

The main thing that stood out in this year’s model is the hardware that it brings to the table. The Lenovo Legion Slim 7i comes with a 12th Generation Intel Core i7 processor and an NVIDIA RTX 3060 powering the entire device – pretty much an upgrade from last year.

Also, this year’s model comes with a 165Hz, 16:10 WQHD display, which is consistent with their other gaming laptops this year.

Overall, performance is a bit better compared to last year for productivity and most creative work. From creating presentations to editing photos and high quality videos, the Legion Slim 7i still checks all the boxes without any slow downs. It also helped that the 16:10 WQHD display provided a ton of window space for multitasking purposes.

Tiny boost in gaming from last year

With the RTX 3060 inside, gaming performance also had a slight improvement from last year. For most competitive titles like VALORANT, Apex Legends, and Counter Strike: Global Offensive, the device recorded above 120 FPS at relatively high graphics settings. In addition, that 165Hz refresh rate with a 1ms response rate helped out a lot during high-pressure moments.

For the games that support ray tracing, however, the Legion Slim 7i had a rather similar output as last year’s model. Visually, games like Fortnite and post-Edgerunners Cyberpunk 2077 come out as detailed as possible given display limitations. Although, this still comes at the cost of frame rates tanking and making them a bit unplayable at times – something even last year’s model suffered through.

If there was one thing that just felt missing, it was a stable gaming experience but this isn’t on the RTX 3060. Instead, it’s based on the fact that the Legion Slim 7i doesn’t come with a dedicated RJ45 port and relies more on the WiFi 6 adapter. For some people, having a wired connection just fits better, so your experience with this laptop for competitive gaming might be different.

Feels a bit cooler and quieter than before

With most of Lenovo’s Legion laptops this year, they incorporated the Coldfront 4.0 cooling system inside. In essence, it’s also a slight upgrade in power and heat management for all the critical hardware when you’re playing extensively. For the Legion Slim 7i, it follows that same cooling experience described.

As mentioned earlier, the Legion Slim 7i has air vents both at the rear and on opposite sides of the device for that specific purpose. Basically, there’s a lot more air flowing out and keeping the device relatively cool during intense workload. Also, for the most part, it keeps the hot air away from other parts of the laptop that would make the experience a bit more uncomfortable.

Another key improvement in the cooling system was that the fans are noticeably quieter than last year. Although you might need a pair of headphones to block it out at times, it feels like the fans are less aggressive in pushing out hot air from the device compared to last year’s model. 

Still doesn’t last long, but charges fast, at least

Much like last year’s model, this year’s Legion Slim 7i still clocks in at around 10 to 12 hours of full battery usage when subjected to regular workload. In this case, regular workload includes a ton of document and presentation work, light gaming and photo/video editing. When gaming full time, we managed to squeeze out at most three hours from the device before reaching for the charger.

With Rapid Charge on and the 250W charging brick in tow, it took around two hours to fully charge the device when you’re not using it while charging. It’s still quite alright that it takes just that long if you want to get back into the action that much. While using the device during charge mode, charging time is extended to around two hours and 30 minutes.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

Starting at PhP 119,295, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7i for 2022 is a slight improvement from last year from a performance standpoint. On the outside, it doesn’t look any different alluding to consistently great build quality. With upgraded hardware, it delivers great all-around performance fit for both the casual and competitive gamer alike with less compromises. 

Even on the cooling side of things, there is also some slight improvement with Coldfront 4.0 at the helm. Across the board, these improvements make the gaming experience much better. Although, much  like last year, the laptop doesn’t last quite long but this is rather expected given the hardware inside. 

Overall, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7i is a high quality option for an on-the-go gaming machine. It’s still a heavy investment given all the hardware improvements, but we feel it’s still a good investment if you’re looking for an upgrade.