By Zsarlene B. Chua
Senior Reporter

COMPUTER manufacturing company Lenovo said demand for laptops and personal computers “will continue to be very high” even amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as these enable “everybody to stay connected and be productive,” a local executive said.

Many industries have seen less demand for their products and stalled production lines due to the continued fight against COVID-19, but Lenovo launched just last week new additions to their gaming line, the Legion.

“In the past three weeks while we were actually in quarantine, one of the highly sought-after brands [for those working] from home is actually the Legion and I actually see this continuing even after ECQ (enhanced community quarantine). Even if we enter [the third quarter], I think this will continue…. I can actually see the demand even increasing,” Michael Ngan, country general manager of Lenovo Philippines, told reporters during a digital press conference on April 17.

Lenovo’s Legion is a three-year-old gaming line that focuses on sleek design while delivering high performance as needed for productivity or gaming.

“Legion did really well in the past 12 months. We are now the fastest-growing PC gaming brand in the Asia Pacific,” Ian Tan, Asia Pacific gaming lead for Lenovo, said in the same event.

This year, the brand launched five new laptop models plus a “refreshed” version of the Y740Si alongside two desktops with features gamers wanted, Mr. Tan added.

“Gamers today seek the perfect balance of work and play in their lives. Lenovo Legion’s latest lineup was developed to meet their demands for stylish machines that have great performance for every scenario. Our innovations such as Lenovo Legion Coldfront 2.0 and TrueStrike keyboards offer superior thermals and typing comfort, further elevating the gaming experience for everyone,” Mr. Tan said in a company statement.

Aside from the improved thermal system (Coldfront 2.0) and a keyboard that allows 1.3 mm travel per key and improved responsiveness, the new line includes either the latest 10th generation Intel Core H-Series or AMD Ryzen 4000 series processors while some laptops can have the new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti and RTX 2080 GPUs.

Legion also rationalized the naming of their products — calling the highest end entry Legion 7i followed by the mid-tier entry Legion 5Pi, 5i, and 5, and the entry-level Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i.

The top-tier Legion 7i is a 15-inch machine that comes with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q graphics chip and Intel 10th gen Intel Core i9 processor. It has a 1080p display with a refresh rate of 240 Hz and has the TrueStrike keyboard with “100% anti-ghosting” and a Corsair iCue system lighting.

The slim 2.2 kg machine also has a sleek design with a battery that can last for up to 8 hours when not used for gaming and can be charged to 50% within 30 minutes. It also comes with 2TB NVMe PCIe SSD storage and up to 32GB DDR4 memory.

Legion 7i is priced at P119,995 and will be available starting June.

The mid-tier Legion 5 series has much of the 7i’s features but is a step down as it has the option for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 or GTX graphics card, 10th gen Intel H-series processors or AMD Ryzen 7 4000 H-Series Mobile Processor. It will also have 15-inch and 17-inch varieties though only the pricing for the 15-inch entries is announced.

The Intel-based 15-inch Lenovo Legion 5i will start at P62,995 while the AMD-based 15-inch Lenovo Legion 5 will start at P56,995. They are expected to be available by June.

The entry-level IdeaPad Gaming 3i is for those wanting a gaming setup without breaking the bank as the 15-inch IdeaPad Gaming 3i laptop with optional 120Hz refresh rate features an up to 10th Gen Intel Core i7 H-Series mobile processor. It also comes with 8 hour battery life and Rapid Charge, full HD IPS display and Dolby audio. The Intel variant is at P52,995 while an AMD variant is to be released within the year. The 3i is expected to be available by June.

Meanwhile, the refreshed version of the Y740Si is considered the brand’s lightest gaming laptop with a weight of 1.7 kg has 10th Gen Intel Core i9 H-Series mobile processors and a 15-inch 4K (3840 x 2160) In-plane Switching (IPS) panel display touting VESA DisplayHDR 400, Dolby Vision and 100 percent RGB color gamut.

When gaming, users can shift into their preferred performance mode by pressing Fn+Q keys to trigger Lenovo Q-Control 2.0.

The Y40Si starts at P144,995 and will be available within the second half of the year.

The desktop variants include the Legion Tower i5 comes with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GPU for ultrafast frame rates with 4K resolution. It also has Lenovo’ improved thermal system with 150-watt CPU cooler “letting air circulate faster throughout its airy 28-liter volume interior.”

The tower will be available in June with Intel processors though an AMD Ryzen processor will arrive later in the year. Price starts at P72,995.

For a budget-friendly option, Lenovo is offering IdeaPad Gaming Center 5i which can support up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GPU and Intel Core processors (an AMD version will be available soon). No pricing has been announced yet though they are expected to arrive in the second half of the year.

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