Lenovo Legion Y520 is a gaming laptop which is affordable, reliable and also exciting. Even though there are many other devices in this type, like ROG Strix GL753 from Asus and Gigabyte Sabre 17 that are equal to the Y520, only a few are as affordable. The Y520 is definitely not the best, but for gaming on a budget, it’s one of the best laptops on the market.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The keyboard used in the laptop is Lenovo’s standard “island keys” that are backlit. The trackpad comes with two dedicated buttons and a glass surface. In a time when the competitors offer RGB lighting, the Legion Y520 only offers red backlighting. The experience with typing was also really good and comfortable.
Features
The device has a , a full-size Ethernet port, charging port, a headphone jack, and a USB 2.0 port on the left side and two USB 3.0 ports, a USB Type-C Thunderbolt ready port an HDMI output, and an SD card reader on the right side.
Display
The display in this device is 15.6-inch and has pixel density of 1920×1080 with matte finish. There were no backlight bleed in the Y520. It had a bright display, so working and gaming was quite a bit of fun. It has FHD which is a decent resolution for a gaming laptop.
Battery
We tested the battery life and it lasted for two hours. The battery life is less, but comparing to its competitors it is slightly better as the competitors have an average battery life of one hour fifty minutes.
| Processor | Intel Core i5-7300HQ (up to 3.5 GHz) Intel Core i7-7700HQ (up to 3.8GHz) |
| Internal storage | Up to 512GB PCIe SSD Up to 2TB SATA HDD |
| RAM | 8GB or 16GB DDR4 at 2400 MHz (2x soDIMM) |
| Display | 15.6″ FHD (1920 x 1080) LED Backlit, IPS, Anti-Glare |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti 4GB GDDR5 |
| Ports | Two USB Type-A 3.0 One USB Type-A 2.0 One USB Type-C (no Thunderbolt 3) One RJ45 LAN Ethernet One HDRMI 3.5mm jack SD card reader Audio jack Microphone jack |
| Speakers | Two 2W Harman speakers with Dolby Audio Premium |
| Wireless | Realtek 8821AE Wireless LAN 802.11ac PCIe Bluetooth 4.1 |
| Camera | Front-facing 720p |
| Battery | 45 Whr Up to 4 hours |
| Dimensions | 380 mm x 265 mm x 25.8 mm 14.96 inches x 10.43 inches x 1.01 inches |
| Weight | Starting at 5.3 lbs (2.4 kg) |
Verdict
The Y520 has a boring design and thermal throttling issue. Yet, it’s made as good as the competitors, performs slightly better in gaming and has a brilliant display.
Priced at 1500$, we could not find any other device in the market that offers the same amount of specifications and performance and for just that the Lenovo Legion Y520 steals the show.
