Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16" 16ARH7H

A storage-obsessed, port-packed powerhouse with a mediocre screen. Buy it refurbished for the insane 3TB of space, not for the visual experience.

The Ryzen 7 6800H is a solid workhorse, landing in the 71st percentile for CPUs. It chews through multi-threaded tasks and keeps the RTX 3060 fed in games. The GPU itself is the real surprise, not for being top-tier, but for how well it holds up. It's in the 84th percentile, meaning it's still one of the better mobile GPUs out there for 1080p gaming. Don't expect to max out Cyberpunk at 4K, but for esports titles and most AAA games at high settings, it's more than capable. The 16GB of DDR5 RAM is just average, though, and you might feel that in a few years.

Stacked against an ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14, the Legion wins on screen size and storage but loses badly on portability and screen quality. The Zephyrus is a much more premium, modern-feeling machine. Compared to an HP OMEN Transcend 14, the Legion feels like a last-gen bruiser. The OMEN has a better screen and newer CPU options, but you'll pay a lot more for equivalent storage. If you're even glancing at an Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max, you're in a completely different universe of performance and price, so the Legion is the obvious budget-conscious choice for Windows gaming.

At $1500 refurbished, this is a tricky call. The sheer amount of storage alone is worth a few hundred bucks. You're essentially getting a capable gaming and productivity machine with a free 1TB drive thrown in. If you can live with the mediocre screen and don't need cutting-edge GPU power, it's a solid deal. But if you're paying anywhere near original MSRP, you're getting fleeced. This only makes sense as a refurbished buy.

The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is a bit of a mixed bag, but it nails the fundamentals for a specific kind of buyer. You're getting a ton of fast storage, a fantastic port selection, and a CPU/GPU combo that still handles 1080p gaming and creative work without breaking a sweat. The real story here is the value proposition on the refurbished market. For $1500, you're getting a 2TB SSD plus a 1TB NVMe drive, which is just absurd. But that screen is a letdown, and the RTX 3060 is showing its age. This isn't the laptop for everyone, but if your priorities are storage and connectivity, it's a compelling package.

If you care even a little bit about screen quality for photo editing, color-accurate work, or just enjoying a beautiful display, this isn't it. Go get an ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 or a MacBook Pro instead. The Legion's screen is its Achilles' heel, and you'll notice it every single day.

Buy it if you find it refurbished and your primary needs are a desktop replacement with tons of storage and every port you'll ever need. The Legion 5 Pro is a reliable workhorse that's still got plenty of gaming life left in it. Just know that you're compromising on the screen and future-proofing. If you can find one closer to $1200, it becomes a no-brainer. At $1500, it's a good, not great, deal for a very specific person.