Our verdict
The Lenovo Legion Y545 offers strong gaming and overall performance with a subtle, business-ready look - all at an affordable price.
To the
Elegant, understated design
Great game and overall performance
Comfortable keyboard
Excellent audio quality
Against
Below average battery life
Gets hot when playing
Today's best Lenovo Legion Y545 deals
$1,235
at Amazon
$1,299
at Amazon
The Lenovo Legion Y545 ($799 off, $999 review) is like a luxury vehicle for the econobox price. Its muted styling made me feel like an undercover gamer. One minute I'm producing spreadsheets , PowerPoint Docs and Reports, and in the next I'm on a mission in Hitman 2 while sitting on a park bench on my lunch break. It's the laptop du jour for undercover gamers. You can even listen to spy music in the background while you carry them around knowing the game is on at all times!
Lenovo Legion Y545 Pricing and Configurations
The Legion Y545 I reviewed costs $999 and features a 2.6GHz Intel Core i7-9750H processor, 16GB of RAM, a 128GB PCIe SSD, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti with 6GB of VRAM .
(Image credit: Laptop Mag)
Lenovo Legion Y545 (Black) at Amazon for $1,235
The base model costs $799, but it cuts you down to 8GB of RAM and an entry-level GeForce GTX 1650 GPU with 4GB of video memory. However, you get more storage with a 256GB PCIe SSD. Both models are solid, but our review unit gives the user more bang for their buck.
Lenovo Legion Y545 theme
With its industrial design accented by clean, attractive lines, the Lenovo Legion Y545 contrasts nicely with many of its flashier counterparts. Its understated styling coupled with tastefully aggressive rear and underside vents make it unique. Its dark, iron-grey aluminum lid has similar appeal to a Entry-level model from Mercedes-Benz or BMW. The white backlit Y emblem is distinctive and gives it a respectable flair.
(Image credit: Laptop Mag)
Opening the lid reveals more of that understated dark gray aluminum. The island-style keyboard sits on top of the deck, the triangular power button above the F8 key challenges you to wake up. The large touchpad under the keyboard, dead in the wrist rest rounds off the presentation.
(Image credit: Laptop Mag)
At just 14.2 x 10.5 x 1~1.1 inches and weighing 5.3 pounds, the Y545 is slightly heavier and larger than that
HP 15 gaming laptop 15
(4.9 pounds and 14.25.14 x 10.144 x 0.9 inches) with the
Asus ROG ZephyrusG GA502
comes in at a slim 14.4 x 9.9 x 0.8 inches and 4.53 lbs
Dell G3 15 (2019)
(14.4 x 10 x 0.8 inches) is the same weight as the Y545 at 5.3 pounds.
Lenovo Legion Y545 connectors
The Legion Y545 has enough
ports
turn into a passable one
Workplace
.On the right is a
USB 3.1 Type-A connector
and a headphone/microphone combo jack. On the left is another USB 3.1 Type A port.
(Image credit: Laptop Mag)
Need more ports? Check back and you'll find a virtual smorgasbord
.
From left to right you'll find a USB 3.1 Type-C port, a mini DisplayPort, another USB Type-A 3.1 port, an HDMI and an Ethernet jack, followed by the DC-in port and one
kensington
lock.
Lenovo Legion Y545 display
When I first saw the Legion Y545's 15.6-inch 1920 x 1080 anti-glare panel, I wanted to go somewhere quiet, ignore my family, and play games like my life depended on it. When I saw the trailer for Watching Fast and Furious, I found the colors so vivid, the explosions and fast-paced chases so clear and beautiful, that I ended up wishing I had Vin's muscles because they looked amazing on that panel.
(Image credit: Laptop Mag)
A few hours later and I'm still loving that display. Watching [TK] and 60Hz isn't as fast as more expensive gaming rigs, the Y545's refresh rate made for buttery smooth rendering when I was playing Grand Theft Auto 5. Everything looked sharp; the colors were perfectly saturated, bright and sparkling. As I drove around, I kept making U-turns just to enjoy all the excellent detail and run over a few people. Even distant details appeared accurate, and when as I got closer, the sharpness matched well.
When we measured the screen's color reproduction capabilities, the Y545's screen achieved 99% of the
sRGB color space
, which is just below our 100% minimum and 110% average for mainstream gaming laptops. Still, the Y545 was livelier than the Zephyrus (71%), the Pavilion 15 (66%), and the G3 15 (63% ).
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Whoa, is that laptop?
bright
!The Y545's panel had an average brightness of 300 nits, beating the average of 284 nits. While none of the competitors literally came close to the Lenovo, the Dell came closest at 272 nits. The Asus managed 240 nits m², while the HP delivered a dismal 176 cd/m².
Lenovo Legion Y545 audio
Laptop speakers often disappoint, but this was definitely not one of those times. Dolby Atmos software combined with a pair of Harman/Kardon-tuned speakers is what gives the Legion Y545 its superb sound quality. The volume on the notebook is loud enough to fill my 200 square feet to fill a large living room, and there's a good amount of bass to add depth to the sound.
(Image credit: Laptop Mag)
As a longtime audiophile, I needed to hear the funky horns of Earth, Wind and Fire and hear them clearly. When they performed "September" the horns came out warm and rich. Maurice White's velvety vocals were beautifully full and Phillip Bailey's falsetto was clean and clear.
I felt completely immersed in playing Grand Theft Auto 5. With the realistic tire squeal and staggered gunfire, my gaming experience was taken to another level. I was amazed by the richness of the audio every time I crashed into something. It often felt wonderfully surreal.
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The sound quality is so clear and immersive when using this laptop that I didn't feel the need to use headphones or connect to a Bluetooth speaker. I took the time to play with the Dolby Atmos software by I turned on the Sound Radar, which allows the Dolby engine to simulate spatial sounds within the game environment, and it just added buttery smooth goodness. It took the audio experience to a new level with sounds coming from every direction. I could hear clearly that another vehicle pulled up to my right or left. This added dimension makes the gameplay really tangible.
Lenovo Legion Y545 keyboard and touchpad
As a person with fairly large hands, I really liked the full-size island-style keyboard. With a full numeric keypad and white backlighting, as well as a dedicated record button for gamers who want to capture their best gaming moments, this keyboard is truly made for gamers I performed better than expected on the 10fastfingers typing test, hitting 90 words per minute with 96% accuracy. Honestly, I think the keyboard is to blame. It almost felt like cheating, with such firm feedback and deep travel. Thank you Lenovo and take the sister Mary Ellen! She said I would never get past 20 wpm!
(Image credit: Laptop Mag)
The 4.1 x 2.7 inch matte black mylar touchpad has a smooth feel. Windows 10 gestures were very precise, even when using three or four finger gestures and simple finger taps. The bottom corners of the touchpad very responsive and emit an excellent click when pressed.
Lenovo Legion Y545 Graphics, Gaming and VR
I played, I won, I sprained my thumb while squeezing the Lenovo Legion Y545 as hard as I could. I wanted to see how much the Legion Y545 costs
Nvidia GTX 1660 TI GPU
could handle 6GB of VRAM. So I terrorized everyone, crashed every car in GTA V (my settings for GTA V (1920 x 1080 on Very High, 62 frames per minute average, beat the 59 fps average). The Zephyrus, which also has a 1660 Ti scored 57 fps, while the HP with its GTX 1650 GPU only managed 39 fps.
(Image credit: Laptop Mag)
I then switched to one of my absolute favorites, Hitman 2, because there's nothing quite like a good old-fashioned assassination that helps you unwind. Testing Hitman at 1920x1080 on Ultra with DirectX 12, the Legion Y545 produced 95 fps beating the 85 fps category average and the Zephyrus, which scored 73 fps. The G3 15 and Pavillion clocked in at 62 and 57 fps, respectively.
The Lenovo has flexed its gaming muscles during Far Cry New Dawn and clocks in at 79 fps. It's enough to beat the 65 fps average as well as the Pavillion, Dell and Asus, which score 54, 53 and 53 respectively 52 fps in a frame lay.
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Get ready to play Star Wars: Vadar Immortal as the Lenovo Legion Y545 handles virtual reality surprisingly well for a mid-tier system. During the SteamVR performance test, the Lenovo scored 8.6, which is below the average of 9 .1. That's still better than both the HP and Dell, which got 5.9 and 5.8, respectively. The Asus knocked it out of the park with a 9.2, while the HP got 5.8 and so once again beat its competitors.
Performance of the Lenovo Legion Y545
The Lenovo Y545 reminds me of my first car. Stylish enough to turn heads but powerful enough to make me feel badass.
(Image credit: Laptop Mag)
With a
2.6GHz 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9750H processor
and 16GB
R.A.M.
, the laptop didn't struggle for a minute. It even handled resource-intensive Google Chrome while running 25 tabs, including one playing Avengers End Game on Disney Plus, with no hiccups.
I downloaded DaVinci Resolve 16 to test how the Y545 would edit and render video. The Legion Y545 held its own, but didn't render HD video as fast as my desktop, which has a desktop processor and 32GB of RAM .However, if I needed to shoot videos and do some quick edits, it would be more than enough. I would definitely take it with me when shooting photos or videos.
The Y545 is 4.3 during Geekbench. shot out of the gate
overall performance
Test scored 23,868. It scored better than the 20,511 mainstream gaming average, the Pavilion (21,326, Core i7-9750H), the Zephyrus (14,106, AMD Ryzen 7 3750H processor), which scored 14,106, and the G3 15 ( 16,650, Core i5-9300H).
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The Legion Y545 took 8 minutes and 51 seconds to convert a 4K video to 1080p resolution using the Handbrake app. That was more than enough to beat the 10:44 category average Time of 10:42 in second place by a wide margin, while the Zephryus (14:23) and Pavilion (14:01) lag far behind our review sample.
During the file transfer test, the Legion Y545
128GB PCIe SSD
took 0:27 to duplicate 4.97 GB of mixed media files for a transfer rate of 188.5 megabytes per second. This sluggish result was well below the average of 464.2 MB/s. The G3 15 (128 GB SSD) performed slightly better at 299MB/s. The Pavilion (256GB PCIe NVMe SSD) performed even better at 351MB/s, while the Zephyrus (512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD) performed at 424MB/s had the edge.
Battery life of the Lenovo Legion Y545
Gaming laptops tend to be an abomination for battery life. The Legion Y545, which consists of continuous web surfing over WiFi at 150 nits of brightness, lasted just 3:38. That time is still slightly below the 4:06 mainstream gaming average. Both the Zephyrus and Pavilion lasted with times of 4:48 and 5:06 longer respectively. But the G3 15 has proven it's staying power by turning on at 6:41.
Lenovo Legion Y545 heat
The Legion Y545 uses Cold Front cooling technology, a dual-channel cooling system that cools the CPU and GPU simultaneously with dedicated fans and heatsinks. Although the rear and bottom vents are well-placed and blend well with the laptop's aesthetics, I found that the system ran hot after about 20 minutes while multitasking, playing video, or playing games. There were times when the fans were noisy, but the fan noise is comparable to other laptops in the same price range with similar specs short bursts louder, sometimes they kept the system quietly cool.
I spent 15 minutes exploring Ancient Greece in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey and then measured strategic points along the laptop. The touchpad measured 94 degrees Fahrenheit, which is just above our 95-degree comfort threshold. The center of the keyboard and the The laptop's base reached a fairly warm 109 degrees.
(Image credit: Laptop Mag)
After 15 minutes of streaming full-screen 1080p video, the Legion Y545 measured 101 degrees Fahrenheit below, which is slightly above our 95-degree comfort threshold. The touchpad and center of the keyboard registered 81 and 90 degrees, respectively.
Lenovo Legion Y545 webcam
The 720p, 1.0 megapixel webcam isn't the best. It's oddly positioned at the bottom of the bezel, which makes for unfortunate shots. Yes, I accidentally took a picture of my belly button (no one wants to see that). The quality of the video and Photos is bad, and if you want to stream, your best bet is to buy a full HD
external webcam
.Even in 2020, having less than a Full HD camera on a laptop just feels antiquated.
Lenovo Legion Y545 Software and Warranty
Lenovo's Vantage software comes standard with the Legion Y545, and I suggest playing with it to tweak settings and performance to your liking.The user interface is very user-friendly and provides access to system components and system optimization tools such as Legion Edge, which lets you access Network Boost, Auto Close, Hybrid Mode, Touchpad Lock, Quick Settings and System Updates.
The third-party software includes the Nvidia control panel for managing and optimizing graphics performance.
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As usual with Windows 10 systems, there's a normal amount of bloatware, including Skype, Netflix, Microsoft Solitaire Collection, and Farm Heroes Saga.
The Lenovo Legion Y545 comes with a one-year limited warranty. Check out how Lenovo fared in our annual special reports, including
Technical support showdown
,
Best and worst brands
and
Best and worst gaming brands
.
bottom line
At the end of the day, the Lenovo Legion Y545 is an entry-level gaming laptop that delivers on both promises and lore. Priced at $999, the laptop's discrete Nvidia graphics chip delivers a surprising amount of performance with above-average results. And when you don't While gaming, you can use the laptop's Core i7 processor to create spreadsheets, do light video editing and of course watch some movies on that beautiful 1080p display.
However, if you're looking for something with longer battery life and comparable performance, check out the $1,049 Asus ROG Zephyrus G GA502. However, if you want to game on a budget without sacrificing too much performance, the Lenovo Legion Y545 is the one a good choice.
