As someone who has reviewed countless Lenovo gaming laptops, the quality and performance have always been standout perks, especially in more recent models. The Legion Slim 5 16 (Gen 9) takes the usual Legion build and makes it thinner without really sacrificing performance.
This specific model that's on sale at Walmart's anti-Prime Day event has the right hardware to play any game on the market, and its 1440p display can easily keep up thanks to a 165Hz refresh rate. Instead of paying $1,400 like normal, Walmart has it down to just $849.
🎃The best early Black Friday deals🦃
- 💾Seagate Xbox Expansion Card (1TB) | $129.99 at Best Buy (Save $70!)
- 📺Amazon Fire TV Stick | $24.99 at Amazon (Save $25!)
- 🎮ASUS ROG Ally (Z1 Extreme) | $499.99 at Best Buy (Save $150!)
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- 💽AMD Ryzen 7 5800X CPU (8-core) | $164 at Amazon (Save $285!)
- 📺LG C4 OLED 4K TV (42-inches) | $899.99 at Best Buy (Save $500!)
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- 💻Dell XPS 13 (X Elite) | $999.99 at Best Buy (Save $500!)
- 🎧Sony ANC Wireless Headphones | $228 at Walmart (Save $122!)
- 💻HP Envy 2-in-1 14 (Ryzen 7) | $649.99 at Best Buy (Save $400!)
A full gaming laptop for about the same price as a gaming handheld
PC gaming handhelds have recently exploded in popularity, offering smooth performance in the most portable form factor possible. However, gaming handhelds aren't for everyone. There are tradeoffs for performance and compatibility with most handhelds, and while they can be used as a regular PC for productivity work, you certainly don't get the same ease of use as you do from an actual laptop.
The Legion Slim 5 16 is first and foremost a gaming laptop. That's evident from the start thanks to its customizable RGB keyboard, a wide array of ports, and sleek but not overdone aluminum lid with Luna Grey finish. It's from the "Slim" line, so Lenovo has kept the weight to about five pounds ... not bad for a 16-inch gaming laptop.
Inside is where things get interesting, especially if we're still comparing it to a gaming handheld. The AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS has 8 cores and 16 threads for excellent performance, and it's paired with a discrete NVIDIA RTX 4060 Laptop GPU. That combination easily beats anything you'll find in a handheld, and it'll run just about any game on the market as long as you don't mind turning down settings in more demanding titles. This model also comes with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, both of which can be upgraded later if you need more memory or storage.
The 16-inch display is a perfect match for the performance hardware. It has a 2560x1600 (QHD+) resolution with a 165Hz refresh rate, which will accommodate the high frame rates achievable in less demanding games. The screen also has 350 nits brightness, an anti-glare finish, 100% sRGB color, NVIDIA Advanced Optimus support, Dolby Vision, and G-Sync support. These are all features rare in gaming laptops that cost less than $1,000, never mind $849 for Walmart anti-Prime Day.
Why I love Lenovo's gaming laptops
Lenovo makes some of the best gaming laptops on the market, and that opinion is shared with many of my colleagues here at Windows Central.
Every Legion model that I've reviewed in recent years has been able to keep its cool without throttling even under 100% system stress tests — thanks to the Legion ColdFront cooling and AI optimization — which is always a good sign. Many gaming laptops advertise a certain level of performance but then melt down when you're trying to enjoy your favorite games.
Despite the cheap price here, the Legion Slim 5 comes with some interesting features. The webcam has a privacy shutter, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 handle wireless connectivity, and there's an RJ45 Ethernet port for wired internet. There's no Thunderbolt due to the AMD hardware, but there are multiple USB-C ports, HDMI 2.1, an SD card reader, and more.
Although Lenovo's Legion Slim 5 is what I recommend first, those with a tighter budget should check out the discounted $530 HP Victus 15 which also has a 144Hz display.
More Prime Day deals and anti-Prime Day deals
We at Windows Central are scouring the internet for the best Prime Day deals and anti-Prime Day deals, but there are plenty more discounts going on now. Here's where to find more savings:
- Xbox controller deals: Walmart | Target | Best Buy | Amazon | Newegg
- Xbox SSD storage deals: Walmart | Target | Best Buy | Amazon | Newegg
- Gaming headset deals: Walmart | Dell | Target | Best Buy | Amazon
- MicroSD storage deals: Walmart | Target | Best Buy | Amazon | Newegg
- Gaming handheld deals: Walmart | Target | Best Buy | Amazon | Newegg
- Laptop deals: Walmart | Target | Best Buy | Amazon | Newegg
- Copilot+ AI laptop deals: Walmart | Target | Best Buy | Amazon | Newegg
- Monitor deals: Walmart | Target | Best Buy | Amazon | Newegg
- Mini PC deals: Walmart | Target | Best Buy | Amazon | Newegg
- Gaming keyboard deals: Walmart | Best Buy | Amazon | Dell | Newegg
- Gaming mice deals: Walmart | Best Buy | Amazon | Dell | Newegg
