In 2023, Lenovo launched the LOQ series of laptops, aiming to make gaming more budget-friendly. This gaming-focused sub-brand offers both desktops and laptops, prioritizing a robust gaming experience over high-end features. The Lenovo LOQ 15 is set for an Intel Arc refresh in April, and as a result, the previous year’s models are now available at discounted prices. This presents an excellent opportunity to acquire a cost-effective gaming laptop at an even more attractive price point.
Gaming laptop for under $800
The best deal on the Lenovo LOQ 15 is through Newegg. You can get a model with a 13th Gen Intel Core i5, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage for $719.99. That's $380 off the regular price, which was already good for the laptop's specs.
You could drop down to an RTX 3050 for $643.99 at Lenovo and save even more, but we'd recommend the above deal for the more powerful RTX 4050 if you can swing the extra $76.
If you prefer an AMD CPU, you can get the LOQ 15 with a Ryzen 7 CPU and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 for $855.59 through Lenovo ($424 off). That model has 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.
Every model features a 15.6-inch (1920 x 1080) IPS anti-glare display with 144Hz refresh and support for G-SYNC. The screens can hit 350 nits for brightness.
Regardless of the specs you choose, you'll get three free months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate when you purchase a Lenovo LOQ 15.
What is Lenovo LOQ?
Lenovo's LOQ sub-brand focuses on delivering respectable specs at an affordable price. Lenovo trimmed down some premium features to lower the cost of the LOQ laptops (and the LOQ Tower gaming desktop). For example, the body of the LOQ 15 is plastic rather than a more premium metal chassis.
While some premium features were skipped to lower the cost of the LOQ 15, it still has gaming specs and features that you often only see on more expensive PCs. The LOQ 15 has an MUX Switch to swap the system to integrated graphics to save battery life. It also comes with Lenovo's Legion Arena app and Lenovo Vantage. Lenovo Area makes it easier to save games on different devices, and Lenovo Vantage optimizes system performance.
Hardware wise, the LOQ 15 has nice specs, as long as you understand the audience it's built for. Its 15-inch 1080p screen has a 144Hz refresh rate and supports NVIDIA G-SYNC.
Lenovo has a good track record when it comes to keyboards, and that helps deliver a better gaming experience on the LOQ 15. The laptop has offset arrow keys with the left, down, and right arrows resting slightly below the rest of the keyboard. That means you have full-size arrow keys rather than the smooshed-together ones seen on many other laptops. The LOQ 15 also has a full number pad.
