Pros
- Competitive performance for the price
- Sufficiently bright display
Cons
- Uninspired design and no RGB lighting
- 15.6-inch display not as tall and has smaller color gamut than more modern 16-inch, 16:10 panels
- Only 8GB of RAM
- Weak audio output
- Slow USB ports
It may look like an oversized corporate laptop, but the Lenovo LOQ 15 is a capable budget gaming model priced at $1,100 that can frequently be found for hundreds less at Best Buy. If it were a bit lighter, it might be able to pull double duty as a work computer by day and gaming laptop by night. At nearly 5.5 pounds, however, it’s too heavy for daily commutes and about a full pound heavier than the MSI Cyborg 15, a similar budget gaming laptop.
But the LOQ 15 still merits a modest recommendation because it provides competitive performance for the money. And about that price: Perhaps the best attribute of the LOQ 15 is the fact that it can be found on sale for as low as $700, making it one of the cheapest RTX 4050 laptops you’ll find anywhere.
Lenovo LOQ 15APH8
Price as reviewed | $1,100 |
---|---|
Display size/resolution | 15.6-inch 1,920×1,080 144Hz |
CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS |
Memory | 8GB 5600MHz DDR5 |
Graphics | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU @ 95 watts |
Storage | 512GB SSD |
Ports | USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 (x2), USB-A 2.0, HDMI 2.1, Ethernet, combo audio |
Networking | Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 |
Operating system | Windows 11 Home |
Our LOQ 15APH8 test system (model 82XT001NUS) is a fixed configuration available at Best Buy and direct from Lenovo (the latter is only for pickup at a local Best Buy). It has a list price of $1,100 and features an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS processor, 8GB of RAM, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 graphics and a 512GB SSD. The 15.6-inch display offers a 1,920×1,080-pixel resolution with a 16:9 aspect ratio and 144Hz refresh rate. A similar configuration with a…
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