The Lenovo Flex 5 16 is more affordable and has better battery life, making it suitable for general use and portability. It also has a touchscreen, which could be beneficial for creative tasks. On the other hand, the Lenovo Legion 7, while more expensive, offers superior performance, particularly for 3D rendering, machine learning, and engineering tasks, thanks to its stronger GPU. It also has a high refresh rate display which is great for gaming. However, the Legion 7 is heavier and has a shorter battery life, so it's less portable than the Flex 5. Choose the Flex 5 if you want a balance between cost and versatile use, or the Legion 7 if performance, especially for gaming and intensive tasks, is your priority. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Lenovo Flex 5 16
Very good battery life
Advantages of the Lenovo Legion 7
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Very good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Very good speakers
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.2/10
7.8/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.4/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Lenovo Legion 7 is good for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo Flex 5 16 is only fair.
The Lenovo Flex 5 16 is less suited for gaming and 3D applications due to its integrated graphics and a screen refresh rate of 60Hz, which provides a mediocre gaming and visual experience. In contrast, the Lenovo Legion 7 boasts a powerful Nvidia RTX 3070 GPU along with a high screen refresh rate of 165Hz, resulting in smoother visuals and enhanced performance for gaming and 3D tasks.
Engineering and Design
7.2/10
8.2/10
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.4/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo Legion 7 is very good for engineering and design, while the Lenovo Flex 5 16 is good.
The Lenovo Legion 7 outshines the Lenovo Flex 5 16 in engineering and design use mainly due to its superior AMD Ryzen CPU, a high-powered Nvidia RTX 3070 GPU, and a brighter screen with higher resolution and color accuracy, which are crucial for intensive tasks and detailed visual work. While the Legion 7 is heavier and has a slightly shorter battery life, it compensates with better performance capabilities and screen quality, despite the tradeoff in portability and longer battery usage offered by the lighter Flex 5 16 with its integrated GPU.
Screen Quality
7.3/10
8.3/10
16.0in
SIZE
16.0in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
400.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
469.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion 7 has a better screen than the Lenovo Flex 5 16 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, and software development.
For general use, the Lenovo Flex 5 16 offers a balance of resolution, brightness, and panel type that provides clear visuals for everyday tasks, while the Legion 7's superior brightness and resolution enhance these experiences further. In engineering and design, both laptops have screens that can accurately display a wide range of colors, essential for precision work, with the Legion 7 slightly outperforming due to its higher color gamut coverage. However, for gaming and 3D applications where fast-paced visuals are crucial, both laptops fall short as their screens have lower refresh rates, making them less suitable for this purpose.
Battery
11.5 Hours
6.5 Hours
The Lenovo Flex 5 16 has 11.5 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion 7 has 6.5 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Build Quality
7.0/10
8.5/10
The Lenovo Legion 7 has very good build quality, while the Lenovo Flex 5 16 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$779
$1,500
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Lenovo Flex 5 16 has a price of $779 and the Lenovo Legion 7 costs $1,500.
The Lenovo Legion 7 and Lenovo Flex 5 16 are both good for general use.
The Lenovo Flex 5 16 is good for general use as it is a versatile 2-in-1 device that combines reasonable power with convenient portability and a screen that is bright enough for daily tasks, which makes it appealing for users who value flexibility and moderate performance without needing top-tier specifications.
Content Creation
7.6/10
7.9/10
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Lenovo Legion 7 and Lenovo Flex 5 16 are both good for content creation.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
7.5/10
7.6/10
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Lenovo Legion 7 and Lenovo Flex 5 16 are both good for software development.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Portability
Good
Good
16.0in
SIZE
16.0in
4.6 lbs
WEIGHT
5.5 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Lenovo Flex 5 16 and Lenovo Legion 7 both have good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Lenovo Flex 5 16 and the Lenovo Legion 7 compare to other laptops
"The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 is a solidly equipped, 2-in-1 in the lower price segment. Performance is definitely sufficient for everyday tasks and in tests the battery proved itself to be very economical. That aside, there is a lot of standard fare on show and a search for real highlights ends in vain. The low color coverage and reflective display can be avoided by going for an optional 2.5K display but this also presumably results in poorer battery life. The cooling uses only one fan and leads to a raised temperature on one side of the device under load. Additionally, there is very loud fan noise, also under load or when gaming. On top of that, we also occasionally noticed electronic noises."
"The Lenovo Legion 7 is a fast 16-inch gamer with 165 Hz display. The new Lenovo Legion 7 is a very good gaming notebook that, despite its comparatively compact compact 16-inch case, does not have to do without the most powerful components. Thanks to good cooling, no compromises are made in terms of performance. Both the Core i9-12900HX and the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti perform at a very high level."
Get a great deal on the Lenovo Flex 5 16 or the Lenovo Legion 7
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
100,695
Recommendations made
21,818
Consumer hours saved
About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.