The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 has no clear advantages over the Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i.
Advantages of the Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i
Good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Good for software development
Good for content creation
Good overall display quality
Good speakers
Key differences
General Use
6.9/10
7.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
292.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
409.0 nits
6.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
6.0 Hours
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
7.0/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.5/10
The Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i is good for general use, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Gaming and AI
6.5/10
7.4/10
5.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
6.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
The Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i is good for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
6.7/10
8.1/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
5.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
6.7/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i is very good for engineering and design, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Content Creation
6.9/10
7.7/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i is good for content creation, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is only fair.
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
6.7/10
7.7/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i is good for software development, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is only fair.
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.
Screen Quality
6.8/10
7.8/10
15.6in
SIZE
16.0in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
292.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
409.0 nits
The Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i has a better screen than the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Cost
$645
$880
$200
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 has a price of $645 and the Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i costs $880.
"The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is one of the most powerful RTX 3050 Ti laptops. If you disregard the mediocre quality of the case in terms of the material and workmanship, Lenovo has created a successful budget gaming laptop with the IdeaPad Gaming. Thanks to high TDPs and constant performance development, the Core i5-12500H and GeForce RTX 3050 Ti are able to show their full power, while in contrast, the (mostly slower) competitors deliver a better battery life. However, hardly any of the alternative laptops are able to reach the image quality of the Gaming 3. Most of the competitors are left behind in terms of the color space and brightness."
"Lenovo’s IdeaPad Pro 5i represents an impressive opening salvo for Meteor Lake in the ultraportable space against familiar foes from AMD and Apple. Not only does the Core Ultra 5 125H processor provide good performance across the board, but battery life remains a strong point against the Acer Swift Edge 16 with its AMD Ryzen 7 7840U processor. It can’t quite match the endurance of the 15-inch MacBook Pro, but the gap is shrinking."
Get a great deal on the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 or the Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i
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.
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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
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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.