For everyday tasks, the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 offers good value with its lower midrange price, ample storage, and decent performance, along with a touchscreen for added convenience. It's also lighter and thinner, making it a better choice for portability. However, if you're looking for a powerhouse that excels in gaming, 3D rendering, and machine learning, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) is the way to go. It boasts a high-performance CPU and GPU, a higher resolution display with a faster refresh rate, and better color accuracy, which is great for engineering tasks and intensive gaming. Keep in mind, it's heavier and pricier, but the performance gains are significant for demanding applications. 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 IdeaPad Slim 3
Good portability
Very good battery life
Advantages of the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024)
Very good for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good overall display quality
Good overall build quality
Good speakers
Very good keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.0/10
7.8/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
281.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
368.0 nits
10.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
3.5 Hours
6.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
7.9/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.6/10
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) and Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 are both good for general use, though the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) is somewhat better.
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
5.9/10
8.5/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
9.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) is very good for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 is poor.
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
6.1/10
8.7/10
3.6/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.8/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) is very good for engineering and design, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 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
7.2/10
7.9/10
3.6/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.8/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) and Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 are both good for content creation, though the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) is somewhat better.
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
7.1/10
7.7/10
3.6/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.8/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
6.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) and Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 are both good for software development, though the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) is somewhat better.
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
6.4/10
8.1/10
15.6in
SIZE
16.0in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
281.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
368.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i has a better screen than the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 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.
Battery
10.0 Hours
3.5 Hours
The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 has 10 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i has 3.5 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.
Portability
Good
Fair
15.6in
SIZE
16.0in
3.5 lbs
WEIGHT
5.6 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 has good portability, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
6.5/10
7.4/10
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) has good build quality, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 has only fair build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$400
$1,450
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 has a price of $400 and the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) costs $1,450.
Olivier Martin, Ryan Lim, and John Peroramas | May 2023
"The Lenovo IdeaPad 3i is decent for use as a workstation. Its Intel CPU and integrated graphics can only handle light productivity tasks, not demanding workloads like video editing or 3D graphics. You also can't do any color-critical work because the available displays have a narrow color gamut. It has a good port selection, but its USB-C lacks Thunderbolt 4 support. On the upside, it has a comfortable keyboard and doesn't get hot or loud under load."
"The midpriced Lenovo Legion Pro 5i Gen 8 follows some of our favorite gaming machines, including last year's model and the higher-end Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 tested earlier this year. But pedigree doesn't count for much in the computer world, and gaming laptops require a certain level of power and graphics performance to justify their prices. The Pro 5i Gen 8 just doesn't do that, offering middling CPU and GPU performance rather than the sort of muscle that would make it a great value."
Get a great deal on the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 or the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024)
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
112,395
Recommendations made
24,353
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.