The Lenovo Legion 7 is tailored towards gaming with its stronger GPU and high-refresh-rate screen, making it a solid choice if you're into intensive gaming or tasks like 3D rendering. However, it's heavier and has a shorter battery life, which may be a drawback if portability and long usage away from a power source are important. On the other hand, the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16, being lighter and having longer battery life, ensures better portability and is more business-oriented with a premium OLED display, higher resolution, and touch capability. While capable of handling some graphic-intensive tasks, it's not as optimized for gaming or engineering compared to the Legion 7. Consider your primary use: if you lean towards business and general use with occasional creative work, the Z16 will be more suitable, but if performance in gaming and engineering is your priority, you may prefer the Legion 7. 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 Legion 7
Good for gaming and AI
Advantages of the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16
Very good for general use
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Best in class speakers
Key differences
General Use
7.9/10
8.6/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
469.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
393.0 nits
6.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
7.0 Hours
9.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
7.0/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.8/10
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is very good for general use, while the Lenovo Legion 7 is good.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 stands out for general use with a higher-quality OLED screen, more storage and RAM, and a lighter build, alongside its better portability and battery life; it also comes equipped with Windows 11 Pro and has had praise for its keyboard and speakers. Conversely, the Lenovo Legion 7, with a solid CPU and ample screen size, offers a good balance of power and quality for general tasks but is bulkier and has a shorter battery life, and while it has a high-quality IPS display, it doesn't match the ThinkPad Z16's screen fidelity.
Gaming and AI
7.8/10
6.7/10
8.4/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.6/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
6.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The Lenovo Legion 7 is good for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 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.
Content Creation
7.9/10
8.5/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is very good for content creation, while the Lenovo Legion 7 is good.
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
7.6/10
8.2/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
9.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is very good for software development, while the Lenovo Legion 7 is good.
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
8.3/10
8.5/10
16.0in
SIZE
16.0in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
469.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
393.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion 7 has a better screen than the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 has a better screen for general use, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
For general use, both the Lenovo Legion 7 and ThinkPad Z16 display content clearly with sharp details and brightness that ensures comfortable viewing, but the ThinkPad Z16 pulls ahead in engineering and design with superior color accuracy and range, vital for precision work. However, both laptops' screens fall short for gamers and 3D designers due to lower refresh rates, which means less fluid motion and responsiveness in fast-paced visual environments. Despite both having high resolution and quality panels, the need for speed in gaming and 3D work makes these less than ideal.
Portability
Good
Good
16.0in
SIZE
16.0in
5.5 lbs
WEIGHT
4.2 lbs
0.8in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 and Lenovo Legion 7 both have good portability, though the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 has somewhat better portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$1,500
$1,120
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Lenovo Legion 7 has a price of $1,500 and the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 costs $1,120.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 and Lenovo Legion 7 are both very good for engineering and design.
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.
Battery
6.5 Hours
7.0 Hours
The Lenovo Legion 7 has 6.5 hours of battery life. The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 has 7 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
8.5/10
8.0/10
The Lenovo Legion 7 and Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 both have very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Lenovo Legion 7 and the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 compare to other laptops
"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."
"Lenovo’s ThinkPad Z16 tries has some success in its effort to tweak the ThinkPad formula. The laptop is attractive, yet still tame, and material quality is on par with the best Windows competition. I also like the smooth, responsive haptic touchpad and the wide range of modern connectivity. Yet the Z16 doesn’t fix ThinkPad’s typical weakness: value. Starting around $1,550, and more typically near $1,700, the Z16 finds itself facing alternatives that have better performance or an improved display for the same price, or less."
Get a great deal on the Lenovo Legion 7 or the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16
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
97,395
Recommendations made
21,103
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.