Table of Contents
In an ever-expanding market of gaming laptops, it can get quite difficult to find the best one for yourself. If you’ve been looking for a gaming laptop that won’t quite break the bank, check out the Lenovo LOQ 15IRX9!
I tested (read: spent time gaming) on this laptop to see if it’s gonna provide a bang for your buck, and the results were quite the surprise. Wanna know what I discovered? Read on to find out.
Lenovo LOQ 15IRX9 Specifications
- Processor: 13th Generation Intel® Core i5-13450HX
- Graphic Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU 6GB GDDR6
- Memory + Storage: 8 + 512 GB
- Display: 15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080), IPS, Anti-Glare, Non-Touch, 100%sRGB, 300 nits, 144Hz
- Camera: 720P HD with Dual Microphone
- Input: USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (DisplayPort 1.4 + 140W Power Delivery), Headphone/mic jack, 3x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, HDMI 2.1, Ethernet (RJ45)
Design
Upon first glance, the design of the Lenovo LOQ 15IRX9 is about as standardised as most gaming laptops are. The back component sticks out with its multiple ports and slots, which adds to the bulkiness of the design.
As someone more used to the conventional laptop design with multiple ports on the side, it was slightly odd to only have one USB port on the side, especially if you have more wired accessories that need to be added. Moreover, the underutilized left side presented a missed opportunity for enhanced connectivity and accessibility.
It also has a pretty hefty weight to it (obviously) but surprisingly wasn’t as heavy as I expected. Despite its weight, what did stand out was how easily I could lift the screen with one hand, which could be pretty convenient at times. The trackpad also felt quite premium to use, that is if you’re someone who enjoys trackpad gaming.
Performance
Moving onto the performance, I’d have to say that the Lenovo LOQ 15IRX9 performed quite commendably during gaming sessions. Of course, I had to test its performance using one of my favourite (and performance-intensive) games — Genshin Impact.
It was more than capable of handling maxed-out graphics settings with relative ease, offering a visually stunning experience. In fact, I’ve never seen such environmental clarity while playing Genshin for over 3 years (apologies to my 7-year-old brick of a laptop).
However, there was one drawback of the laptop, and that was its limited RAM capacity. With only 8GB of RAM, it falls short of the industry-standard 16GB for smooth gaming experiences, particularly in demanding titles. What this resulted in was occasional stuttering and freeze frames that served as a reminder of its constrained memory capacity.
So, while the GPU and CPU performance metrics did appear promising, the bottleneck created by limited RAM underscores the need for potential upgrades to unleash its full potential.
Also, to get the optimum performance capability of this gaming laptop, I had to ensure that it was constantly plugged in, so it might not work as the most conveniently portable laptop for those looking for one.
Other Features
Lastly, here’s what else I can say about the Lenono LOQ 15IRX9. While it may be a gaming laptop, some additional features warrant some consideration, such as the built-in camera.
Although it’s not the most exceptional, the camera was able to meet my expectations for this price point. It provides decent quality for video calls and streaming, but you might still want to get an external webcam for improved image quality.
While I didn’t last long in a competitive game like CSGO to fully enjoy it, the laptop still managed to deliver good FPS rates and allowed for adjustments to optimize performance. However, achieving maximum effectiveness does require you to tweak the settings to strike the right balance between visual fidelity and responsiveness.
