Key Takeaways
- The Lenovo Legion 9i is touted as the world’s first 16-inch laptop with a self-contained liquid cooling system, making it highly portable and powerful.
- It features high-end specifications including a 13th gen Intel Core i9 processor, up to 64GB DDR5 memory, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card.
- The laptop offers a wide range of connectivity options and ports, including Thunderbolt 4, USB 3.2, HDMI, Ethernet, and SD card reader, along with Intel Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.1 capabilities.
Gaming laptops come in all shapes and sizes, but more powerful hardware usually demands larger cooling systems, making the laptops less portable. We’ve seen a few laptops experiment with liquid-cooled components, but the new Lenovo Legion 9i claims to be the world’s first 16-inch laptop with a fully self-contained liquid cooling system.
The Lenovo Legion 9i is a high-end gaming laptop, complete with a 13th gen Intel Core i9-13980HX processor, 32 or 64GB of dual-channel overclocked DDR5 memory, and up to 2TB of PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD storage. The graphics card will be configurable up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 (the laptop version) with 16GB GDDR6 memory, and the best display option will be a 16-inch 3200×2000 mini-LED panel with a refresh rate of 165Hz. Lenovo didn’t mention the other configuration options for the GPU or screen. The internal battery is 99.99 Whr — just barely under the TSA’s limit for carry-on bags in the United States — with a “super rapid charge” system that should go from 0 to 70% capacity in around 30 minutes. It can be charged at up to 140W over the Thunderbolt ports, or at the full 330W with the DC power adapter.
If you have to make a huge laptop, you might as well cram in as many ports and connectivity options as possible, and that’s what Lenovo has done here. The Legion 9i has two Thunderbolt 4 connectors (each with Power Delivery, DisplayPort 1.4, and USB 3.2), three USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports (two Type-A, one Type-C), HDMI 2.0, RJ45 Ethernet, a combo audio jack, an SD card reader, and the DC power port. There’s also Intel Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.1.
The main feat of engineering here is the integrated liquid cooling system, developed in coordination with Cooler Master, which supposedly allows the laptop to run at a 230W TDP while only weighing 2.56kg (5.64 pounds). It only turns on when the GPU reaches 84°C, presumably to keep power usage as low as possible. Lenovo also said, “To accommodate the added weight of the custom liquid-cooling system, Lenovo engineers had to design an innovative new A-cover made from forged carbon chips that not only saves weight, but due to the forging process means that every Lenovo Legion 9i has its own unique forged carbon chip pattern on the A-cover.”
The Lenovo Legion 9i will start at $4,399, with an expected release date in October 2023. Keep in mind, that’s the starting configuration, which will presumably not have the RTX 4090 and best possible screen.
Source: Lenovo
