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The 11th-gen Lenovo Legion 5i feels like a lower-end gaming laptop and looks like a more premium device. It also costs what would have seemed exorbitant a little more than a year ago. How can a laptop seem so mid-range and remain priced like a premium gaming machine? Welcome to 2026, the year of the pricing paradox.

This year's mid-range Lenovo laptop features a premium OLED screen, but the laptop's dragged down by a very non-premium shell.

Even though I can enjoy many aspects of Lenovo’s 11th-gen mid-range design, I struggle to find a ray of sunshine when the dark clouds of RAMageddon hover overhead. Let’s put it another way: $2,526 for the base-level Legion 5i is not cheap. And that’s only the price as of writing this review. Depending on when you read this, it could be more. And so when any part of the laptop experience feels less than premium, it becomes that much harder to justify a device like Lenovo’s mid-range gaming rig. Unless you really, really want a bright OLED display, then there may be greener pastures if you can nab an older laptop.

Here’s the thing: this laptop packs a truly lovely 15-inch screen, something that actually may make it worth your time. I would know since I used the laptop to play the new Gears of War: E-Day long into the night while lying in bed, desperately trying to find a position where this hotbox of a laptop didn’t burn my thighs without also suffocating airflow.

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