Lenovo Y530 Legion Laptop. [Review]

[K i a r a]

Lenovo Y530 Legion Laptop.

 

Hello, my name is Kiara I’m doing my first ever review on this website, it is for the Lenovo Y530 Legion laptop. As I am not a “Pro” at doing theses and this is my first, please take it easy on me if I don’t do the best job.

 

Also note, The laptop is a bit finer printed up, But it isnt that bad in person.

 

Starting off, this is the current custom model I have picked out, Lenovo offers plenty of different options while picking out the Laptop.

 

• CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-8750H 6 core Processor (2.20GHz, up to 4.10GHz with Turbo Boost, 9MB Cache)
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB
• RAM: 8GB DDR4 2666MHz (1 Dimm)
• Storage: 1TB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm, 2.5", SATA3.

This cost me around $1,400 Canadian Dollars, or around $1,000 USD.

 

Other Configs.

Spoiler

• CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-8750H or Intel® Core™ i5-8300H
   
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 4GB
   
• RAM: 8GB DDR4 2666MHz (1 Dimm) or 16GB DDR4 2666MHz (2 Dimm) or 16GB DDR4 2666MHz (1 Dimm)
   
• Storage: 1TB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm, 2.5", SATA3. or 2TB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm, 2.5", SATA3 or You can add an SSD onto this, 128GB Solid State Drive, M.2, PCIe or 256GB Solid State Drive M.2 PCIe.

Buy adding or removing some items, Can change the cost of the Laptop by a lot.

 

Build

 

The build of the laptop, I’m in love with it, A very minimalistic design for someone who plans on brining the laptop to school or work without the crazy loud gaming deigns of most laptop.

The Y530 is made of plastic but does feel very premium and has a much better build then most laptops around this price point.

The top outer shell of the laptop is made from a plastic that has a raised groove texture to the top of it, that makes like a zip noise while sliding your hand or finger across it, I like it, Makes the laptop feel more premium although it is a finger print magnet.

The Legion name on the laptop has a tringle like shape, that lights up white while the computer is on.

The bottom of the laptop has a grill like material, that gives amazing air flow to the two fans for the GPU and CPU.

The laptop also extended about an inch or so in the rear of the laptop, for increased cooling and a larger heat sink. This doesn’t affect the size of the laptop.

Spoiler

Blurred out # idk, Rather be to safe then sorry.

Ports

 

On the back of the laptop, the ports are as followed:

USB Type-C Port - Mini Display Port - USB 3.1 Port - HDMI Port - Gigabit Ethernet Port - Power Port and Kingston Lock Port.

Spoiler

 

On the right of the laptop:

One USB 3.1 Port - An LED power light, and a NOVO power button, A very handy button.

Spoiler

 

On the left of the laptop:

One USB 3.1 Port - Headphone/Mic combo Jack.

Spoiler

Footprint

 

Lenovo’s website says the laptop comes in at 5.2 pounds, with my model showing 5 Pounds, and the 135W charger weighing 1.4 pounds.

And the Dimensions of the laptop: 14.4 x 10.2 x 1.0 inches.

Small bit bigger then most entry level laptops, But I think the thin bezels do make up for the extra size.
 

Personal Experience: I have been bringing the laptop in my backpack for about 2 weeks now, although it does way a good amount, and with the Laptop + Charger + Books the weight of my bag comes in at 14ish pounds... That is rather heavy but with a nice backpack like the Lenovo 15.6" Laptop Backpack by NAVA (Review Coming soon)
It is not that bad... But this really depends how much walking etc. you must do.   

 

Display

 

I’m going to start with the Display on the laptop, I do think Lenovo did a pretty good job on this every level gaming laptop, with its thin bezel design I think it stands out over most other gaming laptops in this price range, one of the real downsides I found after using the laptop is its brightness, and average color display, but you can’t ask for much when buying an Entry level gaming Laptop.

 Brightness coming it at 255 nits of Brightness.

And 80% on the sRGB color spectrum.

Keyboard

 

One word to explain the keyboard, Amazing. The full-size keyboard is great! The keyboard is great for not only school work / Typing but also great for gaming with the FULL-SIZED ARROW KEYS! Yes, I said it full size… Although, it did take a couple of days to get my normal wpm type speed back up, due to the keyboard having a slight shift. Its great. The keyboard does have a slight flex in the middle, but you only notice this if you are really trying to flex the keyboard.

Specs:
Takes 60grams of force.

2-millimeter key travel.

 

Spoiler

 

Personal Experience: So far, I really do like they keyboard, Even more so being a business major, I really needed the full-sized keyboard, I have noticed the number pad is slightly smaller, but that had no effect. They keyboard is much quieter then your average gaming laptop, with a less tactile key presses, this is great for school, but some people find it hard for gaming, while playing games like COD, Overwatch, GTA 5 I never really noticed anything wrong with the keys, might be a problem for a game like World of warcraft, or something where you must press plenty of keys.

 

Touch Pad

 

Somewhat disappointed, tracking amazing but that is to be expected with windows drivers on the track pad.

Where I am disappointed is the buttons, yes, they have a nice click both Right and Left, but I would have much preferred a full touch bad, with no dedicated buttons. They are very loud, and while using the laptop in class, it really does stand out.

But yes, the trackpad is great, I personally don’t like the buttons. But it still has amazing tracking, and very good palm rejections.

 

Webcam

 

… Yea… Let’s just skip this... Due the thin bezels the webcam had to be placed at the bottom the screen... Although, the webcam is in 720p, but it was pretty alright while I was testing it and taking photos. But it is very sad to see the placement of the Camera, if the laptop is at 90 Degrease it is going to be perfectly inline with your hands on the keyboard, you need to tilt the screen to at least 135 degrees to see your face in the camera.

Sound

 

The Y530 comes with very nice Harman Tuned speakers, this allows the laptop to have above average speaker sound quality, it is nothing out of the water but very nice for music or watching Netflix or even playing games with. They also get very loud. I would not recommend playing them at max volume starts getting somewhat disordered around 90% +

Battery Life

 

The life of the battery is about average for most gaming laptops, you might want to be near a charging port.

The laptop for me lasted around 4 hours 30mins at 70% brightness while in school.

Sources say the laptop has lasted around near 5 hours at 150nts

Note, Anything below 40% brightness I think, Is rather hard to see on daily use, although 100% brightness is amazing.. But id only suggest 100% if you are near an outlet

 

Undervolting CPU

 

Currently I have undervolted both the CPU core and Cache to -140mv and it has been running stable in both gaming and Stress tests, I have noticed 5-15C temp difference, but this depends on the work load.

 

Gaming / Heat.

 

Currently a work in progress. If you would like me to do more tests, please feel free to comment below. But theses are some of the games I play.

 

**All the tests are with the CPU Undervolted, and around 25c in my house. **

 

The laptop Idles at around 40-50c with random spikes to higher temps.

After using the laptop for about 4 hours during school.

With at least 6+ chrome tabs open, a Word document open, and an Excel spreadsheet open, the laptop was still at 45c when I took the screen shot, with max temps on the all cores in the 60s, I was very surprised with this, I noticed some heat, But nothing crazy.

 

Overwatch: *I normally play on Capped 60FPS. *

1920x1080 Low – Around 190-220FPS, Temps: 60s- low 70s This kept the fans on.

1920x1080 Low – Capped 60FPS, Temps: high 50s- low 60s No fan sound.

1920x1080 High – Around 150-160FPS, Temps: 70s- 80s This also kept the fans on.

1920x1080 High – Capped 60FPS, Temps: high 55s- low 65s Some slight fan sounds.

**Note, the FPS change depending on what’s happing on the screen. **

 

Player Unknown Battle Grounds:

1920x1080 medium Anti-Aliasing Ultra – low 50FPS – 70fps – I was getting around 85-90C on the CPU. This kept the fans on.

Did not test at other settings.

**Note, the FPS change depending on what’s happing on the screen. **

 

Fortnite:

1920x1080 Low Preset With 100% 3D scaling, What I play at.

 

1920x1080 Low – Around 150-190FPS, Temps: 65s- low 75s Saw some to 80 at max. Some fan noise. 

1920x1080 Low – 60FPS Capped, Temps: 60s- low 70s Saw some Spikes to 80 at max. No fan sounds.

 

I can test other games, that is if I have the game you are looking for.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion, I really like the laptop, and would suggest it to anyone that is looking for an entry level gaming laptop, who doesn’t want an eye catcher while sitting at work or at school.

 

Pros: Sleek look, Very nice keyboard, Good cooling, Portable for a gaming laptop, Nice build quality for the price point.

Cons: 4ish hour battery life, Low brightness compared to other laptops, Trackpad buttons (Might be fine for you) Webcam location.

 

That’s it!

Thank you so much for reading, again this is my first ever review, this took me a good 3/4 hours to write, so please if there are mistakes, I am sorry I will fix them.

If you would like me to do any other Benchmarks on games, or CPU tests, let me know ?

 

 

 

~ Kiara

 

[Jivzy]

I do have a comment, Good review. seemed to spend alot of time on this review but, the keyboard is a point of interest. this keyboard is used on alot of laptops made by lenovo so they dont set aside better keyboards for higher end systems but the thing is this keyboard is one of the best keyboards i have ever used on a laptop. If your job relies on keyboards, blogger or other similar work, this is a very good choice. I get my highest WPM on this keyboard compared to other laptop keyboards. 

 

the keyboard is perfect for me and for most people. this is not a keyboard that should be taken with a grain of salt.

[K i a r a]

41 minutes ago, Jivzy said:

snip

I don't know how many more times I could have said it.
But yes, It is a great Keyboard

Spoiler

1 hour ago, K i a r a said:

Amazing

 

1 hour ago, K i a r a said:

The full-size keyboard is great!

 

1 hour ago, K i a r a said:

The keyboard is great for not only school work / Typing

 

1 hour ago, K i a r a said:

Its great.

 

 

[genexis_x]

On 28/07/2018 at 6:09 AM, K i a r a said:

cooking

I thought you mean cooling

[denmark111]

Wow this post need some comments. I also purchased Y530 and was looking for any performance numbers with CPU undervolted and this post cleared it up. Thanks for the detailed review!

[K i a r a]

On 9/27/2018 at 7:51 AM, denmark111 said:

Wow this post need some comments. I also purchased Y530 and was looking for any performance numbers with CPU undervolted and this post cleared it up. Thanks for the detailed review!

Thank you!

Let me know if you have any more questions!

Ive had it for a good while now, So I can help ya if you have any questions.

[John_Doe_047]

This is a very good review, very detailed.

 

I have a question, have you considered repasting the CPU and GPU to get better thermals?

[genexis_x]

I'll do a repaste soon. Stay tuned for that

[K i a r a]

On 10/9/2018 at 3:02 PM, John_Doe_047 said:

This is a very good review, very detailed.

 

I have a question, have you considered repasting the CPU and GPU to get better thermals?

I would yes, 

But the only issue is it voids the warranty if you mess anything up - so I dont notice that bad of temps currently so no point to risk it at this moment - Thanks!  

[Zeth2201]

Great review! The hard work you put into it is noticeable. It seems that you got the exact same configuration that I'll be getting, could you please clarify this? I phoned to the Lenovo line two times and they told me that a version of the laptop that didn't include any sort of ssd -that includes the optane or the ssd version- would not have the M.2 port. I'd understand if you don't want to check this in your own computer to not void warranty or any other shenanigans that Lenovo could use if by any chance the equipment had problem -let's hope not!-, but building two separate motherboards just for this detail sounded wrong to me. Does, in fact, your laptop comes without anything on the M.2 port, and if so, is the port still there? Thank you! Keep the reviews coming!

[K i a r a]

On 11/2/2018 at 8:25 PM, Zeth2201 said:

laptop that didn't include any sort of ssd

I am sure you have already sorted out a Laptop, But for anyone else that is asking. 
You can get an SSD with it, But I went with the 1TB HDD and then just installed an SSD myself it comes with a free slot. It has a M.2 Port.

 

On 11/2/2018 at 8:25 PM, Zeth2201 said:

not void warranty

I actually contacted Lenovo before installing the SSD and they said it would not void the warranty. 

[SeraphicWings]

On 10/15/2018 at 6:40 AM, K i a r a said:

I would yes, 

But the only issue is it voids the warranty if you mess anything up - so I dont notice that bad of temps currently so no point to risk it at this moment - Thanks!  

You really should replace the paste of this laptop

The Y530 is very, very easy to do service by yourself, and as long as you don't mess around or putting too much force, it won't be an issue

I use Kryonaut on both the CPU and GPU of my Y530, and got myself a -10oC of temp drop, running AIDA doesn't throttles anymore 

[Jojo334]

Hello. I don't know if you are still active here but I got this laptop and the bottom side is getting very hot after just a few minutes of benchmarking. The grill over the fan is getting too hot. But I can only feel it if I flip it and touch that part. Can't feel any of it on the keyboard. Is this normal? Should I take it back to the store? Thank you for your time