Asus V16: Two-minute review

The V16 is a large gaming laptop with a strong spec at an appealing price point. It looks understated yet elegant, thanks to the smooth finish and lack of gaming-related embellishments. The rounded edges and smooth planes further add to its minimalist appeal.

What’s more, the V16 is remarkably sleek by the standards of its class. Despite the large 16-inch size display, its body is very thin and light, making it a contender for the best gaming laptop you can realistically carry around with you.

The build quality of the V16 is also commendable, featuring materials that feel premium and well put-together. It’s more solid than some of its rivals, although it’s perhaps not the sturdiest gaming laptop in existence.

There are enough connectivity options to satisfy most gamers, although the lack of an RJ-45 port might disappoint keen online players. The fact that all but one of the V16’s interfaces are located on the left – and none on the rear – might also be a pain point for some.

MyAsus is the utility software bundled with the V16, used to view system information and make performance tweaks. It gets the job done, although the interface and odd loading times make it less polished than rival software.

Thanks to the RTX 4050 in my review unit, the V16 managed to hold its own when contending with today’s AAA titles. I didn’t manage to achieve 60fps at full resolution when playing Cyberpunk 2077, but I still had a smooth and enjoyable experience at around 50fps with Ray Tracing enabled.

Heat made its way onto the keyboard while playing, with the space bar experiencing the most intense temperatures. It was still comfortable to use, though, and more impressively, the fans were relatively hushed.

The 16-inch display on the V16 provides a large vista for showcasing blockbuster titles at their best. The 1920 x 1200 resolution is just about sharp enough for its size too. However, while colors are vibrant enough, they lack the intensity of the best gaming monitors, and reflections can reveal themselves all too readily.

The starting price of the V16 makes it a tempting proposition, although there are others with similar costs that offer a better spec, such as the Acer Nitro V 15, which features an RTX 5050 in its base model instead of a 4050. However, the portable design, large display, and excellent keyboard are all points in the V16’s favor, resulting in a strong contender in the mid-range gaming laptop market.

Asus V16 review: Price & Availability

• Starting from $949.99 / £849.99 / AU$1,399
• Available now
• Some rivals are better value

The Asus V16 starts from $949.99 / £849.99 / AU$1,399 and is available now. The base models in each region differ: the US gets an Intel Core 7 and an RTX 3050, the UK a Core 5 and an RTX 4050, and the Australian a Core 5 and RTX 3050. In the UK, we’ve also seen the RTX 5050 variant on sale for less than the 4050 counterpart.

This is a reasonable starting price for an RTX 40 series-equipped laptop. However, there are some rivals that represent better value, such as the Acer Nitro V 15, which has a significantly lower starting price (in the US, at least) but features an RTX 5050 rather than a 4050. Its display is an inch smaller, though, and it's decidedly bulkier and therefore less portable.

If you want to spend even less money, the MSI Cyborg 15 is a strong budget pick. You’ll have to settle for an RTX 30 series GPU to keep the costs down, but this still offers passable performance, and the overall design and brilliant keyboard of the Cyborg certainly haven’t fallen victim to cost-cutting.

• Value: 3.5 / 5

Asus V16 review: Specs

Asus V16 review: Design

• Impressively light and thin
• Decent build quality
• Sufficient utility software

To look at, the V16 cuts a very un-gamerish figure. Only a small and discreet Asus logo adorns the lid, while the perfectly flat contours, unsullied by any of the protrusions or sharp angles typical for this class of device, further belie its gaming prowess.

Setting the V16 apart even more from its equally large rivals are its weight and dimensions: even the best laptops would envy just how light and thin it is. This makes it much easier to carry around than you might imagine – although you’ll still need plenty of space in your bag to accommodate its 16-inch diagonal.

Materials are impressively premium, too. The chassis has a super smooth finish, while the keys have a very subtle texture that enhances their tactility. What’s more, the whole construction feels quite solid, with minimal – but still noticeable – flexing to the panels.

Port selection on the V16 is adequate. There’s no ethernet port, which online gamers might lament, but you still get an HDMI port and a headset jack. There are also two USB-A ports and one USB-C port, the latter of which supports both power delivery and external displays.

All ports are loaded on the left-hand side, except for one of the USB-A ports, which is on the right. This lack of balance might prove inconvenient depending on your setup, especially for those who like some on the rear.

The utility software for the V16, MyAsus, doesn’t exactly have the most enticing interface, and the fact it shows loading bars every time you open it is a little disconcerting, even if they don't take long. The app contains some useful system information and various settings you can adjust. Along with the usual fan profile selections, you can also adjust the GPU operation, with modes ranging from Standard to Optimized, that control when and where the GPU and integrated graphics are employed.

• Design: 4.5 / 5

Asus V16 review: Performance

• Smooth but unspectacular performance
• Surprisingly quiet
• Excellent keyboard

The combination of the Intel Core 5 and RTX 4050 in my review unit resulted in respectable, if not outstanding, gaming performance. I got around 50fps when I played Cyberpunk 2077 at the Ray Tracing: Low preset. More importantly, I experienced virtually no slowdown or stuttering, even during busy scenes, which is always something to prize.

A small amount of heat was generated on the keyboard during my play time, but this was never uncomfortable. Oddly enough, the space bar experienced the highest temperatures, rather than the rear, as is the case with many other gaming laptops. Also unusual was the fact that the sides and underneath stayed remarkably cool as well.

As expected, the fans in the V16 whirred continuously while playing demanding titles, but the noise was suppressed quite well. Also, the tone and pitch was far less grating than in other gaming laptops I’ve tried.

The large 16-inch display of the V16 is certainly great for gaming, with the thin bezels around the screen enhancing the visual experience further. The 1200p resolution also offers sufficient sharpness for the size of the screen.

Colors are vibrant enough, although they do seem a little washed-out compared to those rendered on the best gaming laptop displays. What’s more, the display can be quite reflective, although minor positional adjustments were enough to remedy this.

I had no qualms with the keyboard, though. The keys are generously spaced (which is impressive given a number pad is present), so they’re comfortable to use, and the WASD keys are easy to locate thanks to their translucent design and subtly different texture.

While they feel clicky and snappy, the keys also have plenty of dampening, so they never feel harsh when you hammer down on them. They also have a pleasing amount of travel, which further enhances their feedback and tactile nature. The above qualities make the keyboard great for typing as well.

The touchpad on the V16 is probably the biggest I’ve seen on a laptop, which is useful for navigation purposes. Yet despite its size, it didn’t get in the way when using the keyboard for either gaming or typing.

• Performance: 4 / 5

Asus V16 review: Battery Life

• Decent battery life
• Outlasts rivals

For a gaming laptop, the V16 has a respectable battery life. It managed to last over 12 hours during our movie playback tests, which is several hours better than many others in the sector, and almost double that of the Acer Nitro V 15.

It also posted a commendable result in the PCMark Gaming battery test, lasting just shy of two hours. The Nitro V 15, by contrast, managed a little over 90 minutes.

• Battery Life: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Asus V16?

Buy the Asus V16 if...

Don't buy it if...

Asus V16 review: also consider

How I tested the Asus V16

• Tested for several days
• Ran games and benchmarks
• Extensive gaming laptop experience

I tested the V16 for several days, during which time I used it for gaming and general browsing.

I played Cyberpunk 2077 at various settings, and ran TechRadar's series of benchmarks tests, designed to comprehensively assess all facets of performance. I also tested battery life by running a movie on a continuous loop until the V16 shut down.

I have been PC gaming for over a decade, and have used a number of systems and components during that time. I've also plenty of experience reviewing gaming laptops of all kinds, from budget offerings to state-of-the-art machines.

• First reviewed: January 2026
• Read more about how we test

Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 10: Two-minute review

The Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 10 is an elegantly designed laptop, marketed for gamers and other power users requiring its high-end specs.

With its brilliant white finish, the Legion 7i stands out from the drubness of the gaming laptop crowd. The minimal branding and bright RGB keyboard backlighting impart a combination of elegance and vibrancy as well.

The Legion 7i has one of the best gaming laptop designs I’ve seen. It's remarkably thin and has some interesting touches, such as the brushed metal sides with their supremely flat surface and rounded corners.

More importantly, it’s supremely well built, with those aforementioned sides being a particular highlight thanks to their solid feel. However, the top panel can flex a little, and the lid even more so. Thankfully, the hinge offers more than enough stability, and pivots very smoothly.

There are a sufficient number of ports on the Legion 7i, but given the amount of empty space on the sides, it’s a shame there aren’t more. Still, you get two USB-C and two USB-A ports, handy for peripheral connections, while the power jack and HDMI interface are sensibly placed at the rear.

There’s also an SD card reader, an uncommon addition for a gaming laptop. More peculiar is a switch for toggling the webcam, placed on the left behind the aforementioned reader. Why there isn’t a physical slider for covering the camera is beyond me, and doubtless many would prefer this failsafe method instead.

The Intel Core Ultra 7 and RTX 5060 proved capable enough to run AAA titles at high settings. You might need Frame Generation and DLSS upscaling set to Balanced to get the highest fps, but this is pretty much par for the course in the current landscape.

As I expected, the fans whirred constantly during my sessions. The noise they generate can be quite loud, but the best PC gaming headsets should be able to drown this out.

Less expectedly — and more worryingly — the portion above the keyboard became incredibly hot, to the point of being untouchable. However, this spike only lasted a few moments, before returning to a comfortable temperature. Nonetheless, this was still something I found concerning, and haven’t experienced with other gaming laptops to the same extreme degree.

The display of the Legion 7i lives up to its impressive specification. The high 2560 x 1600 resolution is as crisp as you would imagine, while the OLED technology offers fantastic contrast and color representation. I did notice some prominent reflections, but in the main these weren’t too bothersome.

Despite the keyboard looking rather typical for a laptop, the depth and dampening of the keys exceeded my expectations. This imbues presses with a reassuring thud, while their snappy response should see you perform at your best.

These same qualities, coupled with the spacious layout, make the Legion 7i’s board great for typing, too. The touchpad also feels delightful, thanks to its silky finish. However, its small size and alacrity to trigger at inopportune moments make it impractical.

The battery life of the Legion 7i is quite impressive by gaming laptop standards, lasting close to eight hours in our movie playback test. It’s also quick to charge, taking just under two hours to do so from empty to full.

The starting price of the Legion 7i is fairly reasonable: it undercuts some of its rivals, but there are cheaper alternatives with more powerful componentry. However, these often fail to match the superlative design and build quality of the Legion 7i, so if these are priorities for you, the Legion 7i is one of the best gaming laptops around.

Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 10 review: Price & Availability

• Starts from $1,779.99 / £2,069.99 / AU$3,759
• Available now
• Some cheaper rivals with stronger specs

The Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 10 starts from $1,779.99 / £2,069.99 / AU$3,759. For this, you get a unit with an Intel Core Ultra 7, an RTX 5060, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. In the UK, the base (and only) RAM capacity is 32GB. The highest spec of the Legion 7i features an Ultra 9, an RTX 5070, and 32GB of RAM. There are also two display options to choose from, varying only in their refresh rate (165Hz or 240Hz).

This is undeniably a lot of money, although it’s worth mentioning that we’ve seen both low- and high-spec models with considerable discounts on Lenovo's website. But while there are certainly more expensive 16-inch gaming laptops out there (the Razer Blade 16 comes to mind), there are also some considerably cheaper rivals.

One such model is the Asus TUF Gaming A16 (2025). This is one of the best budget gaming laptop options around right now: it impressed me with its performance and surprisingly elegant design when I reviewed it. However, it can’t match the premium construction, slender form, or visual fidelity of the Legion 7i.

• Value: 3.5 / 5

Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 10 review: Specs

Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 10 review: Design

• Light, thin, and elegant
• Great build quality
• Missed opportunity for more ports

You won’t see too many gaming laptops as elegant as the Legion 7i. The fetching white finish marks it out from the usual bland shades of black seen in this sector, and puts me in mind of MacBooks of yore. The subtle branding and RGB backlighting also help to liven up appearances.

Strange as it is to say, the edges of the Legion 7i are a real highlight. The completely flat surfaces and rounded corners are reminiscent of the best iPad and best MacBook designs, while the brushed metal finish only adds to the appeal.

What’s more, their aluminum construction feels incredibly dense, so there’s little chance of denting them. The top panel that houses the keyboard has more give, but it’s still more solid than many others in this price range. This is all the more impressive given how thin and light the base is. There are no extraneous protrusions either; even the rear ventilation bulge is much smaller than its rivals’.

Even thinner than the 7i’s base is the lid. It’s equally impressive in its resistance to flexing, and its hinge offers a remarkable amount of sturdiness while operating with the utmost smoothness. I also appreciated the slight jut at the top of the lid, which allows you to open the Legion 7i easily with one hand, which isn’t the case with many other gaming laptops.

The rear features two ports: one for the power adapter and one for HDMI cables. On the left are three USB ports — two Type-C and one Type-A — and a combo audio jack. On the right, you’ll find another USB-A port and, unusually for a gaming laptop, an SD card reader.

Also on the right is a switch for disabling the webcam. This doesn't work as well as a mechanical cover, and its small size and stiff operation meant I wasn't a huge fan, though it's still nice to have this additional privacy feature.

Overall, though, the port selection on the Legion 7i should prove sufficient for most users’ needs. However, given the large gaps present on both sides, I can’t help feeling that more could’ve been squeezed in.

Lenovo’s main utility software, LegionSpace, is simple to use and functions well. It ran without issue during my time with it, and it was quick and easy to view system information and change performance modes.

• Design: 5 / 5

Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 10 review: Performance

• Good gaming performance
• Some general performance issues
• Odd temperature spikes

When it came to gaming, the Legion 7i conducted itself well. While playing Cyberpunk 2077, I was getting fps figures in the mid 60s with the Ray Tracing: Low preset selected and DLSS upscaling set to Balanced. Turning on Frame Generation resulted in significant improvements, boosting the rate to about 100fps.

Some general performance issues did blight my time with the Legion 7i somewhat. I experienced occasional lock-ups when navigating Windows 11, with clicks on icons and app windows failing to register. I also encountered stuck loading wheels.

Under load, the Legion 7i’s fans are certainly noticeable, but given many gaming laptops sound like jet engines when running demanding tasks, the sound isn’t too disruptive.

Despite the noise, however, the fans failed to provide consistent cooling. It didn’t take long for the section just above the keyboard to reach worrying high temperatures.

Thankfully, it cooled down to touchable temperatures in the midst of gameplay. The rear of the Legion 7i also became very hot, although thankfully not to the same extent, while the keyboard at least only became lukewarm.

On a more positive note, the display of the Legion 7i is exquisite. The 2560 x 1600 resolution is as pinpoint-sharp as you would expect, while the OLED technology allows for superb contrast. Color reproduction and brightness levels are also hard to fault. The only minor gripe I had was the reflectiveness of the screen, but this wasn’t bad enough to ruin the visual splendor of the Legion 7i.

The keys are solid and very well damped. They have a greater travel and a more emphatic thud compared to other gaming laptop keyboards I’ve experienced, which makes them very satisfying to game with. The space bar was a particular highlight in this regard, putting it on a level with those fitted in the best gaming keyboards.

What’s more, the keys rebound superbly, which further improves their performance. This applies whether you’re gaming or typing, while the latter activity additionally benefits from the comfortable layout, which, despite the main keys being pushed to the left by the number pad, doesn’t feel cramped.

The touchpad is also a joy to use, thanks to its super-smooth surface and solid clicks. However, it’s relatively small given the overall size of the Legion 7i, which hampers navigation somewhat.

It’s also overly-sensitive. Unintentional swipes and taps frequently registered when I used the keyboard — especially the common Alt and Tab combination, resulting in a very frustrating productivity experience. However, all this might be a moot point if, like many gamers, you plan on using a mouse exclusively.

• Performance: 3.5 / 5

Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 10 review: Battery Life

• Decent longevity
• Some rivals more enduring
• Quick to charge

By gaming laptop standards, the Legion 7i has a respectable battery life. It managed to last just shy of eight hours when I ran a movie on a continuous loop, which means it can outlast many of its rivals, although both the Asus V16 and TUF Gaming A16 (2025) beat it comfortably, with each lasting over 10 hours in the same test.

Fortunately, the Legion 7i is very quick to charge, taking just two hours to fully replenish.

• Battery Life: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 10?

Buy the Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 10 if...

Don't buy it if...

Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 10 review: Also Consider

How I tested the Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 10

• Tested for several days
• Used for gaming and other tasks
• Plentiful gaming laptop experience

I tested the Legion 7i for several days, during which time I used it for gaming, working, and light entertainment.

I played AAA titles such as Cyberpunk 2077 and ran our series of comprehensive benchmark tests, including those for the battery life.

I’ve been PC gaming for over a decade, and have used many systems in that time. I’ve reviewed a large number of gaming laptops professionally, varying greatly in their specs and price points.

• First reviewed January 2025
• Read more about how we test

Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9: Two-minute review

The Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 aims to take the lead as the best budget gaming laptop on the market, and in terms of performance for the price, it pretty much nails it.

At first glance, you’d be hard-pressed to distinguish it from any other workaday laptop. It lacks the bulk and RGB lighting of its rivals, which may be a positive or a negative depending on how you feel about the modern gamer aesthetic.

Regardless, it certainly looks and feels premium. Smooth materials with elegant finishes are featured all over, with the keyboard being a particular highlight, thanks to the solid placement and subtle texturing of the keys.

What’s more, the LOQ Essential 15 is pleasingly light, which makes it more portable than a lot of the competition. However, while build quality is good, the LOQ Essential 15 isn’t as sturdy as the best gaming laptops on the market, since there’s a fair amount of flex to both the chassis and the lid.

There’s a welcome selection of ports on the LOQ Essential 15, featuring all the interfaces a gamer would need. There’s even an SD card reader, which isn’t something you often see on a gaming laptop. Most of these ports are located on the left, and there are none on the back, which may prove inconvenient depending on your particular setup.

The LOQ Essential 15 comes preinstalled with Lenovo Vantage, a utility app for viewing system information and adjusting performance settings. This is one of the best utility apps I’ve come across, providing plenty of useful information and tweaks. It also has a very clear interface, and during my time with it, it ran without a hitch.

Less impressive, however, was the outright performance of my review unit. The Intel i5 and RTX 3050 combination in my review unit struggled to run the latest AAA titles smoothly, especially if you enable even the slightest amount of ray tracing. At least the heat and fan noise were kept to a minimum throughout.

Thankfully, the display on the LOQ Essential 15 is more impressive. Despite the 1080p resolution stretching across 15 inches, the interface always looked clear and sharp. There’s plenty of vibrancy, too, and although the maximum brightness isn’t particularly high, the worst reflections are kept at bay.

The keyboard feels a little cramped when gaming, and the lack of travel and dampening hampers feedback somewhat. It’s a different story, however, when typing, as the snappy clicks and ergonomic layout make this easy. And since the touchpad is quite small, it doesn’t get in the way when typing, either.

With its reasonable price tag, the LOQ Essential 15 is certainly a tempting proposition. While there’s plenty of quality here, the middling performance and keyboard hamstring its gaming prowess somewhat. If you can live with these drawbacks, though, the LOQ Essential 15 is still worth considering if you’re after a budget gaming laptop.

Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 review: Price & Availability

• Starting from $569 / £689 / AU$742.35
• Available now
• Budget end of the market

The LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 starts from $569 / £689 / AU$742.35 and is available now in the US, UK, and Australia. Various RTX GPU options are available as well, from the RTX 2050 all the way up to the RTX 5050. There are also different Intel and AMD CPUs available. RAM capacities range from 8GB to 32GB, while storage ranges from 512GB to 4TB.

The starting price on the LOQ Essential 15 is about as low as I've seen for a laptop of this quality. Better yet, I’ve seen the latest models with their RTX 50-series GPUs on sale at a significant discount, making them an even better value despite being more expensive.

However, there might be cheaper gaming laptops out there, depending on your region. The MSI Cyborg 15, for example, starts at a cheaper price in the UK and is similarly specced with a high-quality design.

If you're able to spend a little more, there’s also the Acer Nitro V 15, which—while more expensive than the LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 in the US—is a better gaming laptop right now, in my view, thanks to its more capable performance.

• Value: 4 / 5

Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 review: Specs

Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 review: Design

• Premium feel
• Not the sturdiest
• Great utility app

If you didn’t know, you could easily mistake the Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 for a mainstream laptop. It has the same form and looks, without any of the extraneous bulges or aggressive aesthetics typical of many gaming laptops.

It looks quite elegant, owing to the subtle sheen of the finish. It’s also impressively thin and light for a laptop in this class, which makes carrying it around easier. The materials look and feel fairly premium, although the LOQ Essential 15 isn’t as sturdy as others, with some flex to various panels and the display enclosure.

The keyboard is a more premium affair, with a smooth yet noticeable texture to the keycaps. They have the typical Lenovo ergonomic shape, although they seem less indented than other models from the brand.

There are plenty of handy shortcuts on the F row, including one to open Windows 11 settings, which I wish would feature on every laptop. There are also some unlabelled Fn shortcuts, such as Fn+Q, which toggles performance modes. I only happened to chance upon it when looking at Lenovo’s website.

You can also find it listed in a pre-installed app called Lenovo Hotkeys, in addition to a plethora of other useful shortcuts. For instance, you can also instantly toggle the refresh rate between 60 and 144Hz with Fn+R.

One of the most disappointing aspects of the keyboard, though, is the lack of backlighting. Higher spec models have it, but it’s still a fairly egregious omission on base models. Not only does it add spectacle, it also serves a practical purpose by helping with key location when gaming in dimly-lit rooms, as is often the case for many.

What won’t disappoint is the number of ports on the LOQ Essential 15. All those relevant to gamers are present: there are two USB-A ports and one USB-C, as well as ethernet and HDMI interfaces. There’s even an SD card reader, which isn’t always seen on gaming laptops, but it's great for creator-gamers who might use their laptop for both work and play.

The placement of the ports might prove more divisive, though. All but two are loaded on the left-hand side, and there are none on the back. This layout might be inconvenient for certain setups; personally, I like to see at least the power port on the back.

The LOQ Essential 15 comes preinstalled with Lenovo Vantage, which is one of the best first-party utility suites I’ve come across. It contains a wealth of useful information and settings to tweak, especially the gaming section, which naturally has various cooling and performance modes to choose from.

What’s more, Vantage is clear and easy to navigate, and I didn’t experience any bugs or glitches when using it—not something that can be said about every first-party software.

• Design: 4 / 5

Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 review: Performance

• Middling 1080p performance
• Vibrant, non-reflective display
• Keyboard lacks gaming prowess

My review unit of the LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 was equipped with an Intel Core i5 CPU and an RTX 3050 GPU, so as you might expect, gaming performance wasn’t exactly top-tier. When I played Cyberpunk 2077 with the Ray Tracing: Low preset, fps figures were in the high thirties and early forties on average, with some significant stuttering in busy scenes.

Personally, this stuttering didn’t derail the experience for me, but it was certainly noticeable and will likely bother more elite players. Disabling Ray Tracing altogether and applying the Ultra preset barely made a difference to frame rates or the stuttering, albeit the latter occurred with slightly less frequency.

Almost as soon as I started playing, the area around the WASD keys warmed up, but thankfully, it never peaked above lukewarm. The rest of the chassis stayed cool, save for the portion above the keyboard – but even this area remained touchable.

There is some fan noise during heavy workloads, but it’s quieter than others in this category, and nothing the best PC gaming headsets couldn’t drown out.

The display is also quite impressive. It’s remarkably clear and sharp, especially when you consider its 1080p resolution is stretched out over 15 inches. It’s also pleasingly vivid, and although it isn’t quite as bright as I would’ve liked, it still does enough to fend off troublesome reflections.

Harder to praise is the keyboard. It’s great for typing, thanks to the light and snappy actuation, as well as the generous spacing and aforementioned shape of the keys. What’s more, despite the inclusion of a number pad, the layout doesn’t feel cramped.

For gaming, however, the keyboard is less fit for purpose. In the WASD position, my fingers suddenly felt more confined, perhaps due to the relatively small size of the keys themselves. They also have little travel and next to no dampening, both of which result in a lack of feel, certainly when compared to the best gaming keyboard switches.

Thankfully, the touchpad on the LOQ Essential 15 rarely gets in the way when gaming or typing, thanks to its small size. However, this also means that navigation is more awkward than with larger pads, although this may be a moot point, since even the best touchpad is no match for the best gaming mouse.

• Performance: 3.5 / 5

Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 review: Battery Life

• Great playback result
• Power-hungry Balanced mode
• Very quick to charge

The battery life of the LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 is quite good by gaming laptop standards. It managed to last close to eight hours during our movie playback test, which bests many others in this sector. However, this is still below the standards of the best laptops for general use, as some can achieve more than double that time.

In my PCMark Gaming battery test, the LOQ Essential 15 lasted about 32 minutes, which is significantly down on rivals. This was with the Balanced mode applied in Vantage, which also applies the Balanced mode in Windows 11 itself (the same mode used for the movie playback test).

This score doesn’t seem to square with its playback result, so your day-to-day use will land somewhere in the middle of the two results. I can only presume this is because Vantage’s Balanced mode is more eager than its rivals’ counterparts to boost power to the GPU while gaming. Charging performance is much better, though, taking a mere hour to go from empty to full.

• Battery Life: 3.5 / 5

Should I buy the Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9?

Buy the Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 if...

Don't buy it if...

Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 review: Also Consider

How I tested the Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9

• Tested for several days
• Gamed and benchmarked
• Wealth of gaming laptop experience

I tested the LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 for several days, during which time I used it for gaming, working, and general entertainment.

I played AAA titles such as Cyberpunk 2077 at various settings, and ran our comprehensive series of benchmark tests. This included those for the battery life.

I’ve been PC gaming for over a decade and have experienced numerous systems and components during that time. I’ve also reviewed many gaming laptops before, ranging in their price points and specs.

Read more about how we test

• First reviewed October 2025