12-05-2025
I've found the best new laptop for designers, and it's a Lenovo Legion 9i
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Sometimes you can't use a gaming laptop for content creation and design, but in most cases, you can, and sometimes going the gaming route will get you a better deal.
But other times, you find a gaming laptop that feels more like a design laptop; that's the case with Lenovo's 10th Generation Legion 9i.
At the Lenovo Tech World conference in Shanghai, Lenovo announced the newest generation of Legion 9i laptops, now in an 18-inch chassis.
The Legion 9i 18 Gen 10 has four slots of RAM, supporting up to 192GB, and four slots for SSD storage, supporting up to 8TB.
The Legion's Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor and up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 GPU operate at a combined total of up to 280W for maximum performance. And to keep the system cool under pressure, Lenovo has packed the Legion Coldfront vapor chamber and quad fan system into the Legion 9i.
The Legion 9i has solid gaming props, but the most interesting piece of the new Legion is its display. Lenovo offers two different display panel options, a 2D only, 3840 x 2400, LCD or a 2D/3D display that has a max 2400p resolution in 2D, and drops down to 1920 x 1200 when in 3D mode.
We have seen some recent strides in 3D gaming courtesy of Acer's SpatialLabs displays and Samsung's recent Odyssey 3D gaming monitor. But 3D displays are often more useful for designers as many games don't fully support 3D.
Lenovo has positioned the Legion 9i Gen 10 as a device for game developers, visual artists, and 3D professionals which helps explains the 2D/3D display.
Like many 3D displays, the Legion 9i uses eye-tracking and a lenticular lens array to provide a 3D experience without glasses.
The 2D/3D and 2D displays support dual-mode functionality to get a smooth, classic gaming experience in 4K at 240Hz while dropping down the resolution to 1920 x 1200p with a 400Hz refresh rate when you need a faster reaction time.
But the display isn't the only design tool added to the Legion 9i. The Lenovo 3D Studio software supports 3D viewing for a myriad of video, image, and streaming formats in both side-by-side and top-bottom arrangements. Lenovo Studio also supports 3D in 30 games and multiple creation apps.
And for added AI integration, the Legion 9i features Lenovo's AI Core chipset and AI Engine+ to dynamically adjust settings based on use, maximizing performance between gaming and rendering time.
You do still get the classic gaming features like Lenovo Legion Space to sync the laptop's RGB to in-game sound and whatever is being displayed, for deeper immersion and ambiance. The Legion Space software also features Game Coach, Game Clip Master, and Game Companion to help gamers improve their skills and quickly create shareable gaming content.
The top cover of each Lenovo Legion 9i (18', 10) is as unique as the design work being done on it. Made of eight layers of aviation-grade carbon fiber hand hand-applied and forged together, the resulting Forged Carbon laptop lid is lighter and stronger than aluminum, and thanks to the handcrafted manufacturing process, each top cover is one-of-a-kind. HDMI and DC in ports are located on the rear of the laptop, and a bevy of ports on both sides, including a pair of Thunderbolt 5 ports on the left side for high-speed devices, storage, and displays.
If you're psyched for the new Legion, either as your new gaming rig, design device, or all-around powerhouse you will have a bit of a wait.
Lenovo will be launching the Legion 9i Gen 10 in China with availability coming in North America this fall.
Thanks to the volatile US foreign manufacturing tariffs and the Legion 9i's ship date being a few months out, pricing for North America is still being determined. Lenovo will announce full pricing information closer to the ship date.
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