Lenovo Legion 7 has RGB lighting on every side – and I want one as my next gaming laptop

'Full environmental RGB lighting' is the phrase – and Lenovo's Legion 7 (Gen 7) has it in abundance, plus heaps of power

Lenovo Legion 7 (2022) full RGB lighting on blue T3 background
(Image credit: Lenovo)

Who doesn't love RGB lighting on a gaming laptop? I sure do. It just shouts 'gamer' that bit harder, is fun to customise, and oh my gosh has Lenovo gone all-out with the latest iteration of its Legion 7 gaming laptop.

That's because the 2022 Legion 7 – which marks its seventh generation release – has "full environmental RGB lighting", meaning there's lighting around every edge of its frame. That's right: the sides illuminate, the rear vents illuminate, and although you can't see it in these pictures even the front has a strip which emits colour-changing light.

I've seen gaming laptops with a fair degree of RGB lighting before, but nothing to this kind of level. Oh, I almost forgot: the keyboard of course also has lighting, as does the fingerprint-meets-power-button, even the Legion logo on the lid lights up! Indeed, the Gen 7 Legion 7 is dripping with RGB.

Lenovo Legion 7 (Gen 7): What about the spec?

Of course you don't buy a gaming laptop solely on the degree of RGB lighting it has. You'll want other core specs to be in place too – and there's certainly no lacking of that here.

The 16-inch screen that adorns the Legion 7 – which is WXQGA for what Lenovo tells me is the first time in a gaming laptop (i.e. 2560 x 1600 pixels across a 16:9 aspect ratio) – and comes in a variety of options. Baseline it's a 165Hz LCD option, but you can spec it up to Mini LED for greater brightness, and choose up to 240Hz too. 

The battery is an as-large-as-they-come 99.99Whr, while core power comes courtesy of up to 12th Gen Intel Core HX Series (the product name then changes to Legion 7i, if you're wondering) or AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX processors, further supported by graphics options from Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU or AMD's Radeon RX 6850M XT mobile graphics.

Lenovo Legion 7 (Gen 7): When can I buy one?

All that RGB and power caught your eye? Mine too. And there's not too long to wait to be able to buy one either: the AMD spec Legion 7 will go on sale in the USA from June, priced from $2,059. Interestingly Lenovo also sells the Legion 7i, which is the Intel spec machine, starting from $2,449. UK pricing and release dates are yet to be announced. 

And if all that RGB lighting is just too much for you then there are Legion 7 Slim and Legion 7i Slim variants, which are obviously slimmer in terms of build, but also dial down the amount of RGB, the overall power available, and the price tag accordingly (starting from $1,519 instead).

Mike Lowe
Tech Editor

Mike is the Tech Editor and AV Editor at T3.com. He's been writing about consumer technology for 15 and, as a phones expert, has seen hundreds of handsets over the years – swathes of Android devices, a smattering of iPhones, and a batch of Windows Phone products (remember those?). But that's not all, as a tech aficionado his beat for T3 also covers tablets, laptops, gaming, home cinema, TVs, speakers and more – there's barely a stone unturned that he's not had a hand on. Previously the Reviews Editor at Pocket-lint for a 10 years, he's also provided work for publications such as Wired, The Guardian, Metro, and more. In addition to his tech knowledge, Mike is also a flights and travel expert, having travelled the globe extensively. You'll likely find him setting up a new mobile phone, critiquing the next MacBook, all while planning his next getaway... or cycling somewhere.