So, Best Buy is practically giving away a Lenovo Legion Pro 5i. A thousand dollars off. A thousand. They slapped a shiny new RTX 5070 and an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX in there and decided it was time to clear some inventory. Fine. But are we supposed to fall over ourselves because a laptop that cost a fortune is now merely exorbitantly expensive?
Look, the specs are undeniably beefy. An Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX. Twenty-four cores. Eight performance, sixteen efficiency. Boost clocks up to 5.4GHz. And that RTX 5070 with 8GB of GDDR7 VRAM? It’ll handle most games at this resolution without breaking a sweat. Plus, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. It’s a mobile powerhouse, no question. The problem isn’t the hardware; it’s the manufactured urgency.
Is This Actually a Good Deal, or Just Less Bad?
Let’s not kid ourselves. This machine is still $1,749. That’s not exactly pocket change. While the $1,000 discount looks impressive on paper, it’s a classic marketing move. They inflate the original price to make the sale price seem like a steal. Remember when this same model was $150 cheaper last October? Yeah, that was the pre-AI price-crunch era. Those were the days. Now we’re just grateful it’s not more expensive.
The display is a 16-inch OLED with a 2560 x 1600 resolution. Looks good. Our colleagues at Tom’s Hardware have praised similar panels. But here’s the kicker: it’s a 165Hz refresh rate. Not bad, but not exactly setting the world on fire when its bigger brother, the Legion Pro 7i Gen 10, hits 240Hz. Still, 500 nits of brightness is decent. It’s an OLED, though, so contrast will be king.
Connectivity is what you’d expect: HDMI 2.1, Thunderbolt 4, USB-A 3.2 ports (three of them), a USB-C 3.2, headphone jack, mic, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 7, and an Ethernet port. Oh, and a 5MP webcam. Fancy.
Why Does This Feel Like Deja Vu?
This whole song and dance with the ‘massive discounts’ on high-end laptops feels… familiar. We’re seeing a glut of machines packed with yesterday’s top-tier components, now being moved out to make room for the next generation. Intel’s Arrow Lake processors, NVIDIA’s Blackwell architecture – they’re on the horizon. So, companies like Lenovo are aggressively clearing the decks. This isn’t a sudden act of generosity from Best Buy; it’s inventory management disguised as a holiday sale.
It’s the tech equivalent of that friend who “declutters” their closet and then offers you their perfectly good, but slightly outdated, designer clothes for pennies on the dollar. You take them because, hey, it’s a bargain. But you also know they’re just getting rid of stuff.
This laptop is still a beast. It’ll game, it’ll work, it’ll do just about anything you throw at it. But don’t let the big, red ‘$1,000 OFF!’ sticker fool you entirely. It’s a good deal, sure. It’s just a good deal on a machine that, a year from now, might be considered merely ‘decent’.
The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX features in not one but two of our best gaming laptop picks, including the best choice overall, the Razer Blade 18, so you know you’re getting a great CPU that can handle productivity and games alike.
This quote, while technically true, smacks of PR fluff. Yes, the CPU is good. So is the GPU. But framing it as a justification for this specific sale feels like a stretch. It’s like saying your old Corolla is still a great car because it has four wheels.
So, should you buy it? If you need a powerful laptop now and can stomach the $1,749 price tag, then yes, it’s a solid option. Just don’t expect to be the first kid on the block with the absolute cutting-edge tech. You’re getting a very good machine at a significantly reduced, but still substantial, price. That’s the reality of the laptop market these days.
A Word to the Wary
Before you click ‘buy’, consider this: the RTX 5070 is a fine GPU, but NVIDIA’s next-gen architecture is already being whispered about. And Intel’s 15th Gen Meteor Lake processors? They’re just starting to trickle out. What does that mean for you? It means this machine, while powerful today, will age faster than a carton of milk left in the sun. This isn’t a criticism of the sale itself, but a reminder that the tech treadmill never stops. You’re buying into the current peak of a particular generation, not the start of a new one.
FAQs
What is the total price of the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i after the discount?
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i is available for $1,749 after a $1,000 discount at Best Buy.
Does this laptop have an OLED screen?
Yes, the laptop features a 16-inch OLED display with a 2560 x 1600 resolution.
How much RAM and storage does the laptop come with?
It includes 32GB of DDR5 5600 RAM and a 1TB SSD.
