Press review: Lenovo LOQ 16 Gaming Laptop – Exceptional performance and value for money

There are a plethora of gaming laptops on the market today. This is true even in South Africa, where the gaming market continues to grow year on year, with laptop brands having a lot of success thanks to the rise of eSports and competitive gaming. A few years ago, few brands were still ready to launch their flagship products in the country, but things have changed since 2020. Lenovo has been successful in South Africa for decades, notably with its ThinkPad range. While the team has had reasonable success with their Legion, they are moving up a gear with the latest LOQ range. Having received the Lenovo LOQ 16 for review, I wanted to put it to the test.

The Lenovo LOQ line has several subcategories, which can be confusing for a new buyer. However, there are two main models, the 15 and the 16, a marker for screen size – 15.6″ versus 16″. Additionally, according to their specifications, the variants are divided between Intel Core and AMD Ryzen CPUs, a choice between NVIDIA RTX 4050 and 4060, and various RAM and internal storage options. The device we received for review falls somewhere on the lower end of the mid-range, while still delivering excellent results.

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Conception and design

Lenovo's LOQ series has a relatively unobtrusive design from the outside. Unlike other flagship gaming laptops, the LOQ has a plastic finish instead of a metal chassis. However, the plastic looks like a brushed metal finish, which looks very nice. The lid is devoid of any extra trinkets or lines, interrupted only by a relatively large Lenovo badge on the left side.

Looking at the bottom half of the chassis, I like the configuration of its ports and ventilation system. Unlike others, the LOQ adds most of its main ports on the back, including the power input, HDMI and LAN ports. This is great for gamers because it allows most cables to exit out the back and not get in the way of the sides.

The vents are placed on the back of the device. There is an overlap between the sides and back of the unit, which allows for maximum air entry. As usual, the vents are located under the device, and are generally reserved for the evacuation of hot air. Under certain conditions, the unit may become very hot, causing the fans to operate rapidly and increasing the noise level somewhat.

Thanks to its wider bezel, there is room for a number pad as part of the keyboard layout. While this is trivial in most cases as a gamer, it has proven useful in the workplace. The keyboard is slightly off-center, which took a little while, but nothing that will throw you off too much. The trackpad is also reasonably large, but not comically large like it is on some devices. The keyboard's off-center spacing meant I wasn't constantly hitting the touchpad by accident. While it's possible to disable the trackpad, it's always nice to see that some thought has been put into positioning things on the laptop.

The rear houses two USB Type-A ports, an Ethernet port, a full HDMI port, and a power jack. The latter is placed in the center of the rear, between the two ventilation holes located on each side. Additionally, there is another Type-A port on the right side, and the webcam button turns the camera on and off. The left side only has a Type-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The only addition to the setup would have been a second Type-C port on the left side. Otherwise, this is a good list with a good location.

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Screen and display

As previously noted, the Lenovo LOQ has a 16-inch screen. It's written in the title. This is standard for most laptops; there is no difference. However, it has a resolution of 1920×1200 px, which is not relatively standard. This resolution is slightly higher than 1080p resolution. Most modern gaming laptops have a resolution of around 2560x1440px or 4K at 3840x2160px. As such, it is slightly underspecified in this regard.

Where it scores well is with its brightness levels and 144Hz refresh rate. These two aspects allow you to achieve excellent visuals for games and enjoy beautiful landscapes and good immersion . The refresh rate is complemented by support for G-Sync technology, which further improves image smoothness.

While many gaming laptops have matte screens to limit glare, the LOQ appears to have an even more matte finish. This reduces reflections even more, but gives a slightly duller appearance out of the box. Lenovo claims 100% sRGB adjustment. However, given the dull appearance of the matte finish, you may need to adjust it in Windows settings to brighten it while adding more visual color.

Lenovo LOQ 16 Specifications

Things change quickly in the tech industry. The situation is only getting worse for consumers who, after saving for months for a gadget, sometimes find themselves as outdated as a previous generation device as soon as they bought it. Fortunately, the Lenovo LOQ 16 has been updated to offer all the latest hardware for 2023, and even early 2024.

The laptop is equipped with a 13th generation Intel Core i7 (13620H) processor clocked at 2.40 GHz and 16 GB RAM (DDR5 5600 MHz). It features an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 GPU and 512GB m.2 SSD internal storage.

As for wireless connectivity, the device comes with dual-band Wi-Fi 6 (2.4 and 5 GHz) and Bluetooth 5.1 (not the latest 5.2).

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Performance and autonomy

Having the fanciest hardware under the hood doesn't hurt. However, the Lenovo LOQ 16 is not such a device. It has the latest generation of hardware, but is in the mid-range. It's not always about using the best hardware to solve a problem, but how it fits together to provide the ideal solution. This is the case with LOQ.

With its default settings, the laptop performs well. It operates quietly and can accomplish any task you throw at it without the slightest difficulty. However, it is possible to increase the power if necessary. It's also easy to switch to Turbo (or overclocked) mode. This mode is convenient for playing the latest AAA games, as it allows you to increase the game settings to Ultra level and get great images.

And it works very well. Most games tested at maximum graphics settings averaged between 60 and 100 FPS. A few games went further, reaching up to 120FPS, which is where the 144Hz panel comes in. With a few tweaks in the settings menu, you can push most games above the 120FPS mark, sacrificing some visual settings for a smoother gaming experience.

CPU and GPU overclocking can be adjusted via the LOQ Vantage software pre-installed on the laptop. Unlike many other bloatware applications, this software is very useful and on par with ASUS Armory Crate. Users can configure everything: CPU and GPU overclocking, WiFi boost, touchpad lock, security settings, etc.

The LOQ is equipped with a 60 Wh lithium-ion battery. It's not the most powerful available, but it offers above-average performance. Under normal conditions, you can get between four and five hours of general use, completing daily tasks. However, this autonomy is reduced to three or four hours in case of more intensive use. The usage time is even shorter for gaming, lasting one to two hours before it needs to be plugged in again.

Additionally, it is not ideal to use overclocking while on battery power, as it significantly reduces battery life. Overclocking tends to cause the laptop to heat up significantly, causing the fans to rev up. At its peak, putting it on your lap makes it uncomfortable. You will therefore need to place it on a flat surface for better ventilation.

Overall, the Lenovo LOQ 16 isn't going to break any records in benchmark tests and offers above-average performance in this regard. However, it does a lot with what it has under the hood.

Should you buy the Lenovo LOQ 16?

The Lenovo LOQ 16 offers much more than you'd expect from a mid-range gaming laptop. Unlike many other gaming laptops filled to the brim with hardware specs, the LOQ is a well-rounded laptop with excellent potential, unlocked by its overclocking capabilities. It is lacking in some areas, but nothing detrimental to its overall performance.

With pricing starting at R21,999 for the entry-level option, users can choose upgraded hardware in their setup to suit their gaming needs. The options are plentiful as the you move up the price ladder, but you can do a lot with the entry-level variants.