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Lenovo is branching out with its gaming laptops by offering a new set from its Ideapad line that is typically aimed at students. The Ideapad Gaming 3 and Ideapad Gaming 3i, powered by AMD and Intel chipsets and coming with a sleek new design with a slightly more gamer aesthetic.
Lenovo says these laptops are powerful enough to hold their own in the heat of the battle. But can just as easily be carried around to hold their own in the classroom. Powered by AMD 6000 H series and Intel 12th Gen Core i7 CPUs, the Ideapad Gaming 3 and Ideapad Gaming 3i come in both 15-inch and 16-inch sizes. And they weigh just over 5 pounds.
While not Lenovo’s lightest gaming laptops, they’re light and slim enough to toss in a backpack or tote bag while venturing from home to school, or around campus from class to class. Interestingly, the 15-inch laptop is slightly thicker at 21.8mm but weighs less at 5.2 pounds. While the 16-inch is 20.8mm and weighs 5.5 pounds.
The Lenovo Ideapad Gaming laptops combine affordability with performance
Lenovo isn’t setting out to make the most powerful gaming laptops on the planet here. It already offers the more performance-heavy Legion lineup for that, which comes at significantly higher costs and is usually featured in our Best Gaming Laptops guide.
Instead, the company seems intent on providing gaming laptops that are slightly more affordable for students. While still putting out some decent power for top titles. Configurations can be selected with up to 32GB of RAM and up to an NVIDIA RTX 3060 GPU. While also offering up to a 1TB SSD for storage.
Both sizes also come with 165Hz refresh rate displays. Although the 16-inch model comes with a slightly better resolution at WQHD+ compared to WQHD on the 15-inch version. The 16-inch also comes with a brighter display at 500 nits versus 300 nits on the 15-inch.
Prices start at under $1,000 and availability is expected as early as this Spring
Price-wise, the more affordable option is obviously the 15-inch Ideapad Gaming 3i and Ideapad Gaming 3. Which start at $990 and $930 respectively. Those wanting something a little larger can opt for the 16-inch variant which starts at $1,490 for the Ideapad Gaming 3i and $1,140 for the Ideapad Gaming 3.
Lenovo expects the 15-inch Ideapad Gaming 3i to hit the market in April, and the Ideapad Gaming 3 in May. The 16-inch models are both expected to hit the market in June. The 15-inch Ideapad Gaming 3 and Gaming 3i will come in Glacier White and Onyx Grey, while the 16-inch versions will be offered in Onyx Grey only.
Lenovo is also launching a new Legion M600s Qi wireless gaming mouse. Complete with Qi wireless charging that gets you up to 10 hours of use with just a 5-minute charge. The mouse will launch in September starting at $99.99.
