As of now, there is only one configuration if you are looking for the latest hardware, powered by the Core i7-14700HX and an Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU with the option of choosing a 1080p or 1440p display. This makes it an excellent choice if you are looking for a mid-range gaming notebook without spending a whole lot of money. But does it manage to deliver the right balance of price and performance?

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Here’s an in-depth look at the 2024 Lenovo LOQ 15.

Design and Build

The refreshed LOQ 15 looks more or less identical to the outgoing model, which made its debut last year. You get a plastic construction, yet it doesn’t feel cheap. Lenovo has done a great job in terms of the finish, and the laptop feels worthy of its cost. The edges and corners are nicely refined, and the hinge is rock solid, with minor screen wobble.

I also love how Lenovo continues to add an extension on the lid, making it easier to open the laptop with just one hand. Speaking of which, the hinge allows the display to open all the way back up to 180 degrees, which is excellent if you want to avoid reflection and glares. The lid has the LOQ and Lenovo logos placed vertically on the top and bottom corners, while the ports are mostly moved to the back, similar to the company’s Legion range of laptops.

Now, the minimalistic industrial design may not align with gamer aesthetics, but it can certainly fit in casual and professional environments alike. In terms of portability, the laptop weighs 2.38 kg with a maximum thickness of 0.94 inches—typical for a mid-range gaming laptop. On top of that, the 230W charging brick adds more bulk. Essentially, the LOQ 15 is not going to be the most convenient gaming laptop if you travel frequently.

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For I/O, you get two USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, an Ethernet jack, HDMI 2.1, and the charging port, all placed at the rear. On the right side, there’s an additional USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 port, a USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 (DisplayPort 1.4 + 140W Power Delivery), a headphone/mic combo, and a webcam shutter button.

The exhaust vents are placed on the rear, while the bottom cover has ventilation holes for the two cooling fans to pull in fresh air. The cover also has rubberized feet, which offer a good grip when using the laptop on a smooth surface. To remove the bottom cover, there are 10 screws (6x long and 4x small) with standard Phillips heads. Removing the bottom panel carefully with a prying tool gives you access to the battery, two DDR5 SO-DIMM slots (under a protected shield), two M.2 slots for SSD storage, and the Wi-Fi card. If you notice, there’s room for a bigger battery, and one of the M.2 SSD slots uses a smaller 2242 size as opposed to the standard 2280. There is a good scope for upgradability, particularly the review unit that was sent to me, as it included a single 16GB RAM stick, leaving the second SO-DIMM slot for additional memory.

Display

The base variant of the LOQ 15 comes with a 15.6-inch full HD (1,920 x 1,080) IPS display with a 144Hz refresh rate and support for Nvidia G-Sync. This panel is capable of 100 percent sRGB color gamut with a rated peak brightness of 300 nits.

There is support for adaptive refresh rate as well, wherein the panel drops to 60Hz when you unplug the charger and goes back to 144Hz when you plug it in. This feature can be enabled or disabled via the Lenovo Vantage software and is quite useful when you want to save on some battery.

The matte coating helps reduce reflections and glares while brightness is good enough for indoor usage. Having said that, backlight uniformity could have been better, but I believe Lenovo had to cut some corners to maintain the price of the laptop. In terms of gaming, the visual experience just about hits the mark, and even though the response times aren’t the fastest, that shouldn’t be a big deal unless you are an esports professional.

I found the display to be adequate for most day-to-day computing tasks and media consumption, but if you care for better visuals, the 1440p panel should be a much better choice. Overall, the display isn’t that bad and offers the bare minimum that is expected from a gaming laptop at this price range, especially in terms of brightness and color reproduction.

Keyboard and Trackpad

The laptop boasts a full-sized keyboard complete with a dedicated numpad and a spacious layout. Like most Lenovo laptops, the keyboard has been borrowed from the company’s ThinkPad lineup with keycaps that have a curved bottom. Having a 1.5mm key travel and 100 percent anti-ghosting support, the typing experience was excellent. In fact, I was able to type efficiently and get used to the layout rather quickly.

Now, you don’t get per-key RGB lighting; hence, you are limited to a 4-zone setup. It is well implemented, though, and the LEDs shine through the key legends, making it easier to type in dark or low-lit environments. As with most Lenovo gaming laptops, you can switch between RGB modes by using the Fn + Spacebar combination while the Fn + Q key combo lets you switch between the various performance modes.

Moving on to the touchpad, I found it to be responsive and supporting Windows gestures seamlessly. Switching between Windows, scrolling through web pages, and even tracking while doing precise photo edits felt snappy. I would have loved to have a glass finish, but I guess that would be asking too much from a laptop that is primarily targeted at budget-conscious users.

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Audio

The Lenovo LOQ 15 houses dual 2W speakers placed at the bottom front edges. While the placement might not be ideal, they manage to produce a decent output for a budget gaming laptop. The audio quality is clear and crisp for casual gaming, streaming, and video conferencing. However, if you are looking for a more immersive experience, especially during gaming or watching movies, I would recommend using a good pair of headphones or external speakers.

The laptop supports Nahimic audio software, which allows you to fine-tune the sound settings to your preference. This includes options to enhance the bass, treble, and surround sound effects, providing a better audio experience overall. The software also includes various presets for different scenarios like gaming, movies, and music, making it easier to switch between sound profiles depending on your activity.

Software and Performance

The Lenovo LOQ 15 comes with Windows 11 Home pre-installed, but you can also opt for the Pro version by paying extra. There is a suite of Lenovo’s preinstalled apps, all of which are mostly just bloatware, except the Vantage app, which can be used to control various aspects of the laptop.

Apart from monitoring the hardware, Vantage lets you choose between the various performance modes, control the MUX switch, enable fast battery charging, control audio options, check for system updates, and so on.

When it comes to performance modes, Vantage allows you to choose between Performance, Balance, Silent, and Custom. Performance mode offers the most out of the hardware; however, choosing the Custom mode allows you to further tune the CPU and GPU power and thermal limits. If you don’t understand how thermal limitations work, I would advise you not to mess with any settings as it can potentially damage the hardware.

Using Vantage, you can also control the built-in MUX Switch that lets you choose how the system accesses the discrete graphics card (dGPU) and integrated graphics card (iGPU). Disabling the dGPU and using only the iGPU ensures the best battery life, while forcing the system to only use the dGPU and disable the iGPU completely ensures the best graphics performance. There are two additional hybrid modes that automatically switch between both GPUs to offer balanced performance.

As for performance, the system relies on the Intel Core i7-14700HX, which is part of Intel’s Rocket Lake refresh series featuring 20 cores, 28 threads, and a maximum boost clock speed of up to 5.5GHz. There’s also 16GB of DDR5-5600 RAM and a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD. Now, while I would’ve preferred dual-channel memory, Lenovo does offer the option to configure 2x8GB or a single 16GB stick. Powering the graphics is Nvidia’s RTX 4060 with 8GB of GDDR6 memory, 115W rated TGP, and 2,370MHz boost clock speeds.

The laptop features an improved cooling system compared to the previous generation, where Lenovo is using two heat pipes and two cooling fans that have a ‘sealed chamber’ to direct airflow in a single channel. Air is pulled in from the bottom and exhausts from the back. This is nice to see as all the hot air goes out from the back instead of having vents on the sides, which usually end up spewing hot air onto your hands while gaming.

At full load, the fans ramp up fast and are quite audible, although that shouldn’t be an issue if you use a decent pair of earphones. The CPU has a rated TDP of 157W and can push well over

100 degrees Celsius, which is again normal for a gaming laptop. During the entire time I had the LOQ 15, I didn’t notice any kind of thermal throttling, and the cooling solution worked just fine to keep the hardware running at full performance.

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Gaming Performance

With the kind of hardware that the LOQ 15 packs, it is obvious that it should be able to handle most modern AAA games quite easily. The Intel Core i7-14700HX is one of the most powerful mobile CPUs available on the market, and with the Nvidia RTX 4060, it makes a deadly combination.

For benchmarking, I used a combination of synthetic benchmarks and real-world gaming tests, and here are the results.

Synthetic Benchmarks

– Cinebench R23 (Multi-core): 22,520 points
– Cinebench R23 (Single-core): 1,570 points
– PCMark 10: 7,650 points
– 3DMark Fire Strike: 21,300 points
– 3DMark Time Spy: 10,460 points

Real-World Gaming

– CS:GO: 170+ fps
– Valorant: 170+ fps
– Fortnite: 120+ fps
– Shadow of the Tomb Raider: 90+ fps (1080p, highest settings)
– Forza Horizon 5: 90+ fps (1080p, highest settings)
– Cyberpunk 2077: 90+ fps (1080p, highest settings)

These benchmarks clearly show that the LOQ 15 can handle almost any game you throw at it, and even though it is not an ultra-premium gaming laptop, it still offers exceptional performance for its price range. The 144Hz display ensures smooth and immersive gameplay, especially in competitive titles like CS:GO and Valorant.

Battery Life

Battery life is often a concern with gaming laptops, and the LOQ 15 is no exception. The laptop is equipped with a 60Whr 4-cell Li-ion battery, which Lenovo claims can provide up to 6 hours of mixed-use. During my testing, I was able to get around 4-5 hours of battery life with regular day-to-day tasks like browsing the web, streaming videos, and working on documents. However, the battery life drops significantly when gaming, lasting less than 2 hours on average, which is expected for a gaming laptop with this level of performance.

One of the notable features is the rapid charging support, where Lenovo’s 230W power adapter can charge the battery from 0 to 50 percent in just under 30 minutes. This is a handy feature if you need to quickly juice up your laptop. Additionally, the USB-C port supports 140W PD charging, providing another convenient charging option.

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Verdict

The 2024 Lenovo LOQ 15 may not offer the bells and whistles of high-end gaming laptops, but it delivers where it matters—performance and value for money. It stands out as a solid choice for gamers who need a reliable machine that doesn’t break the bank. If you can overlook its weight and relatively standard display, the LOQ 15 is a capable contender in the mid-range gaming laptop segment.

Lenovo has managed to pack in a lot of power and performance into the LOQ 15 while keeping the price point attractive for budget-conscious gamers. The design may be minimalistic, but it is functional and durable. The keyboard and touchpad offer a great user experience, and the audio is decent enough for casual use. The display is adequate for most tasks and provides a good gaming experience, although it could have been better in terms of brightness and backlight uniformity.

Performance-wise, the LOQ 15 excels, handling both synthetic benchmarks and real-world gaming scenarios with ease. The Intel Core i7-14700HX and Nvidia RTX 4060 combination is a powerhouse, ensuring smooth and immersive gameplay in most modern AAA titles. The cooling solution is effective in maintaining optimal temperatures, although the fans can get quite loud under full load.

Battery life is a bit of a mixed bag, with decent performance for regular tasks but significantly reduced endurance while gaming. However, the rapid charging feature and USB-C PD support provide convenient charging options to keep you going.

Overall, the Lenovo LOQ 15 is a well-rounded gaming laptop that offers excellent value for money. It may not be the lightest or most portable option out there, but it makes up for it with solid performance, a comfortable typing experience, and a reasonable price tag. If you are in the market for a mid-range gaming laptop that can handle both work and play, the LOQ 15 is definitely worth considering.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: What are the key specifications of the Lenovo LOQ 15 (2024)?

**A:** The Lenovo LOQ 15 (2024) features an Intel Core i7-14700HX processor, Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD. The display options include a 15.6-inch full HD (1080p) IPS panel with a 144Hz refresh rate or a 1440p panel.

Q2: What ports are available on the Lenovo LOQ 15?

**A:** The Lenovo LOQ 15 includes two USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, an Ethernet jack, HDMI 2.1, a USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 (DisplayPort 1.4 + 140W Power Delivery), a headphone/mic combo, and a webcam shutter button. Most of the ports are located at the rear of the laptop.

Q3: How is the build quality of the Lenovo LOQ 15?

**A:** The Lenovo LOQ 15 has a plastic construction but feels sturdy and well-built. The hinge is solid, allowing the display to open up to 180 degrees. The laptop has a minimalistic industrial design that fits well in both casual and professional settings.

Q4: Can the Lenovo LOQ 15 be upgraded?

**A:** Yes, the Lenovo LOQ 15 offers good upgradability. It has two DDR5 SO-DIMM slots (one of which may be vacant, depending on the configuration), two M.2 slots for SSD storage, and an accessible Wi-Fi card.

Q5: How is the keyboard and trackpad on the Lenovo LOQ 15?

**A:** The Lenovo LOQ 15 features a full-sized keyboard with a dedicated numpad, 4-zone RGB lighting, and 1.5mm key travel. The typing experience is excellent, and the touchpad is responsive, supporting Windows gestures seamlessly.

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Q6: What is the battery life like on the Lenovo LOQ 15?

**A:** The Lenovo LOQ 15 is equipped with a 60Whr battery, which provides around 4-5 hours of mixed-use battery life. However, during gaming, the battery life drops to less than 2 hours. The laptop supports rapid charging, with the 230W power adapter capable of charging the battery from 0 to 50 percent in under 30 minutes. The USB-C port also supports 140W PD charging.

Q7: How does the Lenovo LOQ 15 perform in gaming?

**A:** The Lenovo LOQ 15 offers excellent gaming performance thanks to its Intel Core i7-14700HX and Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU. It handles most modern AAA games smoothly, with high frame rates in titles like CS:GO, Valorant, Fortnite, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Forza Horizon 5, and Cyberpunk 2077.

Q8: Does the Lenovo LOQ 15 have good cooling?

**A:** Yes, the Lenovo LOQ 15 features an improved cooling system with two heat pipes and two cooling fans. The cooling solution is effective in maintaining optimal temperatures, though the fans can get quite loud under full load.

Q9: Is the display of the Lenovo LOQ 15 good for gaming?

**A:** The Lenovo LOQ 15’s 15.6-inch full HD (1080p) IPS display with a 144Hz refresh rate is adequate for gaming. It supports 100 percent sRGB color gamut and has a peak brightness of 300 nits. While the display is sufficient for most tasks, the 1440p panel option offers better visuals.

Q10: How does the Lenovo LOQ 15 compare to other gaming laptops in its price range?

**A:** The Lenovo LOQ 15 offers a great balance of performance and value for money. It may not have the premium build quality or the most advanced features of higher-end gaming laptops, but it delivers solid performance, good upgradability, and a comfortable typing experience at a competitive price point.