Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 review: a solid if unspectacular 1080p gaming laptop

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Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 review: a solid if unspectacular 1080p gaming laptop

Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9: Two-minute review

If you’re looking to get into the portable PC gaming scene without breaking the bank then the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 is a viable option to consider in 2024. It’s not going to give the best gaming laptops a run for their money in terms of leading performance, battery life, display, and design, but it does enough to stand out from a price-to-performance perspective. 

While the manufacturer has made waves in the mid-range and premium end of the gaming laptop market, its budget offering favors function over form. My review unit features a 13th Gen i7 CPU, Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, 16GB RAM, and a 512GB NVMe Gen 4.0 SSD – all of which is more than enough to play today’s games in 1080p. You won’t always be maxing everything out in the graphical settings, due to the GPU’s limited 8GB GDDR6 VRAM, but Nvidia DLSS 3’s Frame Generation or AMD FSR can help ease the stress. 

There’s also the LOQ 15 (AMD) to consider if you would rather go for a Team Red rig instead of a Team Blue offering. Regardless of CPU choice, the GPU is decidedly mainstream, so there’s no great power differential. It means that the same problems largely apply, meaning a so-so display, lacking battery life, and a port placement that may be cumbersome. 

That battery life really does leave a lot to be desired. Web browsing and media playback achieved just under two hours with battery saving modes and the screen brightness halved. It’s not great, and this extends to battery gaming which can’t even manage an hour. You’ll want to keep this gaming laptop plugged in to enjoy a lengthy gaming session, or when used as a desktop replacement when hooked up to one of the best gaming monitors. 

So yes, while the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 is unlikely to wow you, it is entirely serviceable at providing a solid 1080p gaming experience.  It’s ultimately going to come down to the pricing of the unit; if you can find an RTX 4060 variant around the $1,000 / £1,000 / AU$1,300 mark then it’s worthwhile, but I can’t really recommend splashing out upwards of $1,300 / £1,300 / AU$2,000 when RTX 4070 rigs offer more power for the money. 

Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9: Price and availability

(Image credit: Future / Aleksha McLoughlin)

• How much does it cost? Starting from $999 / £1,049 / AU$1,297
• When is it available? The Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 is available now 
• Where can you get it? US, the ***, and Australia 

The Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 is available with a starting price of $999 / £1,049 / AU$1,297 for a variant running an RTX 4050 GPU. Alternatively, there’s a more powerful version running the more capable RTX 4060 discrete graphics for around $100 / £100 / AU$300 more depending on the retailer’s availability – and I’d recommend springing for that slightly more powerful GPU.

In terms of price, the Lenovo LOQ 15 is one of the more affordable gaming laptops on the market at the budget end of the spectrum. Whether you’re considering an RTX 4050 or RTX 4060 version, these aren’t powerhouse machines, but they are priced as such. It’s less aggressive when considering you can pick up some RTX 4070 laptops such as the MSI Katana 15 and Asus TUF A15 from $1,199 to $1,349 nowadays. 

Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9: Specs

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Lenovo LOQ Gen 9 specifications

Header Cell – Column 0	Base Model	Review Unit	Top-end configuration
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS / Intel Core i5-13450HX	Intel Core i7-13650HX	Intel Core i7-14700HX
GPU	Nvidia RTX 4050	Nvidia RTX 4060	Nvidia RTX 4060
RAM	16GB DDR5-4800MHz	16GB DDR5-5600 MHz	16GB DDR5-5600 MHz
Display	15.6-inch 144Hz Full HD (1080p)	15.6-inch 144Hz Full HD (1080p)	15.6-inch 165Hz 1440p
Storage	512GB Gen 4.0 NVMe SSD	512GB Gen 4.0 NVMe SSD	1TB Gen 4.0 NVMe SSD
Ports	3x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1,USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, 3.5mm jack, Ethernet, HDMI 2.1	3x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1,USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, 3.5mm jack, Ethernet, HDMI 2.1	3x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1,USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, 3.5mm jack, Ethernet, HDMI 2.1
Wireless	2 x 2 Intel® WiFi 6 (802.11ax) ; Bluetooth® 5.1	2 x 2 Intel® WiFi 6 (802.11ax) ; Bluetooth® 5.1	2 x 2 Intel® WiFi 6 (802.11ax) ; Bluetooth® 5.1
Weight	5.24 lbs / 2.38kg	5.24 lbs / 2.38kg	5.24 lbs / 2.38kg
Dimensions	0.86 – 0.94 x 14.17 x 10.19 inches	0.86 – 0.94 x 14.17 x 10.19 inches	0.86 – 0.94 x 14.17 x 10.19 inches

The Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 is available in a variety of configurations from Lenovo itself or found from retailers in the US, the ***, and Australia. As touched upon above, you can find the budget rig with either an RTX 4050 or RTX 4060 GPU. A major difference is the choice of GPU, depending on price, you can get a Ryzen 7000 or Intel Raptor Lake variant. 

Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9: Design

(Image credit: Future / Aleksha McLoughlin)

• Durable build quality 
• Thick bezels around the 1080p display 
• Lovely full-size RGB keyboard

Display-wise, the Lenovo LOQ Gen 9 is primarily plastic with a rugged build quality. It’s a far cry from the single-sheet aluminum of premium gaming laptops but feels considerably better than some budget models available. The cracks begin to show, however, when looking further into the screen. With a peak brightness of 350 nits and a 1080p IPS screen, things are serviceable but dull. The 144Hz refresh rate is smooth enough but the bare minimum for machines in 2024. 

The exposed hinges and thick bezels aren’t the most pleasing to look at, as Lenovo has opted for function over form here. Simply put, it’s not sleek or stylish, but it gets the job done. This utilitarian approach can also be seen in the protruding rear I/O as the hinged screen is around an inch ahead. It’s done to maximize airflow, sure, but it’s quite an outdated idea that was common on rigs from around 10 years ago.

The design of the Lenovo LOQ Gen 9 gets a lot of things right with its excellent array of connectivity options on the left, right, and rear of the device. You’re fully equipped with a full-size HDMI 2.1 port, USB-C, and USB 3.2 ports so there are no complaints here. This extends to the keyboard which features four-zone RGB backlighting with its full deck size. It’s lovely to type and game on. Unfortunately, this doesn’t extend to the trackpad which is small and feels cheap, but that’s not a huge concern as you really should be be utilizing one of the best gaming mice instead. 

Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9: Performance

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(Image credit: Future / Aleksha McLoughlin)

(Image credit: Future / Aleksha McLoughlin)

(Image credit: Future / Aleksha McLoughlin)

• Solid gaming performance in 1080p 
• The fans are very loud under stress 
• The 13th Gen i7 CPU is still powerful

Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 benchmarks

Here’s how the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 got on in our suite of industry-standard benchmarks and game testing. 

PCMark10 – 7,328
3DMark:
Night Raid – 57,918
Port Royal – 5,532
Time Spy – 10,117
***** Strike – 22,507
Geekbench 6:
Single – 2,358
Multi – 13,144
Cinebench R23:
Single – 1,652
Multi – 15,698
CrossMark – 1,572
Productivity – 1,500
Creativity – 1,699
Responsiveness – 1,439
Cyberpunk 2077
RT Ultra – 88fps
Ultra – 84fps
Low – 114fps
Total War: Three Kingdoms
Ultra – 80fps
Low – 246fps
Red ***** Redemption II
Ultra – 67fps
Low – 159fps
TechRadar Battery Test: 59 mins

For the most part, the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 delivers on its promise of providing playable framerates at 1080p. The 144Hz Full HD display is fast enough seeing as you’ll be getting around 60 to 90fps when maxing out games such as Red ***** Redemption II, Cyberpunk 2077, and Total War: Three Kingdoms. For the best possible experience, you’re going to want to enable DLSS 3 Frame Generation and Ray Reconstruction to take the strain off of the native hardware. 

While there are versions of the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 with 14th Gen processors, our review unit with the Intel Core i7-13650HX still impresses. This can be evidenced by the CPU-bound title Total War: Three Kingdoms, reaching a staggering 246fps with the settings dialed down to low. The single-core and multi-core performance through Geekbench 6 and Cinebench R23 is also solid, even though these figures have recently been eclipsed by Meteor Lake and Ryzen 7000 models. 

As mentioned further up the page, the display here is what sets the side down to an extent. Yes, it’s fast enough with a 144Hz refresh rate being smooth with no screen tearing or artifacting. With that said, the colors are washed out, there’s no HDR support, and the peak brightness leaves a lot to be desired. It’s not an issue that’s unique to the LOQ 15 Gen 9, but it also doesn’t break from convention here either. 

What you will notice is just how loud the fans are on this gaming laptop. It’s particularly noticeable at start-up, or when under any level of moderate stress. The LOQ 15 is easily among the loudest machines I’ve ever tested, distractingly so at times, even drowning out gameplay and media playback from the otherwise fine 2x 2W stereo speakers. 

Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9: Battery life

• Poor battery life whether gaming or media playback
• Battery can be quick-charged to full in just over an hour

Battery life can make or break a laptop and, unfortunately, the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 falls into the latter category. In our battery test, the machine was able to achieve just under two hours of media playback when prioritizing the battery life and reduced screen brightness. Simply put, you’re going to want to keep the 135W power adapter close at hand to get through a lengthy film or take your gaming experience on the go. Granted, that’s the case for many gaming laptops, but I’d expect a bit better from a lower-powered unit like this – there’s not an RTX 4090 guzzling down power here.

The Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 features a 60Whr battery that supports quick charging, but it drains almost as quickly so it’s a double-edged sword. The manufacturer claims a full charge from completely flat about 80 minutes, and my testing can verify this. It can reach 50% in about around half an hour, which is solid enough, even if the battery retention is far from impressive.

Should you buy the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9?

(Image credit: Future / Aleksha McLoughlin)

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

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Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 scorecard

Attributes	Notes	Rating
Price	Depending on your configuration, the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 can be aggressively priced. However, some variants may be a touch too pricey depending on choice of CPU inside.	4 / 5
Design	The Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 doesn’t win much praise with its bulky plastic chassis and outdated aesethics, but it is built rugged with a quality keyboard and port selection.	3 / 5
Performance	For 1080p gaming, the Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 hits all the right notes. You won’t be pushing every game to its limits at high frame rates, but things are good enough for the price invested.	3.5 / 5
Battery	This gaming laptop wins favor with its quickcharging capabilities, but loses points for a lacking 60Whr battery life which depletes in nearly two hours when casual browsing. Things are more cut down for gaming, so you’ll want that AC adapter choose to hand.	3 / 5
Overall	The Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9 is a solid budget gaming laptop with a few drawbacks that hold it back from being the slam dunk it could have been, especially with similarly priced competitors offering more for the money.	3.5 / 5

Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9: Also consider

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Header Cell – Column 0	Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 9	MSI Katana 15	Asus TUF Gaming A15
CPU	Intel Core i7-13650HX	Intel Core i9-13900H	AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS
GPU	Nvidia RTX 4060	Nvidia RTX 4060	Nvidia RTX 4060
RAM	16GB DDR5-5600 MHz	16GB DDR5-5200 MHz	16GB DDR5-4800 MHz
Display	15.6-inch 144Hz Full HD (1080p)	15.6-inch 144Hz Full HD (1080p)	15.6-inch 144Hz Full HD (1080p)
Storage	512GB Gen 4.0 NVMe SSD	1TB Gen 4.0 NVMe SSD	512GB Gen 4.0 NVMe SSD
Ports	3x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1,USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, 3.5mm jack, Ethernet, HDMI 2.1	1x Type-C (USB3.2 Gen1 / DP) 2x Type-A USB3.2 Gen1 1x Type-A USB2.0 1x HDMI This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up 2.1 (8K @ 60Hz / 4K @ 120Hz) 1x RJ45	USB Type-C x 2 (w/DisplayPort alt mode & Power Delivery x 1), USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A x 2, HDMI 2.1 x 1, 3.5 mm jack
Wireless	2 x 2 Intel® WiFi 6 (802.11ax) ; Bluetooth® 5.1	Gb LAN 802.11 ax Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth v5.2	Intel® WiFi 6, Gigabit Ethernet port, Bluetooth 5.3
Weight	5.24 lbs / 2.38kg	4.96 lbs / 2.25 kg	4.85 lbs / 2.2kg
Dimensions	21.8 x 359 x 258 mm	24.9 x 359 x 259 mm	22.4 x 354 x 251 mm

Lenovo LOQ 15: Price Comparison

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