I tried Lenovo’s LOQ 15 to see if I can play my favourite games on a budget gaming laptop: Here’s what I found

A gamer at heart

It has all the features that one expects from a gaming laptop (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)

We are here again. Many people I know have a fascination for gaming laptops – those who appreciate flashy aesthetics and jaw-dropping specs. However, I am not one of them. I’m more of a person who is curious about the latest PC games. I take my time to explore interesting games and plan to play them on weekends. Additionally, I see a laptop as a primary work device since the majority of my time is spent on writing and editing copies. Therefore, other fundamental aspects of a laptop, such as the keyboard, portability, speakers, and ports, are as important to me as the gaming prowess of the device. You get my point? Maybe I am not a pro-gamer, but I am still a gamer like any other person.

A little heavy and all-plastic chassis

Despite being made out of plastic, it is on the heavier side (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)

Before switching to the Lenovo LOQ (pronounced “lock”), I knew what I was getting into. Frankly, I was not expecting a MacBook Air-like (review) form factor and a fanless design, but I had seen gaming laptops becoming more portable and slimmer. Anyway, the Lenovo LOQ 15 isn’t designed to beat an ultrabook in portability. It is fairly bulkier and feels cheaper—though it doesn’t feel as flimsy as other budget gaming laptops. It has an all-plastic chassis and an angular design (which, according to me, is not a concern), but I wish Lenovo had made the notebook lighter and slimmer. At 2.6 kg, the laptop is on the heavier side, and you obviously feel it when you slide it into the backpack alongside the heavy power adapter. I agree. Gaming laptops tend to be a little heavier than “traditional” notebooks given the beefy internals they pack in and how the cooling system works, and that increases the size of the machine. That being said, when gaming laptops are being sold as multipurpose machines, they can’t be much larger and heavier.

Good display and speakers

The higher refresh rate display is good for gaming (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)

You get fast response times, and the 15.6-inch screen can display a 1080p native resolution at a 144Hz refresh rate. It’s a good screen for fast-paced action games, and G-sync support adds an advantage. I wouldn’t say this is the best panel you can get on a gaming laptop. It is not, but the difference will be noticeable to anyone using machines with an even higher refresh rate and HDR support. So if you prefer colours to pop or you plan on gaming outside, you will probably want the QHD display. Sadly, Lenovo only offers this notebook in FHD, IPS display. The LOQ’s speakers are also plenty loud enough so you shouldn’t have a problem hearing them while playing games or taking video calls.

The RGB keyboard is great, but I found the touchpad to be small but with a smooth surface and a very easy click.

1080p webcam and plenty of ports

Another true test of this machine: using a webcam for taking calls. Everyone needs it now more than ever, thanks to the hybrid world we live in. The LOQ’s 1080p camera was much better than my expectations, and that’s saying a lot for a laptop webcam. I was fairly clear on Google Meet calls, and the microphones did a fine job of picking up my voice as well.

At the back, you will find most of the computer’s external ports: dual USB-A, HDMI, network port, and a proprietary power adapter port. You will also find an extra USB-A port and a USB-C port on the side, but I would have liked to see an extra USB-C. The notebook can be connected wirelessly with Wi-Fi 6 and offers excellent reception and bandwidth.

It’s goddamn fast…but that battery life

The battery life isn’t that great, especially while gaming (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)

There are two LOQ 15 models listed on Lenovo’s website: my test model with a Core i7-14700HX, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, and another option with a Core i7-14700HX, an RTX 4060, a 512GB SSD, and 16GB of RAM. The latter model costs Rs 115,915, while my review unit, which Lenovo loaned me for a few days, is priced at Rs 123,790.

I am not going into too many details, but the combination of a Core i7-14700HX and Nvidia’s RTX 4060 graphics card with 8GB of vRAM is solid enough to provide AAA gaming. I played Palworld and Hi-Fi Rush, and both ran reasonably well on the Lenovo LOQ 15. I am sure the LOQ 15 is capable of running high-fidelity titles like Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Red Dead Redemption 2. Again, the results may vary if you compare the LOQ 15 to a high-end gaming laptop. My observation is that this laptop can not only play all my favourite games, including classics, but also get the work done, meeting all productivity needs. Mind you, I’m not doing video editing or anything really intensive on it all the time. There are days when I only browse the web, have a long gaming session, watch one or two episodes of a series, and call it a day. But do mention that Google Chrome — which is resource-hogging and memory-intensive, runs smoothly on this laptop.

However, the battery life was disappointing. I remember the time when gaming laptops wouldn’t last for two hours, period. Well, things haven’t changed that much. This laptop, too, isn’t designed to have battery life that lasts a full day of gaming or work. I only got 1 hour and 10 minutes of Hi-Fi Rush play out of one charge. Sure, when only doing non-gaming stuff, the battery may last a bit longer, but not long enough to beat a MacBook Air or any ultra-compact Windows notebook. The cooling system is also very loud.

Should you buy Lenovo LOQ 15 14th Gen (15, Intel)?

A typical gaming laptop (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)

With the LOQ 15, Lenovo has tried really hard to woo a wider section of users who want a gaming laptop. I think Lenovo has partially succeeded with the goal. The LOQ 15 is, first and foremost, a gaming laptop. Therefore, it has its own caveats that usually come with a gaming laptop, like a bulky design and shorter battery life. That being said, I still think there is an audience out there for the LOQ 15. The screen, performance, and keyboard are its plus points. The LOQ 15 may not be a fancy laptop, but most gamers will be happier with it.