The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 82K20015US with the Ryzen 5 5600H has arrived! The Ryzen powered gaming laptops dominate the market and the guy we are reviewing here is no exception. It has the Zen 3 CPU that was exclusively designed for gaming laptops. For a non-gamer notebook, check out this IdeaPad 3.
Is this 15″ Lenovo gaming laptop also capable to handle all of your gaming needs? We will find the answer in this review.
A Minimalist Design
For a gaming laptop, this 82K20015US model is pretty slim. It weighs in at shy of 4.96 lbs or 2.24 kg, a quite ideal form factor to be carried around. Furthermore, it does not have those colorful attributes that can turn a lot of heads in your business meeting or college. It’s a competent minimalist gaming laptop you will ever see.
This device ships with a 15.6″ IPS screen with Full-HD 1920×1080 screen resolution. It also features a 120Hz screen refresh rate which is great for competitive gaming sessions.
It is not a touchscreen, which is good in my opinion, as it does not attract dirt on the screen which can be a trouble when you play a game. There is also a 720p HD webcam right above the display with its privacy shutter. This feature allows you to cover the camera. The 1080p is more than adequate to watch movies and playing games. Also, the matte screen coating does a good job to make the screen to be less reflective.
Is it a Good Performer?
Yes, it is a good performer, but it is not a powerhouse machine. I also don’t think that you are expecting this machine to run all of your games on maximal settings either if you are considering purchasing this unit. This machine is a versatile starter laptop for casual gamers and general PC users.
This Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 82K20015US model comes with the new Ryzen 5 5600H AMD’s CPU, and a dedicated graphics, NVIDIA GeForce 1650 Graphics card. Coupled with this CPU and GPU, we’ve also got the single-channel factory 8GB of DDR4 RAM, running at 3200 MHz.
It should be noted that it comes with an empty physical slot for an additional RAM stick if you want to expand the memory. You will be able to expand the RAM and the storage which is a rare option nowadays. There is even an upgrade kit included with your new laptop. If an upgrade is not an option for you, we recommend you to get this model instead, as it has double the storage and double the RAM (and Ryzen 7 variant).
All in all, this is not a bleeding-edge specification but is more than capable to run your AAA titles at medium settings and a little bit more.
Zen 3 CPU
The R5 5600H processor is the key to this gaming laptop. It is currently one of the fast performer CPUs out there. This Cezanne CPU generation has 6-Cores instead of just 4 and 12-Threads instead of 8. It was also produced with Zen 3 microarchitecture (while the older generation used Zen 2).
Thanks to this new architecture, this 5600H is capable of obliterating the older AMD processor, the older generation of Intel i5, and even new Intel i7 or i9, like the 10th Gen i7-10875H, i7-10870H, or the 2.40 GHz i9-10980HK (10th Gen).
Decent GPU & SSD
The video or graphics card inside this laptop is GeForce GTX 1650 from NVIDIA. In this RTX era, this GPU is still a decent and stable video card. It won’t play all modern games at Ultra Settings, but combined with the Ryzen CPU, it can run those games at acceptable framerates. And of course, for your older games, this GPU can perform on ultra or high settings.
Compared to its predecessor, it brought over ±30% performance boost.
In new 2021 games like F1 2021, Monster Hunter Stories 2, Days Gone, Mass Effect Legendary Edition 2021, and many more, the GTX 1650 is capable to perform them at 1080p at stable 60 fps and more. Let alone the older games like, 2019 FIFA 20, you will be able to play it on Ultra at over 140 fps.
Additionally, the SSD storage also helps this 82K20015US to load your games faster than any traditional hard drive. For this relatively low cost, getting a new and fast CPU, a dedicated GPU, and an SSD in a laptop is a really good value.
82K20015US Technical Data
Before moving on with this review, let’s take a look into the technical specifications data of this Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 with the Ryzen 5 5600H quickly.
| Unit | Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 15 15.6" Laptop, 15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) Display, AMD Ryzen 5 5600H Processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB SSD Storage, Windows 10H, 82K20015US, Shadow Black |
| Display | 15.6″ Anti-glare IPS panel with 1920×1080 Full-HD resolution, and 120 Hz refresh rate
|
| CPU/Processor | Zen 3 AMD Ryzen 5 5600H (3.30 – 4.20 GHz clock speed) |
| Graphics | Dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 |
| RAM | 8 GB 3200MHz + 1x empty slot [buy this RAM stick for an upgrade] |
| Storage | 256 GB SSD [+ Upgrade Option] |
| Connectivity | 1x HDMI 2.0, 2x USB Type-A, 1x USB Type-C, 1x 3.5mm audio, 1x RJ-45 Ethernet port |
| Other features | 720p HD Webcam with its privacy shutter, white backlit Keyboard, Bluetooth |
| Pros & Cons | VIEW |
Other Valuable Features
For the price this laptop comes with many nice surprises, let’s discuss about them now.
Smooth 120 Hz Display
The first awesome part of this Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 82K20015US is the display. We are grateful for the 15.6 inch IPS display with Full HD screen resolution (1920 x 1080). This Full-HD panel allows anything on your screen to look great, including your games. The thin bezels on the left and right-hand sides of the panel make your viewing experience even better, there is more real estate on your screen.
The strong 120 Hz screen refresh rate is typically not something you often see on a gaming laptop at this price. Compared with a lower refresh rate, a 120Hz screen allows you to have a smooth butter gaming session. Especially in a shooting or hunting game, a few seconds delay will result in a big difference.
To reduce reflections, especially in a brighter room, the screen of this unit has a matte anti-glare coating. To even take care of your eye better, it has the DC dimmer for more protection to your eye. We can’t complain about the screen here.
Legendary Keyboard
Do you want to have a legendary keyboard on a laptop? Opt for Lenovo’s keyboards, they are known to be one of the best keyboards on the market. The keyboard of this Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 Ryzen 5 5500H model is no different.
It’s a full-size keyboard, with 1.5 mm key travel, white backlit color, and a Numpad, which surely is comfortable to type on. Also for the white backlighting, I think it is more pleasant to the eyes than red or those colorful lights. The Numeric pads make all the difference for users who input a lot of numbers daily.
Good Heat Dissipation
When it comes to the thermal, this machine runs cooler than its previous generation. While playing games or working on harder tasks, it can get warm. However, it’s not that it would burn your hand or your lap. Thanks to Lenovo’s updated thermal system that can reduce 41% more heat with its more than twice the airflow, up to 4 heat pipes, and twice air outlets.
This 82K20015US is not of those “jet engines”.
A respectable amount of I/O
For this price, this unit features a pretty decent amount of I/O ports. On the left-hand side, you will find the Power input, RJ-45 Ethernet port, 1x full-size HDMI v2.0, USB Type-C. The Ethernet port is a nice feature since you won’t worry to have a dropped-out internet connection. You want a stable internet network to have a chat, a video conference or even to game.
Moreover, you can also use the HDMI output to connect to a bigger monitor or even television. The USB C is a modern USB port to allow you to transfer files at lightning speed. It’s very nice to have these useful additional features onboard, especially in this price range.
It does also feature Bluetooth version 5.0 which is great to transfer photos from your phone, connect a wireless mouse or keyboard, and many other useful wireless devices to your laptop.
Final Thoughts
To summarize this review, this unit is a capable functional gaming laptop. It is not the most powerful machine, but it has ticked all the boxes;
- Fantastic price for what it offers
- SSD and new Ryzen CPU for faster performance
- Ideal size for a backpack
- 8 GB adequate default RAM
- 120Hz smooth panel
- Awesome pleasant backlit keyboard with number pad
- Built-in webcam, HDMI, Ethernet port, and USB-C
- Upgrade options
In terms of the Price/Performance ratio, it is more than an entry-level gaming laptop. It is capable like 1k+ laptops are and has a nice design of a more expensive gaming laptop. Oh and that clean design, it will be your “discrete” gaming laptop. The day-job customers you are interacting with, won’t need to know that you have the power to game.
With today’s condition and the apparent possibility of computer chips shortages, a competitive gaming laptop like this unit will usually be sold out. The new AMD’s Ryzen 5000 series CPU inside at its price is no contest, this Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 82K20015US really can deliver.
