Lenovo's Legion Y545 is an interesting addition to its 500-series lineup of gaming laptops. It's built with the same single-hinge chassis that we saw used for the budget Legion Y7000, but it's outfitted with performance hardware that you'll also find in the Legion Y540 that's built with the updated chassis we also saw in the impressive Legion 700-series lineup. It's a bit confusing, especially when you see how close pricing is between the Y540 and Y545, but the latter laptop we have here for review is ultimately a bit cheaper when you don't factor in Lenovo's frequent sales and instant savings offers. I used the Legion Y545 for about a week to see whether or not it's worth your hard-earned dough.
Lenovo supplied Windows Central with a review unit of the Legion Y545, with 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9750H processor (CPU), 16GB of DDR4-2666MHz RAM, NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti graphics card (GPU) with 4GB of VRAM, and a 128GB PCIe solid-state drive (SSD) coupled with a 1TB SATA hard-disk drive (HDD) for mass storage. It's also equipped with an FHD non-touch display with a 60Hz refresh rate; for those who want a smoother picture, there's likewise a 144Hz option available for a bit more money.
This exact configuration costs about $1,300 at Lenovo, though baseline models with 9th Gen Intel Core i5-9300H CPU, 8GB of RAM, a 1TB HDD, and NVIDIA GTX 1650 GPU start at about $1,000.For a fully specced model, including Core i7 CPU, 32GB of RAM, NVIDIA RTX 2060 GPU, 2TB HDD with 1TB SSD, and 144Hz FHD display, you're looking at about $2,080.
The Legion Y545's chassis has a soft-touch finish for the black interior, and while it does pick up some smudges like a ThinkPad, it feels rather luxurious to hold. The aluminum lid has a sizeable Legion logo that lights up when the laptop is in action, and it has some slight tapering along the edges for an aggressive look. This design is heightened by the relatively thick rear end, complete with dual exhaust vents and a generous collection of ports that makes cable management easy if you're primarily operating at a desk. The laptop weighs about the same as most of Lenovo's 15-inch options at around five pounds; it's not the most portable device, but it's not going to drag you down like the 17-inch Legion Y740.
Along the back are Lenovo's proprietary charging port for the beefy 230W adapter, USB-A 3.1, a single USB-A 3.1, HDMI 2.0, RJ45 Ethernet, and Mini DisplayPort 1.4, while the sides of the laptop each have another USB-A 3.1 port that's handy for an external gaming mouse. The left side also has a 3.5mm audio jack for your gaming headset. This should be enough ports for most gaming accessories, and if you have VR ambitions, you shouldn't have any issues connecting, say, and Oculus Rift S, which you can actually find bundled with some Y545 models.
The review model has a 15.6-inch display with 60Hz refresh rate — you can opt for a 144Hz option, which makes the most sense if you also go with the powerful RTX 2060 GPU — complete with a thin bezel around the top and sides. It promotes a modern look, though the single hinge in the middle of the lid does make it ultimately feel a bit flimsy, especially when compared to the dual-hinge setup used in the Y540.
The display only gets up to about 300 nits brightness, but the matte finish helps deal with glare in well-lit rooms. I didn't have much trouble gaming indoors, though if you like to enjoy the sun while having some fun, you'll probably find yourself squinting at the screen. Color reproduction hits 96% sRGB and 73% AdobeRGB, both respectable results that are evident as soon as you open the lid. Games look great on this display, and the FHD resolution is well-suited to the size.
Like the Legion Y7000, the keyboard stretches from edge to edge, leaving enough space for sizeable keys and a number pad. There's plenty of travel and spacing is comfortable when using the WASD keys and their surrounding counterparts, and the spacebar is balanced to prevent misclicks while gaming. If you want your laptop to have customizable RGB lighting behind the keyboard, you'll have to move to Lenovo's 700-series, because the Y545 uses a three-stage white backlight with no customization options.
The Precision touchpad is relatively large, and the mylar surface makes for smooth pointing, though it's safe to assume most gamers are going to promptly plug in a mouse for far better control. My main grievance with the touchpad is its off-center placement, which puts it under your left palm while using the WASD keys. There's a Fn key shortcut along the top of the keyboard to turn off the touchpad completely, and the break in the chassis for the touchpad is minimal enough that you probably won't notice your hand rubbing along it. Still, it's something to note.