Lenovo’s New 'Loq' Gaming PCs Are Basically Lower-End Legions

Lenovo is making a renewed push into the entry-level / budget gaming market with its new "Loq" (stylized "LOQ" and pronounced "lock") gaming laptops and desktops. The Loq laptops come in 15- and 16-inch sizes, while the desktop chassis comes in at 17 liters.

The laptops will come with in both Intel and AMD variations, while the desktop is only using the latest Intel desktop chips.

The Lenovo Loq 15 and 15i will stick to a 15-inch, 16:9 screen at 2560 x 1440 and 165 Hz, while the Loq 16 and 16i will use 16-inch screens with the more trendy 16:10 displays at 2560 x 1660 and 165 Hz.

Lenovo's Loq branding looks quite similar to its Legion designs on its premium systems. Previously, Lenovo's lowest-end gaming laptops came with the IdeaPad Gaming name. Loq's styling, from its logo to its chassis, makes it clear it's related to Lenovo's Legion gaming notebooks. 

The AMD and Intel versions share a lot of specs, including displays, batteries, RAM and storage options. Intel machines will go up to an Intel Core i7-13700H, while the AMD ones will top out at the Ryzen 7 7840HS (the "Phoenix" chips that were pushed from their original March release).  Lenovo claims it will use "up to" four heat pipes (likely on the bigger system) and dual 85-millimeter fans to keep the laptops cool. Each laptop has a second PCIe slot for upgrading storage down the line.

Lenovo is also including an AI chip, which it calls LA AI, on the Loq laptops (these are also on its Legion devices). It says these can tune thermals and wattage to optimize game performance.

The 16-inch laptops have 80 Whr batteries, while the 15-inchers have smaller 60 WHr capacities. Lenovo says the bigger batteries can use technology it calls "Super Rapid Charge Pro." (Yes, that's what Lenovo calls it) to charge quickly, though it didn't provide numbers for how fast that charging is.

Lenovo's Loq Tower is a simple black block with a hint of blue across the front of its 17-liter chassis. Lenovo claims it will include up to the 13th Gen Intel Core i7-13700 (on a B760, mATX motherboard) and Nvidia's RTX 40-series GPUs, though it hasn't specified which ones. (I don't see a version of this with an RTX 4090, for instance.). Storage options will top out at a 1TB PCIe NVME SSD and a 2TB, 7,200-rpm hard drive.

The desktop is set to launch in the fall starting at $979.99. Both the Loq 15i and Loq 15 are set to start at $899.99, with the Intel version launching April and the AMD version in May. The Loq 16i is scheduled to launch in May 2023, starting at $1,149.99, while the Loq 16 is set to follow in June, starting at $959.99. 

Lenovo today also announced new versions of its high-end 16-inch Lenovo Legion Slim 7 and Slim 5, both in Intel and AMD processors and Nvidia GPUs. The Intel versions are set to ship in April, with the AMD options following in May. A 14-inch Slim 5 is expected to launch in October, with no pricing yet announced. These laptops will go up to the Intel Core i9-13900H and Ryzen 9 7940HS, and include a variety of Nvidia RTX 40-series GPUS 9and, in some versions, the RTX 3050).