The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 (2021) is a 15.6-inch budget gaming laptop. It's available with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H or Ryzen 7 5800H CPU and various NVIDIA discrete GPUs, from a GeForce GTX 1650 to an RTX 3060. Memory and storage max out at 16GB and 1TB, respectively, and both are user-upgradeable. There are three 1080p display options with different refresh rates: 60Hz, 120Hz, and 165Hz. Ports include two USB-As, one USB-C, an HDMI, Ethernet, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The USB-C doesn't support charging or video output. It has a full-size keyboard with a Numpad, Wi-Fi 6 wireless connectivity, and a 45Wh battery (60Wh on models with an RTX 3060). You can see our unit's specifications and the available configuration options in the Differences Between Variants section below.
Our Verdict
The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 15 is okay for school use. It's a little bulky and heavy, and its battery only lasts around five hours of light use. However, it provides a good user experience with a decently sharp screen, a comfortable keyboard, and a responsive touchpad. It also has enough processing power to handle demanding workloads, making it suitable for students in technical fields like graphic design and 3D animation. Unfortunately, you can't use its USB-C port to charge the laptop or output a video signal to an external display, and the fans get pretty loud when performing intensive tasks.
- Feels well-built.
- CPU and dedicated GPU can handle demanding workloads.
- Keyboard feels great to type on and doesn't cause fatigue.
- Decent webcam video quality for video calls.
- Battery lasts only a little over 5 hours of light productivity.
- Display doesn't get bright enough to combat glare.
- Not the most portable due to bulky size and weight.
- USB-C doesn't support charging or video output.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 15 is good for gaming. Its AMD Ryzen CPU and NVIDIA dedicated GPU can deliver a smooth gaming experience at 1080p, though you have to make sure to get 16GB of memory as the 8GB configuration will result in lower frame rates and frequent stutters. Thankfully, it's easy to access the internals for upgrades, so you can do it yourself later on. Its 120Hz display delivers a relatively clear image in fast-moving scenes; however, its slow response time causes noticeable ghosting. There's a 165Hz panel option available if you want even smoother gameplay, though you'll need to go up to an RTX 3060 to make the most of it. There's very little performance loss when performing intensive tasks, but the fans get pretty loud.
- 120Hz refresh rate with FreeSync support.
- User-upgradeable memory and storage drive.
- Minimal performance loss on CPU.
- No performance loss on GPU.
- Slow response time causes noticeable ghosting.
- Single rank x16 memory module hampers performance.
- Loud fans under load.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 15 is mediocre for media consumption. It isn't very portable as it's a little bulky and heavy, and its battery only lasts about three hours of video playback. The speakers sound fairly natural and well-balanced, but they don't have much bass to produce a thumping sound and don't get very loud. The 60Hz and 120Hz display options look washed out due to their narrow color gamuts, but you can get a 165Hz panel with full sRGB coverage, which will look much better. Unfortunately, all the display options are IPS panels with low contrast, which aren't ideal for dark room viewing.
- Screen handles reflections well.
- 100% sRGB panel option.
- Flicker-free backlight helps reduce eye strain.
- Blacks look gray in dim settings and colors look washed out.
- Quiet speakers.
- Display doesn't get bright enough to combat glare.
- Not the most portable due to bulky size and weight.
- Battery lasts only 3 hours of video playback.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 15 is great as a workstation. Its AMD Ryzen CPU and NVIDIA dedicated GPU can handle demanding workloads, like video editing, 3D animation, and graphic design. Its performance over time is outstanding as there's only a little bit of thermal throttling on the CPU and none on the GPU, although the fans are fairly loud under load. Sadly, the port selection is mediocre as its single USB-C port doesn't support charging or video output and can only transfer data at USB 3.2 Gen 1 speed of up to 5Gbps.
- CPU and dedicated GPU can handle demanding workloads.
- User-upgradeable memory and storage drive.
- Minimal performance loss on CPU.
- No performance loss on GPU.
- Single rank x16 memory module hampers performance.
- USB-C doesn't support charging or video output.
- Loud fans under load.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 15 is decent for business use. It feels well-built even though it's entirely plastic, but it's a bit bulky and heavy, so it isn't the easiest thing to carry around. Also, its battery lasts only about five hours, which means you'll have to bring the proprietary charger with you because you can't charge the laptop via USB-C. The keyboard feels comfortable to type on and doesn't cause fatigue, the touchpad tracks all movements and gestures well, and the webcam captures a decent image for video calls. Its AMD Ryzen CPU can easily handle most productivity tasks like text formatting, web browsing, spreadsheets, and presentations.
- Feels well-built.
- Keyboard feels great to type on and doesn't cause fatigue.
- Decent webcam video quality for video calls.
- Battery lasts only a little over 5 hours of light productivity.
- Display doesn't get bright enough to combat glare.
- Not the most portable due to bulky size and weight.
Changelog
- Updated Feb 29, 2024: Added mention of the Lenovo LOQ 15 (2023) as an alternative with longer battery life in the Battery section.
- Updated Dec 07, 2023: Converted to Test Bench 0.8.2.
- Updated Nov 03, 2023: Converted to Test Bench 0.8.1.
- Updated Apr 12, 2023: We've updated the review to improve clarity and readability.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 15 (model 82K200UYUS) with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 dedicated GPU, 8GB of memory, and 1256GB of storage. The screen, CPU, GPU, memory, and storage are configurable; you can see the available options in the table below. Our review applies only to variants with a model number starting with '82K2'. We've reviewed the Intel-based Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i (2021) separately.
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You can see our unit's label here.
Popular Laptop Comparisons
The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 15 is among the better budget gaming laptops on the market in terms of build quality as well as the quality of its keyboard and touchpad. However, its port selection is lacking, and its use of single rank x16 memory makes its overall performance worse than expected, so you have to pay more to upgrade the memory if you want to get the most out of the CPU and GPU.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best gaming laptops, the best laptops for college, and the best business laptops.
For gaming, the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 (2021) is better than the Acer Nitro 5 15 (2020). The IdeaPad Gaming 3 is available with newer and more powerful CPUs and GPUs that can push out higher frame rates, as well as a brighter and more colorful display with a higher 165Hz refresh rate. The IdeaPad Gaming 3 also has a much better keyboard that works more reliably, as the Nitro 5's doesn't register some keystrokes at times. On the other hand, the Nitro 5 has a much longer battery life, lasting twice as long for light productivity and video playback, and it's cooler and quieter under load.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 (2021) and the Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) are very different. The IdeaPad Gaming 3 is a budget Windows gaming laptop, while the MacBook Air is a premium macOS ultraportable. The MacBook Air offers a better user experience overall because it has a brighter and sharper display, better-sounding speakers, a more responsive touchpad, and a much better webcam. It also has longer battery life and remains silent under load because it's a fanless device. On the other hand, the IdeaPad Gaming 3 has a dedicated GPU, making it more suitable for graphically demanding tasks like video editing and 3D animation.
The Dell G15 (2022) and the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 (2021) are both budget gaming laptops. In terms of user experience, the Lenovo comes out ahead because it has a sturdier build as well as a better keyboard and touchpad. However, the Dell's Intel 12th Gen. CPUs perform better than the Lenovo's AMD Ryzen 5000-series processors, giving you better frame rates in games. The Dell also has higher-end configuration options, like a QHD 240Hz display and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GPU.
The Lenovo Legion 5 Gen 6 15 (2021) is better than the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 (2021). They have similar configuration options; however, you can get the Legion 5 with a QHD 165Hz panel and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 GPU, which aren't available on the IdeaPad Gaming 3. With the same configuration, the Legion will perform better and push out higher frame rates as it has a MUX switch, and its GPUs run at a higher wattage. The Legion 5 also has a sturdier build, a wider port selection, and better thermals.
Test Results
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