The Lenovo Y720: A Budget-Friendly Gaming Laptop Review
Hey there, and welcome back to my channel. Today, I'm excited to share with you my review of the Lenovo Y720, one of the cheapest laptops on the market that comes equipped with a GTX 1060. This laptop has been in development for quite some time now, and I finally got my hands on a review unit last week. In this article, we'll dive into all the details about this laptop's design, build quality, performance, and more.
The Lenovo Y720: Design and Build Quality
When it comes to design, the Lenovo Y720 is certainly unique. The laptop features an aluminum exterior with a crosshatch pattern, which I must admit, I'm not entirely fond of. However, I do appreciate the attention to detail that went into crafting this design. The build quality is excellent, and the paneling is strong all over. The hinge design may seem unconventional at first, but it's actually quite well-built and feels very durable.
The keyboard deck is made of plastic, which may seem like a letdown, but trust me, it's still a great keyboard overall. It has a good layout with arrow keys under the number pad, making it roomy and comfortable to type on. The keystrokes are shallow, but I've grown accustomed to them over time. The trackpad is an Elan trackpad, which is decent but not exceptional in my opinion. While it's great for everyday use, it could have been better with more consistent tracking.
The Lenovo Y720: Performance
Now, let's talk about performance. With a GTX 1060 and Kaby Lake CPU, this laptop is a beast for 1080p gaming. I've put this laptop through its paces, playing some of the most demanding games out there, and it performed admirably. The only game that gave me any trouble was PUBG, even with low graphics settings. When running stress tests, the external temperatures stayed comfortable, but if you crank up the cooling fan, it gets rather loud.
One thing to note is that thermal performance was an issue in early reviews of this laptop. However, I didn't experience any problems with my unit. The automatic fans are quiet and do a great job of keeping things cool. While extreme cooling settings are available, they're not worth the added noise.
The Lenovo Y720: Value
So, how much value does the Lenovo Y720 offer? In my opinion, it's an excellent choice for those on a budget. With its impressive performance, good build quality, and features like Thunderbolt 3, RGB backlighting, and easily upgradable RAM and storage, this laptop offers a great balance of price and performance.
When comparing it to other laptops in the same price range, I'd say it's one of the best options available. The Acer Helios 300 is a close competitor, but it lacks some of the features that make the Y720 stand out. If you're looking for pure value, the Acer Helios 300 might be a better choice. However, if build quality and overall performance are more important to you, I'd recommend the Lenovo Y720.
In conclusion, the Lenovo Y720 is an excellent gaming laptop that offers great value for its price. Its impressive performance, good build quality, and features make it a solid choice for those on a budget or those who want a reliable gaming laptop without breaking the bank. Thanks for watching, and I'll catch you guys in the next video!
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enHey, how's it going? Dave 2D here, and this is the Lenovo Y720. So the review for this thing is long overdueThey actually showcased this laptop at CES of 2017, so that's like eight months agoAnd I finally was able to get my review unit in last week, and I've been playing with it for a whileThis thing isOne of the cheapest laptops you can get with a GTX 1060 so this thing comes in at just over a thousand dollarsI think like$1,020 if I'm not mistaken and the build quality isReally good, the paneling is strong all overIt's got aluminum on the outside the keyboard deck is plasticBut it's very rigid all the surfaces feel oddly strong for the price pointThe hinge uses a design where they're closer together, and I normally don't like thisBut they've built it very well this year it feels very durable. The port selection is better than most gaming laptops at this price pointLots of USB portsA couple of display outs a Thunderbolt 3 port and an ethernet jackThe only thing that I would say it's missing is an SDcard slot and if you're curious the Thunderbolt 3 port is actually full four-lane PCIe not two lanes like some other laptopsWhich is nice the internals are accessed really easilythere's just some screws on the bottom the RAM has a cover of some sort but remove that and you can replace the RAM andYou also have access to both drives as well. There's a two and half inch SATA and an M.2 SSDThe battery down here has a bit of a weird shape. It's this giant LAnd it's a 60 watt hour battery and I'm getting around four hours of battery life using the 4K screenYou'll also notice down here a woofer dome the speakers on this laptop are pretty goodThere are a pair of speakers up top to complement that sub these get really loud like uncomfortably loudThey sound clean at regular volumes and the bass is presentBut the moment you crank it up to even like 60 70 percent volume the distortion is pretty severeThe keyboard has a good layout I actually like it a lot the arrow keys are under the number padSo it makes it very roomyBut it might be weird for people who frequently use a normal number pad the keystrokes are a little shallowAnd I feel like it could be a bit moreResponsive on the whole it is a decent keyboard overall and it has RGB backlighting it's lit by zones and not individual keysBut at this price point you're normally stuck with red backlightingSo this is a nice touch the trackpad is an Elan trackpad, and it's okay. It's not idealI know a lot of trackpads on gaming laptops never even get used most people just plug up mice for playing and stuffBut I still think it could have been better the surface is nice and the button mechanism is goodBut the tracking doesn't feel consistent to me. I'm getting occasional skips another thing that I don't love is the design nowI know I mentioned that the build quality is really good and it is but the design feelsKind of out of place to meIt's got this crosshatch pattern on it, and it's cool that they went for something different than most other gaming laptopsBut I don't know I don't love itAnd it's also prone to fingerprint smudges now most of it comes from just the material because it's a matte aluminumIt just shows smudges really readily, but yeah, if that's something that bothers you be aware the screen is okayI'm using the newly released 4K panel hereI've also used the 1080p panel in the past both are IPS panelsBut don't get very brightNow part of the reason why the screen is dimmer like this is because they put this matte coating on itYou can remove the coating I've seen it done in the pastI've done it before on older Lenovo laptops basically you take a hair dryer heat it up peel it offI'm not gonna do it on this because it's a review unitBut in the past when you do do it, it does get a little bit brighterJust because the material is goneThe bezels on the screen are a little thick on the top and bottom but for the moneyIt's kind of expected and the webcam looks ok it's a 720p cam nothing specialPerformance on this laptop is solid it's excellent for 1080P gamingIt'll handle lights and midway titles easily you'll be way above 60 frames per second on just about anyModern AAA shooter some open-world games can get a bit more demandingSo you might have to lower image quality a little but in generalThis laptop is more than enough for 1080p gaming and it's fully VR readyOnly really demanding games or poorly optimized games like PUBG will need lowered graphics settingsAnd when I play PUBG on this thing I only felt comfortable with the frame weights when I put too low graphics qualityThermal performance is goodI ran some stress tests and the external temperatures stay comfortable during those tests as well now originally this laptop had some thermal issues whenIt first launchedI know that some of the early reviews like the very early units had some issues with external temperaturesBut I didn't notice any of that with this unit for the stock fan settings like the automatic fansThey're pretty quiet, and they cool it adequately, but if you put it on extreme cooling it gets really loudIt does help a little bit. I mean temperatures are a little bit lowerIt's not really worth it to me thoughThe extra noise is way too loudBut if you live somewhere warm or you use your computer when you don't have access to air-conditioningThat could be really useful so the Lenovo Y720 this thing gives you some pretty good value for the moneyIt's everything you'd expectBut it's a very well-built laptop starting at just over$1,000 the screen is probably its weakest point both the 4K and the 1080p panels feel relatively dimThe keyboard has zoned RGB backlighting, shallow stroke in the keys, but it's comfortable to type on the trackpad uses Elan driversAnd there's some occasional tracking issuesinside the GTX1060 and the Kaby Lake CPU options are awesome for 1080p gaming and are well cooled without the fan getting too loudThe RAM and both drives are easily upgraded if you want and the battery comes in at 60 watt hours with okay battery lifeI'm getting around four hours with the 4K screen so a GTX 1060 laptop for around a thousand dollars is a pretty good valueThere's two real competitors to this first is like a broad competitorWhich are the bare-bones systems like Clevo and SagerBut the other kind of brand-name competitor is the Acer Helios 300 which I've reviewed for in the pastThey both have black and red gamer aestheticsI wouldn't call either of them better-looking than the other if you're trying to choose between the twoThey're both good the Y720 has better build qualityAnd I think on the whole is just a more complete laptop. It has RGB backlightingIt's got the Thunderbolt 3 port it has better thermal characteristics. I mean, it's just got more aggressive cooling. It's heavierIt's got a bigger battery it's a more substantial laptop. The Acer Helios 300 it's a little bit cheaperSo you're going to get better bang for your buck in terms of just raw performanceBut it is I I would consider it a quote-unquote cheaper feeling laptopJust because it's got more plastic and the whole device is just lighter weight and everything but seriously both of them are greatCan't go wrong with either of them. I would go for this one if you want build qualityI'd go with the Helios 300 if you want just pure valueOkay, hope you guys enjoyed this video thumbs if you liked it subs if you loved it. See you guys next time\n"
