Lenovo LOQ 2024 review

Since the discovery of the wheel, humans have been searching for a gaming laptop that fits into most office environments. Okay, that may have been an exaggeration, but the need for a do-it-all gaming laptop is actually at an all-time high. One that packs all the performance for the latest AAA titles, but skips the edgy RGB looks that will stand out in a corporate environment (for the wrong reasons!).

That’s where the Lenovo’s LOQ series fits best. These are affordable, performance-oriented gaming laptops that leave the fancy RGB aside for a no-frills gaming experience. The Lenovo LOQ 2024 we have for review today, is one of the more powerful variants in the series, also priced accordingly. But is it worth its money? Let’s find out.

Lenovo LOQ 2024 design

One of the most intriguing aspects of the Lenovo LOQ 2024 is its design. The laptop looks minimal for a machine of its class but retains just enough edgy looks to tell you this is a gaming laptop when you eye it closely.

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This includes the uniform and sleek Lunar Grey finish across the body, as well as the lid – no big branding logos, cyberpunk aesthetics or RGB panels here.

Open the laptop and you see a similar design language transcend to the insides. The 15.6-inch display is surrounded by moderate bezels, with a raised front camera and sensor panel up top, and a chunky chin on the bottom.

It is only when you get to the keyboard, that you start seeing a hint of this laptop’s true nature, but more on that later. Above the keyboard is a multicolour power button, which stands out from the otherwise square-ish aesthetics of the LOQ’s bottom half.

Like I said, not a lot to attract too much attention. This form helps Lenovo achieve both minimalism, and lets the laptop be more affordable.

Lenovo LOQ 2024 display

The design here is great, but second to other aspects that take precedence when we’re talking gaming machines. One of those is the display, and the Lenovo LOQ 2024 leaves no room for complaints here.

The laptop comes with a 15.6-inch 1080p 8-bit panel with 144Hz refresh rate and support for HDR. It doesn’t get crazy 200Hz+ refresh rates, but for the market this laptop is targeting, 144Hz should be more than enough.

The display itself is crisp and vibrant, and games like Guardians of the Galaxy, FIFA 23 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider looked stunning on this panel. We also streamed some Netflix titles, and the experience was pretty good. Full marks here.

Lenovo LOQ 2024 keyboard and trackpad

The Lenovo LOQ 2024 comes with a full-sized keyboard with a complete numpad to the right, which is great for games like GTA V, where you do have many keys to map for various controls. Of course, this is also great for the office, if you do a lot of typing with rare characters, or excel, where the close-knit numpad can be handy.

The keys have decent travel and are comfortable to use, whether you’re typing or gaming. When it’s the latter, they are also pretty responsive, and I always appreciate the full-sized arrow keys, which are so much more comfortable to reach and use when playing titles like the Need for Speed or other racing games.

The keyboard has multiple lighting options, but instead of a per-key lighting system, you have a four-zone RGB system here. This lets you either set the entire keyboard to one colour, or divide it into a maximum of four zones, the colours for each of which you can customise. While I miss the per-key selection, Lenovo can be forgiven for skipping on it at this price point.

The trackpad also brings no complaints. It’s not the biggest, but it does get the job done, and it is quick and comfortable. I don’t know how great of a trackpad today’s gaming laptops need to include, considering most gaming is done with a gaming mouse or a controller anyway, but you have a pretty decent one in place here.

Lenovo LOQ 2024 performance and i/o

The performance is easily the one leg that the LOQ 2024 can balance itself on. The laptop comes with an Intel Core i7 14700HX chipset along with 16GB RAM and 1TB storage. That’s clubbed with an Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU too, so all newer titles are not an issue on this machine.

We played a number of games on the laptop, and did not observe any performance hickups, although it should be pointed out that you get the best performance (including up to 144Hz refresh rates) only when the laptop is connected to a power source.

The laptop doesn’t have the best speakers, and the volume can take away from the immersive feel, so I recommend investing in a pair of headphones.

Do note that the Lenovo LOQ 2024 can get a bit noisy, especially when it’s plugged in and is running one of the more demanding games. So, if you actually take this laptop to the office, keep that in mind.

The good news is that the laptop is as quiet as it gets when you’re not doing resource-intensive tasks. A couple of Word docs, PowerPoint presentations and a few browser tabs, for instance, shouldn’t get the laptop to go loud.

Coming to i/o ports, the LOQ 2024 has just enough ports for everything. This includes a USB Type-C port (USB PD 140W + DisplayPort 1.4), a combo headphone port a USB Type-A port, and a camera kill-switch on the right side, while the left side goes completely clean.

Everything else goes on the back. This includes two more USB Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port and an RJ45 ethernet port, along with Lenovo’s proprietary charging port.

Lenovo LOQ 2024 battery and charging

The Lenovo LOQ 2024 comes with decent battery life and will last you about four to five hours without it plugged in. This is with normal, non-gaming use of course. When you are gaming, the laptop is likely to be plugged in at all times anyway.

What you should know in that department, is that the Lenovo LOQ 2024 comes with your regular power plug (not the larger 16 amp one), allowing you to easily plug the laptop in at home, office, and pretty much everywhere else.

The USB Type-C port can also be used to charge the laptop, although it wouldn’t be the best option when you want to charge and play at the same time. I recently carried the laptop on a work trip to a different city, and these flexible charging options helped keep the laptop running in the hotel.

Unboxed take: Who should buy the Lenovo LOQ 2024?

The Lenovo LOQ 2024 laptop is a fantastic function-over-form laptop for those looking to get a gaming laptop for the gaming, and not for the gaming aesthetic. It’s a powerful machine, has the specifications and features to keep up, and leaves no aspect to complain about.

At the price of Rs 1,26,490, the Lenovo LOQ 2024 comes with enough power to justify its price and is a great gaming machine for anyone looking for a mid-level portable powerhouse for the latest titles.

For this reason, we rate the laptop 4.5/5. Stay tuned to Unboxed by Croma for more reviews and all things tech.