Lenovo has some new mid-range gaming laptops out at the moment, part of it’s Legion gaming series, the 15-inch Y530, and the 17-inch Y730. The Y530 are currently available, while the Y730 will be launched this coming September, when it can be fully tested. Lenovo wanted to implement some new features that these Legion laptops needed, from upgrading to a dual-channel cooling system, to slimming down the design. Although both are sporting this awesome clean and cool new design, Lenovo intends on bring on the competition, particularly against the likes of MSI’s brand new GS65, as well as the XPS 15 9560 ( I mean, who isn’t, right?).

So you’ve gotta be slim, cool-running, and have a crazy-good level of graphics to be in the game these days. That might be a bit of a pun, but it’s true. Gaming laptops need a pretty good makeover to get recognition, especially when coming back as a next-gen device. Lenovo seems to have accomplished that with higher display quality, a more posh look, one that blends in as business-like, as well as implementing a better cooling system. Did that just check off all the boxes? Nope, there’s power and graphics that need their worthy attention as well. As part of a larger launch of Legion gaming devices, including towers, cubes, and these laptops, Lenovo built the entirety of six new models so each one could find their match with the right level of gamer.

The new Legion serie’s design reminds me of MSI’s GS65, the one that just came out. The Y730 and Y530 are definitely a couple gaming machines, but they’re not sporting the status quo of flashy LED lining to give up what they’re capable of. Instead, these goes for a mature, toned-down exterior, in a simple black or gray chassis (all-aluminum if you choose the Y730). Both the Y530 and Y730 have a hinge-forward design, in which the lid starts directly in front of the rear vent. The 15-inch Y530 measures an itty 0.78 inches thick, and the 17-inch Y570 is barely different, at 0.86 inches thick. The weights of the Y730 and Y530 do differ, however, with the their heft at 4.8 pounds, and at 6.4 pounds, respectively (the Y530 is made of plastic, and the higher-end Y730 is aluminum, plus, it has a bigger battery than the Y530).

You can game wider with very thin bezels, an improvement from past models. These both come with a matte IPS 1920 x 1080p LCD screen, with incredible brightness (300 nits), a tasteful 72 percent RGB color gamut, a 144Hz refresh rate. On the Y730, there’s a customizable Corsair iCUE RGB backlit keyboard (the first of its kind) for countless color combinations, as well as a set of Macro keys. This is an overall improvement for the series, with higher brightness, higher refresh rates, and more color options; and if you take a look at the RGB colors lit up on the Y730, it’s quite delightful.

Internals are going to hit the mid-ranged gaming niche, entry-level as well. However, with the amount of good frame rates, upgrability, as well as high-performance, these have what it takes for some good gaming. The chips inside are the latest high-performance hardware Intel has out right now, the 8th gen Core CPU processors, the i7-8750H, or the i5-8300H, and DDR4 memory is available from 8GB to 32GB. It allows both a 2.5-inch SATA III drive and M.2 SSD, 16GB of Optane support. Specifically on the Y730, user get a 128GB to 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD, plus the optional 8GB of Corsair Overclocked Memory. For graphics, the two support Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, or the GTX 1060, along with 4GB DDR5 memory. This isn’t VR-ready, but it’s a mid-tier machine with plenty of options for low-to-mid gaming power.

Going around to the back of the machine, the venting system resides. The new systen helps cool better than before, with larger heat pipes, and larger fans for 16 percent more airflow, along with all the ports Lenovo chose. These include a USB 2.0 port, HDMI, USB Type-C, a mini DisplayPort, an HDMI, Ethernet, secure slot, and power port. Nice move, having the option of maintaining that many cables along the back of your desk. Then, a Thunderbolt 3 port (on the Y730 only), headset jack, and two USB 3.0 ports are shared along the sides.

So how this flagship series different than previous Lenovo Legion laptops? Let me count the ways. Lenovo is hitting a much wider range of consumers with its business-like aesthetic. Not to mention, they are definitely thinner than before, lighter as well. You can choose your processor and GPU for each model. Also, as mentioned, Lenovo decided to start that hinge further, about an inch closer to the keyboard - a design characterized by Alienware, which definitely assists in better airflow, since this is where the cooling and ventilation is primarily located. Considering the right cues, this round of gaming laptops are highly rejuvenated. A native 1080p for these two wasn’t compromising any of Lenovo’s intentions, as the display is both competent for what’s inside, as well as being highly lit and colorful. The two start at $930 for the Y530, and $1,179 (in September) for the Y730. For those in the market for the first time, these new Legion models offer enough to help gauge their demand for power, RAM, and storage.