I've tested several of the latest budget gaming laptops recently, and the Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 is the best value of them all

Date:
Thu, 30 Oct 2025 19:20:04 +0000

Description:
The Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 takes aim at the budget gaming laptop
market but is it the best among them?

FULL STORY ======================================================================Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9: Two-minute review

The Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 aims to take the lead as the best budget gaming laptop on the market, and in terms of performance for the price, it pretty much nails it.

At first glance, youd be hard-pressed to distinguish it from any other workaday laptop. It lacks the bulk and RGB lighting of its rivals, which may be a positive or a negative depending on how you feel about the modern gamer aesthetic.

Regardless, it certainly looks and feels premium. Smooth materials with elegant finishes are featured all over, with the keyboard being a particular highlight, thanks to the solid placement and subtle texturing of the keys.

Whats more, the LOQ Essential 15 is pleasingly light, which makes it more portable than a lot of the competition. However, while build quality is good, the LOQ Essential 15 isnt as sturdy as the best gaming laptops on the market, since theres a fair amount of flex to both the chassis and the lid.

Theres a welcome selection of ports on the LOQ Essential 15, featuring all
the interfaces a gamer would need. Theres even an SD card reader, which isnt something you often see on a gaming laptop. Most of these ports are located
on the left, and there are none on the back, which may prove inconvenient depending on your particular setup. (Image credit: Future)

The LOQ Essential 15 comes preinstalled with Lenovo Vantage, a utility app
for viewing system information and adjusting performance settings. This is
one of the best utility apps Ive come across, providing plenty of useful information and tweaks. It also has a very clear interface, and during my
time with it, it ran without a hitch.

Less impressive, however, was the outright performance of my review unit. The Intel i5 and RTX 3050 combination in my review unit struggled to run the latest AAA titles smoothly, especially if you enable even the slightest
amount of ray tracing. At least the heat and fan noise were kept to a minimum throughout.

Thankfully, the display on the LOQ Essential 15 is more impressive. Despite the 1080p resolution stretching across 15 inches, the interface always looked clear and sharp. Theres plenty of vibrancy, too, and although the maximum brightness isnt particularly high, the worst reflections are kept at bay.

The keyboard feels a little cramped when gaming, and the lack of travel and dampening hampers feedback somewhat. Its a different story, however, when typing, as the snappy clicks and ergonomic layout make this easy. And since the touchpad is quite small, it doesnt get in the way when typing, either.

With its reasonable price tag, the LOQ Essential 15 is certainly a tempting proposition. While theres plenty of quality here, the middling performance
and keyboard hamstring its gaming prowess somewhat. If you can live with
these drawbacks, though, the LOQ Essential 15 is still worth considering if youre after a budget gaming laptop. Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 review: Price & Availability (Image credit: Future) Starting from $569 / 689 / AU$742.35 Available now Budget end of the market

The LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 starts from $569 / 689 / AU$742.35 and is
available now in the US, UK, and Australia. Various RTX GPU options are available as well, from the RTX 2050 all the way up to the RTX 5050. There
are also different Intel and AMD CPUs available. RAM capacities range from
8GB to 32GB, while storage ranges from 512GB to 4TB.

The starting price on the LOQ Essential 15 is about as low as I've seen for a laptop of this quality. Better yet, Ive seen the latest models with their RTX 50-series GPUs on sale at a significant discount, making them an even better value despite being more expensive.

However, there might be cheaper gaming laptops out there, depending on your region. The MSI Cyborg 15 , for example, starts at a cheaper price in the UK and is similarly specced with a high-quality design.

If you're able to spend a little more, theres also the Acer Nitro V 15 , whichwhile more expensive than the LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 in the USis a
better gaming laptop right now, in my view, thanks to its more capable performance. Value: 4 / 5 Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 review: Specs Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 review configuration

Price

799

CPU

Intel Core i5-12450HX (2.4GHz, 8 Cores)

GPU

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050, 6GB

RAM

16GB DDR5

Storage

1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD

Display

15.6" FHD (1920x1080), IPS, 144Hz, Anti-glare

Ports and Connectivity

2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 1, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x RJ-45, 1x 3.5mm combo audio, 1x SD card reader; Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2

Battery

57Wh

Dimensions

14.15 x 9.29 x 0.78-0.90in (359.3 x 236 x 19.9-22.95mm)

Weight

3.9lbs (1.77kg) Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 review: Design (Image credit: Future) Premium feel Not the sturdiest Great utility app

If you didnt know, you could easily mistake the Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 for a mainstream laptop. It has the same form and looks, without any of the extraneous bulges or aggressive aesthetics typical of many gaming laptops.

It looks quite elegant, owing to the subtle sheen of the finish. Its also impressively thin and light for a laptop in this class, which makes carrying it around easier. The materials look and feel fairly premium, although the
LOQ Essential 15 isnt as sturdy as others, with some flex to various panels and the display enclosure.

The keyboard is a more premium affair, with a smooth yet noticeable texture
to the keycaps. They have the typical Lenovo ergonomic shape, although they seem less indented than other models from the brand.

There are plenty of handy shortcuts on the F row, including one to open Windows 11 settings, which I wish would feature on every laptop. There are also some unlabelled Fn shortcuts, such as Fn+Q, which toggles performance modes. I only happened to chance upon it when looking at Lenovos website.

You can also find it listed in a pre-installed app called Lenovo Hotkeys, in addition to a plethora of other useful shortcuts. For instance, you can also instantly toggle the refresh rate between 60 and 144Hz with Fn+R. (Image credit: Future)

One of the most disappointing aspects of the keyboard, though, is the lack of backlighting. Higher spec models have it, but its still a fairly egregious omission on base models. Not only does it add spectacle, it also serves a practical purpose by helping with key location when gaming in dimly-lit
rooms, as is often the case for many.

What wont disappoint is the number of ports on the LOQ Essential 15. All
those relevant to gamers are present: there are two USB-A ports and one
USB-C, as well as ethernet and HDMI interfaces. Theres even an SD card
reader, which isnt always seen on gaming laptops, but it's great for creator-gamers who might use their laptop for both work and play.

The placement of the ports might prove more divisive, though. All but two are loaded on the left-hand side, and there are none on the back. This layout might be inconvenient for certain setups; personally, I like to see at least the power port on the back.

The LOQ Essential 15 comes preinstalled with Lenovo Vantage, which is one of the best first-party utility suites Ive come across. It contains a wealth of useful information and settings to tweak, especially the gaming section,
which naturally has various cooling and performance modes to choose from.

Whats more, Vantage is clear and easy to navigate, and I didnt experience any bugs or glitches when using itnot something that can be said about every first-party software. Design: 4 / 5 Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 review: Performance (Image credit: Future) Middling 1080p performance Vibrant, non-reflective display Keyboard lacks gaming prowess Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 benchmarks Geekbench 6 (Single Core): 2,207; (Multi Core): 8,297
Cinebench R23 (Single Core): 1,588; (Multi Core): 9,774
Cinebench R24 (Single Core): 94 (Multi Core): 562
Crossmark Overall: 1,441
3DMark Night Raid: 37,229; Fire Strike: 11,392; Steel Nomad: 998; Solar Bay: 23,855; Solar Bay Unlimited: 25,530; Solar Bay Extreme: 4,391; Solar Bay Extreme Unlimited: 4,436
BlackMagicDisk Read: 3,502MB/s; Write: 3,063MB/s
Civilization VII (1080p, AMD FSR, High): 200fps; (1080p, High): 136fps
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1080p, Highest, Balanced upscaling): 98fps; (1080p, Highest, SMAA x4, no upscaling): 53fps
Total War: Warhammer III: Mirrors of Madness (1080p, Ultra): 28fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p, Ultra, Balanced upscaling): 57fps; (1080p, Ray Tracing: Ultra, Balanced upscaling): 34fps; (1080p, Ultra, no upscaling): 37fps
Marvel Rivals (1080p, Ultra, Balanced upscaling): 33fps; (1080p, no upscaling, Low): 49fps

My review unit of the LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 was equipped with an Intel Core i5 CPU and an RTX 3050 GPU, so as you might expect, gaming performance wasnt exactly top-tier. When I played Cyberpunk 2077 with the Ray Tracing: Low preset, fps figures were in the high thirties and early forties on average, with some significant stuttering in busy scenes.

Personally, this stuttering didnt derail the experience for me, but it was certainly noticeable and will likely bother more elite players. Disabling Ray Tracing altogether and applying the Ultra preset barely made a difference to frame rates or the stuttering, albeit the latter occurred with slightly less frequency.

Almost as soon as I started playing, the area around the WASD keys warmed up, but thankfully, it never peaked above lukewarm. The rest of the chassis
stayed cool, save for the portion above the keyboard but even this area remained touchable.

There is some fan noise during heavy workloads, but its quieter than others
in this category, and nothing the best PC gaming headsets couldnt drown out.

The display is also quite impressive. Its remarkably clear and sharp, especially when you consider its 1080p resolution is stretched out over 15 inches. Its also pleasingly vivid, and although it isnt quite as bright as I wouldve liked, it still does enough to fend off troublesome reflections. (Image credit: Future)

Harder to praise is the keyboard. Its great for typing, thanks to the light and snappy actuation, as well as the generous spacing and aforementioned
shape of the keys. Whats more, despite the inclusion of a number pad, the layout doesnt feel cramped.

For gaming, however, the keyboard is less fit for purpose. In the WASD position, my fingers suddenly felt more confined, perhaps due to the relatively small size of the keys themselves. They also have little travel
and next to no dampening, both of which result in a lack of feel, certainly when compared to the best gaming keyboard switches.

Thankfully, the touchpad on the LOQ Essential 15 rarely gets in the way when gaming or typing, thanks to its small size. However, this also means that navigation is more awkward than with larger pads, although this may be a moot point, since even the best touchpad is no match for the best gaming mouse . Performance: 3.5 / 5 Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 review: Battery Life Great playback result Power-hungry Balanced mode Very quick to charge

The battery life of the LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 is quite good by gaming laptop standards. It managed to last close to eight hours during our movie playback test, which bests many others in this sector. However, this is still below
the standards of the best laptops for general use, as some can achieve more than double that time.

In my PCMark Gaming battery test, the LOQ Essential 15 lasted about 32 minutes, which is significantly down on rivals. This was with the Balanced mode applied in Vantage, which also applies the Balanced mode in Windows 11 itself (the same mode used for the movie playback test).

This score doesnt seem to square with its playback result, so your day-to-day use will land somewhere in the middle of the two results. I can only presume this is because Vantages Balanced mode is more eager than its rivals counterparts to boost power to the GPU while gaming. Charging performance is much better, though, taking a mere hour to go from empty to full. Battery Life: 3.5 / 5 Should I buy the Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9? Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 Scorecard

Notes

Score

Value

The LOQ Essential 15 offers exceptional quality for its starting price, but different configurations will vary in overall value.

4 / 5

Design

Remarkably thin and un-gamerish with premium-seeming materials, though it's not the most solidly constructed.

4 / 5

Performance

It wont handle the highest settings in AAA titles, but it still just about suffices to have a good time. The display is good, too.

3.5 / 5

Battery Life

Good for this class of laptop, but still behind more general laptops.
Vantages Balanced mode lets the side down a little, too.

3.5 / 5

Total Score

The Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 is a well-made gaming laptop that's even more impressive thanks to its low starting price. The design quality makes up for the middling AAA performance, but overall its one of the best values you're going to find in a budget gaming laptop.

3.75 / 5 Buy the Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 if...

You dont need a flashy design
It might not be the most exciting thing to look at, but the materials look
and feel more expensive than its price tag suggests.

You want a good display
Vivid and surprisingly sharp for a 1080p resolution. It also does a fine job of combating reflections, despite not being the brightest around. Don't buy
it if...

You want the best gaming keyboard
Although its perfectly fine for typing, the keyboard isnt ideal for gaming.

You want top-tier performance on a budget
With an RTX 30-Series GPU inside, the LOQ Essential 15 couldnt achieve the high frame rates of more recent GPUs, so you'll have to pay extra for better performance. Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 review: Also Consider

Acer Nitro V 15 Intel
Although it's considerably more expensive than the LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9,
its still within the budget realm as far as gaming laptops are concerned. Whats more, it has a much beefier spec, featuring an RTX 5050 in its base model. This means the 1080p performance is far superior, although the corollary is a fair amount of heat.

Read our full Acer Nitro V 15 Intel review

MSI Cyborg 15
The Cyborg 15 is another gaming laptop with an invitingly low price. In fact, even the model with the RTX 3050 is significantly cheaper than the LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9. It doesnt have the same level of quality, though, and the display isnt quite as good, but the keyboard is much better.

Read our full MSI Cyborg 15 review How I tested the Lenovo LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 Tested for several days Gamed and benchmarked Wealth of gaming laptop experience

I tested the LOQ Essential 15 Gen 9 for several days, during which time I
used it for gaming, working, and general entertainment.

I played AAA titles such as Cyberpunk 2077 at various settings, and ran our comprehensive series of benchmark tests. This included those for the battery life.

Ive been PC gaming for over a decade and have experienced numerous systems
and components during that time. Ive also reviewed many gaming laptops
before, ranging in their price points and specs.

Read more about how we test First reviewed October 2025



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/gaming-laptops/lenovo-loq-essential-15-gen -9


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