Lenovo Legion 9i vs ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16

The Legion 9i is a desktop replacement: an 18-inch 240Hz panel, a vapor chamber with liquid metal, an RTX 5080 and the largest battery fitted to a gaming laptop. The Zephyrus G16 is the opposite trade-off: a 4.1 lb aluminum OLED machine with an RTX 5070 Ti that you can carry every day. Reviewers praise the Legion's cooling and screen but call 7.7 lb hard to move; owners of the G16 like the OLED and portability and note it runs warmer and louder under full load. Buy the Legion for a plugged-in big-screen machine; buy the G16 if you travel with it.

• Choose the Legion 9i if you want the biggest, brightest, fastest screen and the strongest cooling in a laptop that mostly stays on a desk.
• Choose the Zephyrus G16 if you need one machine for work and play that fits in a backpack, and you value OLED contrast over raw screen size.