Lenovo unveils new IdeaPad Gaming 3 and 3i notebooks for student gamers
The IdeaPad Gaming 3i in Onyx Black.
PHOTO: Lenovo
PUBLISHED ONMarch 02, 2022 6:02 AMByGlenn Chua
With MWC 2022 just kicking off, Lenovo has released two new notebooks centred around both gaming and productivity, with a particular focus on students. They're the new IdeaPad Gaming 3 and 3i, which are refreshes of the IdeaPad Gaming lineup.
To start off with what's different between the two notebooks, the main difference is that the IdeaPad 3i utilises 12th Gen Intel Core processors while the IdeaPad 3 opts for AMD Ryzen 6000-series chipsets – the former up to a Core i7-12700H and the latter up to a Ryzen 7 6800H. Basically, if you see an "i" suffix it means the system is powered by Intel chips.
The IdeaPad 3 and 3i also each come in 15.6-inch and 16-inch variants, with dedicated graphics provided solely by NVIDIA. The IdeaPad 3i gets up to a GeForce RTX 3060 , along with one of Intel's new Arc GPUs, while the Gaming 3 only gets up to a GeForce RTX 3050 Ti.
Lenovo also focused on the display for the IdeaPad Gaming notebooks. All versions will get fast 165Hz refresh rates but there are some differences with resolution. The 16-inch versions will get IPS displays with 2560 x 1600 pixels resolution.
For the smaller 15.6-inch variant, however, the AMD version (the IdeaPad 3) will have to make do with a Full-HD display. On the other hand, the Intel version (IdeaPad 3i) gets a higher resolution display with 2560 x 1440 pixels.
With respect to the more physical aspects of the IdeaPad Gaming notebooks, as Lenovo is targeting this towards students, it touts the portability aspect of the notebook. The IdeaPad Gaming 3 and 3i measure around 21 to 22mm thin and weigh around 2.4 to 2.5kg depending on the screen size you get. While the weight doesn't quite get down to a sub-2kg level, the understated look (aside from perhaps the blue accents) does mean it fits in both in class and at home.
As for a full summary of the key specs, here they are:
IdeaPad Gaming 3i specs
| IdeaPad Gaming 3i (15.6-inch) | IdeaPad Gaming 3i (16-inch) | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 15.6-inch, 16:9, WQHD, IPS, 165Hz, 350 nits | 16-inch, 16:10, WQHD+, IPS, 165Hz, 500 nits |
| Chipset | Up to 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H | |
| Graphics |
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| Storage | Up to 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD | |
| Memory | Up to 32GB 3200MHz DDR4 | |
| Battery | 60WHr (45WHr for non RTX 3060 models) | 71WHr |
| Connectivity |
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IdeaPad Gaming 3 specs
| IdeaPad Gaming 3 (15.6-inch) | IdeaPad Gaming 3i (16-inch) | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 15.6-inch, 16:9, FHD, IPS, 165Hz, 300 nits | 16-inch, 16:10, WQHD+, IPS, 165Hz, 500 nits |
| Chipset | Up to AMD Ryzen 7 6800H | |
| Graphics | Up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti | |
| Storage | Up to 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD | |
| Memory | Up to 32GB 4800MHz DDR5 | |
| Battery | 60WHr (45WHr for non RTX 3060 models) | 71WHr |
| Connectivity |
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Availability and pricing
If the new IdeaPad Gaming notebooks intrigue you, it may be a disappointment to learn that availability and pricing details for Singapore haven't been confirmed by Lenovo yet. When it does come, though, it'll arrive in two colour options, Onyx Black and Glacier White.
This article was first published in Hardware Zone.