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Lenovo Legion Y700 2026 (Gen 5) Review: It Fixed Nearly All of Predecessor’s Flaws

2 April 2026 at 15:40

LENOVO Y700 Gen 5 (2026)

This is the Lenovo Legion Y700 Gen 5, which was officially unveiled at MWC 2026 earlier this month. At first glance, its specs don’t seem to This is the Lenovo Legion Y700 Gen 5, officially unveiled at MWC 2026 earlier this month. At first glance, its specs don’t differ much from the previous Gen 4 model—the most noticeable upgrades are the new processor and a larger battery. However, the Chinese launch of the tablet comes with an all-new accessory – Y700 Arcade Dock, which can easily turn this compact tablet into a retro arcade machine. This Dock is exclusive to the Chinese version and unavailable globally. There are also limited-edition variants co-branded with The King of Fighters ’97 GM and Metal Slug 3. Currently, you can purchase the tablet and this accessory via GeekWills, and it is compatible with both the Y700 Gen 4 and Gen 5.

Design

In terms of design, the Y700 Gen 5 carries forward the classic styling of the Y700 series. It features a unibody aluminum alloy build, delivering a solid in-hand feel, and the back panel maintains its seamless integrity as always. For color options, besides the classic black and white, there are two new shades: purple and green. Judging from official renders, the green finish looks incredibly distinctive for a gaming tablet.

However, these two new colorways will hit the market at a later date. The newly added co-branded dock is currently only sold in China. What’s more, Lenovo does not pre-install any emulators or games on the tablet, so you will need extra setup and debugging to get it fully functional.The tablet is slightly thicker than its predecessor, with its weight increased to 360g. This makes the grip feel heavier and more substantial.

The rear fill light has also been redesigned from the previous linear strip to an RGB circular light, which can automatically turn on during gameplay.The external I/O ports and physical buttons remain unchanged from the last generation. The port next to the speaker only supports USB 2.0 and does not offer video output functionality. The other port supports a 10Gbps transfer speed, alongside DP video output that can handle up to 4K 144Hz. It also supports microSD card expansion for up to 2TB of extra storage.

The tablet retains the same 8.8-inch LCD screen with 408PPI, but its brightness and touch sampling rate have both been upgraded. If you’ve been following the Y700 tablet series, you’ve probably noticed that Lenovo has been continuously improving the touch experience across recent generations. This time, the touch sampling rate has been boosted to 480Hz. I can’t fully put into words how powerful this spec is, but I can tell you this: the Y700 Gen 5 is far more responsive to touch inputs.

Gaming Performance

The Y700 Gen 5 still boasts top-tier hardware specifications in the current market: a flagship processor, high-frequency memory, and high-speed storage are all included. Lenovo has even enhanced the cooling system further this time around. That brings me back to last year’s tests: the Y700 Gen 4 had powerful hardware too, and it performed well in various short-term performance benchmarks. But it suffered from unstable performance during long-term stress tests.

So, will the Gen 5 model repeat the same flaws?First off, in the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test, the Y700 Gen 5 achieved an average score of 6173 with a stability rate of 80.6%—a massive improvement over the Gen 4’s 67% stability score from last year. We also ran the lighter Wild Life Stress Test, and the stability result was nearly identical. During testing, the tablet’s peak power draw approached 20W at one point. After a 20-minute test run, the maximum body temperature reached 45°C, which is also lower than the Gen 4’s temperature performance.

Starting with Honkai: Star Rail, we ran map tests at the Golden Hour scene. The tablet delivered excellent performance, achieving near-perfect frame rates without any manual in-tablet settings adjustments. Its power consumption was also much better than the Gen 4. Over the entire test, it only consumed 5% battery, and its temperature performance was impressive too—peak temperature stayed under 41°C, with heat concentrated mostly around the logo. This ensures long-term gaming comfort.

In the more demanding Wuthering Waves, the tablet showed clear performance improvements as well. It can run at nearly full frame rates without any extra tweaks. Plus, its operating temperature during long gaming sessions is 6°C lower than the previous generation.

We also tested the newly released Arknights: Endfield, and the tablet performed flawlessly. It ran smoothly even during fast in-game movement, with no noticeable issues at all. As a dedicated gaming tablet, it can handle every game we threw at it without a hitch.

Battery Life & Charging

The battery is one of the biggest upgrades this time around, jumping from the Gen 4’s 29Wh to 34.7Wh—an increase of roughly 20%, which is definitely exciting news. However, the charging power has not been upgraded accordingly; the package still comes with the same 68W charger.

If you want faster charging speeds, I recommend placing the tablet in an air-conditioned room—just as we did with the Gen 4—as this can extend the duration of fast charging. The bypass charging function is still present and doesn’t have overly strict charger requirements; it only supports PD or PPS chargers. As for real-world battery life, we ran a continuous usage test: one hour of Honkai: Star Rail drained 20% of the battery, 30 minutes of Wuthering Waves drained 16%, and two hours of movie playback consumed 18%. After all that, the tablet still had 46% battery remaining.

Cons & Conclusion

To be honest, the performance of the Y700 Gen 5 took me by surprise. When I tested the Gen 4 last year, I acknowledged its solid performance but felt it fell short of being a “perfect gaming tablet”—issues like screen ghosting, thermal throttling during extended sessions, and mediocre battery life held it back. The Gen 5, however, has fixed nearly all of its predecessor’s flaws. You no longer have to worry about overheating or unresponsive touch controls. The only real concern is the price: it retails for up to €699 in Europe and starts at $849 in the US. If you’re a die-hard fan of small-screen gaming or have strict portable gaming needs, this is currently the best option on the market. RedMagic and Xiaomi are set to launch competing products soon, but I believe their biggest challenge will be the same as the Y700’s: pricing.

The post Lenovo Legion Y700 2026 (Gen 5) Review: It Fixed Nearly All of Predecessor’s Flaws appeared first on Gizmochina.

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