New Lenovo LOQ Essential laptops and LOQ Gaming Tower launched: what you need to know
Lenovo is expanding its gaming lineup with a new range of LOQ gaming laptops and a desktop tower, giving budget-conscious gamers more options at a time when rising memory and storage costs are pushing up PC prices. The new lineup includes two LOQ Essential laptops for entry-level gaming, along with a more powerful LOQ Tower for those who want to take their gaming experience further. Here’s what you can expect from the new machines.
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Lenovo LOQ series: price and availability
Lenovo has not yet confirmed the India pricing for the new LOQ lineup. In the US, the LOQ Essential 15IPH11 starts at USD 1,399 (roughly Rs 1,17,000), while the LOQ Essential 15IRH11 starts at USD 979.99 (around Rs 82,000).
The LOQ Tower 17IRH11 does not have a confirmed price yet, with Lenovo saying that pricing will vary by region. The Legion 27Q-20 and 27U-20 monitors are expected to start at USD 299.99 (around Rs 25,000) and USD 499.99 (around Rs 42,000), respectively. All these prices are dollar-to-rupee conversions and may differ from actual Indian price.
New LOQ Essential models
Lenovo LOQ Essential 15IPH11
The LOQ Essential 15IPH11 is the more affordable of the two laptops and takes a different approach to gaming. It uses Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors with integrated Intel Arc graphics, which share system memory with the processor rather than relying on a dedicated graphics card.
In terms of gaming, this is best suited to lighter titles and esports games, while modern AAA games will struggle to run comfortably. You can expect a reasonable experience at low-medium settings in older AAA titles, with Intel XeSS helping improve frame rates in compatible games. The integrated graphics also keep power consumption and heat lower, which should make the laptop better suited for everyday use beyond gaming.
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The 15.3-inch 16:10 display can run at up to 165Hz, although demanding games won’t always make full use of that refresh rate. The laptop also has two memory and SSD slots, giving users some room to upgrade as their needs mature.
Lenovo LOQ Essential 15IRH11
The LOQ Essential 15IRH11 is the gaming-focused option of the two, pairing Intel Core 200 series processors with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU. Having a dedicated graphic card gives it a lot more capability than the integrated-graphics model, particularly for modern games.
This is still an entry-level gaming laptop, though. For AAA games, the RTX 3050 should be most comfortable at low to medium settings, while less demanding games can be pushed further. NVIDIA’s DLSS support can also help in compatible titles by improving frame rates while retaining a reasonable level of image quality. Since you won’t have NVIDIA’s Frame Generation support, you’ll need to rely on AMD FSR for supported titles to boost performance further.
The laptop gets the same 15.3-inch 16:10 display with up to a 165Hz refresh rate, along with 100 percent sRGB coverage. It’s therefore a better choice of the two if gaming is the priority, while still being suitable for college, work and everyday use.
Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRH11
The LOQ Tower 17IRH11 is a major step up from the laptops, with configurations going up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti, Intel Core 200 series processors and 32GB of DDR5 memory.
With that level of hardware on-board, the tower is much better suited to modern AAA gaming. It should be capable of 1440p gaming at high settings, while 1080p gaming at ultra settings should be well within its capabilities. NVIDIA’s DLSS 4.5 will further provide additional performance in supported games, particularly when you’re gaming at higher resolutions and with more demanding graphical effects.
The other advantage is that this is a desktop you can grow into. Lenovo’s Easy Upgrade Access makes it easier to replace or add components later, so users can upgrade the machine as their requirements increase instead of having to replace the entire system.
Lenovo Legion gaming monitors
The company has also launched two new 27-inch Legion gaming monitors alongside the LOQ machines. The Legion 27Q-20 is for competitive gamers, offering a QHD resolution with a 320Hz refresh rate, while the Legion 27U-20 offers a dual-mode setup that switches between 4K at 180Hz and Full HD at 360Hz.
Both monitors also support adaptive sync technologies and cover 99 percent of the sRGB and 95 percent of the DCI-P3 colour spaces, making them suitable for gaming and creative work.
Lenovo LOQ series: should you buy?
The new LOQ laptops arrive at a difficult time for PC buyers, with the ongoing RAM crisis pushing up memory and storage costs and, consequently, gaming laptop prices. This makes affordable gaming machines like these more relevant for users looking to get into PC gaming or creative work without spending a huge amount upfront.
The LOQ Essential 15IPH11 and 15IRH11 could be a decent starting point for budget-conscious gamers. The 15IPH11 is better suited to lighter gaming and everyday creative work, while the RTX 3050-powered 15IRH11 makes more sense if gaming is your priority. Lenovo is yet to announce the India prices, but they shouldn’t be too far off from the US pricing. For context, the current LOQ Essential with an Intel Core i5 12th Gen processor and RTX 3050 costs around Rs 1,00,000 in India, so the new models will need to launch at a similar price to be competitive.
The Legion monitors are a different proposition altogether. Their high refresh rates make them geared for gamers looking for a faster display without moving to an extremely expensive price segment. They also carry the Legion branding, which gives buyers access to Lenovo’s more premium gaming ecosystem and after-sales support.
The LOQ Tower 17IRH11 is naturally the most capable product here, with hardware that can comfortably handle 1440p gaming for even the latest AAA titles. The only catch here is that an RTX 5060 Ti and other components on their own would cost someone Rs 2 lakh. It will likely command a big premium once it reaches India, so its real competition will be similarly priced pre-built gaming PCs.
