The Lenovo Legion Y25g-30 aims to impress avid competitive gamers with its lightning-fast response time and exclusive Nvidia features. It’s a G-Sync monitor, so it is one of the few that comes with Reflex Analyzer, which helps you get the best out of your system. It’s not cheap, especially if you consider that it’s a 1080p monitor, so let’s check it out to know if it’s worth it.
Lenovo Legion Y25g-30 Specifications
- Screen Size: 25 Inches
- Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Full HD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Panel Technology: In-Plane Switching (IPS)
- Refresh Rate: 360Hz
- Response Time: 1ms
- Contrast Ratio: 1000:1 (Static)
- Brightness: 400 cd/m2
- Built-in Speakers: Yes (2 x 3 Watts)
- Stand: Height – Yes
- Stand: Tilt – Yes
- Stand: Swivel – Yes
- Stand: Pivot – Yes
- VESA Compatibility: Yes (100 x 100)
- Connectivity: DisplayPort 1.4 x 1, HDMI 2.0 x 2, USB-C PD27W x 1, USB 3.2 x 3, 3.5mm Jack x 2
- Dimensions with Stand(WxHxD): 21.9” x20.1” x 9.1”
- Weight: 13.45 lbs
Design and Features
The Lenovo Legion Y25g-30 doesn’t look as gaudy as the other high-end gaming monitors, but the unique aesthetic on its stand is a dead giveaway. The monitor has a matte black finish, while the base has a blue accent on the bottom. The display has a bezel-free design, but it still has inner borders like most modern displays.
The brand kept the packaging for this model simple even if it belonged to its top-tier variants. The brown box will make you think that it’s a budget monitor until you reveal its contents. The base, arm, and monitor are positioned separately, but it is very easy to put them together without needing any tools.
The package includes a DisplayPort cable, a USB upstream cable, and a big 120-watt power brick. We wish it included more, but that’s all you will need to use the monitor and its Reflex Analyzer feature. The package also includes a well-illustrated manual in case you don’t know how to put the product together.
The Lenovo Legion Y25g-30 only weighs 13.45 pounds, so it’s portable enough to be brought with you to gaming events or LAN sessions. The stand may look oversized, but the device only needs a total of 9.1 inches of depth when fully assembled. It’s not gigantic by today’s standards, so you will have plenty of room even if you have a narrow or shallow desk.
Its build quality is great and comparable with the prosumer variants we recently reviewed from the brand. The plastic panels are thick and sturdy, while the metal in the stand gives it fantastic footing by making it heavier than the cabinet itself. The hinge on the cabinet is a bit wobbly, so the screen can shake if you nudge it accidentally.
The only disappointing aspect on the physical side of the device is its use of buttons for the OSD. Comparable monitors always have a joystick instead, and even some offerings like the Zowie XL2566K have a remote. It’s a minor inconvenience, but it will pile up if you tweak your monitor often or adjust its settings to suit different games or scenarios.
The Lenovo Legion Y25g-30 is a G-Sync monitor, but it has more connectivity options than the older G-Sync models. You get DisplayPort and two HDMI 2.0 slots, along with a USB-C and USB-B port on the opposite side of the panel. There is also a three-port USB hub on the side of the bulge right next to the headset hanger that pops in and out of the chassis.
It is important to note that the USB-C slot at the back does not support DP Alt Mode. It does provide 27 watts of charging power so you can use it as a fast charger for the latest phones and tablets. It’s also essential to connect the type-B slot to your PC if you want to use the monitor’s Nvidia Reflex Analyzer with your gaming mouse.
The Lenovo Legion Y25g-30 also has a pair of 3-watt speakers to complete its feature list. However, we’d rather use properly tuned headsets for better focus and immersion. The in-built pair does not have enough oomph for gaming, but at least you get an extra set to use when it is too hot for headphones.
Display and Performance
The Lenovo Legion Y25g-30 boasts a 25-inch Fast IPS panel with a 1920 x 1080 resolution, a 360Hz refresh rate, and a 1ms response time. The backlight has a 450 cd/m2 max, while the contrast is listed at 1000:1, like most IPS models. This monitor supports HDR decoding, but there was no mention of HDR 400 certification on its product page.
1080p monitors are not the most desirable right now, but extra high-refresh-rate models like this are bringing them back into the limelight. 1080p is still the universal format for E-Sports, so creating lighting-fast models like this was a no-brainer. You don’t get a lot of screen space with them, but they are also very easy to use for productivity since everything will be visible and legible.
The Lenovo Legion Y25g-30 is best ran using its DisplayPort since its HDMI slots will be capped at 240Hz. Using the USB-C slot with our Asus M16 was not possible since it did not have DP Alt Mode capabilities. What you can do if you have a DP-less laptop with USB-C is to get a USB-C to DP cable, which will work just as well for running its 360Hz refresh rate.
Testing the Lenovo Legion Y25g-30 with our Spyder Elite revealed that it only covered 93% sRGB and 72% DCI-P3. That’s fine in most cases, but it is left behind when compared to other premium models like the Asus PG259QNR, which covered 100% and 74%. However, its default accuracy is better since the deltaE average was only at 1.45.
Calibrating and creating an ICC profile with it using the Calibrite Display Plus gave us a substantially improved 0.5 dE average. It is not vibrant, but it can be tuned to be great for content creation. However, the default setting is already decent for its primary purpose, so buying a colorimeter won’t be necessary.
The Lenovo Legion Y25g-30’s backlight reached 424 cd/m2 at 100%, so it has enough to light up a dark room. Its contrast ratio at 120 cd/m2 reached an impressive 1296:1, putting it ahead of its competitors. It is not capable of deep blacks like VA and OLED panels, but we’ll take what we can get from an IPS display.
Panel uniformity for the test sample had noticeable issues on the left corners and the top center quadrant of the screen. It is not readily noticeable, but the lower brightness on those spots shows up in dark scenes. Note that this can vary with every unit made due to manufacturing tolerances, so there are better units out there.
The Lenovo Legion Y25g-30 has several overdrive levels, but it doesn’t need any due to its naturally high refresh rate. You might need to kick it up a notch, but you can simply turn on G-Sync Esports Mode to get the best performance. We recommend testing these options out, but the latter worked best for our testing with Warzone 2.
The Lenovo Legion Y25g-30 is a G-Sync monitor, but it is still compatible with FreeSync, unlike the older generation models. AMD also has very compelling cards for a monitor like this, but we’d stick with the other if you are buying it for its features. Its input lag is at 2ms, making it one of the fastest gaming monitors around.
Thoughts on the Lenovo Legion Y25g-30
The Lenovo Legion Y25g-30 is a fantastic pick for top-shelf E-Sports gaming and performance. Its 360Hz IPS panel doesn’t disappoint when it comes to accuracy and responsiveness, so it’s a good investment for the purists. It includes essential features that can improve your experience further, although some of those are locked behind Nvidia and its GPUs.
The biggest issue with the Lenovo Legion Y25g-30, other than its minor flaws like the OSD buttons, is its price. It’s still not affordable since it costs more or less $650, although that’s still understandable since it has high-tech capabilities. It’s a good investment for avid competitive gamers, but we know many will prefer a higher resolution option if given the chance.
Pros:
- Lower Price than Other 360Hz Options
- G-Sync with Exclusive Features and FreeSync Compatibility
- Fantastic Color Accuracy
- Robust Design and Aesthetics
Cons:
- Pricey for 1080p
- USB-C with No DP Alt Mode
- OSD Buttons for $650 Monitor
About the Author: 
Paolo has been a gaming veteran since the golden days of Doom and Warcraft and has been building gaming systems for family, friends, and colleagues since junior high. High-performance monitors are one of his fixations; he believes that every citizen’s right to enjoy one. He has gone through several pieces of hardware in pursuit of every bit of performance gain, much to the dismay of his wallet. He now works with Monitornerds to scrutinize the latest gear to create reviews that accentuate the seldom explained aspects of a PC monitor.
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