Lenovo Legion Y700 Gen 5 vs REDMAGIC Gaming Tablet 5 PRO : Gaming Tablet Showdown

In the 2026 small-size gaming tablet market, Lenovo Legion Y700 Gen 5 and REDMAGIC Gaming Tablet 5 PRO (REDMAGIC Astra 2) are undoubtedly two names that cannot be avoided. Both are equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, both emphasize the differentiated positioning of "small size + strong performance," but their product philosophies are not the same.

REDMAGIC Gaming Tablet 5 PRO (REDMAGIC Astra 2) has set the priority order as "gaming > small > tablet," placing esports attributes above portability, targeting heavy mobile gamers; while Lenovo Legion Y700 Gen 5 is positioned as "the perfect combination of gaming and learning," seeking a balance between gaming performance and daily use.

I. Single-Chip Flagship Performance vs "Dual-Chip" Support

Let's start with the most core aspect, performance. Both tablets are equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, using TSMC's third-generation 3nm process technology, so the base performance of the two is consistent. Thanks to the assistance of its self-developed RedCore R4 esports chip, the REDMAGIC Gaming Tablet 5 PRO (REDMAGIC Astra 2) scores slightly higher in benchmarks, but the gap is not large, and both belong to the absolute first tier of the Android tablet camp.

RedMagic's RedCore R4 esports chip is an independent "auxiliary brain," mainly responsible for tasks such as touch optimization and rendering acceleration. It can call upon a discrete graphics unit to optimize graphics load rendering, reducing the number of accesses to system memory, shortening the data path, and lowering bandwidth pressure.

Simply put, the main chip (Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5) is responsible for computing power output, while the RedCore R4 is responsible for "lending a hand" — offloading part of the tasks such as graphics rendering and touch response, allowing the main chip to focus more on core computation.

The Lenovo Legion Y700 Gen 5 takes the "single-chip ultimate" route, with no independent esports chip assistance, and all tasks are handled by this main chip. The advantage is a simpler architecture and better compatibility; the disadvantage is that in extreme high-load scenarios, the schedulable hardware resources are relatively singular.

In terms of memory, Lenovo uses LPDDR5T specification (rate 10667Mbps) paired with UFS 4.1 Pro flash memory; RedMagic uses LPDDR5X (also 10667Mbps) paired with UFS 4.1 flash memory. The two are comparable on paper, and the actual experience gap is minimal.

Summary: RedMagic's dual-chip solution has a higher performance ceiling, especially appealing to heavy gamers with extremely high demands on image quality. But in actual experience, there won't be a particularly obvious gap.

II. Screen: LCD vs OLED

The screen is the dimension with the greatest difference between the two products, without exception.

Nowadays, phones are basically uniformly OLED, and tablets are also gradually being unified by OLED screens.

However, the Lenovo Legion Y700 Gen 5 is equipped with an 8.8-inch BOE (China Star Optoelectronics) LCD screen, reaching a resolution of 3040×1904, with a pixel density of 408PPI. It supports a 165Hz refresh rate, 480Hz multi-finger touch sampling rate, and 2640Hz instantaneous touch sampling rate. Peak brightness is 800nits, supporting 12-bit color depth and DCI-P3 wide color gamut.

The REDMAGIC Gaming Tablet 5 PRO (REDMAGIC Astra 2) is a 9.06-inch OLED screen with a resolution of 2400×1504. Its biggest selling point is the 185Hz refresh rate. This is currently the highest refresh rate specification in the tablet field. The screen uses BOE X10 luminescent material, with local peak brightness reaching 1600nits and global peak brightness of 1100nits.

For touch, it is equipped with the S3930 Synaptics touch chip, with a multi-finger native touch sampling rate of 300Hz and an instantaneous touch sampling rate of 2000Hz.

The advantages and disadvantages of the two screen technology routes are obvious:

OLED's advantages lie in contrast ratio (1,000,000:1), response speed (1ms), and color performance. When playing FPS games like "Crossfire," dark scenes are deeper and distant targets are easier to identify. The 185Hz refresh rate has some advantages in high frame-rate sensitive scenarios such as FPS and racing games. Currently, several games such as "Crossfire: Warzone" and "Dawn Awakens" have already been adapted for the 185Hz ultra-high frame rate.

LCD's advantage lies in eye protection. LCD inherently has no flicker, so eyes don't tire easily during long gaming sessions. This Lenovo screen has also passed TÜV Rheinland's triple certification for hardware-level low blue light, flicker-free, and worry-free touch. In addition, Lenovo's 3:2 screen ratio is also more comfortable for reading comics and browsing web pages.

If you are a player pursuing the ultimate visual experience and mostly playing FPS games, RedMagic's OLED+185Hz combination is indeed more appealing — more vivid colors, faster response, and higher refresh rate.

But if your daily gaming time exceeds 3 hours, or you are relatively sensitive to flicker, Lenovo's LCD screen eye-protection advantage is more worth valuing than that 20Hz refresh rate gap.

In addition, Lenovo's 2.9K resolution is clearly superior to RedMagic's 1.5K in text display and image fineness.

III. Heat Dissipation and Battery Life: Water Cooling vs Ultra-Large VC

For gaming tablets, you can't just have performance hardware; heat dissipation level is an even more important consideration.

The Lenovo Legion Y700 Gen 5 uses the third-generation Qiankun cooling architecture, with a VC vapor chamber area as large as 17353mm². The core heat source is far from the hand-holding area, and even under continuous high-load operation, the temperature of the hand-holding area is still controlled excellently.

The REDMAGIC Gaming Tablet 5 PRO (REDMAGIC Astra 2) integrates water cooling technology into the tablet body. This PAD Magic Cooling ICE4.0 system includes a pulsating water cooling engine, a large-area VC vapor chamber, and Composite Liquid Metal 3.0.

The cooling system uses the same specification coolant as AI servers, and through the transparent window, you can see the trajectory of the fluorinated coolant flowing in the pipes. Visually, it is indeed cool-looking; when the RGB lighting effects light up, the light effects in the water-cooling area flow evenly.

However, actual measurements show that for a processor as inherently powerful as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the frame rate gain from water cooling is actually limited. Its value is reflected more in temperature control stability during long gaming sessions, rather than an increase in frame rate numbers.

In terms of battery life, Lenovo has a built-in 9000mAh battery, supporting 68W wired fast charging, fully charged in 54 minutes. RedMagic's battery capacity is 8300mAh, but supports 80W fast charging (standard 100W charger), reaching 50% charge in 20 minutes.

Both support bypass charging: when charging and playing at the same time, the current is supplied directly to the motherboard rather than the battery, effectively reducing heat generation and protecting battery health.

Lenovo's battery capacity is larger (700mAh more), theoretically giving longer battery life; RedMagic charges faster, with higher charging efficiency. Both have bypass charging, solving the core pain point of charging while playing. In terms of heat dissipation, the water cooling system has stronger visual impact and topic appeal, but the actual gaming frame rate improvement is limited, mainly offering better stability.

IV. Special Features

On the Lenovo Legion Y700 Gen 5 side:

1. Supports up to 2TB microSD card expansion, completely resolving storage anxiety
2. Dual USB ports (side USB 10Gbps + DP video output), can charge two devices simultaneously
3. Tianxi Personal Super Intelligent Agent 3.5, supports Tianxi AI PadClaw — Lenovo's first on-device one-tap deployment AI feature
4. Added "Legion Halo" RGB lighting effect

On the REDMAGIC Gaming Tablet 5 PRO (REDMAGIC Astra 2) side:

1. Natively integrated PC emulator, supports direct Steam connection, can log directly into a Steam account and download PC games from the game library
2. Both Type-C ports support 80W fast charging and bypass charging
3. Flat back panel design, camera without protrusion, won't "seesaw" when placed on a table
4. Dual 0815-spec X-axis linear motors

Lenovo is more "comprehensive" in storage expansion and AI features: a 2TB expansion card is simply a blessing for players who like to hoard games, and Tianxi AI's on-device deployment is also a future trend.

RedMagic goes further in "gaming specialization," with the PC emulator + Steam direct connection making it a handheld device capable of playing PC games, and this differentiation has strong impact.

V. Price and Purchase Recommendations

Lenovo Legion Y700 Gen 5 (launch price):

12+256GB: launch price 3999 yuan (regular price 4299 yuan)

16+512GB: launch price 4799 yuan (regular price 5099 yuan)

24GB+1TB: launch price 5999 yuan (regular price 6399 yuan)

Current promotional price as low as 3799 yuan (12+256GB)

REDMAGIC Gaming Tablet 5 PRO (REDMAGIC Astra 2) (first sale price):

12+256GB: first sale price 4999 yuan (4499 yuan with national subsidy)

16+512GB: first sale price 5499 yuan (after national subsidy)

16GB+1TB: 6999 yuan

At the same configuration (12+256GB), Lenovo is about 500-700 yuan cheaper than RedMagic. Lenovo's top configuration offers a 24GB memory option, while RedMagic's maximum is 16GB.

Final Summary:

Having written this far, the conclusion is actually already fairly clear.

Lenovo Legion Y700 Gen 5, suitable for:

Those with very long daily gaming time (3 hours or more), for whom LCD's eye-protection advantage is important

Those pursuing higher screen fineness (2.9K vs 1.5K), who also frequently view documents and web pages besides gaming

Those who need large-capacity storage expansion, who like to hoard a bunch of games locally

Those with a relatively limited budget, hoping to get close-to performance for less money

Those not very interested in "flashy extras" like water cooling and RGB, who value practicality and stability more

Choose the REDMAGIC Gaming Tablet 5 PRO (REDMAGIC Astra 2), suitable for:

Heavy FPS players, for whom the response speed and color performance of the 185Hz OLED are crucial

Those who want to play PC games on a tablet, for whom the Steam direct connection feature is exactly what you need

Those with zero resistance to the "water cooling + RGB" cyber aesthetic

Those with sufficient budget, willing to spend a few hundred more yuan for OLED and the discrete chip

Those who don't care about storage expansion, for whom cloud gaming and online content are the main way of use