HP Pavilion Gaming 15 vs Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3: Which is Better to Buy?

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BUY NOW	BUY NOW
HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (AMD)	Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 (AMD)
PROS	PROS
Bright and high-contrast IPS display. Great system performance.	Great keyboard and trackpad. High refresh rate display.
CONS	CONS
Not great build quality. Average battery life.	The display lacks color gamut and color accuracy. No Thunderbolt.

SPECIFICATIONS

DESIGN

HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (AMD)

Build quality is on par with the expectations considering the price and the fact that this is a budget laptop that sits below HP’s Omen series. It’s using an all plastics construction which does collect some fingerprints like most laptops do but it is fairly easy to wipe it off.

The keyboard is a pleasant experience. Considering this is a budget gaming laptop that has to make some compromises in order to fit within a certain price category. HP has not skipped out on the keyboard quality, the keys feel very tactile and the keystrokes give a soft response during typing. something to be aware of is that the function keys as well as the up and down arrow keys are smaller than other keys. The function keys are about half of the size of a normal key and the up and down keys are also 50% size compared to the other keys.

There are two color options for this laptop: one has the green backlit keyboard with a green accent around the HP logo on the lid, the other one has the standard white backlit keyboard with two levels of dimming. The trackpad uses Elan drivers, they work as they are supposed to. However, the clicks feel a bit plasticky and loose and don’t give me that solid feeling when pressed down.

Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3

It’s all plastic and there is some flex if you go looking for it but it’s a bit sturdier when compared to the cheaper Nitro 5. The blue-backlit keyboard and plastic precision touchpad worked fine. The build quality of this laptop is pretty impressive. When you’re holding it, it feels very premium. The ports are all labeled neatly on the left and right and there are no ports at the back of the laptop.

After using it quite for a while, the keyboard actually feels very similar to the Lenovo legion series keyboard. It’s not as clicky as the mechanical keyboard key switches but it’s very comfortable when you are using it for typing or gaming.

DISPLAY

HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (AMD)

As for the display, there are actually three different options. All three panels are 15.6 inch, IPS level, anti-glare displays with what HP is calling micro-edge, which basically means that it has slim panel bezels. The difference lies in the screen specs. The first option has a 1920x1080p resolution with a 60-hertz panel refresh rate of 62% sRGB and 39% of Adobe RGB color gamut. Brightness is rated at 250 nits which aren’t very bright.

The second option has the same full HD resolution with a 144hz panel refresh rate and better colors as well as being slightly brighter at 300 nits. There is also surprisingly a 4K panel option supporting 3840 by 2160 resolution. Outdoor visibility is not great at least with the 60-hertz panel that I tested. You are able to see the screen in shadow but using it under brightly lit areas or direct sunlight will compromise visibility a lot.

Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3

As for the display, this laptop supports up to a 120hz refresh rate. So, you will gain a competitive advantage even when you’re gaming on this laptop. So, for the speaker test for this laptop, the speaker is actually very loud and clear, thanks to the Dolby audio equalizer. It will help you to tune your music into a better listening experience. As for the battery, the battery went down from 100% to 85% in about 20 minutes with four people engine running in the background. Personally, it’s still a pretty acceptable result.

The biggest downside is probably the screen. It’s a 15.6-inch 1080p 120hz panel and unlike the Acer Nitro 5, it does at least have free sync. The response time is also a little better too but the color gamut and brightness are on the lower side. Good screens just cost money so that’s generally going to be a trade-off with gaming laptops at this price point but I think this is a reasonable compromise and I had no issues playing on it.

BATTERY

HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (AMD)

HP ships a 52.5-watt-hour battery with this laptop, it is not the biggest battery out there and the reason is they had to make some sacrifices in order to fit a 2.5-inch mechanical drive bay inside the Pavilion Gaming 15.

If you choose the more power-efficient Ryzen processor, the battery life is actually quite good in the test of streaming a 1080p youtube video with a good Wi-Fi connection.

The pavilion Gaming 15 lasted around 6 hours with screen brightness at 50% level. Playing Fortnite Battle Royale with 50% screen brightness lasted 90 minutes.

Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3

Battery life was quite good for the size of the battery. It lasted for more than 6 hours in the Youtube playback test. So far from my testing, Ryzen gaming laptops seem to do pretty good in terms of battery life.

WHICH TO BUY?

I like that HP has actually put some care into designing the pavilion gaming 15. This is not always the case with budget laptops but in HP’s case, I can see they actually made an effort in designing the smaller power brick.  A big bonus point also goes to the built-in SD card reader, a feature that is lacking on other brands even the more expensive gaming laptops. For gaming, I’d say it is okay.

Some people might actually even prefer the more muted look of the panel but comparing with other laptops with much more vibrant colors, the display in the Pavilion Gaming 15 pails in comparison to those machines and you can’t really use it outdoors in bright sunlight. 

I think, this laptop is a good choice for students or people looking for a budget pc that could also run the latest AAA games. Just make sure to at least get the 144-hertz panel if you play esports games like Fortnite, Apex Legends, or Valorant.

This Ideapad Gaming 3 laptop is actually very powerful. A medium user who uses the laptop for heavy gaming and light editing should consider this laptop and actually, I’m very satisfied with the price of this laptop.

We get better build quality, a faster screen with freesync, but worse battery life otherwise for the most part a lot of the features are pretty comparable with the Pavilion Gaming laptop. So at the end of the day, it really depends on you what features you need and how much you’re willing to spend.

Jaskaran Singh

Jaskaran, a tech enthusiast from childhood, inspired by his father, began his tech journey by rooting Android phones. He now writes on various tech topics, aiming to simplify complex ideas for a broad audience. His writing is direct, concise, and flows effortlessly, making tech topics accessible and engaging.