I’ve recently gained a newfound appreciation for smaller (sub-27-inch) Full HD gaming monitors. Not only do they offer a compact footprint in gaming setups where space is limited, but those designed for competitive play often deliver extremely fast response times and high frame rates at a lower cost than their larger Quad HD (1440p) or 4K counterparts. Additionally, their smaller size allows the playing field to fit more easily within a player’s natural field of view, reducing the time it takes for your eyes to scan the screen—ideally leading to faster reaction times and more accurate enemy targeting.
The Lenovo Legion R25f-30 is designed specifically for this segment of gamers. With a 240Hz refresh rate (280Hz with overclock), a 0.5ms MPRT response time in its fastest mode, and Variable Refresh Rate support via AMD FreeSync Premium, the Legion R25f-30 promises hyper-fluid visuals and lag-free input, which many competitive and professional players prioritize over the 4K bells and whistles.
Manufacturing a monitor as affordable as the Legion R25f-30 while maintaining a premium appearance can be challenging, but Lenovo has managed to achieve that with its sleek “near edgeless” panel design. The top and side bezels are only 5mm, blending seamlessly into the screen when displaying deep blacks. The panel is capped off with a 2-centimetre, finely textured, dark grey plastic bezel that protrudes below the screen, providing a safe grip when adjusting the monitor’s position.
“Lenovo has managed to achieve a sleek, near-edgeless panel design while keeping the Legion R25f-30 affordable for budget-conscious gamers.”
The monitor’s pedestal and stand to echoes the “battle station” aesthetic of Lenovo’s PC gaming rigs, with an industrial-meets-sci-fi-inspired triangular mesh forming the feet. However, the light-grey support crossbar connecting the two feet looks a bit out of place, noticeably clashing with the rest of the design. With no tonal match elsewhere on the device, it’s a puzzling design choice that detracts from the otherwise cohesive look.
Feature-wise, the Legion R25f-30 includes just about every standard feature you’d expect from a quality gaming monitor in 2024. Its “LTPS” (Lift, Tilt, Pivot, and Swivel) stand allows users to easily adjust the screen’s height and angle without moving the pedestal, while the 180-degree rotation is ideal for vertical shooters that support TATE mode, boosting productivity, or simply providing easier access to the I/O ports located at the bottom of the panel.
Since we’re on the subject of I/O, the R25f-30 includes one DisplayPort 1.4 input, two HDMI 2.1 inputs, a headphone jack, and a pair of built-in 3-watt speakers—becoming increasingly rare in budget-priced monitors. While the sound quality won’t blow anyone away, the speakers are sufficiently loud and distortion-free for basic listening and casual gaming. Of course, for a more immersive experience, it’s best to use external speakers or headphones.
As a gaming monitor capped at 1080p resolution, the Legion R25f-30 is clearly designed to prioritize speed over visual detail. Unsurprisingly, most games I tested proved to be well within the panel’s capabilities. Pairing the R25f-30 with a Lenovo Legion Tower 5i rig I was also reviewing at the time allowed me to easily run games at up to 240Hz without stressing the GPU of my weaker daily driver PC, which was quite liberating. For instance, New Super Lucky’s Tale ran flawlessly at the panel’s maximum 240Hz framerate without a single hiccup.
I was disappointed to discover that the Legion R25f-30’s built-in framerate counter is nearly useless for those wanting to monitor performance accurately. Enabling the counter through the UI allows users to display what seems to be the panel’s current framerate in one of the screen’s four corners. However, the number is completely static, locked to the display’s maximum framerate setting rather than reflecting the actual in-game framerate. While I usually appreciate frame counters on monitors, in the case of the R25f-30, it’s a highly misleading feature that should be turned off.
For instance, when using Xbox Game Bar’s Performance Widget alongside the monitor’s framerate counter in New Super Lucky’s Tale, I observed small, expected fluctuations around 240Hz in Game Bar, but none whatsoever on the monitor’s counter. Similarly, Halo Infinite Multiplayer showed framerate variations between 60-120Hz during gameplay and nearly 240Hz in menus according to Game Bar, while the R25f-30’s counter remained locked at 240Hz the entire time. A similar test in Steam with the Final Fantasy XVI demo revealed an erratic framerate between 30-120 fps during cutscenes, menus, and gameplay via Steam’s built-in counter, yet the R25f-30 consistently displayed a solid 240Hz with no variation.
“While HDR performance is lackluster, the Legion R25f-30 shines in SDR mode with deep blacks and vibrant colors.”
Looking beyond the framerate counter issue, I was highly impressed with how the Legion R25f-30 performed visually. I tested nearly a dozen games in addition to the previously mentioned titles, including Dying Light 2: Stay Human, Ghostrunner, Death Stranding, Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Portal with RTX, and Cygni: All Guns Blazing. Apart from the resource-heavy Final Fantasy XVI, I didn’t notice any significant drops in framerate or input latency, even with titles fluctuating between 90Hz and 220Hz behind the scenes. Most of the games were played at 1080p with Medium to High graphical settings and ray tracing enabled when available.
The Legion R25f-30 is also a great-looking panel overall, assuming you’re using it in SDR. While Lenovo claims HDR support, they don’t provide specific nits data, so it’s likely more of a marketing buzzword. In my experience, HDR performance was unwatchable, with blotchy blacks and greys ruining the immersion in darker scenes. However, in SDR mode, blacks were reasonably deep, and the colours appeared rich and vibrant. While the R25f-30 won’t trick anyone into thinking they’re viewing a 1440p or 4K image, with the right game and visual settings, it gets surprisingly close.
I also tested the Legion R25f-30’s Overclock mode, which successfully increased the maximum framerate from 240fps to 280fps in New Super Lucky’s Tale without issue. However, when enabling this mode, the UI warns that “a timeout will occur in 30 minutes due to instability,” implying that the mode can only be used in short, half-hour bursts at best. There’s also a risk of hardware damage, making it potentially unsafe for long-term use. Still, for those obsessed with squeezing out the highest possible framerates, it’s a nice feature to have.
“The inclusion of AMD FreeSync Premium helps ensure smooth, tear-free gameplay, especially at higher framerates.”
If I have one more complaint to level against the Legion R25f-30, it’s the unintuitive physical button layout and corresponding UI. The monitor features a large circular joystick control nub, a tiny menu shortcut button, an equally small input shortcut button, and an unnecessarily elongated power button, all located in a column on the lower-right back of the monitor. Unfortunately, these buttons are placed too far inward to be easily accessible and would have been better positioned closer to the edge of the back panel or along the bottom.
Pressing the shortcut buttons brings you to the settings or input sections of the UI, but they’re limited beyond that. You can’t cycle through inputs or back out with repeated presses—everything has to be done with the joystick. Additionally, the power button feels more like a volume rocker (and probably should have been one). Speaking of volume, adjusting it is another hassle. You can only increase or decrease it one tap of the joystick at a time, meaning if the volume is set to zero, you’ll need to tap the nub about 100 times to reach the maximum level—and vice versa when turning it down.
Despite these flaws, the Lenovo Legion R25f-30 is a great buy for any gamer looking for an affordable primary or secondary 1080p gaming monitor. It prioritizes fast, competitive play and high framerates over graphical frills, making it an excellent choice for those focused on performance.
