Lenovo's new gaming laptop wants you to ditch the headset, fans be damned

Gaming laptop speakers have long been workable but seldom preferable, with fans getting in the way and high volumes often producing a distorted mess. Audioscenic has announced a partnership with Lenovo to bring its 3D beamforming tech to the Legion 7a. The company says the spatial audio tech "creates a wide, three-dimensional soundstage that appears to extend beyond the physical boundaries of the device." It is being pitched as a full 3D sound experience that could replace the need for a top gaming headset, but unless the Legion has found a magical method of reducing fan noise to zero, reservations remain.

Even the best gaming laptops can kick up a notable amount of noise when running games even in their lower power settings; rev the engines to full TDP and those fans can easily overpower speakers at full volume. Rigs have started running a little quieter thanks to more efficient CPUs and GPUs in the last 12 months, which could open a window for Audioscenic's spatial audio software, even if it's only dipping its toe for now.

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