Lenovo Legion Y44w-10 in review: freesync 2, HDR, 144hz – is this 43-incher too wide?
The Lenovo Legion Y44w-10 is an ultrawide gaming beast with 144Hz, FreeSync 2 and HDR on a 43-inch diagonal. Despite the enormous panel, the monitor stands securely on the massive pillar that supports all important ergonomic functions. The workmanship is flawless, the color fidelity is good and the separate speaker convinces with a strong sound and chic lighting. Gaming is simply fun thanks to the high level of immersion, and the wide field of view offers strategic advantages in shooters. However, due to the lack of a 5-way joystick, the operating concept is not state of the art and the HDR400 is just the HDR entry point. In the end, only the price of 1,300 euros* is really a deterrent.
I’ve long experienced the love-hate relationship on the ultrawide monitor front: Ultrawide is totally immersive, but then in-game cutscenes come in 16:9. Everything runs buttery smooth at 144 Hz, but Assassin’s Creed lacks the SLI profile and has one GPU twiddling its thumbs while the other isn’t fast or pretty on its own. HDR doesn’t jump on as easily as it does on the PlayStation – no, even after three days of troubleshooting you still have faded colors in Windows or purple artifacts in Mass Effect.
The Lenovo Legion Y44w-10 brings a new generation of these conflicts to the gamer. With 144Hz, FreeSync 2 and HDR, is there enough carrot on the 105cm wide gaming beast for the occasional whiplash? What about a productivity alibi? How much truth is there to “I need this for work”?
Specifications of the Lenovo Legion Y44w-10
Panel type 110 cm (43.4 inch), VA panel with LED backlight
Curved 1800R, 32:10
Resolution 3840 x 1200 pixels, 2xFHD resolution; 93ppi
Viewing angle 178° horizontal / 178° vertical
Refresh Rate 144Hz
Response Time 4 ms (Gray to Gray)
Adaptive synchronization FreeSync 2 (G-Sync compatible)
Contrast 3,000:1 (static)
Brightness 450 cd/m², displayHDR 400
Ergonomic features Tilt: -5 to +22°
Pan: +/- 20°
Height adjustment: 130mm
Pivot function: no
Video connections 2x HDMI 2.0
1x USB-C (10 Gbit/s – DisplayPort 1.4)
1x USB-C (5 Gbit/s – DisplayPort 1.2)
1x DisplayPort 1.4
Other connections Electricity
Kensington Lock
4x USB 3.1 (1x battery charging)
1x headphone jack
1x microphone connector
Energy efficiency class C
Weight 13.33kg
2x 24-inch with gaming extras
The Lenovo Legion Y44w-10 corresponds to two 24″ screens put together, each with a FullHD+ resolution. You can already feel the advantages of ultrawide with a 34″ display, with 43.4 inches the Legion takes it even more to the extreme: When gaming, you are drawn deeper into the action because the display fills more of the field of view. In competitive shooters like Fortnite or PUBG, you can also use an extended field of view (FOV) to spot opponents who are still outside the monitor with 16:9 foot soldiers.
In addition to the impressive diagonal, the gamer gets a few other features tailored to him. Lenovo has installed a fast panel: the VA display manages 144 Hz. With FreeSync 2, which also works as a G-Sync compatible in the green GPU camp, you can use VRR (Variable Refresh Rate). The RGB lighting in the separate speaker, which you slide over the stand as a cone, and the racing blue also give the Y44w-10 a bit of a gaming look.
Stable base and easy assembly, but it takes strength
If you follow the instructions, assembly is not a problem. A helping hand is not absolutely necessary, but we would recommend it given the dimensions, weight and price range. The Legion Y44w-10 weighs an impressive 13.33 kilograms including the metal stand. The biggest hurdle is clipping the monitor into its mount. The panel is firmly attached to the heavy base, which is very stable thanks to metal wings. Even if you hack wildly on your gaming keyboard, the teetering is very limited.
On the back you will find sparse cable management in the form of a simple detachable grommet. The connections are so high that you can definitely use cable ties to attach the cables to the upper part of the stand to get them out of sight better. With a diagonal of 43 inches you can hide a lot. There is a 100×100 VESA mount for wall mounting. When using swivel arms, make sure that they also support the 9.33 kilos of the monitor without a stand.
Cool design with illuminated speaker
After the initial enthusiasm about the huge screen, the narrow bezels and the stable metal stand has subsided, the Lenovo Legion Y44w-10 still has a few surprises in store. The Harman Kardon speaker lights up in RGB colors and you can also connect speakers there via a 3.5mm jack.
43″ display with 1800R curvature is 40 cm deep
The panel itself is kept flat, but Lenovo has installed a rather expansive box on the back for the control electronics, the integrated power supply unit and the connections.
The overall depth, from the side tips of the screen to the USB-C connector on the back of the speaker stand, is just under 40cm. The Legion Y44w-10 takes up a lot of desk space. Compared to two 24-inchers, however, it saves on space.
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Good workmanship and flawless panel
The next surprise is below the Legion logo on the front: an extendable hub with two USB ports and an audio connection. Unfortunately, the ports cannot output charging current for smartphones. Nevertheless, the place is ideal for connecting sticks or external drives for a copy process. In order for the hub to hold securely, you have to fold it in using the small blue rubber handle.
The plastic-metal mix shows good workmanship across the board, which one should expect in this price range. Small gaps, high rigidity and adequate resistance at the hinges show that. Lenovo didn’t skimp on the included cables, the buttons are also clicky and the panel coating is flawless.
Standing leg brings all important ergonomic functions
Just recently, a curved 35-inch ultrawide with a pivot function confused us. The Lenovo Legion Y44w-10 does without such nonsense and still has all the important adjustment options: you can swivel by up to 20° in both directions, it has a tilt angle of between 5° forwards and 22° backwards and the height can be adjusted by up to adjust to 13 centimeters.
A clear menu
You can access the menu using the five buttons at the bottom right. I find picture-in-picture very interesting because I was able to show the desktop PC on the one hand and the test notebook on the other. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the KVM switch function (keyboard, video, mouse), which allows you to operate two sources at the same time with input devices connected via the monitor, to work.
Otherwise, there are the usual settings: brightness, contrast, color, presets for different scenarios. Since charging current for notebooks can also be output via the two USB-C ports, Lenovo gives you the choice of whether you want to set a distribution ratio. Either the monitor automatically has the 90 watts maximum output power, or you can set that you want different charging currents for the 10 Gbit/s and 5 Gbit/s ports. You can select 45W/45W, 65W/25W or 25W/65W under the menu item “USB C Power Delivery”.
Unfortunately no 5-way joystick
Overall, the menu is clear. I find 5-way joysticks, which are now installed in many monitors, to be much more user-friendly. Although you can also use the buttons, this is often more cumbersome and not entirely conclusive in the case of the Y44-w10. If you access the presets via the quick menu, you will not get to the top menu level from there. The control via joystick, as found in the MSI Optix MPG27CQ (test), for example, is better here.
Lenovo Artery – comprehensive monitor software
If you want to bypass the controls with the buttons, you can easily make all the settings with the associated software from Lenovo. This is called Artery and can be downloaded from the Lenovo homepage. All settings can be made there with a click of the mouse. You can create different profiles, divide the desktop into areas or adjust the colors. Practical: The effects of the settings are shown directly in the software.
Modern connections and quad USB
In terms of connections, the Lenovo Legion Y44-w10 offers everything a modern gamer’s heart desires. These include 2x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4 and 2x USB Type-C. The latter offer a charging function of 90 watts, which you can divide individually via the menu.
In any case, you should opt for the connection via DisplayPort 1.4, since only here the resolution of 3840×1200 pixels in connection with a 144 Hz refresh rate can be displayed. DVI and VGA connections are also superfluous for this reason.
USB hub facing forward
The gaming monitor also offers a USB hub with a total of four USB 3.1 ports. You can access two of them via the fold-out hub on the front. The other two are on the back next to the video connectors. A microphone and headphone jack can be found on the back, as well as a power jack and the device for the Kensington lock. There is no upstream USB port.
All connections on the back are aligned downwards, which accommodates wall mounting. Because of this, they are not very accessible.
The Harman Kardon sound beats all internal speakers
During assembly, the cone-shaped speaker of the Lenovo Y44w-10 slides over the stand. Using the stand for this is a very good idea. The design swaps stereo for 360° sound. Thanks to a little more depth and a high maximum volume, the sound does not have to hide compared to normal monitor speakers.
The cone-shaped speaker houses RGB lighting whose color pattern can be changed. The lighting behind the grille also looks pretty cool. You can connect the small speaker to your phone via Bluetooth, another nice feature. And if the enclosed solution is not enough for you, you will find a headphone jack on the side. You can connect the speaker to the two USB ports on the back of the monitor using the cable provided. On the one hand, this is practical, on the other hand, they are both occupied.
Display: Big, fast and smooth as butter
Let’s get to the display. One thing in advance: Yes, it’s damn awesome to gamble on such an ultrawide monitor. In my opinion, racing games and RPGs in particular are predestined, because thanks to the 1800R curved and large 43″ screen you can immerse yourself particularly deeply in the action. So that the term also appears for Google: High immersion. Cool.
Of course, the display is also well suited for working. With the wide format, you get two 24″ monitors in one package – of course for a significant premium surcharge, but with many more features on board. For example, there is no annoying transition in the middle, but the high degree of curvature when editing photos or videos is a problem because you have to get used to the distorted perspective. A 100% accurate work is a bit more difficult than, for example, on the flat LG 34WK95U (test), which only offers the 21:9 format and with 60 Hz is not really suitable for gaming.
Shooter affinity thanks to 144 Hz refresh rate and superior field of view
Gaming remains the primary use of the Legion Y44w-10. Thanks to the high refresh rate and FreeSync 2, the monitor is also suitable for shooters like Apex Legends, Fortnite or CS:GO. There are no problems with tearing or ghosting. Anyone who is sad now because, like the majority of gamers, does not have a Radeon graphics card, can breathe a sigh of relief. The monitor is G-Sync Compatible, so adaptive synchronization also works with NVIDIA GPUs.
The 144 Hz refresh rate is joined by another shooter advantage: the particularly wide field of view. As the CS:GO screenshot shows, you can cover spots much better because the field of view is much larger in 32:10 format. You see almost twice as much. Nevertheless, you have to get used to CS:GO and other shooters in this format.
Freesync 2 / G-Sync Compatible bring smooth gameplay
We tested AAA role-playing games like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and The Witcher 3 on our test computer with RX Vega 64 and Freesync 2 as well as HDR 400. The result? The VA panel shows beautiful and fluid sunsets on the Greek coast and a riot of colors swaying in the wind in Beauclair. Even at 60 FPS. You can get used to that. However: For role-playing games, I would wish for 10 cm more in height, then the immersion would be even more intense.
Good color space coverage, bright display and average illumination
Sure, the Legion doesn’t want to be a monitor for graphic designers. However, a high color space coverage also conjures up strong colors on the display in games and is therefore always welcome. The gaming monitor covers 100% sRGB, 82% NTSC and 85% AdobeRGB. These are good values across the board and even the best among the gaming monitors in our database. The calibrated color profile can be downloaded here as a .zip file.
With a maximum brightness of approx. 450 cd/m², the display is quite bright. After calibration, the color representation becomes significantly warmer, which also causes the brightness to drop from 440 to 360 cd/m². But it’s still very bright. The illumination is okay, but drops by a little more than 10% from 450 to more or less 400 cd/m² towards the sides and bottom.
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Ultrawide immersion stands and falls
If you are a little outside of the mainstream with your display, you will unfortunately still encounter problems. Although many current games now support the wide format in the game, cutscenes are often displayed in 16:9 format. Unfortunately, immersion often happened there.
With older titles, the wide resolution is often not even supported. You have to make friends with the Swedish border. Here it is up to the game developers to accept the new format for upcoming titles and to play out different sequences depending on the monitor.
HDR in games is not always the ultimate
Of course, HDR is also one of those things. Anyone who activates HDR in Windows will initially be surprised at the relatively pale colors. In games, the feature must also be set and adjusted. In Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, HDR only works if you adjust the lighting to the right level. If the brightness is too low, the sunset does not look majestic, but strange. I’ve also occasionally been surprised with an uncomfortably pinkish menu when switching from games to desktop.
If everything is in place, however, the feature also brings the universally touted added value in terms of dynamic range in games. It is well known that a picture says more than a thousand words. Assuming you’re reading the article on an HDR monitor. With HDR400, the Legion Y44-w10 admittedly only offers the HDR entry.
Verdict: Lenovo Y44w-10
The Lenovo Legion Y44w-10 is a real behemoth, but in a good way. Rarely has a monitor triggered such a want-to-have feeling in me. A lot of things just fit together: Ultrawide, optimally curved panel, high resolution of 3840×1200 pixels, 144 Hz, many connections and consistently good workmanship.
Gaming is just awesome on the VA panel with HDR support, and even first-person shooters are a lot of fun thanks to the 144 Hz refresh rate. With the 32:10 format you have a total overview in all situations. Thanks to FreeSync 2 or G-Sync Compatible, RPGs run smoothly even at moderate FPS and you have the tried and tested DSF feeling: right in the middle, instead of just being there.
Stability often thwarts many ultrawide monitors. This is not the case with the Y44w-10. The display is very stable thanks to the solid base, which also has all the important ergonomic functions. With the 360° speaker, the Y44w-10 can outperform many gaming monitors in terms of sound.
There are no real weak points in the Legion Y44w-10. I would have only wished for a 5-way joystick for navigating through the otherwise well-structured OSD. The biggest hurdle for many is probably the current price of 1,300 euros*.