Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro X Review

You don’t have to get an aggressive-looking gaming machine if you want a powerful laptop. There are tons of options out there that look sleek and elegant, while still packing serious power on the inside. One of them is the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro X.

From what it looks like, this new laptop was made to do everything: from work to play, while retaining that elegant and professional-looking design that you can take in an office, co-working space, or coffee shop. The question is, can it really deliver? We find out in our Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro X review.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro X Specs

Windows 11 Pro
14.5-inch 3K IPS display, 3072 x 1920 pixel resolution, 249ppi
120Hz refresh rate
Delta E<1 calibration, 100% sRGB, Dolby Vision
TUV Rheinland Low Blue Light certification
16:10 aspect ratio
2.3GHz Intel Core i7-12700H processor
4.7GHz turbo, 14 cores, 20 threads, 24MB cache
16GB LPDDR5 RAM, 5200MHz
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 GPU, 4GB
512GB SSD storage
Webcam e-privacy shutter
Stereo speakers, Harman Kardon
Dolby Atmos
Dual microphones
WiFi 6E, dual-band
Bluetooth 5.1
1x Thunderbolt 4 (DisplayPort 1.4, PD, 40Gbps data transfer)
1x Thunderbolt 4 (Always-On, DisplayPort 1.4, PD, 40Gbps data transfer)
1x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1
HDMI 2.0
Headphone/mic combo jack
Dimensions: 328.2 x 221.4 x 15.9mm
Weight: 1.45kg
Color: Ultimate Grey
70Whr battery, 100W USB Type-C power

Design and Build

Like its cousins, the new Lenovo laptop has a fancy but light build quality. That means that it looks premium, without the usual weight of powerful gaming laptops. It only weighs 1.5kg and is 15.9mm thin, so you can easily fit it in a small bag. But make no mistake: it’s still pretty sturdy despite being lightweight.

This machine is built on an aerospace-grade 6000 series aluminum chassis with clean curves and edges, which makes it easy to hold. The lid is prone to fingerprint smudges, so be on the lookout for that.

Opening the lid reveals the 14.5-inch 3K display, with impressively thin bezels all around.

Although, it does have a tiny upward notch to house the webcam. Speaking of which, the image quality from the only camera could be better. Sharpness and contrast could really do some work, especially for the price you’d be paying. It’s good enough for most online meetings, but we expected something a little better because it’s high-end.

Since it is a Yoga machine, the Yoga Slim 7i has a 180-degree hinge that allows you to open the lid completely flat. This should allow you to use it like a tablet, albeit the unit that we got doesn’t have a touchscreen panel.

Below the screen is the TrueStrike keyboard that offers 1.3mm key travel. The keys are comfortable to use, quiet, and feel like they will stand the test of time.

It also has a relatively large trackpad, which is 20% bigger than its predecessor, and has a smooth surface, so you can easily use multi-finger gestures and swipes.

The overall build of the Yoga Slim 7i Pro X is pretty solid, with killer looks that are both attractive while staying low-key. In a world full of bulky gaming machines, it is nice to see compact and portable laptops that are as powerful and capable.

Ports

The port selection is quite abundant, especially in an era where most laptops only have USB Type-C.

On the left side, the Slim 7i Pro X managed to have a full-size HDMI 2.0 port, an Intel Thunderbolt 4 port with an always-on feature, DisplayPort 1.4, power delivery, and 40Gbps data. The secondary Thunderbolt 4 has similar features but lacks an always-on function.

Meanwhile, the right side houses the thin power button with LED indicator, a standard USB Type-A 3.2 gen 1, a 3.5mm headphone/microphone combo jack, and a webcam e-privacy shutter switch.

The said camera switch is not physical, unlike Huawei’s retractable camera, so you have to trust the device that it indeed disabled the camera.

A few extra USB Type-A ports and an SD card readers would have been nice, but we’re quite satisfied with what we got.

Display and Audio

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro X boasts a pretty packed display made for work, content creation, and gaming. It is a 14.5-inch 3K IPS panel with a resolution of 3,072 x 1,920 and 249 pixels per inch. Unfortunately, it’s still not OLED, which could have offered better colors and contrast.

It also has Delta E<1 color calibration for color grading photos and videos, as well as 100% sRGB coverage. That said, we had no issues doing creative work on this device, especially when editing images in Adobe Lightroom.

Meanwhile, the 120Hz refresh rate, on compatible games, makes everything really smooth. GTA V really looks smooth on this machine. Plus, the wide 16:10 aspect ratio and Dolby Vision make watching movies really enjoyable.

Sadly, the stereo speakers lack punch, despite being tuned by Harman Kardon. The volume is a little low and the clarity is not the best. To improve the listening experience, it does have Dolby Atmos, a headphone jack, and Bluetooth 5.1 if you want to use a more powerful external speaker or a pair of earphones.

Hardware and Performance

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro X is powered by the latest 12th-Gen Intel Core 12700H processor, which can go as high as 2.3GHz when boosted, and has 14 cores, 20 threads, and 24MB cache.

It is paired with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 GPU with 4GB of GDDR5 RAM.

That said, the performance is really great. From web browsing, photo editing on Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom, video editing on Adobe Premier Pro and After Effects — everything ran flawlessly on this device.

In addition, thanks to its powerful GPU, triple-A game titles are playable at high graphics quality with smooth frame rates. We tried GTA V and Valorant and both of them are playable really well, just make sure you plug the charger for the best possible experience.

However, due to its thin chassis, it does run hot after some time, so make sure you push its limits only when you’re in cool environments.

Battery and charging

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro X has a decent 70Whr battery that the company claims can last for up to 12.5 hours of local video playback.

Those claims were close to the results we got during our tests. With light to moderate usage, like writing articles and web browsing, the device was able to last for 8-10 hours. The figures were cut to more than half when gaming and video rendering.

If you really want to push it to its limits, it is best to use it with the charger plugged in. This one comes with an AC power adapter with a modern USB Type-C output. It is quite bulky, but at 100W, it’s definitely reliable.

Conclusion

We immediately fell in love with the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro X, especially in an era where powerful machines have to be bulky and aggressive-looking.

This offering from Lenovo has the oomph to handle all the triple-A game titles today and do creative work from photo grading to heavy video editing. All that while maintaining a sleek and elegant body.

If we were to nitpick, we just wish the unit we reviewed had a fancier OLED panel or at least a touchscreen panel. Also, the speakers are really disappointing for the price.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro X price and availability in the Philippines

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro X will be available starting October for a price of Php126,995 for the 32GB RAM and 1TB storage variant. It will come with a free 3-year accidental damage protection.

Pros

Sleek yet powerful
Fast display with good color
Decent battery life

Cons

No touchscreen, Not OLED
Poor speakers