I’ve already reviewed dozens of laptops for Windows Central and will continue to review dozens more.
I’m more thorough than most with my testing.
This review was made possible thanks to a review sample provided by Lenovo.
The Yoga brand doesn’t mean what it once meant, with this being a well-priced upper mid-range laptop.
The company had no input nor saw the contents of this review prior to publication.
The model I recommend, however, is the one I reviewed.
Despite the familiarity, though, I’m not tired of these designs.
Like other Yoga devices, this laptop is sleek and curvy, avoiding sharp edges at all cost.
Lenovo’s classic side-mounted power button is here, too, ready for you to accidentally hit.
This laptop is backed by MIL-STD-810H military-grade durability standards, and build quality in general is excellent.
The left side with an HDMI 2.1 port, USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 port, charging LED indicator, and 3.5mm audio port.(Image credit: Windows Central)
The display hinge is a littletoostiff, though.
This laptop still feels decently compact and portable, but you absolutely notice the extra screen real estate.
The corners are also curved, for those who care, and the bezels are slim.
The right side with a USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 port, USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 port, power button with LED indicator, and electronic webcam privacy shutter.(Image credit: Windows Central)
The best word I can think of to describe this display is “pleasant.”
It’s not the most striking laptop display I’ve seen, but it’s nonetheless excellent all around.
Now, the Yoga Slim 7i isnota slow laptop.
It’s not the flashiest display, but it’s still a joy to use with a pleasant and smooth viewing experience.
This laptop also runs very cool, and even under load, the fans aren’t obnoxiously loud.
This laptop is absolutely capable of casual gaming, and it stays cool enough to support that.
Gross on both accounts.
The Yoga Slim 7i boasts above-average color accuracy with consistent white balance and contrast ratios.
This is all fine.
I still love Vantage as a gear hub, and the Yoga Slim 7i is perfectly stable.
However, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition is ostensibly anAI PC.
The Yoga Slim 7i is an impressive performer that runs cool and quiet, but it falls behind on pure multicore performance.
All that, and I’m not convinced.
This compares favorably with the most efficient AMD and Qualcomm-powered Windows laptops, and real-world usage reflects that.
However, the Yoga Slim 7i was less consistent in its endurance than other recent laptops I’ve tested.
This is a very respectable SSD with closely matched read and write speeds.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Charging up the Yoga Slim 7i is easy via the 65W charger and either Thunderbolt 4 port.
Sadly, there’s somethingoffabout this keyboard.
It’s perfectly fine, I just wish there was a configuration option to add ahaptic touchpad.
In Cinebench 2024, the Yoga Slim 7i struggles to keep up with even last-gen Core Ultra devices in multi-core performance.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Yoga Slim 7i review: Everything else
Other highlights
Time to round up the dregs!
You do at least have an electronic privacy shutter on the side to block the camera.
At least wireless connectivity is flawless and future-proofed withWi-Fi 7and Bluetooth 5.4 onboard.
The process is repeated in Geekbench 6, where the underperforming ThinkPad X1 Carbon still bests the Yoga Slim 7i.(Image credit: Windows Central)
My straightforward recommendation is for the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x (Gen 9) I reviewed and loved.
It’s a good balance for those who want the additional real estate without sacrificing the compact design.
You should not buy this if … Against all odds, though, Intel Core Ultra (Series 2) did it!
In general productivity the Yoga Slim 7i is an impressive performer, but it’s still not a massive leap forward.(Image credit: Windows Central)
One area where this laptop impresses is GPU performance, with the new Intel Arc platform outperforming AMD’s latest integrated graphics.(Image credit: Windows Central)
When encoding a 4K video, the Yoga Slim 7i wasn’t particularly impressive.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Lenovo Vantage is great, but its built-in AI features aren’t as convincing.
I almost loved this keyboard, but the keycaps are just too slippery.
An average webcam, unreliable facial recognition, and inconsistent HPD features are all demerits against the Yoga Slim 7i.
Lenovo is far from the only company making great laptops, and Intel is far from the only company making great silicon.
I don’t imagine most people would be disappointed in the slightest by the Yoga Slim 7i — it’s just a good all-around laptop.
