Take a look at this laptop. It’s the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro with the codename 14IAH7. That “i” is used to denote if it’s using an AMD or Intel chip – which is something that Lenovo had been doing for years – like the Lenovo Legion 5 and 5i for example.
Name aside, I actually like this laptop a lot. I’m sure you’ll agree with our reasons as well – so, let’s get started.
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When I first got the box, I thought it was empty inside. It felt weightless. Turns out, it is really light and also relatively thin too. Everything is covered in a classy color that they’re calling Slate Grey.
When we open up the lid, we are presented with a gorgeous 14-inch IPS LCD screen. I literally mean it when it is gorgeous because the laptop automatically turns on when the lid is opened, there is a “YOGA” boot screen logo and the colors are vibrant. Once we enter Windows, the vibrant colors are just astonishing.
I actually thought this laptop is using a touchscreen since Lenovo used a layer of smooth glass on top of the display. Unfortunately, this laptop doesn’t have a touchscreen but using glass instead of a matte layer on top of the display really made the colors and sharpness pop. The downside is, of course, reflections and glare.
And I guess one reason why Lenovo chose glass is because of the pixel density of this screen. You see, despite it being a 14-inch laptop, this display actually has a resolution of 2880×1800 pixels at 90Hz refresh rate. According to our color accuracy test, this display is amazing – covering virtually 100% on both sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamuts while also having a low Delta E number.
By the way, the maximum brightness can reach 400 nits. It’s definitely bright enough to be used indoors but outdoors – it’ll be rather difficult since we’ll be battling both glare and also reflection of the sunlight. There is also an ambient light sensor beside the Windows Hello camera which I ultimately disabled because I was playing Overwatch at that time and suddenly, the brightness was turned down without any reason.
And when I started using this laptop – this is the point where I start to like it even more. The keyboard is using the signature AccuType keycaps and it actually feels good to type on. I just wish that the travel distance is a bit longer – but overall, it’s good.
The trackpad works well, multitouch gestures work as expected, and its palm rejection is also good.
Before we talk about hardware and performance and whatnot, I want to highlight the upgradability first. Technically, only the SSD can be upgraded. Even though the WiFi chip can be swapped out, I’m not sure what other WiFi chips are compatible with the laptop.
Okay, now for the specs and performance. This specific configuration of the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro is unavailable for purchase locally here in Malaysia. It has a very weird hardware combination too:
- Intel Core i7-12700H
- 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM at 4800MHz
- 1TB SSD
- Intel Iris Xe integrated GPU
- NVIDIA RTX 2050 discrete GPU
Now, I have to say, the RTX 2050 is rather obscure. There isn’t much information on the internet about this GPU and Notebook Check has a very good summary of what to expect from it.
Either way, due to the resolution of the screen, playing games that do not have DLSS might be a bit difficult. Take Halo Infinite for example. I can get at least 30fps and that is already on the low graphical preset.
Games like Overwatch works okay and is able to reach 90fps because of AMD FSR but I have to play it somewhere around medium graphical preset.
Oh, by the way, the power brick that came with the laptop is a 100W charger that connects to the laptop via USB-C. In case you’re wondering if we can use some other third-party charger – yes you can. However, I tried using the Ugreen 100W GaN charger but the laptop seems to be only taking in about 80W, thus limiting the performance. When I plugged in the original 100W charger, the laptop takes in 100W.
While on that subject, let’s talk about the ports. Even though they are only a few of them, I think the placement of those ports is fine. I do wish that there is one more USB-C port on the right side of the laptop, though.
I also would not talk much about the battery life of this laptop. The 61Wh battery doesn’t last for long in this laptop – maybe about 3 hours and that’s all we can get. I’m not sure if the MX550 version is able to get a longer battery life, though. I think probably not since the laptop runs on the Intel Iris Xe when it’s on battery anyway.
Should you buy the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro?
Okay, so with that out of the way – if you want to buy this laptop locally in Malaysia – you can only get it with the NVIDIA MX550 GPU. The performance is definitely not going to be as good as the RTX 2050 and also lacks ray-tracing and support for DLSS. Moreover, the MX550 only has 2GB of VRAM – so if you want to play games at that native 2880×1800 pixels resolution, that 2GB VRAM is insufficient.
But, if you want to use this laptop for content creation using Premiere Pro, then it’s actually quite okay. Even with the MX550, I think it should be okay for content creation too – just nothing too complicated or advanced.
All of this is packed into a relatively thin and lightweight body – and that is what I like about this laptop. I treat this Yoga Slim 7i Pro as an ultrabook with an impressive screen that can also do some graphical work on the side. It’s just unfortunate that you can’t buy the RTX 2050 version here in Malaysia.
Either way, the MX550 version with the configuration listed on the screen here is priced at RM4,899 (exclusively available in Lenovo Experience Stores only) – and I still think that it’s a reasonable price for this laptop overall.
Quick highlight about the name again – even though it is within the Yoga lineup of laptops, this laptop cannot rotate 360°. It can only flip open to slightly below 180°, and that’s the maximum.
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