One of the problems with all OEMs trying to move to new hardware platforms so quickly is that it tends to result in a lot of products that aren’t well differentiated from each other. While the feature set of these PCs is far from complete (even the initial release of Recall indexing isn’t available today), this class of PC anticipates the arrival of AI technology and could be a good buy for someone looking to buy a new PC and want to avoid early obsolescence. There isn’t enough AI-based software to move into this class yet, but by early next year there will be more options and more differentiation between product lines and vendors.
This week, let’s talk about some of the highlights of the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x.
exterior
I have a couple of new AI PCs to test, and the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x and the new HP EliteBook 14 are strikingly similar in appearance. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x is a bit darker, but they both have the same deep blue color that I like, and I’d be proud to show either one off. However, when you put the two laptops side by side, the Lenovo’s OLED display really stands out, and I think it’ll sell better next to an offering from HP (or any vendor without OLED).
In my opinion, the Lenovo is a bit more Mac-like, otherwise the two machines could be twins if the logos weren’t different. Many other laptops in this class are generic black or silver, so it’s nice to see another color option that I like. Too bad purple isn’t available.
Differentiators
Like the rest of the Snapdragon X Elite AI-PC laptops, this laptop is outstanding in terms of battery life, but with a slight penalty due to the OLED 3K display. Still, you should be able to leave the power at home and get a full day of work on the go. I’ve gotten up to two days out of my Snapdragon laptop just by not leaving it open when not in use. To me, this is a game changer. With a best-in-class display of nearly 500 nits, this laptop is one of the few AI laptops you can take outdoors. OLED does come with a power penalty, but the deep blacks and vibrant colors make the sacrifice worth it.
Of course, the main reason to buy these is for the 40 TOPS NPU, which will allow Snapdragon solutions to outperform other solutions in the field until the new AMD Ryzen AI (estimated 50 TOPS) and Intel’s Lunar Lake (estimated 45 TOPS) hit the market.
There are three USB4 slots, one of which is used for power, but no headphone jack. The lack of a headphone jack is a shame as most people use wireless headphones, but some may not. It is also one of the laptops with Wi-Fi 7 technology, but no WAN support (Lenovo’s similar ThinkPad products with Snapdragon X Elite have WAN).
This is the slowest of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipsets, but since none of these have discrete graphics that can strain the chipset with high-end gaming or workstation loads, the performance hit is likely to be negligible.
The Lenovo keyboard is well made, as you’d expect, with plenty of space between the keys making it ideal for people like me who have larger than average hands – something to take into consideration if you have unusually large or small hands.
summary
The base price for this laptop with 512GB is $1,199, which is a great deal considering the OLED display. Upgrading to 1TB and adding another 16G of memory will set you back $1,313, but this isn’t a great workstation or gaming configuration, so we doubt most people will need the extra memory or storage. In either case, the extra memory and storage will be useful.
The only thing this laptop is missing is the enhancements of Lenovo’s latest x86 laptops that I’ve used. I could add a better camera, WAN support, and a better camera light. That would make this laptop way better than the rest. Still, it’s my favorite laptop I’ve reviewed so far. The keyboard fits my hand well, it comes in colors I like, and the OLED display and outdoor capabilities are what impress me the most.
