Lenovo Slim 7i Pro X Review

The brand new Lenovo Slim 7i Professional X is a wonderful addition to Lenovo’s skinny & mild shopper laptop computer line-up as a result of it packs a giant punch, due to its Intel twelfth era H-Collection CPU paired with a discrete NVIDIA GPU. They makes the Slim 7i Professional X (i stands for Intel) a really engaging laptop computer for Inventive customers who search an ultra-compact laptop computer.

Any shopper who likes to have nice multimedia and gaming experiences in a excessive mobility kind must also take into account this laptop computer. As extra seemingly mundane duties resembling videoconferencing can profit from AI computing, discrete GPUs have a major benefit in additional domains exterior gaming.

Lenovo Slim 7i Professional X Specs Highlights

Our particular evaluate unit has the next configuration: Intel Core i7-12700H (14 cores), 16GB RAM (2x8GB, soldered, 6000Mhz), 512GB SSD, NVIDIA RTX 3050 graphics processor. It’s attainable to have 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.

On the time of publishing, the value is estimated to be round $1,499. Lenovo.com typically has deep reductions and offers, so it’s value checking there when buying.

CPU choices

GPU Choices

Industrial Design

The Slim 7i Professional X’s design is consumer-oriented and appears edgy due to a skinny profile with rounded corners harking back to smartphones and tablets. That’s just like the Lenovo Slim 9i 14 we lately reviewed. The all-metal chassis is extraordinarily inflexible when closed, and the thin show minimally wobbles.

The matte floor is immune to fingerprints, and we have now not seen any blemishes after a number of weeks, however we didn’t attempt to scratch it on goal both. General, it’s clear and, extra importantly, stays clear. Our mannequin has a Silver end, nevertheless it’s additionally attainable to get a neat Darkish Gray.

The facility button is on the fitting aspect, and I recognize the presence of a Energy LED mild and the truth that this button doesn’t sit flush with the chassis. Typically it’s onerous to seek out the facility button at midnight (airplane with lights off, darkish keynote room, and so forth.), so it’s a pleasant element. There’s additionally a webcam ON/OFF close to the Energy button for many who extremely worth privateness.

Its weight of 3.19 Lbs (1.45 kg) makes it skinny & mild, and it looks like a premium product with some heft when you’ve gotten it in your hand.

Keyboard and Trackpad

The Slim i7 Professional X has an unlimited trackpad for many who use probably the most complicated gestures or need excessive trackpad precision and superior ergonomics. It looks as if it’s probably the most outsized Lenovo trackpad I’ve seen on their 14” laptops.

The keyboard is nearly unchanged from earlier Yoga laptops, and whereas there are at all times tiny variations, the general high quality and really feel stay an identical. The tactile suggestions and key journey depth are agreeable. The small UP/Down arrow keys are the one factor I might foyer to alter as I’m a heavy typer and use them to navigate paperwork extensively.

Ports

For such a small laptop computer, the assortment of ports is excellent, with a full-size USB and HDMI 2.1 ports, that are workhorses for anybody. For ultra-connectivity, the 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports are incredible and allow high-speed docking that I’ve come to make use of each at dwelling and work. It’s simply too handy to plug your laptop computer right into a single USB-C port and use it with a desktop-like array of peripherals.

Sound

Because of the two x 2W Harman Audio system licensed for Dolby Atmos Audio, this laptop computer delivers an excellent sound high quality with excessive quantity, clear voices, and no distortion. It’s not the very best audio we’ve heard for a skinny and lightweight, nevertheless it’s clearly among the many greatest choices you will get. It is going to be nice for leisure, consumer demos, or group convention calls.

Show

All three show choices characteristic a 14.5” 3K (3072 x 1920) 120Hz show, and I believe that’s an incredible selection as 1080p is a bit low-PPI (OK for gaming), and 4K is overkill and battery-hungry. Earlier than you ask: sure, you possibly can open the show with one hand, and it opens to just about 180 levels to -almost- lay flat.

All of the choices characteristic the identical specs and efficiency: IPS LCD, 400 NITs brightness, Delta-E decrease than 1.0 (excellent colours), 100% sRGB coloration gamut, NVIDIA G-SYNC, Dolby Imaginative and prescient licensed, and TUV low blue mild. These are excessive show specs, and there’s nothing to complain about, particularly at shopper costs.

The first distinction between the shows is that one is a touch-screen with a glass floor (shiny end). One other has a shiny end however no contact. Lastly, there’s one with out the glass floor, and I can solely assume it has a matte end, however I’ve not seen it in individual.

The discrete GPU paired with the NVIDIA G-Sync 120Hz show makes this laptop computer very succesful for video games, particularly if you happen to’re taking part in one thing that doesn’t use the newest graphics (Raytracing and so forth.) and will due to this fact max out the FPS. NVIDIA’s DLSS will assist fairly a bit with that.

Webcam

Lenovo has included a 1080p FHD webcam with an IR (infrared) sensor and twin microphones. The IR sensor is nice for unlocking your PC with Home windows Hiya as an alternative of typing an extended, very safe password. I haven’t seen a fingerprint reader, so facial recognition can be the best choice on this case.

Efficiency

A discrete graphics processor makes an enormous distinction within the graphics benchmarks. The Intel Core i7-12700H CPU affords superior efficiency over CPUs just like the Intel i7-1260P typically present in office-productivity laptops like one of many new Lenovo X1 Carbon Gen10 we beforehand examined.

The NVIDIA RTX 3050 cellular GPU assist this laptop computer ship a world-class Pace/Weight efficiency ratio. By the best way, that is an NVIDIA Studio-certified laptop computer.

As such, the Slim 7i Professional X may very well be thought-about a really compact, high-performance workstation for Inventive fans and professionals who want excessive mobility. That reality is bolstered by the wonderful show choices and 32GB which might be the fitting selection for imagery work.

Our analysis exhibits that most individuals are occupied with evaluating the Intel-powered Slim 7i Professional X and the AMD-powered Slim 7 Professional X, so we embrace these numbers right here, together with knowledge from the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen10 and the Lenovo Slim 9i 14.

We additionally see glorious outcomes when taking a look at efficiency by means of the lens of worth and weight, which additional validate the ultra-mobility workstation path. Even the SSD disk pace is on par with Enterprise merchandise slightly than similar to Shopper laptops.

All the outcomes are precisely what one would count on from the varied configuration variations. The one factor that stunned us a bit was the divergence between the Cinebench R23 and Geekbench 5 CPU benchmarks between the Intel and AMD model of the Slim 7/7i Professional X laptops.

They recommend that the Intel CPU is usually glorious, however if you’re a heavy Cinebench person, you would possibly need to take into account the AMD laptop computer as an alternative.

Regardless of its slim design, the chassis stayed cool throughout the assessments. The floor’s temperature hovers round 44C (111.3F), the temperature at which issues really feel sizzling to the pores and skin. Moreover, this laptop computer is just not practically as loud as Gaming laptops, and that’s a substantial benefit when displaying some work to a consumer, for instance.

Battery Life

The 70Wh battery capability is bigger than most skinny & mild of comparable measurement. Nonetheless, the additional capability can be required to assist a extra performant and power-hungry system. That’s why the laptop computer comes with a 100W PSU, which isn’t removed from the utmost supported by a USB-C connector.

You need to get about 6 to 7 hours of workplace work, represented by a benchmark like PCMark 10 Trendy Workplace. Nonetheless, if you wish to squeeze extra longevity, you possibly can cut back the show refresh charge from 120Hz right down to 60Hz and get 15%-20% extra.

Much less performant skinny & mild 14” laptops can get 11-14h of battery life, however bear in mind, they typically characteristic a lot slower CPUs and GPUs together with 1080p shows, so it’s not comparable.In actuality, few individuals would spend that size of time on something aside from watching movies. Lenovo claims this laptop computer can play native (not streaming) movies for 12.5 hours.

Conclusion

Cleary designed for Creators who need ultra-mobility, the Lenovo Slim 7i Professional X (official web page) delivers spectacular configuration choices and efficiency. Even the pricing is engaging, particularly if you happen to examine it with enterprise laptops with extra safety and IT options you won’t need or want.

Some potential clients could want a 4K show, however I discover that choice to be a bit overkill for a 14.5” laptop computer, and I labored within the graphics trade for 12 years. It’s a matter of preferences, I suppose.

In the long run, I might even suggest the Slim 7i Professional X to individuals who might not be Inventive professionals as a result of they may use apps that would profit from a robust GPU and never even comprehend it (Zoom + NVIDIA Broadcast, for instance).

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