Lenovo Slim Pro 7 review: A delightfully thin and light laptop

Price When Reviewed

$1,199.99

Best Prices Today: Lenovo Slim Pro 7

1199.99

Most laptops are an train in compromise—however what if you happen to want a laptop computer that may deal with a little bit of the whole lot? The Lenovo Slim Pro 7 is an alluring possibility. It combines the most recent AMD Ryzen processors with Nvidia graphics but maintains a slim, moveable profile and even scores respectable battery life. 

For extra choices, try our roundup of the best laptops available today.

Lenovo Slim Pro 7: Specs and options

The Lenovo Slim Pro 7 is powered by AMD’s Ryzen 7735HS processor, an eight-core, sixteen-thread chip which uses the Zen 3+ architecture. It’s paired with Nvidia RTX 3050 graphics, promising a one-two punch of CPU and GPU efficiency.

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7735HS
• Memory: 16GB LPDDR5
• Graphics/GPU: Nvidia RTX 3050 6GB
• Display: 14.5-inch 2560 x 1600 IPS 90Hz
• Storage: 512GB PCIe Gen4 SSD
• Webcam: 1080 with IR 
• Connectivity: 1x USB4 40 Gbps with DisplayPort 1.4 and Power Delivery, 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 with DisplayPort 1.4 and Power Delivery, 1x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1x HDMI, 1x 3.5mm combo audio
• Networking: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.1
• Biometrics: Windows Hello Facial Recognition
• Battery capability: 73 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 12.81 inches x 8.92 inches x 0.71 inches
• Weight: 3.5 kilos
• MSRP: $1,199

Lenovo’s pricing is aggressive, slapping this configuration with a $1,199 MSRP (at Best Buy). It’s among the many least costly laptops obtainable with this {hardware}: some Dell Inspiron, Acer Swift, and MSI Sword fashions undercut it on worth, however they’ve older AMD Ryzen 5000/6000 or 12th-gen Intel Core i7 processors.

Lenovo Slim Pro 7: Design and construct high quality

IDG / Matthew Smith

Lenovo has quietly established itself as a frontrunner in trendy laptop computer design over the previous decade, and the Lenovo Slim Pro 7 advantages from this expertise. It’s a easy however elegant laptop computer that makes all the suitable selections. Material high quality is excessive, with steel panels throughout all contact factors, and the “storm grey” colorway appears glorious. 

The Slim Pro 7 lives as much as its title with skinny show bezels and a svelte chassis that measures simply .71 inches thick and weighs solely 3.5 kilos. It’s only a shade bigger than the Apple MacGuide Pro 14, which is .61 inches thick and in addition weighs 3.5 kilos. The Lenovo has a barely bigger 14.5-inch show, so it’s additionally a couple of tenths of an inch wider than the Mac. 

What’s the catch? Well…there isn’t one. The laptop computer’s solely oddity is a lip on the highest show bezel that’s used to deal with the 1080p webcam. It may catch on objects whenever you slip the laptop computer in or out of a bag but in addition makes the laptop computer a tad simpler to open. There’s in any other case nothing to complain about. The Slim Pro 7 is a purposeful, engaging laptop computer that may go toe-to-toe with Dell’s XPS and Apple’s MacGuide Pro.

Lenovo Slim Pro 7: Keyboard, trackpad, pen

IDG / Matthew Smith

I think Lenovo has employed a couple of warlocks, as there’s some black magic lurking within the firm’s keyboards. The Slim Pro 7’s skinny chassis presents little room for key journey, but key really feel is superb because of a prolonged, crisp key motion. It’s an unquestionable enchancment over present Dell XPS, Razer Blade, and Apple MacGuide Pro laptops, and akin to the redesigned keyboard discovered on the latest MacGuide Air. 

A white keyboard backlight is included and presents three brightness settings: low, excessive, and automated (which selectively activates the backlight primarily based on ambient mild). The backlight does the job however is in any other case unremarkable, and I wish to see extra brightness choices. Low may appear too vivid in a really darkish room and excessive is simply too dim to see in brighter settings. 

The touchpad is massive, measuring practically six inches large and three inches deep. This is akin to the Apple MacGuide Pro 14, Razer Blade 14, and Dell XPS 15. The touchpad is easy and Windows’ multi-touch gestures are simple to make use of because of the touchpad’s ample measurement and sensitivity. 

Lenovo Slim Pro 7: Display, audio

IDG / Matthew Smith

Lenovo gives a 14.5-inch IPS touchscreen with 2,560 x 1,600 decision in most Slim Pro 7 fashions (a 3,072 x 1,920 IPS touchscreen is obtainable as an improve). It presents satisfactory efficiency however scores noticeably behind the Mini-LED in Apple’s MacGuide Pro 14 and Windows laptops with OLED shows such because the Acer Swift Edge, Samsung Galaxy Book3, and Lenovo Yoga 9i.

The show reached a mediocre most distinction ratio of 1140:1. That’s acceptable however behind equally priced alternate options just like the Microsoft Surface Laptop 5. Apple’s MacGuide Pro 14 with Mini-LED show can hit a distinction ratio of 6680:1 and laptops with an OLED show, such because the Lenovo Yoga 9i, carry out higher nonetheless. The Slim Pro 7’s low distinction ratio can result in a washed-out and flat look, although I solely discovered this noticeable when utilizing the laptop computer in a darkish room.

Brightness isn’t nice with a most luminance of 364 nits. That’s about the identical because the Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 however usually behind equally priced laptops, which obtain 400 to 600 nits. Color gamut can be modest, reaching 99 p.c of sRGB and 82 p.c of DCI-P3. Alternatives with an OLED show, together with the Yoga 9i, cowl your complete sRGB colour gamut and as much as 99 p.c of DCI-P3. 

It’s not all dangerous information. The 14.5-inch show’s 2,560 x 1,600 decision packs 208 pixels per inch, which is superior to a 27-inch 4K monitor. Text appears crisp and high-resolution content material seems lifelike and detailed. The refresh charge is boosted to 90Hz, as nicely, offering a slight increase to movement smoothness and readability.

A pair of upward-firing audio system sit on both aspect of the keyboard and supply clear, crisp sound. Maximum quantity is excessive sufficient to fill a small room with music and a touch of low finish gives depth to music and films. Better audio system may be present in a handful of laptops, together with the Apple MacGuide Pro 14, Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio, and Lenovo Yoga 9i, however the Slim Pro 7’s audio is strong for a slim laptop computer.

Lenovo Slim Pro 7: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

A 1080p webcam is stuffed in a small digicam hump on the Lenovo Slim Pro 7’s prime show bezel. Video high quality is nice for a laptop computer webcam with acceptable sharpness and colour replica. Uneven lightning could cause points with publicity and the picture will seem grainy in low mild, however that is true of any laptop computer webcam. 

The webcam is paired with an IR digicam that allows help for Windows Hello facial recognition login. It’s quick, seamless, and straightforward to make use of. Lenovo presents an automated person detection function that, when enabled, will mechanically carry the laptop computer out of sleep and use Windows Hello to log you in. It’s a small however handy addition.

Audio is captured with a quad-microphone array that gives sturdy quantity and good readability. The included noise canceling was extraordinarily efficient in my testing, eradicating the sound of an area heater and largely obscuring smooth music performed from a close-by speaker. 

Lenovo Slim Pro 7: Connectivity

IDG / Matthew Smith

A wholesome vary of connectivity traces the Lenovo Slim Pro 7’s flanks. It features a USB4 port able to as much as 40 Gbps of knowledge in addition to Power Delivery and DisplayPort 1.4. This is joined by a second USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port which additionally handles Power Delivery and DisplayPort 1.4. Both ports can be utilized to cost the laptop computer or join a monitor. 

The laptop computer additionally has a USB-A port, an HDMI port, and a 3.5mm combo audio port, offering an excellent vary of connectivity for older units. An SDcard reader is absent, nevertheless, and sorely missed. 

Wireless connectivity is strong with help for Bluetooth 5.1 and the most recent Wi-Fi 6E commonplace. A Wi-Fi 6E router is required to unlock the advantages of this new commonplace, however Wi-Fi 6 efficiency was additionally dependable, reaching 80 Mbps in a indifferent workplace a number of partitions and fifty ft away from a router. 

Lenovo Slim Pro 7: Performance

The Lenovo Slim Pro 7 packs AMD’s Ryzen 7735HS, an eight-core, sixteen-thread processor with a most clock velocity of 4.75GHz. This makes for an fascinating comparability with Lenovo’s personal Yoga 9i Gen 8, which is analogous in measurement and weight however packs Intel’s Core i7-1360P. 

IDG / Matthew Smith

PCMark 10 produced a positive rating of 6,585. This locations the Lenovo Slim Pro 7 forward of not solely the Yoga 9i Gen 8 however different comparable laptops such because the Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 and HP Dragonfly Pro. The Slim Pro 7’s sturdy rating on this benchmark signifies sturdy efficiency in quite a lot of conditions, a consequence that’s born out in different benchmark assessments. 

IDG / Matthew Smith

Cinebench R15, a closely multithreaded processor benchmark with a brief period, notches a transparent win for the Slim Pro 7 and AMD Ryzen 7735HS. The Ryzen screams previous the Intel Core i7-1360P to a rating of 1,938, a roughly 20 p.c enchancment over Intel’s various. 

IDG / Matthew Smith

Handbrake, one other demanding multithreaded processor check, reinforces the power of the Ryzen 7735HS. It buzzed by our video encoding check file in simply 1,298 seconds, notching one other win over the Intel Core i7-1360P. 

The Lenovo Slim Pro 7 pairs AMD’s succesful Ryzen processor with Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 6GB cellular graphics. Power utilization is constrained to a mere 63 watts, however the discrete graphics chip gives an enormous leap over built-in graphics. 

IDG / Matthew Smith

3DMark’s Time Spy check turned in a results of 4,733, which is greater than twice as fast because the Intel Iris Xe built-in graphics within the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 and Lenovo Yoga 9i. It additionally handily beats the AMD Radeon 680M built-in graphics within the HP Dragonfly Pro. 

I additionally fired up a pair video games to see how this incarnation of the RTX 3050 handles common titles. Shadow of the Tomb Raider averaged a strong 65 frames per second at 1080p decision and Highest element. That result’s only a tad slower than the MSI Katana GF66, a price range gaming laptop computer with Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti cellular graphics. The Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker benchmark reached a rating of 10,884 and the sport averaged between 60 and 90 frames per second in real-world gameplay at 1080p and High element.

The Lenovo Slim Pro 7 delivers glorious efficiency throughout a variety of duties, which is spectacular given its inexpensive worth. This laptop computer is an efficient decide for many content material creators, college students, informal players, and anybody else in search of an inexpensive do-it-all laptop computer.

Lenovo Slim Pro 7: Battery life

Every Lenovo Slim Pro 7 ships with a 73 watt-hour battery. That’s a modest measurement for a 14.5-inch laptop computer however delivered good battery life ends in our testing. AMD’s environment friendly Ryzen 7735HS led the laptop computer to 13 hours and 12 minutes of endurance in a normal video loop, scoring yet one more win over the Intel Core i7-1360P in Lenovo’s Yoga 9i.

IDG / Matthew Smith

Lenovo achieves strong battery life by switchable graphics, a function that deactivates the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 when its efficiency isn’t required and falls again on the extra environment friendly, built-in AMD Radeon 680M.

Be warned that the laptop computer’s battery life might fall wanting this check consequence if the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 is in use. Battery life may very well be diminished to only a couple hours in a demanding 3D sport, and apps that sneakily activate the RTX 3050 can carry down battery life. Fortunately, the switchable graphics function proved sensible in my time with the laptop computer, and I didn’t discover an extra drain on the battery in my day-to-day use.

Lenovo Slim Pro 7: Conclusion

The Lenovo Slim Pro 7 is a lovely, moveable laptop computer that’s ultimate if you happen to want a mix of CPU and GPU efficiency. It additionally nails the basics with strong connectivity, an pleasing keyboard, a big touchpad, and top-notch webcam. Display high quality is a weak point, nevertheless it’s an appropriate compromise for the laptop computer’s extraordinarily aggressive $1,199 MSRP.  The Slim Pro 7 is a flexible, inexpensive laptop computer and onerous to beat for the worth.