Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 (2024) review: Advantage points

The Surface Laptop Copilot Plus isn't the only game in town if you're looking to take the latest incarnation of Windows on ARM for a spin. Several other manufacturers are also looking to get in on the action, including the new Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x.

Where the story that Microsoft is looking to tell with its first tranche of Copilot Plus PCs is a complicated one that hinges on the hypothetical value that AI can deliver and the hypothetical gains in performance offered by ARM, Lenovo's angle is a little more straightforward. The Yoga Slim 7x leans in on the gains to battery life and performance that the shift to ARM but it does so from a place built on strong fundamentals and years of refinement.

In Australia, pricing for the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x (2024) starts at $2499. That's not quite MacBook Pro money, but it's not far off. There are a few different specs to choose from, but if you're looking to get thrifty then you might want to take a look at the table below for a round-up of what Australian retailers are offering when it comes to the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x.

Before you make a decision, be sure to read our recommendation for the specs.

The Yoga Slim 7x isn't the most versatile version of Lenovo's line of lean laptops, but it does pack a lot of hardware into a relatively slim form-factor.

That said, the PureSight display here is the most eye-catching part of the package. The Yoga Slim 7x features a 14.5-inch OLED panel with 3K resolution, razor thin bezels, a 90Hz refresh rate and Dolby Vision HDR.

Although the cool blue metal exterior evokes the clean hues and simple palette of a MacBook Air, the Yoga Slim 7x doesn't have the same degree of heft as its MacOS-powered competition. What's more, any sense of uniformity here is marred by the notch-like camera bar that hangs over the lip of the device.

Although it initially comes across as little awkward, I found that didn't mind this specific detail all that much. I'd even go so far as to say that I like the way it sets the hardware here apart from most other premium laptops. Granted, given how divisive notches in smartphones have been, I can't imagine it'll be a universal hit among enthusiasts and other potential early adopters. Aside from that though, what's here is a familiar (and fantastic) reprisal of everything that there is to like about Lenovo's Yoga line.

There's a larger-than-usual trackpad that provides ample room to work with, a quartet of speakers with Dolby Atmos, a Windows Hello-graded 1080p webcam,  a physical privacy shutter plus a keyboard with dish-shaped keycaps and 1.5mm of travel.

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x is a sleeker take on the 'comfort edge' design established elsewhere that takes the extra power efficiency that comes with ARM as a license to cut the fat. One unfortunate side effect of this subtraction is that there isn't much to work with when it comes to ports.

In total, there's just three USB-C ports on this thing. There's no headphone jack, nor are there any USB-A ports. That's going to put the brakes on those who might seek to use this as a multimedia machine, but again it does a good job of communicating who this machine is best going to suit.

Despite the emphasis on portability, there isn't any form of mobile connectivity here either. Given this has been included with older Windows on ARM devices, it's a shame that it hasn't made the cut this time around.

Since it runs on the same silicon as Microsoft's new Surface Laptop, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x boasts many of the same AI capabilities here. If you're someone who is more excited by the possibilities of Microsoft Recall or the new Cocreator tool in Paint than they are concerned or irritated, that's going to be music to your ears. For everyone else though, it's still not clear what the value of having the 40 TOPS of AI performance offered by laptops like this one is beyond having apps that load just that little bit faster. Still, that's more of a Microsoft problem than a Lenovo one and it does help underline the broader ethos at work here.

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x is a lean laptop that cuts a few corners in favor of the idea that its better to come out ahead than it is to be without compromises. While some of the choices made here won't suit power users or those looking to squeeze their budget for all its worth, what's here doesn't miss the mark when it comes to the form-factor, design and build quality that you'd expect in a modern premium Windows machine.

Under the hood, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x runs on the performance-oriented Snapdragon X Elite processor, with up to 32GB of RAM and up to 1TB of SSD storage. The model we reviewed was as high-spec as this particular laptop gets.

Naturally, the one missing piece here is a dedicated GPU. If that's something that you need for your workflow or gaming pursuits, you'll have to look elsewhere or find some way to survive on what the Snapdragon X series can offer. In terms of how we'd rate it, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x sits in Enthusiast territory.

While the lack of a discrete GPU or cooling system prevents it from pivoting to portable powerhouse, those who are looking for a laptop that is above average when it comes to covering the basics and then some will likely feel like they're in good hands here. So long you keep the limits of Windows on ARM in mind at least.

If you're someone whose workflow exists within the confines of a web browser, you'll probably be more than happy. On the other end of the spectrum, those who need to juggle various applications will want to do their research well in advance. 

Given the similarity in specs, it's no great shock that the performance offered by the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x largely resembled that of the Surface Laptop Copilot Plus.

Like that device, the Yoga Slim 7x returned higher Geekbench scores than most other Windows laptops we've tested (with the exception of gaming hardware like the Legion Pro 5i). The device's Cinebench scores were similarly competitive. However, it lagged behind Intel-based machines when it came to GPU performance.

Of course, the other side of this coin is that you are paying a premium for those gains in performance. The argument for ARM as the future of Windows laptops does lose some of its luster once you start to think about the price you're paying in both dollars and app compatibility.

Despite that, I found the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x mostly worked fine or at least well enough that I didn't have to think about it. There are tens and thousands of Windows apps out there, so I'm sure that there are more than a few that won't play nice with Microsoft's Prism emulation tech. For what it's worth, I've yet to run into any major ones.

Aside from games, anyway. There are a few great user-led tools and websites out there for determining how a given game runs on ARM Windows PCs, but much like more serious software applications the reality here is a bit of a gamble.

As for battery life, I think the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x did a terrific job of delivering on the lofty promises that OEMs are making around this current push for ARM-powered Windows laptops. It took a whole 19 hours and 44 minutes of video streaming to run the battery inside the unit from 100% to zero. That's a really strong result, even compared to Apple's recent run of ARM-powered MacBooks.

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x is more than just a vehicle for Microsoft's latest attempt to make AI or ARM on Windows stick. When you factor in the strong performance and robust fundamentals, this lean laptop has more than enough going for it to both stand up and stand out its own merits. It's genuinely a pleasure to use on a daily basis and if you're not won over by the look and feel of Microsoft's latest Surface hardware, then you might well be by what's going on here.

There's so much to like about the lean and performance oriented approach to laptops on display here, even if the premium price and limited ports can be difficult to square.

As mentioned, Lenovo offer up plenty of room to make the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x your own. Check out the table below for a comparison of the cheapest spec and our recommended one.