Lenovo laptops are sometimes among the many finest choices in a given section, so any new pocket book from the corporate has to impress if it’ll preserve that lofty place. The Lenovo Slim 7i Pro X crams a strong Intel H-series CPU and a discrete Nvidia GPU inside a slim, 14-inch compact machine, however is it too scorching to deal with? At the least on paper there’s heaps to love, so let’s discover out.
At 3.3 kilos, this Lenovo goals to be a transportable machine that may nonetheless carry a full-power Intel processor and a correct Nvidia graphics core. There is a high-resolution show, too. The Intel mannequin begins at $1,595, and the rig we have reviewed prices $1,760 due to reminiscence and storage upgrades. That is a good value that compares effectively towards the likes of the Apple MacBook Professional 14, which begins at $1,999.
Options and Design
There are many pleasing design touches across the Slim 7i’s aluminum enclosure. The sides gently curve, the speaker grilles are sharply milled, and Lenovo’s “Final Gray” coloring seems delicate and sensible. The display folds flat, there is a webcam privateness swap, and the show has a useful lip that makes opening the laptop computer clean and easy.
There’s solely just a little little bit of motion while you put stress on the keyboard deck and the again of the display, but it surely’s not regarding. The construct high quality is not far wanting what we would count on from a MacBook, and the Lenovo is strong sufficient to be tossed in a bag and brought on a commute.
Lenovo’s laptop computer competes effectively on the scales, too. At 3.35 kilos and with a 0.87-pound energy brick it is just a little lighter than the newest MacBook Professional 14, and its physique is a svelte 15.9mm thick.
If you happen to’re involved about weight, then lighter laptops are straightforward to search out. Notebooks just like the Dell XPS 13 Plus and LG Gram 14 arrive at 2.7 and a couple of.2 kilos respectively. However whereas that is nice for reducing weight, you lose the full-power CPU and discrete GPU.
You will have to take away 5 TX5 screws to get inside, and there is not a lot to shout about internally – the SSD and wi-fi card are accessible, however there aren’t any vacant slots and the reminiscence is soldered.
The Show
Lenovo’s 14.5″ panel arrives at 3072 x 1920, so there’s loads of house for exact work and a number of home windows. The 16:10 side ratio means you get a bit of additional top – useful for simpler navigation of browser home windows and Workplace apps.
The panel has a 120Hz refresh price, albeit with out adaptive sync. Nonetheless, that is twice the speed of most on a regular basis laptop computer screens, and it is excessive sufficient to make mainstream video games and informal esports titles look clean – and operating titles at 120 fps is in regards to the restrict of the modest GPU anyway.
Show efficiency is cheap, too. The 403cd/m2 most brightness is nice sufficient for indoor use and most out of doors conditions. The black level of 0.32cd/m2 is respectable, and means you have obtained sufficient depth for on a regular basis workloads and mainstream inventive instruments – and video games.
The ensuing distinction ratio of 1,259:1 is strong and ensures good vibrancy and nuance. The Gamma common of two.17 barely differs from the two.2 best determine, too, so you will get clean, constant gradation between black, gray and white tones. In relation to colours, although, the Lenovo is just a little restricted.
The 0.71 Delta E and 6,540K coloration temperature are each improbable, so each shade produced on this show shall be correct. Nonetheless, the Lenovo solely produced 93.6% of the sRGB coloration gamut at 94.3% quantity, and its figures hovered round 65% within the DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB areas.
These sRGB figures are ok for searching, mainstream photo-editing, gaming and media, however the DCI-P3 and Adobe outcomes fall wanting the degrees required for HDR viewing or high-end design.
This can be a good IPS show, however we would argue {that a} good IPS panel is not essentially ok lately. Head over to the MacBook and you will profit from a brighter Liquid Retina XDR panel that makes use of Mini LED tech to ship deeper distinction and DCI-P3 gamut assist. Dell’s notebooks have high-resolution OLED choices and you’ll find OLED shows on different small notebooks with costs that match the Lenovo.
Play video games or view media on this laptop computer and you will additionally profit from respectable audio system that produce a crisp high-end with detailed mid-range sounds, however bass is weak and quantity may very well be higher – this rig will wrestle to correctly fill a room. That is no surprise once they solely supply 4W of audio energy.
Enter and Connectivity
Alongside the facility button and webcam privateness swap the Lenovo’s right-hand edge affords a full-size USB 3.2 Gen 1 port and a headphone jack. You will not discover a full-size USB port on many rivals, in order that’s a welcome addition.
On the left-hand facet the Lenovo deploys two Thunderbolt 4 ports and an HDMI 2.0 output – with the latter typically lacking from rivals. Above the show is a 1080p webcam with Home windows Hey assist. That is strong, however there are some notable omissions. There is no card reader, which is able to irritate creatives, and you do not get a fingerprint reader.
Internally, there’s dual-band 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1, however there is not any wired Ethernet and you will find newer Bluetooth variations supported by the MacBook and lots of different notebooks.
Additionally contemplate these Thunderbolt ports – as a result of when you purchase the cheaper AMD model of this laptop computer, they’re changed by USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-C connections. These retain DisplayPort 1.4 assist and 5V/3A energy supply, however they switch knowledge at 10Gbps – a good distance wanting Thunderbolt’s 40Gbps peak.
Every button on the chiclet keyboard is subtly concave, which improves consolation and grip, and the buttons really feel very good – there is a pleasing bounce again to the keys when you push past their actuation level, and so they’re quick and constant.
They’ve solely obtained 1mm of journey and there is not any numpad, however that is par for the course in this sort of machine, and it will not have an effect on your day-to-day use.
The Slim 7i Professional X keyboard is quiet, and its two-stage backlight affords respectable brightness and computerized adjustment due to an ambient mild sensor.
There’s little to decide on between this typing unit and the same keyboard on the MacBook Professional, which solely beats the Lenovo due to its full-size operate keys.
The trackpad is a combined bag. The 140 x 80mm unit is massive and its floor is clean, however the buttons are a bit comfortable. It isn’t an enormous concern, however you will wish to use a USB mouse for gaming and exact work.
Efficiency
Intel’s Core i7-12700H is likely one of the hottest processors round proper now, and with good cause – it is obtained six Hyper-Threaded P-cores with a peak pace of 4.7GHz alongside eight E-cores. For a deep dive into this processor, head here for our full review.
The Slim 7i Professional X’s dimension does imply compromise concerning energy ranges, although. On this rig the chip’s peak steady energy stage sits at about 65W. That is wanting the CPU’s most 115W Turbo peak and the 75W determine utilized by many bigger laptops – and that determine drops in numerous efficiency modes. Except specified, all of our benchmarks use the Lenovo’s default Adaptive Efficiency choice.
It is no shock that there is a modest GPU inside this laptop computer, too. The GeForce RTX 3050 outpaces Intel’s built-in cores due to its 2,048 stream processors and 4GB of devoted reminiscence, however its peak TDP of 50W is 30 Watts wanting the GPU’s manufacturing facility tempo.
Our upgraded mannequin contains 32GB of dual-channel DDR5 reminiscence clocked to 5200MHz, with half that quantity included in the usual spec. The 1TB Micron SSD affords learn and write speeds of 5,930 MB/s and 4,033 MB/sec – respectable outcomes that will not break information – and also you get a 512 GB SSD as commonplace.
The i7-12700H isn’t any slouch, regardless of its lack of full-power potential. In Cinebench R23‘s single- and multi-core exams it returned outcomes of 1,689 and 10,532. These figures are a way wanting the full-power chip, however the latter end result was almost two thousand factors forward of the Apple M2 CPU.
We examined the Apple M2 chip in its 8-core configuration inside a MacBook Professional 13, which implies you get 6 efficiency and a couple of effectivity cores. In new MacBook Professional 14 fashions, it is a 10-core chip with 8 efficiency cores. Nonetheless, testing from across the net suggests there is not an enormous distinction between these variations of the chip. So whereas the MacBook Professional 14 with its 10-core CPU would possibly shut the hole with Intel, it will not overhaul the i7-12700H.
Additional benchmarks solely bolster Intel’s lead. Within the MATLAB take a look at the i7-12700H averaged 1.21s, which was half a second faster than the Apple chip. Its Excel rating of 8.46s was a 3rd quicker, too.
The Lenovo’s modest energy ranges did see it falter in 7-Zip – its compression and decompression outcomes of 48.64 MB/s and 555.9 MB/s are middling and fall behind each rival.
There is a clear gulf between the i7-12700H and the M2, and there is additionally a major hole between the Slim 7i Professional X and the low-power Intel CPUs you will discover inside different slim 14″ notebooks just like the Dell XPS 13 Plus. The i7-1260P may solely match the Apple M2 in Cinebench, for example, and it lagged behind the Slim 7i Professional’s i7-12700H in Excel and MATLAB.
Do not count on the extra reasonably priced AMD-based Lenovo to compete with Intel both. The quickest AMD version of this laptop comes with a Ryzen 7 6800HS – a low-power model of the Ryzen 7 6800H we’ve already tested. On condition that a number of of the Slim 7i Professional’s Intel outcomes already beat or match the full-power AMD chip – throughout each Adaptive and Excessive modes – the Ryzen 7 6800HS will definitely be a tad slower.
In the end, the one method you will get a major CPU enhance is by choosing a extra highly effective model of the i7-12700H or a beefy Core i9 processor – and meaning a bigger pocket book. If you happen to do make that selection, you will see a giant efficiency enhance. Within the Cinebench R23 multi-core take a look at, for example, the 75W i7-12700H scored 16,691, and Core i9 elements are even quicker. The i7 chip in our overview was 22% quicker than the Slim 7i Professional’s model in MATLAB and 29% quicker in Excel, and that is with various energy ranges.
Change over to the Slim 7i Professional’s Excessive Efficiency mode and also you get a lift that lifts it additional past the Apple M2, but it surely nonetheless cannot match Intel’s unfettered silicon. Within the Excessive mode, for example, the Lenovo’s revised Cinebench scores of 1,663 and 13,055 imply you solely get a major acquire within the multi-core take a look at when in comparison with the Adaptive mode.
The Slim 7i Professional’s Excessive Excel results of 7.1s represents a 17% enchancment over Adaptive Efficiency, and its revised MATLAB results of 1.13s solely noticed a 6% acquire. In PCMark 10’s Necessities take a look at the Slim 7i Professional’s Excessive results of 8,884 was really just a little slower than the Adaptive rating, and its Digital Content material results of 8,860 was solely 5% improved over the Adaptive mode.
Excessive Efficiency mode would not at all times ship a lift – largely multi-threaded workloads actually really feel the profit. Nonetheless, in real-world use, this all bodes effectively: in Adaptive Efficiency mode this pocket book will deal with a great deal of browser tabs and your entire Workplace apps, and it tackles multi-tasking, mainstream photo-editing and design workloads. Change to Excessive Efficiency and you may add extra demanding inventive and data-handling instruments to the combination.
On the different finish of the dimensions, you will want a bigger laptop computer or a Core i9 processor for 4K video modifying and encoding, pro-level CAD instruments and different actually demanding software program. That is true on the graphics facet of issues, too – the RTX 3050 lends just a little further potential in content material creation instruments and it is strong in video games, but it surely’s not transformative.
In Rainbow Six Siege at 1080p and with Medium settings the Slim 7i Professional averaged 125 fps, which is sufficient pace to make full use of the 120Hz display – and it nonetheless hit 102 fps with Extremely graphics settings deployed. You have obtained sufficient pace right here for on a regular basis esports video games. That stated, do not buy this machine if you would like a real aggressive expertise – that refresh price is not ok, and the response time sits at past 10ms. Nonetheless, it is high-quality for a little bit of Fortnite or Overwatch after work.
You will need to mood your expectations for single-player video games, too. In Far Cry New Daybreak at 1080p and Excessive settings the Slim 7i Professional’s common of 39.2 fps is playable however not clean. Full HD averages of 38.4 fps and 35.1 fps in Murderer’s Creed Valhalla and Borderlands 3 affirm that evaluation.
You are able to do one factor to enhance efficiency: swap to Excessive Efficiency mode. With that choice deployed the rig’s Far Cry end result improved to 68.1 fps, its Valhalla tempo rose to 43.2 fps, and it gained 14 frames in Borderlands. In Horizon Zero Daybreak, its Adaptive Efficiency framerate of 32.2 fps revised to 52.6 fps.
That is an enormous bounce, and it is no shock when you think about the facility ranges: in Adaptive Efficiency mode, the GPU makes use of about 20 W of energy and solely hits its 50 W TDP in Excessive mode.
Whereas Excessive Efficiency mode helps, the RTX 3050 won’t ever be a gaming powerhouse. You will solely get to a clean 60 fps or past when you use Excessive Efficiency mode or reduce on graphics settings in trickier titles, and that is at 1080p quite than the rig’s 3072 x 1920 native decision.
Thermals and Battery Life
You’d assume that the Slim 7i Professional X was a scorching and loud laptop computer due to its high-end elements and compact casing, however that is not the case – Lenovo has achieved a good job with thermal administration right here. In Adaptive Efficiency mode, the fan noise is modest. Even when you’re pelting by means of video games or powerful processing duties, the sound ranges are sufficiently small that you just simply will not discover them when you’re in an workplace or have the audio system operating.
Temperature ranges are cheap, too. There is a little bit of extra warmth within the steel above the keyboard, however you will not contact that in on a regular basis use. And whereas the underside panel will get a bit heat, it will not trigger points except you are stressing the CPU with the laptop computer in your lap.
It is a related story in Excessive Efficiency mode. There is no actual distinction to exterior temperatures. And whereas the fan noise is noticeably elevated with the efficiency choice deployed, the Slim 7i Professional X nonetheless is not that loud – it is not going to trigger any points or interruptions. Certainly, sub-50db noise ranges in each stress take a look at are good, and within the overwhelming majority of conditions the Lenovo would not strategy that determine.
The 70Wh battery is not fairly as completed, however that is no shock when the Slim 7i Professional deploys an H-series CPU and discrete graphics core.
In an on a regular basis work benchmark with the show at half brightness, the Slim 7i Professional X lasted for 7 hours and 26 minutes, however that determine dropped by simply over an hour with the display at full brightness.
Its finest outcomes got here in media playback exams. With brightness lowered and the Battery Saver mode deployed, the Slim 7i Professional X lasted simply over 10 yours, and you will get eight hours from this rig with the show at full brightness and media taking part in. Conversely, when you push the parts in video games, count on about two hours from the Slim 7i Professional X.
These outcomes aren’t any shock given the Slim 7i Professional’s specs, however you will not at all times get a full working time out of this pocket book – you have to watch out if you would like this laptop computer to final from 9 to five. If battery life is essential to you, many rivals can last more.
Wrap Up
Lenovo has achieved a good job of balancing the Slim 7i Professional X’s varied attributes. Battery life may very well be higher however its middling outcomes aren’t any shock contemplating the parts. The Core i7-12700H and Nvidia RTX 3050 supply extra efficiency than just about every other laptop computer at this dimension, even when these internals do not function at their peak efficiency ranges.
This is likely one of the few small notebooks to outpace the MacBook Professional 14, and it means the Slim 7i Professional X has true content material creation and gaming potential when you mood expectations accordingly.
Elsewhere, the Slim 7i Professional X features a comfy Lenovo keyboard, good construct high quality, and strong audio system. The show is a good IPS panel, though an absence of gamut potential undermines its excessive decision and refresh price.
You will definitely discover extra display high quality on different laptops. Connectivity may very well be improved, particularly for creatives. If the Slim 7i Professional X would not tick your entire containers, you will get higher battery life from rivals and smaller notebooks and extra computing energy from bigger machines.
The Lenovo affords good worth, too. Its $1,595 preliminary value rises to simply $1,760 when you add our 32GB DDR5 reminiscence and 1TB SSD upgrades. The MacBook Professional 14 begins at $1,999, and that value soars to $2,599 when you deploy 32GB of reminiscence and a 1TB SSD. Replicate the Lenovo’s Slim 7i Professional X’s spec sheet on a Dell XPS 13 Plus and it will price you $1,999, or $2,199 if you would like an OLED display.
The Slim 7i Professional X might not have the display high quality of these laptops or the battery lifetime of the MacBook, but it surely does ship enormous energy inside a compact, sturdy and manageable bundle – and that makes it among the finest small work laptops in the marketplace.
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