I reviewed one of the first laptops in Microsoft ’s newCopilot+and Windows on Arm initiative , theHP OmniBook X , which provided very ripe performance and better efficiency than premature Windows machines . Now , I ’m taking a look at another , the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x , which uses the same chipset but demonstrates that while interchangeable , these are n’t cooky - stonecutter designs .
The Yoga Slim 7x is just slightly more expensive but adds in a superscript organic light-emitting diode display . That think of its assault and battery life is n’t as serious , but it ’s a much better experience overall . The Yoga Slim 7x better shows off the hope of the new genesis of Windows , and is wanton to urge .
Specs and configurations
The Yoga Slim 7x has fewer configuration options than many Lenovo laptops , and they ’re simpler to understand and select . The only chipset option is the Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78 - 100 , and with 16 GB of RAM , a 512 GB SSD , and a 14.5 - inch 3 K OLED display ( the only alternative ) , it ’s $ 1,199 . upgrade to 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD encourage the Mary Leontyne Price to $ 1,313 .
Those are attractive monetary value for a premium laptop computer , and more attractive than the OmniBook X that ’s just $ 60 less expensive but with a lower - Re IPS display .
Design
The Yoga Slim 7x is the 2nd Copilot+ laptop I ’ve reviewed , with the first being the HP OmniBook X. As I did with the HP , I ’ll be skipping a discussion of Copilot+ AI functionality because there is unlikely to be much difference between the current craw of machines and the biggest feature film , Copilot+ , has been postponed . The feature article that made it into this release , though , include enhanced Studio Effects , Live Captions , andCocreator . Each will gain from the Snapdragon X Elite ’s focus on AI carrying out .
But , I will focalise on the Yoga Slim 7x as a laptop computer . By comparing with the OmniBook X , it ’s the more like the MacBook Air M3 that ’s the strong contender . To begin with , the Yoga Slim 7x is thinner , as little as 0.51 inch compared to theMacBook Air M3‘s 0.44 in and the OmniBook X ’s 0.57 inches . The Lenovo is also slightly lighter than the HP at 2.82 pounds versus 2.97 pounds , in nastiness of having a larger display . The MacBook Air M3 is 2.7 Lebanese pound .
But it ’s not just the dimension — it ’s also the esthetic . Somehow , the Yoga Slim 7x just seems more streamlined and elegant , more in line with the MacBook ’s look and feel . The even more refined color scheme , the speaker grilles alongside the keyboard , the inverse notch at the top that house the webcam and contribute to much thin and more modern bezels — all of it merge to make a more attractive laptop with a more premium appearance . I ’ll get to the video display below , but OLED ’s bright colors and inky blackness sure aid .
Each of these laptop is all - aluminum , and each is rigid in the keyboard deck and chassis bottom . Interestingly , they also have lid that are a bit flexible . That ’s obstinate to several other premium laptops I ’ve reviewed , like theDell XPS 13 , that are more rigid overall . Even so , the Yoga Slim 7x has a robust spirit that ’s as practiced as most of its competitors .
Keyboard and touchpad
The keyboard seems like a bit of a departure from other Lenovo pattern . Its keycaps are less sculpted than I commemorate , and they ’re diminished . That name the spatial arrangement seem more generous . The transposition are very dependable , with a snappiness , a comfortable bottom action , and just enough pressure to create a accurate feel . I like it a lot — not quite as much as the Magic Keyboard on late MacBooks , but it ’s very close .
The touchpad is mechanical , which is hunky-dory at its price . It ’s very large and exact , but the button mouse click are a flake loud . More agiotage laptops are include tactile touchpads , including all MacBooks and some other machines like the XPS 13 . I lack it here .
The Yoga Slim 7x ’s show is hint - enable , which I care . That ’s something the MacBook Air M3 does n’t offer but some other competitors do , include the OmniBook X and the XPS 13 .
Connectivity and webcam
The Yoga Slim 7x is all - in on USB4 . The Modern embrasure has many of the same features and carrying into action as Thunderbolt 4 , so that ’s not a bad thing — although most 14 - inch laptops also have a legacy joining or two . More distressing is that there ’s no 3.5 mm sound old salt , a limit that ’s only shared by the XPS 13 ( or shut enough ) . There ’s also no Mount Rushmore State card reader , although those are becoming less uncouth . Wireless connectivity is full New , which Wi - Fi 7 on board .
The webcam is a 1080p edition with an infrared photographic camera for Windows 11 facial recognition . It ’s contained in Lenovo ’s rearward snick that also defecate opening the hat a number easier . As a Copilot+ car , the Yoga Slim 7x supports the enhanced version of Microsoft ’s Studio Effects software for adept background blurring , face tracking , and other capabilities .
CPU performance
The Yoga Slim 7x use the Qualcomm Snapdragon X elect X1E-78 - 100 chipset , the slowest interpretation available . Each chipset has the same 12 kernel ( eight performance and four effective ) , but the X1E-78 - 100 is the dim at 3.4GHz and without a two-fold - core boost . The X1E-00 - 1DE is the fastest , running at up to 3.8GHz with a dual - core boost to 4.3GHz , while the X1E-84 - 100 in the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge 16 lean just a little slower at 4.2GHz .
Our power to screen Windows on Arm laptops is a bit modified today , with only a subset of our usual benchmarks running natively . In two such bench mark — Geekbench 6 and Cinebench 2024 — we see that the Qualcomm chipset is importantly firm than Intel ’s Meteor Lake and Apple ’s M3 — in the latter pillow slip , in multi - core applications . In exclusive - core applications , the M3 keep its speed advantages . Naturally , the Apple M3 Max chipset , which has significantly more cores , is much faster . That demonstrate how Apple Silicon can scale to much faster functioning . And the M3 is quicker in single - core , meaning that for easy twenty-four hour period - to - Clarence Shepard Day Jr. workloads , the MacBook Air might feel more reactive .
In my testing , I did n’t run into any program that plainly would n’t run on the Yoga Slim 7x . alfresco of bench mark , apps hunt in emulation fashion were enough tight enough . And each of these laptops was flying enough to handle require productivity tasks . What ’s most important is that Windows on Arm no longer has a performance penalisation that should give the distinctive user break . The Yoga Slim 7x has a fan , and it did birl up during examination . It ’s not loud , but notably the MacBook Air M3 is fanless and therefore totally soundless . That also affects the MacBook Air ’s sustained performance .
GPU performance
The Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78 - 100 ’s Adreno GPU ladder at 3.8 TFLOPS , while the fast chipsets run at 4.6 TFLOPS . And once again , we ’re bound in how we can test Windows on Arm public presentation .
We have one benchmark that ’s project as a crabbed - platform benchmark to test a broad orbit of GPUs . That ’s 3DMark Wild Life Extreme , and it ’s aim at low-spirited - end nontextual matter like Intel Arc . As such , it does n’t show the same extremes in performance when compared to fast discrete graphics . In this test , the Yoga Slim 7x performed as await . It ’s close to equivalent to Intel Arc but slower than the MacBook Air and Pro . That mean it ’s not more than an entry - level gambling laptop , like its competition , and it also means that it wo n’t perform better than Windows laptop with discrete nontextual matter in apps like Adobe Premiere Pro that can use the GPU to speed up various processes .
The Pugetbench Premiere Pro bench mark tests that public presentation , but it does n’t run yet on Windows on Arm . But by comparability , the Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 9 mark 2,329 in the bench mark , while the MacBook Air M3 scored 3,633 . Apple Si is faster in this bench mark because of various CPU optimizations and not specifically because of its GPU performance . But it implies that the Yoga Slim 7x wo n’t be nearly as tight .
Ultimately , the Yoga Slim 7x is like its Windows x86 rivalry . It ’s start to be fine for lightweight gambling and creative thinking , but you ’ll want to wait for Windows on Arm motorcar with distinct graphics if you ’re a creator or heavier gamer .
AI performance
The Snapdragon X Elite has a neural processing building block ( NPU ) that ’s rated at 40 Pidlimdi operations per 2nd ( whirligig ) . That ’s quicker than the NPU in Intel ’s Meteor Lake chipset that ’s 10 TOPS , and also faster than the Neural Engine ( NE ) in Apple ’s M3 chipset that ’s at 18 superlative .
aright now , we do n’t have any way to benchmark the relative performance of these automobile — at least , not that have been fully fleshed out and accurately assess AI performance .
For now , I ’ll just say that , theoretically , the Snapdragon X Elite will be the fastest in footing of on - equipment AI public presentation that specifically utilizes the NPU . If the GPU is involved , then once again , discrete GPUs will furnish faster carrying out . And other upcoming chipsets promise to be faster , such asIntel ’s Lunar Lakewith an NPU at 45 top , AMD ’s Ryzen AIwith 50 TOPS , andApple ’s M4with 38 TOPS .
Of course , at the same clip , there ’s a wide range of AI capability across unlike platforms . Even if we had a dependable benchmark , that would only say how a laptop do relative to other laptops running the same AI features .
Battery life
More than anything , the Snapdragon X Elite and Windows on Arm promise better efficiency as a marketing period . They ’re middling debauched than Intel Meteor Lake and the MacBook Air M3 , but not enough that you would choose them base on performance along . But better battery life would be significant .
So far , I ’ve found barrage life to be a backbreaking thing to assess . On the one hand , the Yoga Slim 7x has the same effective Snapdragon chipset as the OmniBook X. But it has a larger barrage fire at 70 watt - hour versus 54 watt - minute and a larger and more power - thirsty 14.5 - column inch 3 cat valium OLED show versus a 14.0 - in 2.2 K IPS panel that ’s theoretically less power - athirst .
In the two tests we can run dependably on Windows on Arm , the Yoga Slim 7x was less impressive . Not only was the OmniBook 10 importantly longer - permanent , especially in the video - looping test , but the Yoga did n’t last as long as theAsus Zenbook 14 Q425with a down in the mouth - resolve OLED display and an Intel Meteor Lake chipset . bombardment life was good than most Meteor Lake laptops , but not most as long as the MacBook Air M3 in web browse and less in video .
When run a more - demanding test with free burning lashings , the Snapdragon X Elite machines are even less telling . With only slightly well carrying out than the MacBook Air M3 , when all three execute the Cinebench 2024 multi - core test at some 100 % carrying into action , the MacBook Air M3 lasted for 3.5 time of day while the two Windows on Arm machines hold up for just two hours . That ’s more than a laptop like the XPS 13 that lasted for 1.5 60 minutes , but not as significantly .
Overall , I have to reason that while the Windows on Arm laptops are more effective than most current Windows laptop , they ’re not as effective as Apple Silicon laptops . And I ’m not sure they ’re worth buying base on battery life alone .
Display and audio
The Yoga Slim 7x costs at most around $ 60 more than the OmniBook X , but for that you get a spectacular OLED presentation . Just rick them on is a different experience alone . OLED colors are so much brighter and more dynamic , and when combined with the inky blacks , they make for a much good first impression . And , that first picture endure as you use the laptops .
consort to my tintometer , this is a tone OLED presentation . Its colour are incredibly wide at 100 % of sRGB , 96 % of AdobeRGB , and 100 % of DCI - P3 . That compares to the HP at 100 % , 78 % , and 100 % , respectively . Both laptop computer have excellent color accuracy , at DeltaEs of 0.67 and 0.98 ( less than 1.0 is identical to the human optic ) . The OLED show has nearly infinite demarcation , which measures at 16,980:1 compared to the IPS panel at 1,400:1 . And the Lenovo display is also much shiny at 489 nit versus 325 nits .
Given the similarity between the two laptop computer , it ’s voiceless to justify the OmniBook X over the Yoga Slim 7x by video display quality alone . That goes for many other laptop computer as well , including the MacBook Air M3 .
And the Yoga has a four - verbalizer setup with two upwardly - dismission tweeter and two downward - firing woofers , which provide for louder and clearer audio over the HP ’s dual - verbalizer apparatus . It ’s a slap-up multimedia system experience .
An even better next-gen Windows laptop
The Yoga Slim 7x does n’t live up to the promise of MacBook - similar barrage fire life , but that does n’t mean it ’s not a new variety of Windows laptop computer . It ’s still longer - live than most , and it ’s faster than its immediate contender . Once AI becomes more important , it ’s well - positioned there as well .
And compare to the first such laptop , the OmniBook X , the Yoga Slim 7x has an OLED presentation that ’s so much better . For less than $ 100 more , that makes the Yoga a much more attractive laptop and much easy to recommend .
