Lenovo Slim 7i Pro X Review

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The new Lenovo Slim 7i Pro X is an excellent addition to Lenovo’s thin & light consumer laptop line-up because it packs a big punch, thanks to its Intel 12th generation H-Series CPU paired with a discrete NVIDIA GPU. They makes the Slim 7i Pro X (i stands for Intel) a very attractive laptop for Creative users who seek an ultra-compact laptop.

Any consumer who likes to have great multimedia and gaming experiences in a high mobility form should also consider this laptop. As more seemingly mundane tasks such as videoconferencing can benefit from AI computing, discrete GPUs have a significant advantage in more domains outside gaming.

Lenovo Slim 7i Pro X Specifications Highlights

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

At the time of publishing, the price is estimated to be around $1,499. Lenovo.com sometimes has deep discounts and deals, so it’s worth checking there when shopping.

CPU options

Intel Core i7-12700H (2.3 GHz, 14 Cores, 24M Cache)

Intel Core i7-12650H (2.3 GHz, 10 Cores, 24M Cache)

Intel Core i5-12500H (2.5 GHz, 12 Cores, 18M Cache)

GPU Options

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB GDDR6 VRAM

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4 GB GDDR6 VRAM

Intel Iris Xe

Industrial Design

The Slim 7i Pro X’s design is consumer-oriented and looks edgy thanks to a thin profile with rounded corners reminiscent of smartphones and tablets. That’s similar to the Lenovo Slim 9i 14 we recently reviewed. The all-metal chassis is extremely rigid when closed, and the skinny display minimally wobbles.

The matte surface is resistant to fingerprints, and we have not noticed any blemishes after a few weeks, but we didn’t try to scratch it on purpose either. Overall, it is clean and, more importantly,  stays clean. Our model has a Silver finish, but it’s also possible to get a neat Dark Grey.

The power button is on the right side, and I appreciate the presence of a Power LED light and the fact that this button does not sit flush with the chassis. Sometimes it’s hard to find the power button in the dark (airplane with lights off, dark keynote room, etc.), so it’s a nice detail. There’s also a webcam ON/OFF near the Power button for those who highly value privacy.

Its weight of 3.19 Lbs (1.45 kg) makes it thin & light, and it feels like a premium product with some heft when you have it in your hand.

Keyboard and Trackpad

The Slim i7 Pro X has an enormous trackpad for those who use the most complex gestures or want high trackpad precision and superior ergonomics. It seems like it’s the most oversized Lenovo trackpad I’ve seen on their 14” laptops.

The keyboard is virtually unchanged from previous Yoga laptops, and while there are always tiny differences, the overall quality and feel remain identical. The tactile feedback and key travel depth are agreeable. The small UP/Down arrow keys are the only thing I would lobby to change as I am a heavy typer and use them to navigate documents extensively.

Ports

For such a small laptop, the assortment of ports is outstanding, with a full-size USB and HDMI 2.1 ports, which are workhorses for anyone. For ultra-connectivity, the two Thunderbolt 4 ports are fantastic and enable high-speed docking that I have come to use both at home and work. It’s just too convenient to plug your laptop into a single USB-C port and use it with a desktop-like array of peripherals.

HDMI 2.1 (2.1 on NVIDIA GPU)

2x Thunderbolt 4 (TB4)

1x USB-A

3.5mm audio

Webcam privacy shutter slider

Sound

Thanks to the 2 x 2W Harman Speakers certified for Dolby Atmos Audio, this laptop delivers a very good sound quality with high volume, clear voices, and no distortion. It’s not the absolute best audio we’ve heard for a thin and light, but it’s clearly among the best options you can get. It will be great for entertainment, client demos, or group conference calls.

Display

All three display options feature a 14.5” 3K (3072 x 1920) 120Hz display, and I think that’s a great choice as 1080p is a bit low-PPI (OK for gaming), and 4K is overkill and battery-hungry. Before you ask: yes, you can open the display with one hand, and it opens to nearly 180 degrees to -almost- lay flat.

All the options feature the same specs and performance: IPS LCD, 400 NITs brightness, Delta-E lower than 1.0 (perfect colors), 100% sRGB color gamut, NVIDIA G-SYNC, Dolby Vision certified, and TUV low blue light. These are high display specs, and there’s nothing to complain about, especially at consumer prices.

The primary difference between the displays is that one is a touch-screen with a glass surface (glossy finish). Another has a glossy finish but no touch. Finally, there’s one without the glass surface, and I can only assume it has a matte finish, but I have not seen it in person.

The discrete GPU paired with the NVIDIA G-Sync 120Hz display makes this laptop very capable for games, especially if you’re playing something that does not use the latest graphics (Raytracing etc.) and could therefore max out the FPS. NVIDIA’s DLSS will help quite a bit with that.

Webcam

Lenovo has included a 1080p FHD webcam with an IR (infrared) sensor and dual microphones. The IR sensor is great for unlocking your PC with Windows Hello instead of typing a long, very secure password. I haven’t seen a fingerprint reader, so facial recognition would be your best option in this case.

Performance

A discrete graphics processor makes a huge difference in the graphics benchmarks. The Intel Core i7-12700H CPU offers superior performance over CPUs like the Intel i7-1260P often found in office-productivity laptops like one of the new Lenovo X1 Carbon Gen10 we previously tested.

The NVIDIA RTX 3050 mobile GPU help this laptop deliver a world-class Speed/Weight performance ratio. By the way, this is an NVIDIA Studio-certified laptop.

As such, the Slim 7i Pro X could be considered a very compact, high-performance workstation for Creative enthusiasts and professionals who need extreme mobility. That fact is reinforced by the excellent display options and 32GB that are the right choice for imagery work.

Our research shows that most people are interested in comparing the Intel-powered Slim 7i Pro X and the AMD-powered Slim 7 Pro X, so we include these numbers here, along with data from the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen10 and the Lenovo Slim 9i 14.

We also see excellent results when looking at performance through the lens of price and weight, which further validate the ultra-mobility workstation direction. Even the SSD disk speed is on par with Enterprise products rather than comparable to Consumer laptops.

All the results are exactly what one would expect from the various configuration differences. The only thing that surprised us a bit was the divergence between the Cinebench R23 and Geekbench 5 CPU benchmarks between the Intel and AMD version of the Slim 7/7i Pro X laptops.

They suggest that the Intel CPU is generally excellent, but if you are a heavy Cinebench user, you might want to consider the AMD laptop instead.

Despite its slim design, the chassis stayed cool during the tests. The surface’s temperature hovers around 44C (111.3F), the temperature at which things feel hot to the skin. Additionally, this laptop is not nearly as loud as Gaming laptops, and that’s a considerable advantage when showing some work to a client, for example.

Battery Life

The 70Wh battery capacity is larger than most thin & light of comparable size. However, the extra capacity is also required to support a more performant and power-hungry system. That’s why the laptop comes with a 100W PSU, which is not far from the maximum supported by a USB-C connector.

You should get about 6 to 7 hours of office work, represented by a benchmark like PCMark 10 Modern Office. However, if you want to squeeze more longevity, you can reduce the display refresh rate from 120Hz down to 60Hz and get 15%-20% more.

Less performant thin & light 14” laptops can get 11-14h of battery life, but remember, they often feature much slower CPUs and GPUs along with 1080p displays, so it’s not comparable. In reality, few people would spend that length of time on anything other than watching videos. Lenovo claims this laptop can play local (not streaming) videos for 12.5 hours.

Conclusion

Cleary designed for Creators who want ultra-mobility, the Lenovo Slim 7i Pro X (official page) delivers impressive configuration options and performance. Even the pricing is attractive, especially if you compare it with enterprise laptops with more security and IT features you might not want or need.

Some potential customers may prefer a 4K display, but I find that option to be a bit overkill for a 14.5” laptop, and I worked in the graphics industry for 12 years. It’s a matter of preferences, I suppose.

In the end, I would even recommend the Slim 7i Pro X to people who may not be Creative professionals because they might use apps that could benefit from a powerful GPU and not even know it (Zoom + NVIDIA Broadcast, for example).

Hubert Nguyen
Categories: Computers, Reviews
Tags: Laptop Reviews, Lenovo, Lenovo reviews, Social Hit