The brand new Lenovo Slim 7i Professional X is a superb addition to Lenovo’s skinny & gentle shopper laptop computer line-up as a result of it packs a giant punch, due to its Intel twelfth technology H-Collection CPU paired with a discrete NVIDIA GPU. They makes the Slim 7i Professional X (i stands for Intel) a really enticing laptop computer for Inventive customers who search an ultra-compact laptop computer.
Any shopper who likes to have nice multimedia and gaming experiences in a excessive mobility kind also needs to think about this laptop computer. As extra seemingly mundane duties akin to videoconferencing can profit from AI computing, discrete GPUs have a big benefit in additional domains exterior gaming.
Lenovo Slim 7i Professional X Specs Highlights
Our particular evaluate unit has the next configuration: Intel Core i7-12700H (14 cores), 16GB RAM (2x8GB, soldered, 6000Mhz), 512GB SSD, NVIDIA RTX 3050 graphics processor. It’s potential to have 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.
On the time of publishing, the value is estimated to be round $1,499. Lenovo.com typically has deep reductions and offers, so it’s price checking there when buying.
CPU choices
| 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 Choices
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB GDDR6 VRAM |
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4 GB GDDR6 VRAM |
| Intel Iris Xe |
Industrial Design
The Slim 7i Professional X’s design is consumer-oriented and appears edgy due to a skinny profile with rounded corners harking back to smartphones and tablets. That’s much like the Lenovo Slim 9i 14 we lately reviewed. The all-metal chassis is extraordinarily inflexible when closed, and the thin show minimally wobbles.
The matte floor is proof against fingerprints, and we’ve got not observed any blemishes after a number of weeks, however we didn’t attempt to scratch it on objective both. Total, it’s clear and, extra importantly, stays clear. Our mannequin has a Silver end, but it surely’s additionally potential to get a neat Darkish Gray.
The ability button is on the appropriate aspect, and I respect the presence of a Energy LED gentle and the truth that this button doesn’t sit flush with the chassis. Typically it’s arduous to seek out the facility button in the dead of night (airplane with lights off, darkish keynote room, and so forth.), so it’s a pleasant element. There’s additionally a webcam ON/OFF close to the Energy button for individuals who extremely worth privateness.
Its weight of 3.19 Lbs (1.45 kg) makes it skinny & gentle, and it looks like a premium product with some heft when you will have it in your hand.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The Slim i7 Professional X has an unlimited trackpad for individuals who use essentially the most advanced gestures or need excessive trackpad precision and superior ergonomics. It looks as if it’s essentially the most outsized Lenovo trackpad I’ve seen on their 14” laptops.
The keyboard is just about unchanged from earlier Yoga laptops, and whereas there are at all times tiny variations, the general high quality and really feel stay equivalent. The tactile suggestions and key journey depth are agreeable. The small UP/Down arrow keys are the one factor I might foyer to alter as I’m a heavy typer and use them to navigate paperwork extensively.
Ports
For such a small laptop computer, the assortment of ports is excellent, with a full-size USB and HDMI 2.1 ports, that are workhorses for anybody. For ultra-connectivity, the 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports are unbelievable and allow high-speed docking that I’ve come to make use of each at dwelling and work. It’s simply too handy to plug your laptop computer right 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 privateness shutter slider |
Sound
Because of the two x 2W Harman Audio system licensed for Dolby Atmos Audio, this laptop computer delivers an excellent sound high quality with excessive quantity, clear voices, and no distortion. It’s not the best possible audio we’ve heard for a skinny and lightweight, but it surely’s clearly among the many finest choices you will get. Will probably be nice for leisure, shopper demos, or group convention calls.
Show
All three show choices function a 14.5” 3K (3072 x 1920) 120Hz show, and I believe that’s an amazing selection as 1080p is a bit low-PPI (OK for gaming), and 4K is overkill and battery-hungry. Earlier than you ask: sure, you may open the show with one hand, and it opens to almost 180 levels to -almost- lay flat.
All of the choices function the identical specs and efficiency: IPS LCD, 400 NITs brightness, Delta-E decrease than 1.0 (excellent colours), 100% sRGB shade gamut, NVIDIA G-SYNC, Dolby Imaginative and prescient licensed, and TUV low blue gentle. These are excessive show specs, and there’s nothing to complain about, particularly at shopper costs.
The first distinction between the shows is that one is a touch-screen with a glass floor (shiny end). One other has a shiny end however no contact. Lastly, there’s one with out the glass floor, and I can solely assume it has a matte end, however I’ve not seen it in individual.
The discrete GPU paired with the NVIDIA G-Sync 120Hz show makes this laptop computer very succesful for video games, particularly should you’re enjoying one thing that doesn’t use the newest graphics (Raytracing and so forth.) and will subsequently max out the FPS. NVIDIA’s DLSS will assist fairly a bit with that.
Webcam
Lenovo has included a 1080p FHD webcam with an IR (infrared) sensor and twin microphones. The IR sensor is nice for unlocking your PC with Home windows Hey as an alternative of typing a protracted, very safe password. I haven’t seen a fingerprint reader, so facial recognition could be your only option on this case.
Efficiency
A discrete graphics processor makes an enormous distinction within the graphics benchmarks. The Intel Core i7-12700H CPU presents superior efficiency over CPUs just like the Intel i7-1260P usually present in office-productivity laptops like one of many new Lenovo X1 Carbon Gen10 we beforehand examined.
The NVIDIA RTX 3050 cell GPU assist this laptop computer ship a world-class Velocity/Weight efficiency ratio. By the way in which, that is an NVIDIA Studio-certified laptop computer.
As such, the Slim 7i Professional X may very well be thought of a really compact, high-performance workstation for Inventive fans and professionals who want excessive mobility. That truth is bolstered by the wonderful show choices and 32GB which are the appropriate selection for imagery work.
Our analysis reveals that most individuals are taken with evaluating the Intel-powered Slim 7i Professional X and the AMD-powered Slim 7 Professional X, so we embrace these numbers right here, together with knowledge from the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen10 and the Lenovo Slim 9i 14.
We additionally see wonderful outcomes when taking a look at efficiency by means of the lens of worth and weight, which additional validate the ultra-mobility workstation path. Even the SSD disk pace is on par with Enterprise merchandise fairly than akin to Shopper laptops.
All the outcomes are precisely what one would anticipate from the varied configuration variations. The one factor that shocked us a bit was the divergence between the Cinebench R23 and Geekbench 5 CPU benchmarks between the Intel and AMD model of the Slim 7/7i Professional X laptops.
They recommend that the Intel CPU is mostly wonderful, however in case you are a heavy Cinebench consumer, you may wish to think about the AMD laptop computer as an alternative.
Regardless of its slim design, the chassis stayed cool in the course of the exams. The floor’s temperature hovers round 44C (111.3F), the temperature at which issues really feel sizzling to the pores and skin. Moreover, this laptop computer is just not almost as loud as Gaming laptops, and that’s a substantial benefit when exhibiting some work to a shopper, for instance.
Battery Life
The 70Wh battery capability is bigger than most skinny & gentle of comparable dimension. Nevertheless, the additional capability can be required to help a extra performant and power-hungry system. That’s why the laptop computer comes with a 100W PSU, which isn’t removed from the utmost supported by a USB-C connector.
You must get about 6 to 7 hours of workplace work, represented by a benchmark like PCMark 10 Trendy Workplace. Nevertheless, if you wish to squeeze extra longevity, you may scale back the show refresh charge from 120Hz all the way down to 60Hz and get 15%-20% extra.
Much less performant skinny & gentle 14” laptops can get 11-14h of battery life, however bear in mind, they usually function a lot slower CPUs and GPUs together with 1080p shows, so it’s not comparable.In actuality, few folks would spend that size of time on something apart from watching movies. Lenovo claims this laptop computer can play native (not streaming) movies for 12.5 hours.
Conclusion
Cleary designed for Creators who need ultra-mobility, the Lenovo Slim 7i Professional X (official web page) delivers spectacular configuration choices and efficiency. Even the pricing is enticing, particularly should you examine it with enterprise laptops with extra safety and IT options you won’t need or want.
Some potential prospects might favor a 4K show, however I discover that choice to be a bit overkill for a 14.5” laptop computer, and I labored within the graphics business for 12 years. It’s a matter of preferences, I suppose.
Ultimately, I might even suggest the Slim 7i Professional X to individuals who is probably not Inventive professionals as a result of they may use apps that might profit from a robust GPU and never even understand it (Zoom + NVIDIA Broadcast, for instance).
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