Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x Copilot+ PC review: From price to performance

Performance is mediocre on the whole, and the Yoga Slim 7x delivered average scores out of the five Copilot+ PCs I’ve tested to date, both on the usual CPU-intensive applications and on graphics-heavy tests, though I did achieve an oddly high score on the Cinebench 2024 image-rendering benchmark that I can’t easily explain. A curious result, but I won’t shrug at the unexpectedly great performance, however fleeting.

At the risk of repeating myself once more, remember that Snapdragon-based computers still have compatibility issues And not every app will run; if you need the basics — web browser, Microsoft Office, minesweeper– This wouldn’t be a big deal, but power users are already facing bottlenecks with some of their most essential software.

The laptop’s battery life, like other Copilot+ PC units, is excellent. It scored 15 hours and 36 minutes in the full-screen YouTube test, which was second best. Surface Pro’s 17 hours and 20 minutesAnd just a little bit beyond the 15 hours I had achieved HP EliteBook Ultra G1qAudio quality is okay, but not great; in a larger room, it won’t be enough for movie night.

The hands-on experience with the laptop is solid. The 14.5-inch screen is an odd size, but it gives the laptop a little extra space without making it feel too big. The keyboard has that classic Lenovo snap, with well-spaced keys and a light powder coating on the keycaps that makes them feel pleasant on the fingers. The touchpad isn’t huge, but it’s roomy, and I rarely touch it with my palm while typing.

The Slim 7x has one drawback, and it’s a big one: the fan runs even under moderate load, and it’s very loud — by far the fastest Copilot+ PC I’ve tested to date. The new Snapdragon chipset A sip of power indeedThat’s what enables such impressive battery life, so the presence of a very loud fan here is a surprise. It’s an unfortunate eyesore (ear irritant?) in what is otherwise an impressive package.

What makes up for this and other shortcomings is the price. At $1,200, the Yoga Slim 7x is the cheapest of the CoPilot+ PCs I’ve tested to date, and dollar-for-dollar it has the best price-performance ratio of any other PC, no matter which metric you’re looking at (raw performance or battery life). If you want a sleek, immersive experience, best-in-class power, or a room-filling multimedia system, this probably isn’t your best option. But if you want an all-around solid utility player at a reasonable price (and you’re sold on the Snapdragon), you can’t go wrong.