The Yoga Slim 7i Carbon changes our expectations about laptops, for while Lightweight ultraportables are not uncommon in this day and age, Lenovo has spiced up their latest featherweight contender with their unique design style and intelligent features that would be welcome by users working in high traffic areas.
As our NXT Angel Avrrey Snow mentioned in her feature on the Yoga Slim 7i Carbon, this featherweight notebook weights just 966 grams as its constructed from aero-grade strength carbon fibre, for both its internal chassis and external shell, with the laptop’s white finish is achieved by meticulously applying 3-layer high heat and 6 to 9 hours of painting process over its carbon black base to produce the subtle white sheen. Needless to say, the laptop meets MIL-STD 810G standards with up to 9 military-grade testings for durability.
A few other design features stand out. Firstly, the IR camera module at the top bezel of the display protrudes slightly which helps to lift the hinge. Second, the hinge can unfold flat all the way to 180-degrees. You would be surprised only a small percentage of laptops can do that. Third, the ambient light sensor automatically adjusts keyboard backlight according to lighting conditions. Initially, I was not a fan of the keyboard because of the very short key travel, but once I got used to it, I realised that the shallow keys provide good typing accuracy without the need to press too deep.
The major feature that keeps me intrigued throughout the review is the Lenovo Smart Assist which utilises AI to improve the way we use the laptop. The Slim 7i Carbon detects your presence using a time-of-flight sensor so that the display wakes up when you are near and activates the AI-powered IR Camera to promptly verify your face to unlock the laptop.
My favourite smart feature is Glance by Mirametrix, which recognises when the user is looking away from the screen and automatically blurs on-screen content. When you have an external monitor attached to the laptop, the feature also detects your head movement and unblurs whichever display you are looking at while blurring the other. It also detects people standing behind you and displays an on-screen alert followed by on-screen blurring. Other wellness features include warning if the user is too close to the screen, and prompts to take a break from the screen. When you step away from your laptop, video playback pauses, the screen blurs, and the OS locks automatically.
Despite all these features, the laptop runs very efficiently when idle, and could last the entire day without the need to put the laptop to sleep. The 50Wh battery can offer a full-day battery life when doing productivity work, and when the battery level is low, it politely warns you with an estimated remaining time. Since the Yoga Slim 7i supports USB-C PD charging, you could use any third-party chargers.
With Harman stereo speakers optimised with Dolby Atmos certification, the Yoga Slim 7i has no problems delivering immersive audio output. From the Dolby Atmos software, users can select one of the many modes to achieve desired audio balance, from warm mids to detail highs, while the wrist area vibrates slightly to the bass notes.
Rating 4.5 / 5
From S$1,599
We Say
The Yoga Slim 7i Carbon thoughtfully curated hardware and software provides a fast, safe, and reliable computing experience.
Technical Specifications
Processor Up to Intel Core i7-1165G7
Operating System Windows 10 Home or Pro
Graphics Intel Xe Graphics
Display 13.3-inch QHD (2560 x 1600), 300 nits
Camera IR camera
Memory up to 16GB LPDDR4
Storage Up to 1TB PCIe-NVMe M.2 2242 SSD
Battery 50Whr
Connectivity 2x USB-C (USB 4.0, PD 3.0, DP 1.4 and Thunderbolt 4), 1x USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PD 3.0, DP 1.4), WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, 1x Audio Jack
Dimensions 296.9 x 208.55 x 14.25 (W x D x H)
Weight 966g
First published in NXT Magazine December 2020. A digital edition can be purchased from Magzter.
