Lenovo Yoga 7I Review
Lenovo Yoga 7I Review: Too Many Compromises To Be Great
Lenovo’s marketing campaign involves renaming laptops while keeping the internals unchanged. Lenovo Yoga 9i now has the Yoga C940 name, while Yoga 7i gets Yoga C740. The laptops look identical on the inside, but the internal improvements are substantial. Both received Intel’s Tiger Lake platform. For the Yoga 7i, that promises improved performance while leveraging whatever other strengths (and weaknesses) possessed by the Yoga C740 before it.
An $899 midrange Yoga 7i was provided to me for review. I had a chance to test it. This makes the Yoga 7i an affordable laptop that is not expensive, but also not high-end. You can push the laptop over $1,100 by upgrading to a Core i7, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, but on paper, my review configuration would make a good productivity workstation for the money. If the Yoga 9i’s Tiger Lake upgrade was successful, will it work the same with the Yoga 7i?
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends. As we mentioned, the Yoga 7i has a similar design to the Yoga C740. That means it’s a rather conservative design with simple lines and angles and absolutely no bling except for the metallic logo on the lid’s upper-left corner. Since a long time, Lenovo’s focus has been to design laptops which don’t make a statement but that still have a lot of appeal. The Dark Moss was my review model (the Dark Slate Gray is also available). It seemed a little too brownish to me with a hint copper. It’s not overpowering, but I like it.
It is well-built and worth the extra money. The Yoga 7i, like all Lenovo laptops, is solidly built. It has an aluminum chassis which resists twisting and bends. It gave slightly when I turned the display around with great force. I also noticed that the keyboard deck was slightly flexible. That’s just nitpicking. You won’t feel that flex in actual-life usage. One complaint is that the hinge is quite tight and requires two hands to open, but it does remain in place through its four 2-in-1 modes (clamshell, tent, media, and tablet).
While the Yoga 7i may not be as small-sized as recent 2-in-1s (e.g., HP Spectre x360 13, Asus ZenBook Flip S), it does follow the trend to smaller bezels. It has smaller bezels to the side but the top is quite thick, and the chin is quite chunky according to recent standards. This makes the Yoga 7i look less modern and more bulky than it should have. Although it measures 0.61 to 0.69 inches in thickness, the Yoga 7i weighs in at 3.09 lbs. It’s thinner, at 0.54inches and just 2.58 lbs. The Asus ZenBook 14 UX425 clamshell weighs less than 0.67inches and is 1.88 pound. In use, the Yoga 7i is comfortable in all modes except tablet mode, where it’s a bit unwieldy.
The 14-inch convertible’s connectivity is quite limited. There are two USB-C ports on one side with Thunderbolt 4 support and another on the other. On the right, there is also a 3.5mm audio line and a USB 3.2 port. There is no SD card reader on the device, disappointing creatives. Wi-Fi 6 has been updated, as well as Bluetooth 5.0. Wireless connectivity works seamlessly.
Mark Coppock/Digital Technologies My Yoga 7i review was my first test with the Tiger Lake Core i5-1135G7, and I was excited to see how the results compare to Core i7s. It’s enough to say that I was surprised.
Lenovo Yoga 7I Laptop is an excellent example of Lenovo’s commitment to quality.
is a tiny but mighty, 2-in-1 Intel Evo-certified laptop, which means its core features are a 10-hour battery life, a 1-second wake-up time, and a lightning-fast charging time. Although it offers the same Evo-certified features that other Evo laptops do, Lenovo also has an exceptional knack of combining components in a way that makes them more affordable than most other laptop companies. Although it isn’t the fastest laptop, you shouldn’t expect 4K video editing on this machine. Although the Yoga 7i does not look much different to the Yoga C740, you can use it for school and for quick PowerPoint presentations. The ports and their types are the same, but now Lenovo’s Yoga 7i has two USB 4 Type C ports which are Thunderbolt 4 compatible due to Intel Evo certification standards. The layout of the keyboard is identical. All the hinges and speaker placement are exactly the same. It’s darker than the model I have reviewed, but Lenovo hasn’t changed its design. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? The layout is perfect for a 2-in-1 laptop.
The inside is where the greatest changes take place.
The Intel Core i5-10210U, 10th generation processor, has been swapped for the Intel Core i5-1135G7. This gives the Yoga a noticeable performance boost across our regular benchmark tests. These are quad-core, eight-thread processors which clock in at 4.20GHz. But the Core i5-1135G7 with its smaller transistor architecture (10.5nm SuperFin versus 14nm) allows it to run more efficiently with the same specs.
Lenovo Yoga 7I: A Premium Intel Evo Laptop on a Budget
Intel’s new 10-nanometer Tiger Lake CPUs will soon be spotted in more laptops, as it is only a few weeks since its latest mobile CPUs, which replace Ice Lake, were launched. Lenovo was quick out of the gate, however, and the company sent us an interesting sub-$1,000 Tiger Lake configuration from its rather plentiful 2-in-1 lineup. Our first shipment was the Lenovo Yoga 7i. It is flexible, 14-inch convertible that arrives on our doorstep with an 11th Gen Core Core 81135G7 processor.
Our encounters with Intel’s Tiger Lake platform have included higher-end SKUs. We benchmarked a Core i7-1185G7 as part of a reference notebook Intel gave shortly after the Architecture Day 2020 event. Also, we reviewed the Core i7-1165G7 in our Dell XPS 13 Review. Those are the two fastest Tiger Lake processors within the UP3-series (what Intel previously called its U-series) for thin and light laptops.
Core i5-1135G7 offers an option to make a laptop with the same core CPU architecture for a lower price. It is this that makes the Yoga 7i unique. Although it is still a Tiger Lake CPU, the Yoga 7i has four cores and eight threads. However, there’s less cache (eight versus 12MB) as well as a more compact implementation of Intel’s powerful new Core Xe graphics processor (we’ll talk about that later).
Intel claims Tiger Lake to be the world’s “best processor for thin or light laptops,” the Yoga 7i turns that into an affordable package at $749.99. The configuration that we were given costs $899.99. This is all the included equipment.
Processor Intel Core Corei5-1135G7 (4 Cores 8 Threads, 2.4GHz Base, 4.2GHz Max Turbo )
Blade Bone Conduction Speaker on Sale: 28% Discount
Receive 26% discount on the Quest45″ Wide PC Gamer Computer Desk In terms of graphics power as well as connectivity, Intel’s latest 11th-generation processors made a major difference. The Dark Moss finish is also a good touch.
However, I went into this review asking one big question: why? The Yoga 7i 15 is 4.19 pounds. This is a fairly standard weight for a 15 inch laptop made of aluminum. However, these PCs are more likely to have dedicated graphics and 45W processors. If we begin to look at 15-inch notebooks with integrated graphic, then they target the slim and light market.
Yoga 7i15 does both. It isn’t thin or light and doesn’t feature dedicated graphics. Intel’s Iris Xe GPUs give it a lot more power than a similar PC, making it a great computer.
Design
Lenovo sent me a Dark Moss Lenovo Yoga 7i 15 and it is available in Slate Grey or Dark Moss. It’s a great laptop, and I love it. If you have been following my reviews then you know I often criticize Lenovo’s Yoga Laptops’ design. It’s a boring color in a world that has so much more interesting choices than Lenovo.
The Dark Moss color is a shade of green that’s tinted more on the yellow end of the spectrum than the blue end. While it isn’t bright and vivid, Dark Moss has a subtler color than most while still being deep. Although it is green in color, I wasn’t expecting this. It is worth going to the actual store and seeing it firsthand, even though I love it.
The Yoga logo, located in the upper-left corner of the screen, is a mirror greenish-yellow. This gives it an extra touch. If I recall correctly, it’s the first instance of the logo appearing in anything other than silver. Bottom right, the Lenovo logo in silver is Dark Moss.
Notably, I am going to write similar words about the Yoga 9i 14. Lenovo appears to be doing different things now with consumer laptops.
You’d expect a Yoga 7 Series logo on the lid. This is a standard feature for Yoga 7 Series laptops since Lenovo’s reverse-notch design was introduced. Because of its aluminum design, it weighs in at more than four pounds. It is however a very affordable device for the price.
Thunderbolt 4 is a key component of Intel’s value proposition. Thunderbolt 4 allows for 40Gbps data transfer speed from a single port. You can also use it to power two 4K or eight-K monitors. You can also connect an external GPU to the Iris Xe graphic card. With two Thunderbolt 4 ports, you can connect dual 4K displays to your laptop and still have a port leftover for charging.
Do you sound familiar? Thunderbolt 3 was capable of the same abilities. The only difference is that Thunderbolt 4 has a key distinction. It’s a crucial one. Thunderbolt 4 has this minimum spec. Thunderbolt 3 allowed OEMs two lanes to replace four. It also reduced the bandwidth half. You could get 20Gbps speed, one 4-K display and so forth. Worse, you couldn’t tell whether a Thunderbolt 3 port was of minimum specs or full specification if your PC was purchased. It’s clear what Thunderbolt 4 can do.
Trackpad and Keyboard
The Lenovo Yoga 7i 15 keyboard I tested is almost identical to that of my Yoga 9i 15 review. Both keyboards have the numpad located to the right side of the main keyboard. It’s up to you to decide if that’s something you like. It’s not something I use.
Backlit keys make it easier to use. Lenovo keeps its ThinkPads with deeper keys, although the look is different for consumer laptops. But, quality doesn’t seem to suffer. You can also type louder with this keyboard.
Below the keys is a fingerprint sensor. This fingerprint sensor is the only way to authenticate your Yoga 7i 15. I would rather have an IR cam if I could, however it’s nice to have the fingerprint sensor instead of nothing.
As you might expect, the Yoga 7i 15 15 features a Microsoft Precision touchpad. And it is quite useful. My reviews will show you that I like the Yoga 7i 15’s touchpad a lot more, to better take full advantage of the aluminium deck. However, I wouldn’t expect it from such a machine.
Conclusion
I think the biggest thing that’s worth noting about the Yoga 7i 15 is the value. The Yoga 7i 15 is less than a thousand dollars, and it comes with a lot. Although it is missing a few essentials, such as an IR camera and cellular connectivity options, the pros outweigh these.
Intel’s Tiger Lake chips offer excellent performance, with a Core i7 processor and 512GB memory. That’s not all. You also get a FHD screen, Dolby Audio speakers and amazing battery life. Tiger Lake’s PCs have a battery life that is comparable to my own.
It also features a very pretty design. This is something that I do not like about many Lenovo Yoga Laptops. The Dark Moss color is a great choice. I’m hoping that Lenovo will continue to explore other looks. The Yoga 9i 14 actually has a leather cover, as you’ll find out when I review it.
.Lenovo Yoga 7I Review