When it comes to iconic laptop designs, the Lenovo name may pop up often, but it’s usually for the company’s corporate ThinkPads. But in the world of 2-in-1 convertible laptops, Lenovo’s Yoga consumer line has been setting the agenda for a decade. Currently, the luxurious Yoga 9i Gen 7 has our Editors’ Choice award among premium convertibles, and the 14-inch Yoga 7i Gen 7 (starting at $879.99; $949.99 as tested) matches the excellence of this machine at a more affordable price. The 14-inch size is arguably perfect for a system that can be used in laptop mode but small enough to carry as a tablet, and the latest Yoga 7i 14 is a very nice 3.2-pound laptop designed that earns an Editor’s Choice nod. . It may be the best yoga yet.
Lenovo’s 7th generation, Intel’s 12th
The $879.99 base model of the Yoga 7i 14 Gen 7 combines one of Intel’s latest Core i5-1235U processors, 8GB of memory, a 512GB PCIe 4.0 solid-state drive, and what Lenovo calls a 2.2K (2,240 by 1,400 pixels). ) IPS touch screen. Our $949.99 test unit ups the processor to an Intel Core i7-1255U and doubles the RAM allocation to 16GB. Other options include a more powerful Core i7-1260P CPU and a 1TB SSD. The flagship model swaps the IPS panel for an OLED screen with a sharper 2,880-by-1,800-pixel resolution and 400 nits of brightness instead of 300 nits, selling for $1,799.99.
Available in Storm Blue or Arctic Grey, the Yoga 7i 14 is made from lightweight but strong anodized aluminum, a sleek slab with rounded edges that are extremely comfortable to hold (and let you type without feeling like the edge of the keyboard deck go away). to cut your wrists). It measures 0.68 by 12.5 by 8.7 inches, nearly matching its rival the Dell Inspiron 14 7415 2-in-1 (0.71 by 12.7 by 8.4 inches), but it’s a fraction lighter with 3.2 vs. 3.4 lbs.
There are a lot of ports for such a compact convertible. On the left side, you’ll find an HDMI video output, two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a microSD card slot.
On the right is a USB 3.2 Type A port, along with an audio jack for headphones or earphones and the power button. The assortment is a welcome contrast to ultraportables like the Apple MacBook Air and Dell XPS 13 Plus that only offer a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports, forcing you to plug in an adapter or hub to use an external monitor or drive flash USB-A. Wireless support is also state-of-the-art, with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2.
It looks (and sounds) good
The Yoga 7i is all about the display, which does double duty as both a laptop screen and a tablet touchscreen, and the high-quality 14-inch IPS panel on our test unit gets the job done. The screen’s 16:10 aspect ratio is slightly taller, requires slightly less scrolling than the familiar 16:9 ratio, and works well in tablet mode. The glossy display offers 10-point touch as well as active stylus support, but we were disappointed that the stylus isn’t included.
Whether I was working on documents or watching videos, the screen was colorful and sharp, and looked particularly vivid and good when watching HDR content on Netflix and other sources. Our objective tests backed up Lenovo’s claims, with the panel registering 100% of the sRGB color gamut and 324 nits of peak brightness. It should also be comfortable for long-term use, thanks to low-blue-light technology that minimizes the part of the spectrum most likely to strain or damage the eyes.
Audio quality is just as good, thanks to a combination of stereo speakers, dual woofers and a pair of tweeters. The array supports Dolby Atmos, and a provided smart amplifier boosts the volume when needed.
Keyboards have long been a Lenovo strength, and the Yoga 7i 14 Gen 7 is no exception. The keys offer an extremely comfortable typing feel, with good travel depth, substantial spring with each keystroke, and Lenovo’s signature scalloped key design that’s both visually appealing and tactilely pleasing. Below the keyboard is a spacious touchpad, with a smooth glass surface and support for multi-touch gestures. On a laptop without touchscreen and tablet capability, the pad alone would be ideal for comfortable navigation. In touch-centric yoga, it’s a welcome flourish that enhances the laptop experience.
Just above the screen is a subtle raised section that Lenovo calls the communication bar. In addition to providing a small lip that makes it easy to open the lid and buy into the smooth rounded edges, the bar houses the Windows Hello-compatible webcam without an Apple-like notch sinking into the display area . The webcam offers better-than-average image quality at 1080p resolution and has a built-in privacy shutter. Combining so many functions in such a small and unobtrusive space is impressive.
Test of the Yoga 7i 14 Jan 7: Light weights handling heavy benchmarks
For our performance measures, we pitted the Yoga 7i 14 against its convertible competitors, the Dell Inspiron 14 7415 2-in-1 and Lenovo’s Yoga 9i, another Gen 7 model from earlier this year. We also compared it to the non-convertible HP Pavilion Plus 14 and the 13.6-inch Apple MacBook Air M2, which may not be touch-capable but are among the best compact travelers we’ve tested recently.
We test the overall productivity of Windows laptops with UL’s PCMark 10, which simulates everyday tasks such as word processing, web browsing, and video conferencing. Geekbench 5 is a more CPU-centric test that performs similar simulations, including PDF rendering and speech recognition, while Maxon’s Cinebench uses that company’s Cinema 4D engine to render a complex image that stresses every core and threads of a processor.
Two other benchmarks combine CPU measurement with suitability for creative applications: HandBrake encodes a 12-minute 4K video clip into a more compact 1080p file, while PugetBench for Station vendor Adobe Photoshop of work Puget Systems uses the Creative Cloud 22 version of the famous Adobe image editor. to perform a variety of general and GPU-accelerated imaging tasks ranging from opening, rotating and resizing a photo to applying masks, gradient fills and filters. Low times in HandBrake and high scores in PugetBench indicate better suitability for digital content creation.
In our productivity-focused benchmarking, the Yoga 7i fell in the middle of what is admittedly a high-performance pack. The affordable Yoga trailed the MacBook Air and Pavilion Plus, but outperformed rival Dell in most tests.
To test the systems’ graphics capabilities, we use two game-like benchmarks from each of two test suites: the DirectX 12 Night Raid and Time Spy subtests of UL’s 3DMark for Windows, and the 1440p subtests Aztec Ruins and 1080p Car Chase from the crossover. GFXBench platform. The latter two are rendered off-screen to accommodate different display resolutions.
Both the Yoga 7i 14 and the HP Pavilion Plus 14 rely on Intel’s Iris Xe integrated graphics, which makes them suitable for casual gaming and video streaming, but they’re no match for the discrete GPU of a true laptop. games The Apple M2 chip in the MacBook Air has more capable graphics performance
Finally, we test the laptops’ battery life by looping the short open source Blender video Tears of steel, with Wi-Fi and keyboard backlight off, screen brightness at 50%, and audio volume at 100% until the system shuts down. We also use a Datacolor SpyderX Elite colorimeter and software to measure the color coverage and brightness of laptop screens at night (candles per square meter).
The Yoga 7i 14 is no slouch when it comes to battery life, showing 14 hours of unplugged endurance in our video roundup. Its screen also offers great visual quality for a reasonably priced laptop, though it doesn’t match the OLED panels of the Yoga 9i and HP Pavilion Plus or the MacBook Air’s Retina display.
A classy convertible
The Lenovo Yoga 7i 14 Gen 7 brings Intel’s latest silicon to a great 2-in-1 laptop, but it’s more than just a processor upgrade. The new model features some of the best industrial design we’ve seen, whether you focus on its comfortably sculpted chassis or the no-nonsense webcam bar. Its performance and battery life are up there with the best mainstream convertibles, and the whole package comes together so well it’s a standout. This is a top-notch 2-in-1 laptop that wins a PCMag Editors’ Choice award.