AMD has been on a very incredible run this year since the launch of their Ryzen 4000 processors, and the recently announced PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles. Even with the obvious performance lead that the AMD processors offer over their Intel counterparts, not many laptop manufacturers have made the shift to AMD processors yet. There are several reasons for this decision by laptop manufacturers, but a lot of it has to do with reliability and their long-term partnership with Intel.
Thankfully, there is a new laptop in the laptop universe that has come to disrupt the status quo in compelling ways.
Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7
Apart from having a name that sounds like that of a Mars-going spaceship, this laptop sports the latest AMD Ryzen chipsets and it offers incredible performance at a compelling price point.
In summary, the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 is a powerful 14-inch laptop that comes with a powerful AMD CPU, an NVMe SSD, a wonderful backlit keyboard, and backs it up with incredible battery life.
Specifications
While there is an Intel variant of the laptop on sale, we are only going to review the AMD variant of this laptop.
The Slim 7 comes with the AMD Ryzen 7 4800U CPU with 8 processing cores that can boost to 4.2 GHz and with the use of multi-threading technology, provide up to 16 threads. There is also a variant that comes with the AMD Ryzen 4700U which has 8 cores and 8 threads (no multithreading) and has a clock boost of up to 4.1 GHz.
The CPU is paired with 16GB of soldered RAM, 512GB PCIe SSD, and an integrated Radeon GPU for about $1,131.97 (note: the price may vary based on location).
Design
Usually, the trend was that only Intel processors were found in premium looking laptops but that is not the case anymore. The new Lenovos looks as premium as they come. The IdeaPad is made entirely of metal and feels completely solid.
To make for a fuller viewing experience, the 14-inch display is designed with a very thin bezel around it especially on either side. This leaves no room for Lenovo to print their logo at the bottom of the screen, instead, the logo can be found on the metal wrist rest.
The laptop can easily be opened with one hand thanks to the lid situated just ever so slightly above the webcam. This makes room for other features like infrared cameras too.
Ports
The port selection for the IdeaPad Slim 7 is good too. There are two USB Type-C ports, one of which is used for charging the laptop. There is also an HDMI output and headphone jack, all on the left side of the laptop.
On the right side, there are two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, one MicroSD reader, and the Power button.
Performance
This is the aspect in which the IdeaPad shines the most. The AMD Ryzen 4800U is a very fast processor. Thanks to the 8 core/16 thread architecture of the premium model, it easily demolishes the Intel U-series on some benchmarks.
In Multi-core performance, the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 beats the Dell XPS 13 9300, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 8), and the HP Spectre x360 (13-inch) by large margins.
The best performance the IdeaPad exhibited was in the transcoding of a video from 4K to 1080p in 8 minutes and 55 seconds. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon took about 18 minutes and 28 seconds according to the information on Tomshardware.com.
Display
The display on the Lenovo IdeaPad could be better. The 1920 x 1080 14-inch IPS panel has decent color representation but it doesn’t have the best contrast and brightness.
The display panel of the IdeaPad covers about 80.4% of the DCI-P3 color gamut which is above the Thinkpad and Spectre.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The keyboard on the IdeaPad Slim 7 feels very solid and delivers a tactile response that makes it feel more solid under the fingers. You should be aware that the keyboard is a bit shallow so it will take some getting used to.
The touchpad feels just a bit on the small side but feels quite responsive with the help of windows precision drivers.
Battery Life
All thanks to the efficiency of the AMD processor found in the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7, the laptop was able to browse, run OpenGL tests and stream video over Wi-Fi, at a brightness of 150 nits for about 17 hours and 21 minutes on a full charge.
Final Verdict
The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 is a laptop that could be worth your money if you need a laptop that delivers in terms of performance and feels like a premium device for as low as $1,100. You can make extra cash by trading your laptop to us. As long as you don’t mind the not too bright screen which isn’t as bad as it sounds.
