First Impressions: Lenovo Yoga Pro 7i (2023)
We had some hands-on time with Lenovo's new MacBook Air rival
First Impressions
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 7i (2023) is a lightweight machine that looks to take on the likes of the MacBook Air, Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED and more. It’s a steep mountain to climb but the new Yoga Pro range is looking promising.
Availability
- EuropeRRP: €1099
Key Features
- Thin and light:At 1.49kg and 15.6mm thin, it offers plenty of portability
- Nvidia GeForce RTX Graphics:Powered by the latest RTX 4050 or previous generation RTX 3050
- 14.5 inch Puresight Pro display:120Hz display with up to 400 nits brightness
Introduction
An early theme of 2023 laptops is a desire to challenge the excellent MacBook Pro (2023) but the Yoga Pro 7i is leaving that to its beefier sibling, the Yoga Pro 9i (2023). Instead, the smaller version sets up a showdown with the MacBook Air.
Lenovo has added another new sub-brand to its range of laptops with the Yoga Pro series and this model is aimed at entry-level gamers and on-the-go creative types.
Lenovo is smartly looking to offer wallet-friendly options with this one, particularly by keeping the older RTX 3050 graphics chip around, as well as a low starting price. There will also be an AMD-flavoured Lenovo Yoga Pro 9 coming too, for those who lean towards the team red.
I went hands-on with this new slim and powerful laptop to see if it makes a good first impression (spoiler: it did). Read on for the details and look out for our full review coming down the line.
Price and Availability
Unlike the larger Yoga Pro 9i, the Lenovo Yoga Pro 7i comes in just one size, sporting a 14.5-inch display. This model starts at €1099. UK pricing is yet to come. It will be available from April this year. The Yoga Pro 7 is the AMD version and has the same starting price, but is set to arrive later in July.
The base price certainly looks attractive, pricing it alongside thin-and-light machines that don’t typically offer a dedicated graphics chip onboard. But, I expect this price to rise rapidly as you tinker with display, CPU, SSD, RAM and GPU choices.
Design
- Thin and lightweight
- Robust and stylish build quality
- Strong keyboard game
If you’re familiar with Lenovo’s Yoga laptops, particularly those that sit around the £1000 mark, then you’ll recognise this design. It’s just a tad chunkier. That design is a standard clamshell machine, but with rounded edges on the bottom portion of the laptop, something I prefer to the sharper edges you find on plenty of rival devices.
Expectedly, it’s not as trim as discrete GPU-less machines, coming in at 1.49kg and 15mm thin, but its overall size offers plenty of portability. Taking this to and from work or school will be no trouble at all. It looks stylish too. I saw the bog-standard Storm Grey colour and it’s pleasingly understated, but the more vibrant Tidal Teal should appease those who like a dash of colour.
It feels well built and worth the price you’re paying, but it definitely doesn’t live up to the luxury vibes of the MacBook Air. What it does have over Apple’s laptop is ports, offering a Thunderbolt 4 port, a USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, an HDMI 2.1 port, an audio combo jack and an extra USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 for good measure. Getting an HDMI 2.1 onto this sleek frame is an impressive feat, with the port almost spanning the height of the bottom half of the laptop.
I was pleasantly surprised with the keyboard, having not been a fan of Lenovo’s recent offerings. The keys of this thin machine came with a surprising amount of travel and a smidgen of feedback. Serious gamers should look elsewhere for more performance anyways, but the keyboard would also disappoint. The casual gamer and most other users will be perfectly happy. The trackpad is refreshingly large, offering a satisfying click and was responsive throughout my hands-on time.
Specs and Performance
- Up to a 13th Gen Intel Core i7
- 2.5K 90Hz or 3.2K 120Hz display options
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 or 4050
A lot of displays are getting a Mini LED boost this year but this device is aimed at a cheaper market. Nevertheless, there are plenty of pixels on offer, with up to a 3.2K resolution, as well as gaming-friendly refresh rates, up to 120Hz.
I was impressed with the results in person, with the abundance of pixels offering plenty of detail and solid visibility in a brightly lit room. Lenovo touts up to 400 nits for the higher-end option. We’ll check this out in testing, but brightness doesn’t seem like it’ll be an issue.
The horsepower included is a choice of an Intel Core i5-13500H or i7-13700H processor alongside an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 or 4050 graphics chip. Such chips, combined with up to 32GB RAM and up to 1TB SSD storage, means that productivity won’t be an issue for this laptop, nor a good amount of multitasking.
The entry-level Nvidia graphics will suit those looking to do some light video and photo editing, potentially stretching to something a bit more intense on the RTX 4050 side of things. For gaming, you can expect to be reining in the resolution to reach the higher frames per second (FPS) these displays can offer and, for graphically lush titles, it’ll likely be Medium settings all the way. But, we will have to see in our testing.
Early Verdict
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 7i (2023) looks like a promising compact rival to the MacBook Air. It seems unlikely it’ll have the battery capabilities of Apple’s machine, and definitely won’t match its portable power. But, as an all-rounder, for creatives and gamers with light demands, this could be worth considering for many.
The display and keyboard made my short time interacting with this laptop a joy, but it’ll be our full review that determines if the complete package nails the Yoga Pro 7i’s goals of being a strong small-but-powerful pick.
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Full specs
Jargon buster
SSD
Known as Solid State Drive, this is a faster form of a memory than a standard hard drive. Results in faster loading times and more ambitious games.GPU
The graphics processing unit is designed to render graphics, which is particularly important for gaming, creating 3D models and editing video.FPS
‘Framerate per second’ indicates how many images are shown within one second. The higher this figure, the smoother in-game motion will appear. Powerful discrete GPUs are far more likely to offer higher framerates compared to integrated graphics housed inside processors.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
