With this powerful laptop weighing only 986g, the legend of an ‘ultrabook’ continues. There are numerous laptops under 1kg in weight, but few provide the same value as the Yoga Slim 7i Carbon. One might ask, How should laptops adjust to a shifting world in which tablets with good keyboard attachments provide a more-than-worthy replacement? At least for the group for whom portability is critical. The solution is straightforward: go back to the fundamentals. Slim, light, and strong enough are the keys to global appeal. Laptop manufacturers are doing so, although price tags are proving to be a more difficult nut to crack. Lenovo’s stunning Yoga Slim 7i Carbon is a prime example of this.
With the moon white colour option, the Yoga Slim 7i Carbon (particularly the 13IRP8 model and 83AY0001SB configuration here) nails the aesthetic aspect. In a sea of darker tones like black and grey, this is a welcome change of pace from the laptop manufacturer. If the term “ultrabook” was still in trend today, this would easily meet the requirements. There is no compromise in terms of specifications or ergonomics.
Lenovo has employed an in-plane switching (IPS) display on the 13.3-inch display, which is bigger than other tablets. The benefits are obvious. It has a brilliant display (maximum brightness of 400 nits), deep blacks improve individual colour accuracy, and HDR material on Netflix and other streaming applications will appear great. This screen also supports Dolby Vision. It has a maximum refresh rate of 90 Hz, which is strange in an era when smartphones have 120 Hz refresh rates and laptops have 144 Hz refresh rates. But that will be just a nitpick.
Conventional wisdom holds that ultra-slim laptops will always have a performance disadvantage. Because of the restricted space in the guts, the processor must clock down earlier to conserve heat. The Intel Core i7-1360P CPU is not affected by this. Even when it slows down to keep everything cool, it’s nearly impossible to detect. The 16 GB of RAM and the highly fast M.2 standard 1TB solid-state drive (SSD) help.
One can use this handset like they would any other laptop on a regular workday, with a slew of online browser tabs, Word documents, and a slew of other programmes running in the background. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Carbon performed admirably. The only signs are when the circulation fan speeds up and becomes very loud. One solution is to change the power profile in the Lenovo Vantage app to the ‘Silent’ option. This reduces the processor’s peak clock rates (still more than enough power for multitasking without pauses or stutters) and hence heat emissions.
When it comes to battery life, the usual power and performance profile provides a return of roughly 9 hours on a single charge, which is sufficient to leave the adapter at home for a series of meetings throughout the day. Switching to silent mode may yield slightly more than 10 hours of runtime. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Carbon is meticulously crafted for a notebook that is undeniably small. The white tint is achieved by the use of a carbon fibre lid and a magnesium-aluminium base. All pricey materials, and considerably more so when used together. The camera includes an electronic shutter, which can be activated via the utility app. With only one USB-C and one USB-4 connector, it’s a touch low on physical ports (one might need to buy a USB-C extender for extra USB, Ethernet, etc.)
Nevertheless, Lenovo still hopes their users will pay for a smart performance’ subscription to unlock further capabilities in this utility software. They promise to boost PC speed with a 160-point check performed at regular intervals as well as a virus protection service. It’s not clear if Windows 11 necessitates an additional $1,328 each year or $3,321 over four years for this add-on.
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Carbon costs $1,24,990, which is significantly less than the $2,13,990 price of the Dell XPS 13 Plus laptop (Intel Core i7-1360P, 13.3-inch touchscreen, 32GB RAM). There’s a case to be made for the HP Spectre x360 (ef2033TU; Intel Core i7-1355U, 13.5-inch screen, and 16GB RAM) for $1,42,999, given that it has a superior OLED display for the extra money. However, it weighs 1.36kg, implying that controlling the mass as well as possible remains the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Carbon’s distinguishing feature.
For more such updates, keep reading Techinnews
