Among a slew of new thin, light, and powerful laptops announced by Lenovo today are the 14-inch Lenovo Slim Pro 7 and Slim 7i.
The Slim Pro 7 offers impressive specs in a minuscule package with up to an AMD Ryzen R7-7840HS CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 40-series GPU in a chassis that is as thin as 0.61 inches and a mere 3.3 pounds.
The Slim 7i drops down to just 2.9 pounds and 0.59 inches, while still offering robust performance with up to a 13th Gen Intel Core i7-1360P CPU and integrated Intel Iris X graphics.
Both of these laptops are arriving in April, so let's take a closer look at why you might want to consider one of these thin and light performers for your next laptop.
Lenovo Slim Pro 7
1. Nvidia RTX-4050 GPU at just 3.3 pounds
This will be the lightest RTX 40-series laptop on the market when it launches next moth, so if GPU performance in a portable package tops your list of must-haves then look no further.
2. Up to a 3K 120Hz display
The Slim Pro 7 has a 14.5-inch display at 16:10 and even the base model with a 2560 x 1600 resolution, 90Hz refresh rate, and 350 nits of brightness sounds pretty good. However, if you want the best you can get a 3K (3072 x 1920) resolution 120Hz PureSight Pro LCD IPS display with up to 400 nits of brightness. For travelers, these are also all matte displays, which make for a much better experience in bright environments.
3. Quad speakers with Dolby Atmos support
While a quad-speaker array is becoming common, it's an impressive fete in a laptop this size and should deliver a solid audio experience when you would prefer to avoid a pair of headphones.
4. Robust video conferencing features
If you want a thin and light laptop then chances are you don't want to drag a webcam or external mic around in your bag and ruin that space and weight savings in your laptop bag, so you'll appreciate the FHD webcam with a ToF camera to provide a realistic bokeh on your conference calls. You also have four onboard mics that should capture your voice and block out ambient sound effectively.
5. AMD Ryzen 7000 series could deliver outstanding battery life
We will get the laptop in for testing so we have a definitive answer, but we have high hopes for the battery life from the AMD Ryzen 7000 series chips as that was a primary focus for AMD during the reveal at CES 2023. We haven't been blown away by the battery life in a number of the Intel 13th Gen laptops that we've seen so far, so AMD has a real chance to press what has already been an advantage for it in recent years.
Lenovo Slim 7i
Looking to go even thinner and lighter? The Lenovo Slim 7i drops down to a mere 2.9 pounds and 0.59 inches thick. While it doesn't boast the dedicated GPU of its more powerful siblings, it should handle productivity work with ease with up to an Intel Core i7-1360P CPU and Intel Iris "X" graphics. If you are doing daily creative work in Adobe or the like then consider going with one of the slightly larger models, but if you only occasionally need to dip into photo and video work the Slim 7i should be enough.
Lenovo gives you the option of up to a 2.8K (2880 x 1880) resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate on the 14-inch LCD IPS display with up to 400 nits of brightness. Just like the Slim 7 Pro all display options are matte, which is ideal for travelers. The base FHD+ (1920 x 1200) 60Hz display switches over to OLED, so don't feel like you're settling if you don't want to spring for the top display option.
I was disappointed to see only Storm Grey and Misty Grey as options for the Slim 7i, the 7 Pro at least got Tidal Teal if you are feeling more colorful.
Both the Slim 7 Pro and Slim 7i are arriving in April, so we'll have reviews for you in the coming month if you want to see if they deliver on their promise.
