Performance is strictly mediocre, with the Yoga Slim 7x turning in average scores among the five Copilot+ PCs I’ve tested to date in both general CPU-intensive applications and graphics-heavy tests, though it did manage an oddly high score on the Cinebench 2024 image rendering benchmark that I couldn’t easily explain. It’s a curious result, but I won’t shrug off unexpectedly excellent performance, however fleeting.
At the risk of repeating myself once again, remember that Snapdragon-based computers still have Compatibility issues and it won’t run all the applications; if you need the basics (web browser, Microsoft Office, Minesweeper—This won’t be a huge problem, but power users are already running into roadblocks with some of their most essential pieces of software.
The laptop’s battery life, in line with other PC Copilot+ units, is exemplary. Its score of 15 hours and 36 minutes on a full-screen YouTube test was second only to the Surface Pro’s 17 hours and 20 minutes, and just ahead of the 15 hours I managed on the HP EliteBook Ultra G1qThe audio quality is good, but not great; in a larger room, it won’t be enough for a movie night.
The hands-on experience with the laptop is solid. The 14.5-inch display is an odd size, but it gives the laptop a bit more space without feeling too big. The keyboard has that classic Lenovo clickiness, with well-spaced keys and a light powder coating on the keys that gives them a nice feel on your fingertips. The touchpad is spacious without being outrageously large, and I rarely hit it with my palm while typing.
Photography: Christopher Null
The Slim 7x does have one drawback, and it’s a pretty significant one: the fan runs loud even under moderate loads—by far the loudest PC Copilot+ I’ve tested to date. The new Snapdragon chipset is supposed to be low-power, which is why it enables such impressive battery life, so an extremely loud fan is a surprise here. It’s an unfortunate eyesore for what is otherwise an impressive package.
What makes up for that and other shortcomings is the price. At $1,200, the Yoga Slim 7x is the cheapest Copilot+ PC I’ve tested to date, and dollar for dollar, it’s the best value for money of the bunch, regardless of which metric you look at (raw performance or battery life). If you’re looking for a flashy, eye-catching experience, best-in-class power, or a room-filling multimedia system, this probably isn’t your best bet. But if you want a solid, all-rounder at a reasonable price (and you’re sold on the Snapdragon), you can’t go wrong.
