This is Yoga 7i, a 14” 2-in-1 convertible laptop from Lenovo that supports active stylus pen. I have been using this laptop for over a month now and this is going to be my detailed review. I consider Yoga 7i to be a more premium version of Lenovo Flex 5i which I rated as one of the best 2-in-1 budget laptops in the market. As a result, I have got some high expectations from Yoga 7i.
Build-Quality
Yoga 7i is a premium looking laptop sporting an all metal construction. Both the top and the bottom half are made from Aluminium giving this laptop plenty of structural rigidity and dimensional stability. While I love its solid build quality, I am not fond of its 3.1 lbs or 1.43 kg weight. It's little on the heavier side for a 14 inch 2-in-1 convertible laptop. Its 360 degree metallic hinge is built like a tank and provides ample stability when you transform from laptop to tablet mode and vise-versa.
Lenovo has applied a matte anodized stamping on the outer surface of this laptop giving it a very durable, corrosion-resistant finish. My review unit is slate grey in color and the matte finish does a decent job of repelling fingerprint smudges. I love the polished look of Yoga 7i, subtle flairs like the Rose Gold colored “yoga” logo on the top lid make this laptop look very premium. Overall the build quality of Yoga 7i definitely trumps Lenovo Flex 5i, Acer Spin 3 and Dell inspiron 5000 series laptops
Display
You are getting a 14” Full HD multi-touch screen that supports an active stylus pen. It's an LED backlit IPS panel with 300 nits of brightness that is a pleasure to look at. The screen is built using Dragontrail glass which is light-weight, flexible, and scratch resistant. It's a glossy panel which generates bright images and vibrant colors making videos and pictures pop out. The NTSC color gamut is 72% which is much higher than the 45% found on Lenovo Flex 5i.
In my opinion the best feature of Yoga 7i is the writing experience with the included active Pen. This pen provides over 2000 levels of pressure sensitivity which creates very natural brush strokes while sketching, painting or writing. The screen digitiser offers low latency resulting in an excellent note-taking experience. With its 300 nits bright screen, this laptop is also great for making digital art using the free version of AutoDesk SketchBook app. For taking notes, writing equations and making diagrams, I recommend Microsoft OneNote app and Windows Ink Workspace both of which come pre-installed. BTW the included active pen comes with 2 programmable physical buttons and it runs on a single quadruple-A battery that can easily last for over a year.
Keyboard & Trackpad
Yoga 7i comes with an island style LED backlit keyboard. The keycaps are slate grey in color and they use white lettering. The cool white backlighting enhances the visibility of keys when using the laptop in both dark and brightly lit rooms. The intensity of the backlighting is user adjustable and one can completely turn it off to save battery. This keyboard delivers springy tactile feedback and plenty of key travel resulting in a pleasant typing experience.
For passwordless login, Yogi 7i comes with a fingerprint reader right under the arrow key. It's fast and responsive and lets me quickly login. Moving on to the touchpad, you are getting a premium glass touchpad measuring 4.25 by 2.75 inches. Its surface is incredibly smooth making scrolling, swiping and executing various windows gestures a joy. The quality of the touchpad is pretty good. I have not experienced any rattling or wobbling and it always delivers a satisfying clicking sound when executing left or right click.
Hardware Specs
My review unit is powered by an Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor and it comes with 12GB DDR4 3200 Mhz RAM and 512GB M.2 2242 PCIe NVME SSD Storage. There is a more expensive model of this laptop that comes with Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor with an option to increase the RAM to 16GB and SSD to 1TB. Unfortunately the RAM is soldered to the motherboard and cannot be upgraded. But the PCIe NVME SSD stick can be easily upgraded by opening the back of the laptop.
Now Yoga 7i is a part of Intel’s EVO branding which promise thin and light body, great CPU and GPU performance, and a long battery life. I have been getting around 12 hours of battery life which easily makes this an all day laptop. Regarding CPU performance, both the 11th gen Intel Core-i5 and Core-i7 processors beat AMD Ryzen 4000 and 5000 series processors in Cinebench single core benchmark.
But they lose the multi-core benchmark which isn't surprising because AMD packs 6 and 8 cores in their chips while Intel is only offering 4 cores. Regardless, Yogi 7i delivers great performance. Day today tasks like internet surfing, running office productivity apps like word processor, excel and powerpoint is a breeze. It also handles complex tasks like software development, video editing and Photoshop. I also stress tested this laptop by running a prime number extraction algorithm which maxed out all the 4 cores and 8 threads. The CPU ran at a turbo boost clock frequency of 3.5 GHz in the beginning before settling to 3.0 GHz which is much higher than its base clock frequency of 2.4 GHz. The CPU never throttled or slowed down, thanks to Yoga 7i’s excellent thermal design that incorporates two heat pipes, a heat sink with a decent size fan.
Regarding graphics, you are getting an integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics which is actually quite good. In the iGPU FP32 benchmark, it comes out ahead of AMD Radeon integrated graphics. While playing Fortnite at default setting I managed to get an average frame rate of about 45 fps, not bad for casual gaming.
Ports and Webcam
Regarding ports you get 1 USB 3.2 Gen 1 port and 2 Thunderbolt-4 USB Type-C ports that support data transfer, Power Delivery 3.0 and DisplayPort 1.4. But there is no HDMI port, no SD card slot, no ethernet jack and no old-school USB 2.0 port. Since there is no HDMI port, you will have to use a USB Type-C hub to connect this laptop to an external monitor. It can drive 2 4K external monitors when connected to a compatible USB Type-C hub. I have linked some of my favorite budget USB Type-C hubs in the video description below that you can use to connect this laptop to multiple monitors.
Regarding wireless connectivity you are getting Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 support. The included 720p webcam comes with a physical shutter for extra privacy. As long as you have a good lighting condition, it will do just fine for video conference calls. But if you want to step up your video quality, I would recommend getting an external 1080p USB webcam. I will drop a link to my favorite 1080p webcam in the video description below. Let's quickly talk about the onboard speakers. These are top firing stereo speakers that deliver a total 4 Watt audio. In laptop mode the speakers are surprisingly loud since they directly face you. But in tablet mode, they don't sound that impressive.
Conclusion
So guys here is the bottom-line. I think the Yoga 7i is definitely one of the best 14” thin and light 2-in-1 convertible laptops that I have tested here on this channel. I would call it a more refined version of Lenovo Flex 5i which I already gave a huge thumbs up in my previous video. Yoga 7i offers a great CPU and GPU performance, all day battery life and great thermal design. The all metal build quality is top notch and everything including the chassis, the hinge, the keyboard, the touchpad reek of premium quality.
I love using this laptop in tablet mode, especially for taking notes with
included active pen. So overall, if you are in the market for a premium 14”
2-in-1 laptop, I would highly recommend Yoga 7i. Please check the country
specific links that I have put in the video description below for more details
about pricing and availability. So guys let me know what do you guys think of
Yoga 7i in the comment section below.
Purchase Links
👉 Buy with Core i7-1165G7
👉 Buy with Core i5-1135G7
Buy Active Stylus Pens
👉 Buy Dell Active Pen PN350M
👉 Buy Lazarite Active Pen
👉 Buy Bamboo Ink
👉 Buy Bamboo Ink Plus
Accessories
👉 Buy Laptop Repair Kit
👉 Buy 1080p webcam
👉 Buy 3TB USB HDD
👉 Buy M.2 NVME SSD Enclosure Adapter
👉
Macrium reflect free for SSD cloning
Budget WiFi 6 Routers
👉 TP-Link AX1500 (Archer AX10)
👉 D-Link EXO AX1500(DIR-X1560-US)
👉 Netgear AX1800 (R6700AX)
Hardware upgrades
👉
Buy recommended RAM upgrades
👉
Buy recommended SATA3 SSD upgrades
👉
Buy recommended PCIe NVMe SSD upgrades
Disclosure: Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases