Lenovo’s ThinkPad series is often touted as among the most well-built and reliable Windows laptops over years. The ThinkPad X1 Yoga (Gen 7) is the company’s 2-in-1 offering that’s aimed at both business and creative users. I have been using the notebook for about a couple of months now, and here’s what I think works for it.
Display: The device features a 14-inch full HD (1920x1200) IPS FlexView display that’s plenty bright and sharp for nice experience of reading text even not indoors or for watching high resolution videos. It’s a touchscreen display so some people might like it for editing high resolution images, and the touch response isn’t iffy either, including with the Lenovo Integrated Pen. Other than being antismudge and anti-glaring (definitely helpful at times), it is EyeSafe certified, though I didn’t notice something particularly different from another high-quality laptop display not having this certification, but Lenovo claims it’s less straining on your eyes for longer term usage. Plus, the display has a 16:10 aspect ratio to the liking of a lot of content creators.
Build quality: Since this is a ThinkPad model, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the build quality is one of the better parts about the notebook. Made out of carbon fibre, the X1 Yoga, with its near 360-degree screen, doesn’t have a wobbly hinge and is a sturdy laptop for your work on the go. There’s no creek and no bends at unusual places to worry about. It’s ever so slightly heavier and thicker than the predecessor but it’s still quite compact and not very heavy to carry around. The keyboard is spill resistant and has nice white LED backlight that has just enough brightness.
Connectivity: The device sports 2 Thunderbolt 4 supporting USB type C port, an HDMi 2.0b port and USB A 3.2 gen 1 port on the left, another USB 3.2 gen 1 port, a SIM card tray slot and 3.5mm audio (plus mic) jack on the right side along with the pen slot. And don’t worry, you get a USB type C to LAN converter in the box to get ethernet connectivity, which isn’t very common to see companies doing these days; credit to Lenovo for bundling the dongle. You get support for Bluetooth 5.2, NFC as well as WiFi 6E (802.11AX) for good and stable network speeds. The only thing I couldn’t try was the SIM card connectivity, which doesn’t work even after playing around under settings without the WWAn card. There’s a privacy shutter slider next to the 1080p webcam along with an infrared sensor for unlocking purpose that, along with the fingerprint scanner on the Power button, make it a feature-rich business package.
What’s okay:
Design: Though the sturdy gray colour and overall look and feel of the notebook is really nice, there are a couple of things that could have been done better. One is the trackpad size, which is a little larger than its predecessor but still isn’t exactly spacious compared to most other laptops aimed at content creators these days. Another would be the rear vents for heat. The vents are exactly downward facing and can at times make the laptop’s body heated up due to less-than-ideal air ventilation. On the plus side, you get the good old red TrackPoint around G, H and B keys on the keyboard, but may not be something that everybody’s very used to these days, though some ThinkPad users from many years back might use it.
Performance: The performance experience on the X1 Yoga has been decent but not really great, to put it briefly. You get a 12th Gen. Intel i7 -1255U chip along with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics and 1 TB (can be lower too) of Samsung SSD for storage. It comes with Windows 11 Pro out of the box and Office 365 subscription, too. It can handle day-to-day tasks quite well and doesn’t stutter frequently, but when you have several apps opened and keep the device idle, the fans can go really fast and unable to cool the body down meaning high noise and less performance. This was reproducible with a 50 Web browser tabs open, a Word document and a song playing in the background. So, if you’re gaming, one would have to make sure it’s on a flat surface so the laptop gets sufficient space underneath for vents at all times.
Battery life: The laptop is powered by a 57Whr battery unit that supports fast charging using the 65watt bundled USB type C charger. I found the laptop to last around 5-6 hours with brightness set at 30%, having WiFi connected almost always and very little gaming to try it out. It’s not really bad but it’s not exactly stellar from the notebook that’s not bulky and is meant to be carried around for your work.
Verdict: With a base price of Rs. 1,74,9794, the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 has a lot of competition to take on from the likes of HP, ASUS and Dell when it comes to business styled laptops that are also aimed for content creators. Though it has a great display and build quality, it’s somewhat held back in the performance department by its thermals. So if you’re into gaming at all, this 2-in-1 isn’t for you, but if you are somebody who prefers a nice sturdy keyboard with a good set connectivity options without having to carry a bulky notebook, the X1 Yoga might be worth taking a look at.
