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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 review: seventh time’s a charm?

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June 17, 2022

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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7

MSRP $2,100.00

“The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga is not the strongest performer, but its construct quality and battery life greater than make up for it.”

Pros

• Solid productivity performance
• Above-average battery life
• Excellent keyboard
• Strong security and privacy features
• Robust construct quality

Cons

• Thermal throttling limits creative performance
• Expensive
• Touchpad is just a little small

Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Yoga is its business-class 360-degree convertible 2-in-1, sharing the identical bloodline as the remainder of the ThinkPad line but without quite the identical all-black aesthetic. The laptop received a significant upgrade in its sixth generation, and so the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 is primarily a specifications boost that brings Intel’s Twelfth-gen CPU, LPDDR 5 RAM, and PCIe 4.0.

I received a midrange version of the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 to review, a $2,100 configuration running on the Intel Core i7-1260P with the entry-level Full HD+ display. It’s as well-built as the everyday ThinkPad, has the same and maybe even higher keyboard, and offers strong battery life, but some thermal issues held back its performance. It’s a solid alternative for anyone in search of a business laptop with manageability, security, and privacy, but its mainstream appeal is more limited.

Design

The ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 is generally unchanged from the previous version in its design, which was an entire redesign of the chassis and a switch to a 16:10 display. The two-in-1 sports a Storm Grey (dark grey) color throughout with no chrome accents, and its lines are easy and minimalistic with only a rounded rear edge that stands out.

Probably the most interesting facets of the design are the standard ThinkPad red accents within the LED dot over the “i” within the ThinkPad logo on the lid, the red accent on the brand itself on the lid and palm rest, and the red TrackPoint nubbin in the course of the keyboard. Lenovo was incredibly aggressive with its redesign of the Yoga 9i Gen 7, which has a latest rounded chassis with tasteful chrome accents and a fresh, modern look. The ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 has a really conservative aesthetic by comparison.

As with most ThinkPads, the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 is built extremely well, constructed of CNC machined aluminum throughout. It feels robust, with no bending, flexing, or twisting within the lid, keyboard deck, or chassis. The Yoga 9i Gen 7 is just barely less rigid, giving the ThinkPad a leg up. In fact, it’s been subjected to military testing for robustness as with all ThinkPad, giving some extra confidence in its construct quality.

One other recent 14-inch 2-in-1 I reviewed, the MSI Summit E14 Flip, was just a little less solid than either of Lenovo’s machines, reminding me of how essential construct quality may be. The ThinkPad’s hinges were light enough to permit for opening with one hand while holding the display regular in clamshell, tent, media, and tablet modes.

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

The display bezels are larger than among the competition’s, with small side bezels but a bigger top bezel — including Lenovo’s reverse notch that houses the webcam and optional infrared camera — and a bigger chin. The screen-to-body ratio is available in at 81%, which is lower than the 90% we’re seeing in some recent 14-inch 2-in-1s.

Even with the larger bezels, the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 is barely smaller in width and depth than the Yoga 9i Gen 7 while being only a hair thicker at 0.61 inches versus 0.60 inches and barely lighter at 3.0 kilos versus 3.09 kilos. The ThinkPad is a really thin and light-weight 14-inch 2-in-1 that’s highly portable and usable in tablet mode with the included lively pen.

Ports

Connectivity is superb. Along the left-hand side, there are two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 support (one is used for charging the laptop), a USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port, and a full-size HDMI 2.0b port. On the right-hand side is one other USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port and a 3.5mm audio jack. The one major omission is an SD card reader.

Wireless connectivity includes the most modern Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2, and 4G LTE is an option.

Performance

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

My review unit was built around Intel’s 28-watt, 12-core (4 Performance, eight Efficient), 16-thread Twelfth-gen Core i7-1260P. We’ve reviewed enough laptops with this chip to know that it provides solid productivity performance and is significantly faster than the last generation at CPU-intensive creative tasks. It matches up well against AMD’s latest CPU for skinny and light-weight laptops, the Ryzen 7 6800U.

Most manufacturers now include utilities that allow the user to modify between performance modes, typically with a quiet mode that minimizes fan noise, heat, and performance, a balanced mode that’s meant to optimize all three, and a performance mode that runs as fast as possible without regard for fan noise and warmth. I’ve included each balanced and performance mode leads to the table below. Note that on all of the laptops I’ve tested, the PCMark 10 Complete benchmark hasn’t shown much of a rise when switching modes, so I’m listing just the balanced mode results.

the benchmarks, we see that the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 didn’t profit as much from the switch to performance mode as another laptops with the Core i7-1260P. Depending on the benchmark, though, its balanced mode performance was higher. That wasn’t true in Geekbench 5, where it was slower than all however the MSI Summit E14 Flip. which was slow across the board in balanced mode. In our Handbrake test that encodes a 420MB video as H.265, though, it was faster in balanced mode, but its rating actually decreased in performance mode. And it was also higher in Cinebench R23 in balanced mode, however it fell behind in performance mode. Its PCMark 10 Complete rating was competitive.

The ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 is a really thin laptop, and its thermal design couldn’t sustain.

These results are easy to elucidate. The ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 is a really thin laptop, and its thermal design couldn’t sustain. In Handbrake in performance mode, it hit 99 degrees C and throttled. And in Cinebench, it throttled in each modes, hitting 100 degrees C. I saw the identical sort of behavior within the Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED with the Ryzen 7 6800U, which was the fastest laptop in Handbrake and Cinebench in balanced mode but didn’t profit as much from a switch to performance mode on account of throttling. Lenovo used some tricks to enhance thermal performance, comparable to pulling in air through the keyboard via twin fans, however it wasn’t enough to maintain the Intel CPU running at full speed.

Overall, the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7’s performance was respectable outside of Geekbench 5. There’s not much point in switching to performance mode, and actually, that may slow you down. Keep the laptop in balanced mode and also you’ll get solid productivity performance and enough speed for some lower-end creative tasks as well. But it surely doesn’t have as much headroom as another laptops we’ve tested with the identical CPU.

The 3DMark Time Spy gaming benchmark demonstrated the identical behavior as with the Handbrake test. The ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 achieved the fastest rating among the many Intel Iris Xe-equipped laptops in balanced mode, but then its rating decreased again in performance mode on account of throttling and it fell significantly behind.

The identical thing happened in Fortnite, where the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 was a few frames per second (fps) ahead of the opposite Intel Iris Xe machines in balanced mode but then dropped behind in performance mode. It barely matters, though; given the integrated graphics, this was never going to be a serious gaming laptop.

Display and audio

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Lenovo offers several displays for the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7, all 14-inch touch displays with a productivity-friendly 16:10 aspect ratio that’s becoming the brand new standard in modern laptops. Options include a WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200) IPS low-power anti-glare 400-nit display, a WUXGA IPS low-power 500-nit display with Privacy Screen, and a WQUXGA (3,840 x 2,400) low-power OLED 500-nit display with HDR400 and Dolby Vision. My review unit equipped the entry-level display that was a bit less sharp than I like but seemed shiny and colourful with deep blacks. I’ll mention that I’ve reviewed so many laptops with higher resolutions that it was weird working with what’s also called a Full HD+ panel. I’ve been spoiled.

My colorimeter found the display to supply a higher-quality image than we’re used to seeing in lower resolution displays. The display was shiny at 386 nits (with 300 nits being out baseline), good enough for any indoor lighting conditions and usable outside except in direct sunlight. The contrast was exceptional for an IPS laptop display at 1,900:1. That’s one among the best scores we’ve seen. Color width was barely above average at 100% of sRGB and 81% of AdobeRGB; we typically see closer to 75% of the latter in the common premium display. Finally, colours were extremely accurate at a DeltaE of 0.87, where anything lower than 1.0 is indistinguishable to the human eye.

While the display couldn’t compete against the OLED panels in our comparison group, it did well against the opposite IPS displays — all of which were higher resolution screens that typically offer higher quality. That makes the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7’s display quite good, and an amazing alternative in case you don’t require a better resolution and you need to optimize your battery life (see below).

4 speakers, two upward-firing next to the keyboard paired with two downward-firing on the front bottom of the chassis, provide a whole lot of volume for a skinny and light-weight laptop. Mids and highs were clear with only a little bit of scratchiness when turned all the way in which up, and there was just a touch of bass. Overall, I’d rate the sound quality as superb for a 14-inch laptop, and also you won’t necessarily need a pair of headphones to enjoy some Netflix bingeing or music.

Keyboard, touchpad, and webcam

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

The keyboard is a version of the everyday ThinkPad keyboard, with the identical layout (including the unfortunately reversed left function and control keys), large, sculpted keycaps, and many key spacing. Nonetheless, given the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7’s thinner chassis, the switches aren’t as deep they usually’re much lighter than usual. I prefer this version, which is snappy and precise and doesn’t require as much pressure to register a keystroke as most ThinkPad keyboards. It’s a step behind the Dell XPS and HP Spectre keyboards, which I feel are the very best amongst Windows laptops, however it’s a cushty keyboard nonetheless for long typing sessions.

As usual with ThinkPads, you get two ways to regulate the cursor. There’s the TrackPoint nubbin in the course of the keyboard that seems anachronistic but stays something that Lenovo won’t let go of. Should you like that sort of control, that is the very best example. The downside to the TrackPoint is that it requires a set of buttons that take up space on the touchpad, which has been widened on this generation but stays smaller than it may very well be. It’s an excellent touchpad with a cushty and precise surface and the buttons are perfect with a solid, quiet click, it’s just too small.

The webcam’s video image quality is healthier than most.

The ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 retains the identical small lively pen because the previous models, which docks in a bay on the precise side of the laptop for storage and power. It really works well with the touch- and pen-enabled display, although I do prefer full-size pens to the ThinkPad’s diminutive version.

There are three webcam options, all Full HD. You possibly can get the webcam by itself, with infrared capabilities for facial recognition, and with Computer Vision that improves the human presence detection features outlined in the following section. I discovered the video image quality to be higher than most and an excellent fit for hybrid employees who depend on videoconferencing.

Privacy and security

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Windows 11 Hello passwordless login support is provided by a fingerprint reader embedded in the facility button in addition to an optional infrared camera for facial recognition. My review unit didn’t equip the infrared camera, however the fingerprint reader worked quickly and reliably. For some added privacy, the webcam may be physically blocked using Lenovo’s ThinkShutter privacy switch.

Even without the infrared camera, you may still utilize the installed Glance app that permits several human presence detection features. For instance, the display will blur if the user looks away from it, and the laptop will fall asleep if the user leaves. Glance is not going to, though, wake the laptop back up when the user returns. Privacy Guard will blur the display if someone looks over the user’s shoulder and Privacy Alert will let the user know someone’s looking. Digital Wellness will provide an outline of the user’s laptop usage, and Snap Windows will control the cursor based on where the user is looking when an external display is connected.

Should you go for an infrared camera with Computer Vision, you furthermore mght get enhanced human presence detection capabilities. Configured using the Business Vantage utility, Lenovo’s Zero Touch feature can lock the laptop when the user steps away and, unlike Glance, wake it back up when the user returns. The remainder of the features listed above are also supported.

Finally, Lenovo built Tile device location technology into the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7. Simply subscribe to the Tile service, register the laptop, and also you’ll give you the chance to locate it via Bluetooth in your smartphone when the laptop’s in range and via the Tile Network when it’s not.

Battery life

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

The ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 has a 57 watt-hour battery, which is lower than average for a 14-inch laptop. And thus far, the Core i7-1260P on the whole hasn’t been breaking any efficiency records in our testing. Toss within the undeniable fact that ThinkPads don’t at all times excel in longevity, and I wasn’t holding out much hope for all-day battery life.

Things started off well, with the laptop lasting just over 10 hours in our web browsing test that cycles through some popular and complicated web sites. That’s a powerful showing, especially for the CPU. In our video test that loops an area Full HD Avengers trailer, the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 lasted for over 16 hours, one other strong rating. All the opposite laptops in our comparison group have higher resolution displays in addition to include some OLED panels, and the ThinkPad’s low-power Full HD+ display was clearly a bonus on this test.

Then I tested with the PCMark 10 Applications battery test, which is the very best predictor of typical productivity battery life, and the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 did well at 10.5 hours. That’s the second-longest result among the many Core i7-1260P machines we’ve tested and usually a sign that a laptop will last a full day of productivity work unless it includes demanding CPU-intensive tasks. Within the PCMark10 Gaming battery test, which indicates how hard a laptop works while running on battery, the ThinkPad managed 1.75 hours, just a little lower than average and indicating that the ThinkPad works hard while unplugged.

Overall, battery life is a strength. You’re more likely to get a full day’s work on a charge, with some power left over for Netflix binging within the evening.

Pricing and configurations

My review unit currently costs $2,100 on the Lenovo web store for a Core i7-1260P, 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, a 512GB PCIe 3.0 solid-state drive (SSD), and a 14-inch Full HD+ anti-reflective and anti-smudge IPS display. Drop right down to a Core i5-1240 (a slower chip with the identical core and thread count), 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD and also you’ll spend $1,721. On the high end, there’s a $2,773 configuration with a Core i7-1270P with vPro, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD, a 14-inch WQUXGA (3,840 x 2,400) anti-reflective and anti-smudge IPS display with Dolby Vision HDR, and an infrared camera with Computer Vision. You too can configure various other mixtures at various price points, and Lenovo sells through quite a lot of retail channels, so it’s an excellent idea to envision around for the very best price when making your purchase.

Our take

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 is a solid business 2-in-1 alternative, offering a vPro CPU option for enhanced management and security and a bunch of other features which can be of interest to security- and privacy-minded businesspeople. And you may select unique service offerings that companies will appreciate.

But how does it compete as a mainstream 14-inch convertible 2-in-1? It suffers from some thermal issues that hold back its high-end performance, however it has superior battery life, strong connectivity, and a pleasant low-power Full HD+ IPS display for users who don’t need OLED or higher resolutions. It’s also quite expensive, which can likely hold it back against some solid competition.

Are there any alternatives?

Lenovo’s Yoga 9i Gen 7 is the strongest competitor, offering a shocking latest design, higher performance, and a stunning OLED display (which you may configure on the ThinkPad). It doesn’t have the ThinkPad’s business-oriented features, nonetheless.

The brand-new HP Spectre x360 13.5 looks like it should be a powerful competitor, offering a more efficient processor that may challenge in performance as well (which stays to be seen once we conduct our review). It’s more elegantly designed and can likely offer the identical excellent keyboard and display because the Spectre x360 14 that it’s replacing.

Finally, you need to consider Apple’s MacBook Pro 14 in case you don’t require the pliability of a 2-in-1. It’s exceptionally well-built, like all MacBooks, and its Apple M1 Pro or M1 Max CPUs are speedy and offer a few of the very best battery life. Should you don’t demand Windows 11, then the MacBook Pro 14 is a wonderful, albeit expensive, alternative.

How long will it last?

The ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 has a strong construct quality that ought to last for years, and it’s stocked with up-to-date components. There’s a one-year warranty, which is lower than we prefer to see on what’s considered a business-class laptop.

Do you have to buy it?

Yes, in case you’re a businessperson who can profit from its business-focused features.

Editors’ Recommendations