7. Final thoughts<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\nThe Yoga story<\/h2>\n
I have always felt that Lenovo\u2019s Yoga line of laptops is one of the more confusing series to follow. In the beginning, the name was used for laptops that could fold its displays 360-degree \u2013 turning them into large Windows tablets. That is no longer the case these days. The Yoga range has since grown to include Pro laptops with a focus on power, Slim for its ultraportable models and the 2-in-1 for creators.<\/p>\n
The way I see it, the Yoga Slim laptops are Lenovo\u2019s answer to competitions such as the ASUS Zenbook and Dell XPS. They are less business-like than a ThinkPad, and Lenovo tend to place more emphasis on design, displays and portability here. The problem, if you can call it one, is that there are now so many variations that the names are becoming quite a mouthful. The laptop I\u2019m reviewing here is officially called the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Ultra Aura Edition Gen 11<\/b>, which is a lot of words for something designed around minimalism.<\/p>\n
Still, the \u201cUltra\u201d part of its name is not entirely without reason. This is a 14-inch laptop that weighs less than 1kg, packs a surprisingly large 75Wh battery<\/b> and can be configured with Intel\u2019s latest Core Ultra Series 3<\/b> processors. It is clearly going after the same group of users as the ASUS ExpertBook Ultra that I reviewed recently: people who want a proper Windows laptop without carrying something that feels like a proper Windows laptop. But although both arrive at almost the same weight, I feel Lenovo has taken a rather different route to get there.<\/p>\nHands-on experience<\/h2>\n![\"Ultraportable](\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/hardwarezone\/c7265c25d55dcb15cf85ee312de1a6ae48c5fbc8bf6ea49d3b205ed4100ad5ac?w=1000&q=85\")
\nThe keyboard is possibly one of the best for an ultraportable laptop.<\/p>\n
Photo: HWZ<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The first thing I noticed when I picked up this Yoga was, unsurprisingly, how featherweight it felt on my hands. At 975g<\/b>, it is technically lighter than the 0.99kg ExpertBook Ultra, although I would be lying if I said I could feel that 15g difference. Both are incredibly light, but the Yoga could give the illusion of being the lighter laptop thanks to its very thin and svelte chassis that measures at just 13.9mm.<\/p>\n
However, it\u2019s what Lenovo has done with the laptop\u2019s design that impressed me the most. For one, it doesn\u2019t scream \u201cexpensive\u201d and the magnesium-aluminium body feels solid despite the lack of weight, with no worrying amount of flex around the keyboard or lid. Its rounded edges also make it comfortable to rest my wrists on while typing. The overall appearance is restrained, perhaps almost too restrained depending on the colour you choose (white, or as Lenovo called it \u201cSeashell\u201d, is my preferred colour), but the small camera bump along the top of the lid gives it some character and, more practically, somewhere to grip when opening it.<\/p>\n
That said, I felt that Yoga comes across more as a premium consumer laptop when compared with the ExpertBook Ultra \u2013 which was made for corporate road warriors. The ASUS machine has its tougher Nano Ceramic coating, spill-resistant keyboard and a chassis designed to survive maybe even a bomb explosion (don\u2019t try it, but you get the picture). Lenovo says the Yoga Slim 7i Ultra has passed MIL-STD-810H <\/b>military grade testing, but toughness is not really the vibe it gives off. If anything, the Yoga feels like a laptop I would want to look after; the ExpertBook feels like one that can look after itself.<\/p>\n![\"Not](\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/hardwarezone\/fc2a9334dd843fecdd9034a7fa695c1db6742868a45e9744b4cbc146351a02a4?w=1000&q=85\")
\nWith just 3 USB-C ports, the Yoga laptop is quite miserly with ports.<\/p>\n
Photo: HWZ<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n![\"Laptop](\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/hardwarezone\/c74ac7c37c84487a426ae08e3bdd391d0c266eeac9f3a925d847d50fb2eee618?w=1000&q=85\")
\nAt just 13.9mm thick, the Yoga Slim 7i Ultra Aura Edition Gen 11 is just a hair thicker than the Apple MacBook Air.<\/p>\n
Photo: HWZ<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The display is easily my favourite part of the laptop. It is a 14-inch 2.8K OLED touchscreen<\/b> with a 2,880×1,800-pixel resolution, a 16:10 aspect ratio and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. Colours have the familiar richness that I would expect from OLED, blacks look properly dark and text remains crisp even when I have several windows squeezed onto the screen. Lenovo rates the panel at 500 nits for normal use and up to 1,100 nits with HDR content. I certainly found it bright enough indoors, and movies look very good on it, helped by Dolby Vision support and the four-speaker system. What I do not like, however, is the glossy finish. Reflections become quite obvious when I am using it beside a window or under bright office lighting. It\u2019s certainly a compromise because while the Yoga\u2019s display can look punchier when watching videos, I do wish for fewer reflections when using the laptop for office productivity<\/p>\n
I also like the keyboard more than I thought I would. There is 1.5mm of key travel, which is pretty incredible for a laptop this thin, while the slightly dished keycaps give my fingers a natural place to land. More importantly, the keys have a comfortable amount of resistance and do not feel as shallow or brittle as some ultra-thin laptop keyboards. Lenovo has also applied a coating intended to resist oil and water, although the half-height up and down arrow keys still require some getting used to \u2013 for me anyway.<\/p>\n![\"Camera](\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/hardwarezone\/4b57e98548ec95a44522fe8ac07a3bef3928fc5c394f505cd53688a90bfee00b?w=1000&q=85\")
\nThe small camera bump allows you to open the laptop\u2019s lid easily.<\/p>\n
Photo: HWZ<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Connectivity is where the Yoga laptop disappoints me. It has only three Thunderbolt 4 ports<\/b>, with no USB-A, HDMI, memory-card slot or even a 3.5mm headphone jack. I can understand trimming some connections to keep the laptop ultra-thin, but removing practically all of them feels excessive. Might Lenovo be able to fit a USB-A if they wanted to? I suspect their engineers could.<\/p>\n
Ports aside, the bigger question here was what else Lenovo might have sacrificed to bring the Yoga below 14mm. A chassis this thin leaves very little room for cooling, after all, so I was curious to see how much performance Lenovo had managed to squeeze out of it \u2013 particularly against the similarly light ExpertBook Ultra and also the ASUS Zenbook Duo, since it uses the same Core Ultra X9 388H processor.<\/p>\n