It’s a bold move to label a product “aura” in this day and age. Used as slang online to describe a strong and confident presence, if you include aura in your name, you better deliver. Fortunately, that’s just what Lenovo has done with the Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition.
Part of a collaboration with Intel, Aura Edition denotes Lenovo’s top-of-the-line laptops that perform above the rest. High-quality designs, fast processing speeds, and long battery lives; it’s another moniker to remember when browsing your local retailer.
While you can take or leave the exclusive software features that come included, the fact that the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition lives up to its premium claims does indeed earn it some aura points.
First impressions
If I can give you one tip when powering on this laptop for the first time: don’t rely on muscle memory. Its power button sits on the right-hand edge of the laptop, barely protruding out. Hardly visible to the eye and tough to locate through feel alone, the power button threw me for a loop.
Upon opening the Yoga Slim 7, I expected to see a power button in the top-right corner, just above the keyboard, like just about every laptop I’ve ever used. To my horror, I saw no such thing.
“Does the laptop turn on just by opening the lid? Did Lenovo forget to install a power button? Am I an idiot? Have I been found out for the impostor I long suspected I was?”
These questions and more flooded my panicked mind. Unable to figure out how the laptop powered on, I dreaded the thought of contacting Lenovo’s PR to ask what I anticipated would be the dumbest question they had ever received. So innocuous was the Yoga Slim’s power button that I repeatedly overlooked it in my frantic confusion.
Thank the laptop deities that I’m not the only one who has encountered such an issue. A quick internet search (on my phone, as the laptop was still off at this stage) revealed my folly. Panic made way for relief, accompanied by a generous helping of embarrassment.
Instead of what I consider to be a traditional power button replacement, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 has a keyboard, a decent-sized trackpad, and grills for its speakers. Admittedly, it makes for a clean aesthetic, albeit one that initially puzzled the hell out of me.
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition (Gen 9) specifications and price
| Display | 15.3-inch, 2.8K (2880 x 1800) IPS touchscreen (upgradeable to OLED) 120Hz refresh rate |
| Dimensions | 343.8 x 235.4 x 13.9 mm 1.5kg |
| Processor | Intel Core Ultra 7 258V |
| Graphics | Integrated Intel Arc 140V |
| RAM | 32GB LPDDR5X |
| Storage | 1TB SSD M.2 2242 PCIe Gen4 TLC |
| Battery | 4-cell 70Wh battery 65W USB-C AC adaptor |
| Connectivity | 1 x USB-A (USB 5Gbps / USB 3.2 Gen 1) 2 x USB-C (Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 40Gbps), with USB PD 3.1 and DisplayPort 2.1 1 x HDMI 2.1, up to 4K/60Hz 1 x Headphone / mic combo jack (3.5mm) Wi-Fi 7 Bluetooth 5.4 |
| Price (RRP) | $2,999 |
| Warranty | One year |
| Official website | Lenovo Australia |
Design
Other than a very small power button, the Aura Edition of the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 has an extremely nice design. Its smooth metallic finish feels nice to touch, and the subtle silver-grey colouring makes for a slick look.
On the right-hand side is a USB-A port, a USB-C port, that tricksy power button, and a camera privacy toggle. Moving over to the left, you get an HDMI port, another USB-C port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. Not a bad array of ports all up.
I’m not normally one for larger laptops – 14-inch displays are my limit – but this 15-inch device doesn’t carry much bulk. 1.5kg, to be precise. Perhaps that’s why it needs two hands to open: it’s actually not heavy enough.
Despite the lid housing an easily-gripped section to lift upwards, trying to open it one-handed lifts the rest of the laptop up with it. Yes, you can easily open the lid with two hands, but it might present an accessibility issue for people with limited motor function.
This Yoga has a nice and colourful screen, but it’s highly reflective, which makes it hard to use when near a window during the day. It’s not a bright screen either, so you need to plan to ensure you’re not in an environment that’ll force you to squint all day.
Performance
Two things caught my attention when using this laptop: the keyboard and a set of impressive speakers.
I still tip my hat to the M2 MacBook Pro I tested a while ago for setting the standard for laptop speakers. But the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition holds its own. Dedicating space on either side of the keyboard for the speaker vents, the Yoga pumps out clear and full-sounding audio, which is more than many laptops can claim.
More importantly, the keyboard is one of the nicest I’ve had the pleasure of using on a laptop. It combines a gentle concave design with a soft-touch material that still retains a satisfying tactility. Typing feels smooth and responsive, registering each stroke without issue.
Lenovo advertises its premium laptop as having “all-day battery life”, which I found to be bang on the money. I’m usually tethered to a desk with a Thunderbolt dock, but I comfortably got through taking notes at a full-day conference with plenty of juice to spare.
I only got limited use out of the Aura Edition-specific software features that include various modes, like a distraction-free setting or a power-optimisation mode. They’re there to act as a series of presets so you don’t have to go swimming around in settings menus to find what you want.
Maybe it’s because I’m fairly confident when adjusting settings, but I often forgot the different modes were there. That’s not a bad thing; the last thing we need is more needless bloatware that just gets in the way. Based on my experience, these modes are easy to ignore, so if you don’t find them useful, they don’t cause any annoyance.
Benchmarks
CPU
Lenovo didn’t opt for the top-of-the-line Intel Core Ultra chipset, choosing the Ultra 7 model, but it’s a decent performer nonetheless. What you’ll notice across the following Geekbench and Cinebench comparisons is that the single-core performance is stronger than last year’s Intel-equipped laptops, while the multi-core performance is slightly down.
It’s likely a result of Intel chasing greater efficiency over raw power, which is fine for general consumers. Most people would likely take better battery life over an extra 5-10% of performance that would likely be negligible across daily tasks.
| Device | CPU (Single-core) | CPU (Multi-core) |
| Apple MacBook M4 | 3,751 | 14,789 |
| Dell XPS 14 (2024) | 2,349 | 12,941 |
| Acer Swift Go 14 (2024) | 2,421 | 12,639 |
| Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition | 2,658 | 11,109 |
| Acer Swift 16 AI | 2,708 | 10,961 |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) | 2,581 | 12,160 |
| Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 | 1,567 | 8,761 |
| Device | CPU (Single-core) | CPU (Multi-core) |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 | 86 | 927 |
| Acer Swift Go 14 | 104 | 903 |
| Asus Zenbook Duo (UX8406) | 105 | 763 |
| Apple MacBook M4 | 173 | 746 |
| Dell XPS 14 | 102 | 660 |
| Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition | 120 | 618 |
| Acer Swift 16 AI | 121 | 513 |
Graphics
Relying on Intel’s integrated Arc GPU, the Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition stands up to moderately intensive graphical tasks. Photo and video editing isn’t a trouble; you just need to wait longer for rendering and exporting than compared to a laptop with a discrete GPU.
While its GPU benchmark score through Geekbench may look lower than most laptops, the following table is meant to illustrate the difference between having a dedicated graphics card versus relying on the chipset’s integrated graphics. Integrated graphics tax the battery far less, an advantage to not going all guns blazing on a fancy GPU.
| Device | GPU (OpenCL) |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (Gen 8, RTX 4070) | 158,787 |
| Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 (RTX 4070) | 119,970 |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 4060) | 96,452 |
| Dell XPS 14 (RTX 4050) | 65,396 |
| Acer Swift Go 14 | 34,388 |
| Acer Swift 16 AI | 29,111 |
| Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition | 26,933 |
You’d also be fine playing most games at 1080p, based on the Yoga’s 3DMark benchmarks. A little while ago, 3DMark sunset its long-used Time Spy benchmark in favour of a new one called Steel Nomad. This newer test comes in a couple of flavours, “Light” being the one for most everyday laptops.
| Device | Score |
| Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition | 3,281 |
| Acer Swift 16 AI | 3,230 |
| Acer TravelMate | 2,993 |
| Asus Vivobook S 15 | 2,037 |
A score above 3,000 is reasonable for a laptop using integrated graphics. If you’re considering the Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition, you’re clearly not looking for a gaming laptop, but it’s nice to have the option of playing some games if it takes your fancy.
Storage speed
Using the CrystalDiskMark software to measure disk speed, Lenovo’s laptop returned sequential write speeds of up to 4,500 MB/s, and read speeds reaching 5,200 MB/s.
That’s pretty much par for the course for higher-level consumer laptops. Any slower would be disappointing, while there are certainly faster laptop SSDs out there. It’s fine for most people’s use cases; you’d only really wish for faster speeds if your daily workflow required transferring large files all the time.
Who is the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition for?
Aptly named, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition is a slick laptop designed for all-day use. Even putting aside some of its design quirks, I found it extremely comfortable to use. Especially its keyboard. My goodness, plenty of other brands could learn from that keyboard.
This specific version of Yoga is suited to folks who want a laptop that handles the regular gamut of daily tasks, and have some battery to spare by the time the sun goes down. It’s good for work, play and multimedia consumption.
Truly, it is a laptop brimming with aura.
The post Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition review: Plus 100 aura points appeared first on GadgetGuy.
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