Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x: Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite is AWESOME!

The M3 MacBook finally has a proper competition on the Windows side of things, and it's this. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x. Powered by the all new Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor which is an ARM based processor, we finally get power and effiency on Windows. Whether you're plugged in or not, expect great battery life and performance on this thin and light machine. So, who is it for?
My Video Gear:
Sony A7s III - amzn.to/3xxnKSM
Sony A7IV - amzn.to/3BjSK9U
Sony 90mm F/2.8 Macro - amzn.to/3Dz53C6
Sony 50mm F/1.2 GM - amzn.to/3LkA3Yp
Sony 35mm F/1.8 - amzn.to/3Sb4Qcm
Sony 24-105 F/4 - amzn.to/3Bp3aoL
Blue Baby Bottle SL Microphone - amzn.to/3QTyeTp
Shure MV7 Microphone - amzn.to/3UgI4BF
Sennheiser G4 Wireless Lav - amzn.to/3BpbBjR
Follow me on social
/ heymarkl
/ heymarkl
New Here?
-
Hi! My name is Mark Linsangan. I make lifestyle tech videos that are informative and look beautiful. I'm a big fan of traveling/exploring, tech, social media / biz and finding interesting topics on the line (online). Subscribe & say hi to me on X, and Instagram @HeyMarkL
-

[@TalynOne]

Highly recommend configuring the Lenovo with 32GB ($69 upgrade) of memory and 1TB storage ($45 upgrade) during purchase. Those upgrades are quite affordable.

[@HeyMarkL]

Unlike some other companies 🙄

[@DogsWorldYTLife]

Is it upgradable or soldered in? My Last Lenovo only had 4GB memory soldered in but I was able to solder in a ddr5 bracket to add another 8GB stick and it worked.

[@TalynOne]

@@DogsWorldYTLife Memory is soldered, SSD is upgradable.

[@keithbirdwell]

@@DogsWorldYTLifememory is upgradable. Go to build your own laptop section.

[@andyH_England]

My daily use is around 6GB of RAM on my laptops (Windows and Mac), so 32GB would be extreme overkill. What do you do with your RAM? I would have preferred an $899 option of 8GB/256GB as that is more than enough for my use and would have been more in line with what I can buy for an AMD 16GB/512GB machine currently.

[@pcefbol6704]

The Snapdragon X Elite is currently the best CPU option for regular laptop users. However, it is not yet suitable for gaming, engineering, or scientific applications. Qualcomm needs to collaborate closely with software engineering companies to broaden its appeal and capabilities. Congratulations to Qualcomm, Microsoft, and ARM for creating a compelling alternative to the Apple Silicon laptops.

[@rhollis47]

I have 15% battery drain overnight with this laptop. it eventually goes into Hibernate node. I also have the surface laptop 7 I only see 3 to 5% drain on battery over night. It does not go into hibernate mode. When I lift the laptop lid it pick up where I left off.

[@GadgetsBoy]

great stuff

[@HeyMarkL]

Thanks bro 🙏🏼

[@booredshorts8604]

This laptop is jelly

[@HeyMarkL]

It really is 👌🏼

[@nikolajovanovic3647]

You said almost nothing about the screen other than specs. Its literally the best screen on any laptop so far. Talking about black 600 certification and 1000 nits peak brightness with 100 percent P3 coverage.

[@HeyMarkL]

Debatable on the 'best screen on any laptop'. If we're talking Snapdragon X Elite laptops, definitely. But there are laptops from Asus that looks way better. Samsung too. Surface Pro with OLED is beautiful in its own right as well.

[@vincentchi56]

All X Elite/X Plus memory design are soldered (LPDDR5X) , but SSD could be upgraded. (M.2 2230 or M.2 2242 or M.2 2280 SSD by each brand design)

[@CraigCabrey]

I have it in hand, the other X Elite laptops are irrelevant compared to this thing. My only complaint is that battery conservation mode appears to be missing from it.

[@HeyMarkL]

I've briefly used the Samsung, Asus, and Surface Laptop, and for its price, this is by far the best in terms of features, performance and price combined into one. If you hit fn+Q, you can cycle through silent, balanced, and performance mode fyi. I'm almost always on balanced.

[@CraigCabrey]

@@HeyMarkL Battery conservation refers to the 80% charge limit, not the power profiles.

[@andyH_England]

@@CraigCabrey Yes, that is a strange omission, as with long battery life, the need to charge to 100% is redundant, and the benefits of stopping charging at 80% are compelling.

[@inamulbhuyan]

Snapdragon X Elite ❤❤

[@akin242002]

Arguable the best of the Snapdragon X Elite laptops. Just needs drivers for old printers 🖨 and a Type A port. At least the Type A port can be fixed with a $10 to $20 dongle.

[@HeyMarkL]

Right, there's little things that I think will get better (driver support for printers and gpu), but that A port will have to be a dongle or a redesign for the next version.

[@fitunity]

Hopefully those drivers come sooner rather than later.

[@rushmore3927]

If you don't mainly use x86 apps or anything that leans on gpu operations.

[@Le_Bicar]

Thx for the review. Do you know if there is a 2nd slot for another ssd? Thx

[@niklas7816]

There is no second slot.

[@Le_Bicar]

@@niklas7816 ah that sucks... thx 🤝

[@tonnyespeset]

Used this laptop (the 32GB/1TB version) for a few days now, and loving it. Amazing screen! Very impressed with ARM compatibility, I expected more issues. But most of the programs I use are already optimized for ARM natively, the rest works well with Microsofts Prism emulation layer. Steam games also works surprisingly well even in high resolutions, although ARM doesnt work with some anti-cheat systems and will fail to run Ubisoft games, among others, at the moment. But I expect those to be updated for ARM soon enough. Runs cool, virtually sound-less and has great battery life. I had some minor issues with some drivers, such as VPN drivers, and some old hardware drivers, such as printer drivers, might also not work well with Prism just yet, but I was able to find workarounds for the few issues I encountered. Oh, and WIFI 7 👍

[@jarekrozanski5878]

What's real life battery life for you?

[@tonnyespeset]

@@jarekrozanski5878 Still a bit early to say since so far I have never been close to draining it before I do a recharge, I've never been below 60% power yet. But I would guess roughly 15 hours with my use (mainly browser and remote desktop, the heavy work is done on the desktop I remote into).

[@a__random__person]

shoulda mentioned the display and the nice brightness it has compared to others

[@jamestillman5247]

he did mention the screen said it was oled with vibrant colors and great contrast

[@markaznar1979]

This or intel with their ultra low powered SoC 9 ? Huawei mate pro x 2024 as far as gaming is concerned?

[@HeyMarkL]

As far as gaming is concerned. Intel and AMD will be better at those. Especially ones with dedicated GPU. But this is a great all around option for battery and some light gaming.

[@markaznar1979]

@@HeyMarkL so the Huawei mate x pro 2024 is better for gaming with its arc igpu as opposed to these Qualcomm elite chips?

[@HeyMarkL]

Yes, slightly. It’s more compatible as well.

[@markaznar1979]

@@HeyMarkL I see. So tempted to get the mate x pro

[@Amilaarfqika]

Better you build pc buddy for gaming, nowadays we use smartphone for gaming, ​@@markaznar1979

[@leakyabstraction]

Too bad the build quality is nowhere compared to Microsoft Surface Laptop. I was touching them in a shop yesterday for like an hour, and the Surface was super impressive, with great overall quality and a trackpad which is basically better than the Macbook Air's. The bottom is insanely clean and professional too. But I haven't felt these qualities in any of the other Snapdragon laptops.

[@HeyMarkL]

I think Surface Laptop and Surface Pro have really great build quality, but I think this Lenovo laptop is a great alternative if you want something different. All have its pros and cons though.

[@murrarivikranth9607]

Link to the wallpaper please mate?

[@HeyMarkL]

Hey, I got them from the Backdrops app on my Android and just transferred it over lol

[@erwinfeser3264]

Do we have news about Linux support?

[@HeyMarkL]

Nothing new, but I'm sure in a few months, it'll be a lot easier to configure these types of machines with Linux

[@d3ricktt]

wanted to grab this but found out that elite x 78-100 without dual core boost

[@veYda25]

I have this laptop and it really doesnt matter, unless you want a higher geekbench score, the 78 can do everything the 80 and 84 can do

[@milindvir7031]

The only problem with these laptops is there speakers are shit 😢. Like the MacBook air speakers are faar better if compared to these laptops.

[@HeyMarkL]

This one isn’t the best, but I know the Surface Laptop is close to MacBook Air territory. Like 5% worse or better give or take depending on your taste with sound. But comparing to a MacBook Air. Then yes. Haha

[@ryanmilbrod2386]

Is this better than the surface laptop?

[@HeyMarkL]

Wouldn't say it's better, but definitely have a much nicer screen I will say.

[@ryanmilbrod2386]

@@HeyMarkL how’s the build quality and also does the Lenovo has the screen door effect?

[@shrimpgordita]

I compared them extensively at Best Buy. The Surface Laptop 3:2 screen ratio is better. IMO all

[@LeicaM11]

Why Lenovo did not integrate nor offer the top processor of X Elite (84)? 😮 2400-2700 at Geekbench 6? My Apple M4 offers 3700 at Geekbench 6.😅

[@HeyMarkL]

Haha I want the top of the line processor X Elite on this as well. I think that would've been a killer combo paired with the 32GB RAM variant. I'll ask Lenovo to see if they'll eventually make one lol

[@andyH_England]

For the pricing, most Snapdragon laptops have pros and cons. Lenovo went for the cheapest SKU so they could offer more value elsewhere. The same applies to the display (90Hz, not LTPO 2.0). It also depends on how much power delivery they allow, as even the lowest SKU can perform close to the higher SKU but would be less efficient.

[@RegiiPad]

no stylus?

[@tonnyespeset]

No, but it has a touch-screen. I disabled it though, might save some battery? I never use it anyway.

[@lohlundgames]

Does linux work on this?

[@HeyMarkL]

Not yet, but I'm sure in a few months, it'll be a lot easier to configure these types of machines with Linux.

[@inout3394]

If will be Linux support I consider to buy, because a spyware Windows or MacBook I don't wanna buy.

[@xade8381]

linux when?

[@tonnyespeset]

I am running Ubuntu through WSL on this one, works really well.

[@xade8381]

@@tonnyespeset great, but I need to use natively

[@mementomori1868]

Still 2x expinsive....Price should be half of this

[@k1d0z]

Non upgradable RAM in a laptop is the current norm. So don't say unfortunately for that fact.

[@HeyMarkL]

Ehhh I’ll say what I want. Cause people want options.

[@andyH_England]

Yes, the science is convincing that soldered RAM on the chip performs significantly better than socketed. For ultrabooks, this is a no-brainer having soldered RAM; make sure you buy what you need. The lines are more blurred for gaming & professional laptops where there is a good case for CAMM2 when that reduces in price.

[@andyH_England]

FYI, on the Lenovo site in the UK, we only get one option for £1400 ($1800), which is the 32GB/1TB model. With Intel and AMD chips coming soon, Lenovo does not want to waste too much on WOA if it is another fail or ARM beats Qualcomm in court and asks for the chips to be withdrawn pending a Qualcomm appeal. Also, the AMD will be better and likely have higher demand.

[@davidneale530]

Errr... Lenovo UK site lists 4 variants starting at £1249 for 16GB + 512GB and £100 more gets you 32GB + 1TB. And your dollar conversion didn't account for VAT as US sites never include the sales tax in the price you see.

[@kielvostro]

I hate the screen glare. I hope they already put X Elite in their Thinkpad / Ideapad lineup.

[@oleksandr472]

I ended up paying 1,397 cad for the Samsung Book 4 Edge after trading in my old Core i5 8gen laptop. In comparison with the Lenovo 7x, Samsung's Book 4 Edge has a faster processor, a better Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, a higher (120 Hz) refresh rate, and an excellent integration with my Samsung S23 FE phone. 10.9 mm thickness, 1.16 kg, plus premium materials, and design.

[@user-td4ll1qx1t]

Hey can you help me to order one in Australia. Sadly It's not available here

[@somare2364]

May I know what scaling you are using? When I tried it at 200% in the showroom, the Windows menu became very blurry, especially the text.

[@DigitalProsperityInc]

Except for that horrid keyboard typing feel experience on the galaxy edge feeling like a flat table typer

[@awdadwadwad1723]

Dont forget to mention garbage speakers, keyboard and touchpad :D

[@linglongchen5241]

Just wait for Intel lunar lake laptop. It should be as efficient as x-elite chip. No headache to deal with software and device compatibility issues, which is more important than others.

[@HeyMarkL]

Right. Waiting on those too. I'm very excited about them and I hope Intel doesn't overpromise, and not deliver. But I guess we'll see later this year!

[@andyH_England]

And before that, we have AMD releasing in 1-2 weeks and price leaks suggest they will match the Snapdragon and perform better and as efficiently with a much superior iGPU, and, of course, as you say, no compatibility issues.

[@GearWave]

Based off price this laptop for right now is probably the best snapdragon x elite laptop that you can buy.

[@k1d0z]

I don't know why people always mention gaming in an "office" laptop like this. I don't bother playing games in this laptop. Even I don't play games in my Legion laptop. Laptop will become easily hot and noisy for playing games. If you want to play games, buy a capable desktop with a good discrete graphic card.

[@HeyMarkL]

Cause people don’t want two devices. If an “office” laptop is capable of gaming, then that’s great. I’m here showcasing what the laptop is capable of.

[@k1d0z]

@@HeyMarkL Good point. But then, a gaming laptop like Lenovo Legion should be more suitable for this segment. It's sleek and thin enough to bring to office, but it also has dual graphic card including the most recent version of Nvidia RTX. Educate them to choose the more appropriate option, rather than forcefitting this laptop to suit the need that is not designed for.

[@andyH_England]

Having the option of "good" casual gaming, as that pastime is very popular, with around 50-60% of laptop users, enjoying some gaming, is a value-added feature. With the new AMD arriving in a few weeks with 2X the iGPU performance at a similar price and spec, surely most people would be better off waiting for the AMD?

[@k1d0z]

@@andyH_England I guess so. Just like I'm waiting for the Intel Lunar lake too. If the battery efficiency is around the same with Snapdragon X Ellite, I will surely choose Intel or AMD instead of Snapdragon. Not having to worry about compatibility or performance penalty of Prism emulator is more important than gaming capability. But if the integrated GPU is also better, that's a welcome bonus.

[@tonnyespeset]

I think the keyword in your post is the word "I", how one prefers to use a laptop is quite personal, and to me the best laptop is one that can be good at any type of task. I will probably not game on it much either, but games are a great tool to show the power of a system (performance, battery life under stress, future-readiness ++). A good gaming computer will most likely also perform well for other demanding tasks, such as video editing, local AI-inference, scientific research, compilation etc. I would not want one computer for every single type of usecase, although I am sure computer-manufacturers would love that idea. :)

[@user-zn1db9fe5w]

I hate usb charging

[@EZBlast]

You can turbo it's performance by using a 2 fan laptop cooler - keeps surface temp ultra low - allowing higher performance output. Confirmed by gents who put their pc's in freezers for ten min. - this was the logical progression by demo's end - it's on youtube. It works -I tested it on my yoga 7x and my cpuz numbers where remarkably higher than before, and much closer to the M3 numbers.

[@DogsWorldYTLife]

This is an AI laptop but yet not a single person reviews the AI features.

[@TalynOne]

The major one, recall has been removed while they improve security. The rest are currently gimmicky. LM Studio has a beta build that works with ARM but doesn't use the NPU yet. Once it does that should be a nice use case.

[@andyH_England]

AI is a marketing spiel to get people to upgrade. At the present time, it is early days, and it will be 1-2 years before we get a good array of AI features.

[@tonnyespeset]

It has an NPU, but it will take some time for the developers to start supporting it. Most AI-related services are server based now anyway. My guess is we will see a new generation of ARM-processors before running AI locally becomes a normal thing. Microsofts Copilot is the only AI-feature that is supposedly using this new hardware, but I made sure to disable this and all related services due to the much criticized privacy and security risks the related Recall system poses. The issue is that Recall will continuously take screenshots of what you are doing at regular intervals and store them. Anyone who gains access to your computer now has a goldmine of private data they can steal, making a security breach much more serious than before. If you are a developer then you can download the NPU SDK and start making your own AI-software though, it is in fact quite easy and you can even use AI to help you write it. :)

[@cutthat4643]

More bullshit