Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition

First Impressions

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition is mostly about what’s under the hood rather than what it looks like outside, but this is still a premium laptop with solid build quality, a gorgeous OLED display and some great software features that make for a helpful user experience.

Introduction

It’s an exciting time for laptops at the moment, with Windows PCs finally starting to catch up with Apple when it comes to battery life and performance.

Qualcomm kicked it all off in October last year when it announced the Snapdragon X Elite, but that’s since been followed up with Intel redesigning its chipset in the Intel Core Ultra (Series 2) and AMD also announcing its stake in the processor fight.

Lenovo isn’t just picking one chipset manufacturer to play nice with however – it’s gone with them all, which is great news for you because you get choice and who doesn’t love choice.

Top of the range of the new Intel laptops announced at IFA 2024, is the Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition (€1399), which runs on the Intel Core Ultra 7. I got my hands on it at the consumer trade show in Berlin and this is what there is to look forward to.

Display 

• 15.3-inch, OLED, 2880 x 1800p
• 120Hz refresh rate
• Optional touch

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura is more about what is under its hood, than what you’ll find on the outside, but that doesn’t mean the outside can’t be good to look at too.

There’s a gorgeous 15.3-inch OLED display with a 2800 x 1800 pixel resolution and while it is always difficult to judge a display in a demo room, there was ample brightness and plenty of detail based on my first impressions. 

The screen offers a 120Hz refresh rate, Low Blue Light and Eyesafe, while touch is an optional add on should you want it. The colours appeared vibrant with plenty of pop and there was good response from the trackpad in my brief experience on the device. Screen specs aside, there are some interesting features when it comes to the software elements of the screen on this laptop. 

Tap the F8 function key and a pop up widget appears allowing you to select a Smart Mode. There are five Smart Modes – Shield, Attention, Collaboration, Wellness and Power, each of which has its own individual features that kick in when you select one of them. It’s similar to Focus on Apple, in that it’s one tap to turn the mode on but there is a little more about the Smart Modes compared to Apple’s Focus options. 

The Shield mode, for example, can detect when someone is looking over your shoulder, forcing an alert to pop up on the Yoga Slim 7i Aura’s display, followed by the option of launching Privacy Guard and reducing the screen’s visibility. Shield Mode will also auto prompt the use of a VPN.

The Attention mode, meanwhile, will allow you to specifically block distracting websites so you can concentrate on the task at hand, while Wellness includes eye wellness and posture warning features. 

Performance and Specs

• Intel Core Ultra 7
• Up to 32GB RAM
• Up to 1TB SSD

Inside the Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition, it’s the Intel Core Ultra 7 processor running the show, and that is paired with up to 32GB of memory and up to 1TB SSD.

Testing the performance of a laptop during a brief demo isn’t something that’s possible of course, but we would hope the new chipset will allow for better battery performance, especially when using the Power Smart Mode, which optimises battery life and performance.

As with other AI PCs that have launched recently, CoPilot Plus will be available on this laptop too, offering access to various AI features like you’ll find on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 from November. AI aside for once though, and there is a feature on board the Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition that is related to the Intel chipset, as well as exclusive to Lenovo and that’s Smart Share.

This allows you to tap a device on the side of the screen to then share photos back and forth. It needs the Intel Unison app on the device you want to share to the laptop, but it means you could have an iPhone or any other Android device and instantly get photos from it onto your Yoga Slim 7i Aura with a tap.

I tried it out during my demo and it needs both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, alongside the Intel Unison app but it worked well, allowing me to drag and drop photos quickly and have them instantly appear on both the Yoga Slim 7i and the iPhone that was being used for the demo. Double tapping the side of the laptop feels a little strange but it’s one of those things you’d quickly become accustomed to and probably very much appreciate. 

There is one more feature I’ll mention here called Smart Care, which is what Lenovo calls a “white glove” service for helping you out if something isn’t quite going to plan. You can launch Smart Care on the Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition itself, or you can use the accompanying app to get help, 

If say, you’re struggling to turn your laptop on or something isn’t working and you can’t figure it out. The service will put you in direct contact with a support network to help you get a fix.

Design 

• 1.46kg
• 343.8 x 235.4 x 13.9mm
• Luna Grey

When it comes to design, there isn’t anything new or exciting to write home about with the Yoga Slim 7i Aura, but I don’t mean that as a negative. It’s a good, solid looking laptop that more than serves its purpose. The keyboard felt nice to type on with good key travel, while the build quality felt like it would be able to handle coming in and out of a bag without breaking.

It was heavier than the Auto Twist concept, weighing 1.46kg, though that’s not heavy for a 15-inch laptop. It’s lighter than the 15-inch MacBook Air (M3) and that is by no means heavy to carry around. At the top of the screen there is a notch to incorporate the camera, but there is also a privacy shutter which some will no doubt appreciate. 

In terms of ports, there are two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a HDMI 2,1, an audio jack and a USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port so most bases are covered.

Luna Grey is the only colour option so Lenovo hasn’t tried to inject colour like Huawei did on its MateBook 14 in June 2024, but it’s preferable to black and as I said, it looks premium.

The only other thing I will mention on the design front until we get this model in for review is there are four speakers on board, along with Dolby Atmos support and for Voice ID microphones, but unlike the Auto Twist concept, you won’t be able to open the lid with your voice here. 

Early Verdict

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition is mostly about what’s under the hood rather than what it looks like outside, but this is still a premium laptop with a solid build quality, gorgeous OLED display and a lovely keyboard based on first impressions.

Some of the features make it exciting too, from Smart Share which requires both the Intel Core Ultra chip and proprietary Lenovo software to function, to the Smart Modes that look like they will add some genuinely useful functions to the user experience. 

It’s too soon to offer a proper verdict or judge whether this will be one of the best laptops on the market, and while the Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition might not automatically open when I tell it to like the Auto Twist concept, there’s plenty on board here to make this a solid Windows PC.