23 Nov
Blog

Samsung Galaxy Book Review: Too Many Compromises

Oblique view of the Samsung Galaxy Book for Business.

Samsung Galaxy Book for Business

RRP $ 900.00

"The Samsung Galaxy Book for Business has good productivity performance and battery life, but its display is below average and it lacks great features."

advantages

  • Thin and light

  • Excellent keyboard and touchpad

  • Solid productivity performance

  • Battery life for good productivity

disadvantage

  • Disappointing display quality

  • Lid and chassis yield too much

  • No useful business features

More than ever, Samsung is committed to creating a laptop that lives up to the Galaxy brand's pedigree.

However, the Galaxy Book Pro came close with its ultra-thin case and vibrant OLED screen. But can a cheaper, simpler version of this laptop have the same effect?

The Samsung Galaxy Book I tested was technically the "for business" model, although its hardware is almost identical to the consumer model. The laptop has an Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor, a 15-inch 1080p screen, and is priced at $ 900.

That's in the middle of the package when you factor in the price, features, and design. Unfortunately, the price isn't low enough to warrant so many compromises, especially with so many other great options

draft

Angled view of the back and the cover of the Samsung Galaxy Book for Business.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The Galaxy Book is made of aluminum, which usually results in a solid build quality. However, Samsung must have used thin aluminum to save weight, because the lid bends more than I would like and there is a lot of keyboard flex. The Acer Aspire 5, a budget-conscious 15-inch device that you can buy in a similar configuration for less than $ 500, had slightly better keyboard deck and chassis rigidity, although the lid was also a bit pliable.

The HP Envy x360 15 is about the same price as the Galaxy Book and is much more solid. Of course, if you go up the price, you get much better build quality, but I think the Galaxy Book should feel more solid at its $ 900 retail price. An example of a much more expensive laptop that shares the same lack of rigidity as the Galaxy Book is the LG Gram 16, which is made of magnesium but also weighs just 2.62 pounds – in which case you're trading solidity for extremely light weight .

At 3.42 pounds, the Galaxy Book is also relatively light for a 15-inch device, while the Acer Aspire 5 comes close at 3.64 pounds. However, the Acer benefits from some plastic components. More rugged laptops like the Envy x360 15 and the Dell XPS 15 typically weigh four pounds or more. The Galaxy Book is 0.61 inches thick, slimmer than the Aspire 5 at 0.70 inches, the Envy x360 15 at 0.72 inches, and the XPS 15 at 0.71 inches.

Directly in view of the Samsung Galaxy Book for Business.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

All in all, one of the Galaxy Book's greatest strengths is its thin and light nature, which makes bending and bending the laptop a little more forgiving. However, the Galaxy Book's bezels around the old-school 16: 9 display aren't that tiny, especially the top and bottom, and it's still a full-sized 15-inch laptop.

Aesthetically, the Galaxy Book is a rather mundane silver color that is reminiscent of so many other laptops. It has simple lines and angles and black keycaps with white lettering. There's nothing wrong with minimalist designs – HP has perfected it on devices like the Envy x360 15 – but the design philosophy can go too far. I find the Galaxy Book is on the wrong side of that thin line.

A note about the software. Samsung offers a ton of additional applications in addition to the usual support utilities. This includes Samsung Flow, a pen app that cannot be used on the Galaxy Book, Samsung Gallery, Samsung Studio Plue, Samsung TV Plus, etc. Some of these apps can be useful, but for those who don't want to install additional apps on their laptops, the Galaxy Book gets annoying.

Two USB-C ports, a full-size HDMI port and a USB-A port line the left side of the Samsung Galaxy Book for Business.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Hinge on the back of the Samsung Galaxy Book for Business.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The right side of the Samsung Galaxy Book for Business is equipped with another USB-A port, a microSD card reader and a 3rd

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The connectivity is fine. Two USB-C ports, a full-size HDMI port, and a USB-A port line the left side, while the right side has another USB-A port, a microSD card reader, and a 3.5mm. is equipped with an audio jack. There's no Thunderbolt 4 support we've seen on laptops for the same price. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 take over wireless tasks.

power

Close the Samsung Galaxy Book for Business screen and keyboard.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

You can buy the Galaxy Book with either a Core i5-1135G7 or a Core i7-1165G7. My test device was equipped with the Core i5 and did well considering the CPU.

In all of our benchmarks, the Galaxy Book was at or near the top of a handful of other Core i5-1135G7-equipped laptops. Only the Lenovo ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 could match or exceed its values. The Galaxy Book was particularly strong in our most CPU-intensive benchmark, including our Handbrake test, which encodes a 420 MB video as H.265. Its 175 second result was much faster than any other except the ThinkBook 13s Gen 2, and it can rival many Core i7 laptops in our database. The Samsung was also strong in Cinebench and narrowly lost to the ThinkBook.

In the PCMark 10 Complete benchmark, the Galaxy Book again took the top spot with 4735. It also did well in the areas of essentials, productivity and content creation of the benchmark.

Overall, the Galaxy Book was a solid productivity performer that could keep up with heavy workflows. Its performance is another area in which the Galaxy Book earned its $ 900 price tag.

Geekbench (single / multiple) Handbrake
(Seconds)		 Cinebench R23 (single / multiple) PCMark 10 3DMark time spy
Samsung Galaxy Book (Core i5-1135G7) 1401/5221 175 1361/5391 4735 1584
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14
(Core i5-1135G7)		 1397/4301 213 1325/4411 4550 1026
Lenovo ThinkBook 13s Gen 2
(Core i5-1135G7)		 1406/5379 178 1357/5502 4668 1511
HP Envy 14 (Core i5-1135G7) 1549/5431 204 1399/4585 n / A 1380
Acer Aspire 5 2021 (Core i3-1115G4) 1215/2544 300 1274/3128 3752 652

In the 3DMark Time Spy test, the Galaxy Book does well with 1584 points and leads our comparison group. However, that's not a good score for a gaming laptop. We usually use Fortnite to test thin and light laptops with integrated graphics, in this case Intel's Iris Xe, but the game crashed with a video memory error every time I tried to run it. Either way, you can rely on this laptop for older games, esports titles or newer games with low resolutions and graphics settings.

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Close up on the display of the Samsung Galaxy Book for business.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

At $ 900, expect a decent display. Given that Samsung is known for making great displays, the Galaxy Book is twofold. Subjectively, I found the 15.6-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) display bright enough for all the places I normally work, but I wasn't impressed by the apparent contrast or colors. In particular, I found black text on a white background a bit gray.

My colorimeter confirmed my suspicions. The Galaxy Book's brightness was okay at 326 nits, exceeding our 300 nit threshold. From then on, however, things went downhill. The display's colors were surprisingly narrow with only 48% AdobeRGB and 64% sRGB and not particularly accurate with a DeltaE of 2.41 (1.0 or less is considered excellent). That's a big disappointment, especially at the price.

Worse, the contrast was only 700: 1, well below our preferred 1,000: 1. It's not uncommon to see results like this on laptops that cost hundreds of dollars less, but I expect something better at this price point. The HP Envy x360 15, for example, was not as bright with 270 cd / m², but achieved 71% of AdobeRGB and 95% of sRGB with an accuracy of 1.06. The contrast was also significantly better at 900: 1.

This is a laptop designed for the casual business user and doesn't need the wide and accurate colors that developers demand. But they are expecting something closer to the industry average for the machine class, and this display just doesn't live up to that standard. I was surprised to see Samsung put such an inferior display in a laptop at this price point.

Keyboard and touchpad

The keyboard and trackpad of the Samsung Galaxy Book for Business.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The keyboard has a standard layout with a lot of space and large keycaps with continuous 3-level background lighting. There isn't a lot of travel, but the switches were crisp and snappy with a comfortable floor movement. They were calm too which is a plus. I would rate this as a very good keyboard that is only a step behind the best, such as those found in HP's Specter range and Dell's XPS.

The touchpad is larger than average and has a comfortable surface with Microsoft Precision touchpad drivers. It handled Windows 10's entire suite of multitouch gestures with consistent reliability and had a solid but quiet click. This is a great touchpad that is only surpassed by the much larger version of the Dell XPS 15 in 15-inch laptops. The display is non-touchable, which is always disappointing.

Windows 10 Hello support is provided by a fingerprint reader built into the power button. It was quick and accurate, and logged me in the instant I hit the laptop wake-up button.

Battery life

The Samsung Galaxy Book for business.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The Galaxy Book offers 56 watt hours of battery life, which is not much for a 15-inch laptop. I did not go into my battery test with great expectations.

The Galaxy Book only lasted 8.25 hours in our web browser test, which ran through a number of popular websites. That is well below the 10 hours we'd like to see in this test. The HP Envy x360 15 managed 11.25 hours, the Dell XPS 15 with its power-hungry OLED display lasted almost an hour longer. The Galaxy Book ran for 11.25 hours on our video test repeating a local 1080p movie trailer, which is a stronger score but still below average. The Envy x360 15 reached 13.65 hours and the XPS 15 was just minutes away from the Galaxy Book.

I switched to the PCMark 10 application test, which is the best indicator of productivity performance, and the Galaxy Book got 11 hours. That too is a stronger score and closer to the average. The Envy x360 15 outperformed the Galaxy Book again with 12.5 hours, the XPS 15 fell behind with just eight hours.

The Galaxy Book will likely last a full working day as long as your workflow isn't too CPU intensive. These aren't the best results for a 15-inch laptop at the price, but they aren't terrible either.

Our opinion

As I said at the beginning, the Samsung Galaxy Book is a strange laptop. The model I tested is aimed at business users, but does not offer anything that many consumer laptops do not offer. Its greatest strength is solid productivity performance and a thin and light chassis, and while these are welcome for business users, they are not exactly business-specific features.

Most disappointing is the display, which should offer a better experience for the price of the Galaxy Book. The battery life was a mixed picture, with the laptop doing well in the PCMark 10 test but not as good in our other benchmarks. And in terms of look and feel, the notebook is a bit boring and lacks rigidity. There's just not much to recommend this machine over its broad competition.

Are there alternatives?

The HP Envy x360 15 is a strong alternative to the Galaxy Book. It's less expensive, but offers better performance and battery life, and a great display. It's also a convertible 2-in-1 that adds flexibility.

We haven't reviewed many 15-inch laptops in this price range lately, but if you're ready to drop on a 14-inch unit, there are several good options. The HP Envy 14 is a good example with the same performance, superior battery life, and a better display for a similar price.

How long it will take?

The Samsung Galaxy Book isn't the toughest notebook we've tested in this price range, but it's still solid enough to last for several years. The components are also up to date, so it should keep up with Windows 10 and 11. The one-year warranty can be extended to Samsung's Care + for Business warranty extension.

Should you buy it?

No. There are just too many other good 15-inch laptops out there for about the same price, and the Galaxy Book doesn't offer much to entice its intended business destination. If you really like the design and performance of the laptop, then consider the consumer version of the Galaxy Book.

Editor's recommendations



01 Jul
Blog

Xbox Fusion Pro 2 Review: A Controller With Compromises

The Xbox Fusion 2 controller next to an Xbox Series X.

"PowerA's Fusion Pro 2 is great value at $ 90, but you get what you pay for with this third-party controller."

  • Great value

  • Feature-rich package

  • Practical volume control

  • Easy to customize

  • Loud rumbling

  • D-pad is a step down

  • Uncomfortable back paddles

Let's get something straight: the Xbox Elite Series 2 is the best video game controller on the market today. Unfortunately, it's also one of the most expensive. The third-party provider PowerA may have recognized an opportunity and, with the Fusion Pro 2, has risen with a direct competitor to Microsoft's own gamepad.

This wired controller is specially designed for the Xbox Series X | S and offers many of the same extras as the Elite Series 2 at a significantly lower price. It's a sturdy package with back paddles, trigger locks, volume controls and a lot more. At $ 90, it seems like an important value versus the $ 180 Elite Series 2 at first glance.

The Fusion Pro 2 is indeed a solid third-party option for those looking for an Xbox controller with some bells and whistles. Just prepare a classic "you get what you pay for" case here because it lacks the sleek design and cut of a proper Microsoft product.

An important value

It's hard to deny what a strong offering the overall package is. For $ 90, Xbox gamers get a ton of features here that aren't on a standard Xbox controller. For starters, it comes with a paddle pack that adds four back buttons to the controller. That alone is one of the main selling points of the Elite Series 2.

The Xbox Fusion 2 controller and its additional parts.

In addition, the controller has trigger locks that allow players to adjust the voltage on each trigger. There are three different settings each, each of which allows for some very specific controller settings. There is also a volume control at the bottom of the pad that allows players to easily turn the voice chat up and down. Pressing the rotary dial will also mute the chat, which is incredibly handy to have a click of your thumb away.

Those are the greatest features, but there's a lot more where that comes from. The package comes with removable front panels, anti-friction handles, additional joysticks and a carrying case to store everything. It doesn't have all of the interchangeable parts that come with an Elite Series 2, but it makes up for that with the bonus features.

It's hard to deny what a strong offering the overall package is.

The price point goes really far here. In comparison, PowerA's Nintendo Switch Fusion controller costs $ 100 and has far fewer extras. While $ 90 may seem expensive for someone who just needs a standard game controller, it's a real steal when you consider that a similar product costs twice as much.

to make compromises

While it's certainly more cost effective than an Elite Series 2, that doesn't mean it's inherently better. There are many tradeoffs players will make if they choose this route. Most notable is the fact that it is a wired controller, which in itself is a big catch in itself. The package comes with nice mesh wire, but it still means you have to stay tied to your Xbox to play.

There are many tradeoffs players will make if they choose this route.

These compromises also crop up in more subtle ways. The controller uses a regular four-way D-pad, which is a questionable step down from the Xbox Series X's more multi-directional pad. This part is also not interchangeable, so it cannot be replaced across the board.

The most noticeable difference comes from the rumble. The controller's dual rumble motors aren't subtle; This is one of the loudest controllers I've ever heard. Leave this on a coffee table and it will sound like it's piercing. The technology just feels a little cheap compared to the more precise rumble found in video game controllers today. It must be noted that the fact that it is rumbling at all is an improvement over the Switch's Fusion controller, which lacks overall feedback.

The Xbox Fusion 2 controller next to an Xbox Series X.

These quirks aside, the key layout itself is perfectly serviceable. There are a few differences in depth, but this feels like a regular Xbox controller. It's just these little details that bring the third-party character to the fore.

Just next to it

The biggest feature here is the paddle pack, which adds four back buttons to the controller. There's a lot to like about them. It's easy to assign buttons to them, the paddles feel responsive, and the backpack itself can be pulled out at any time.

It's still incredible value, but expect to feel the difference.

The positioning feels a bit off. although. For my hands, the backpack sits a little lower than I would like. That means I had to keep my back fingers higher, which made it difficult to find a comfortable position. After playing a few rounds of Knockout City, I felt like I wanted to throw the pack out entirely.

The back paddles of the Xbox Fusion 2 controller.

That's a shame, because the Fusion 2 has a lot to offer in terms of comfort. The rubber grips are especially nice compared to the cold suppleness of a standard Xbox controller. The trigger locks and interchangeable joysticks are also a welcome bonus that allows players to really customize the feel of the controller.

Of course, comfort is ultimately a question of subjectivity. The paddle package may be just right for some players while others may feel like it's just a bull's eye. No controller is a one-size-fits-all solution, but it's an area where Microsoft's expertise really becomes apparent. The company has spent decades creating the perfect Xbox controller, and that becomes evident when you switch to a third-party option that lacks those subtle tweaks. It's still incredible value, but expect to feel the difference.

Our opinion

The PowerA Xbox Fusion 2 is a great budget option for anyone who wants the extras of an Elite Series 2 without breaking the bank. It's a loaded package with an impressive array of features. Just be prepared for the third party nature. Loud rumble motors, awkward positioning of the back button and the wired condition make this controller a controller that accepts many compromises. If value is the primary concern, it is a strong option. It's just not the best available.

Is there a better alternative?

Microsoft's Elite Series 2 is the better piece of hardware, although it is available for twice the price.

How long it will take?

Since it's wired, you don't have to worry about battery life. The controller itself feels sturdy enough, but it's always difficult to say how a third-party product will hold up over time. However, expect it to be in use for a few years.

Should you buy it?

No. Anyone who really needs the extras is probably better off paying extra for the Elite Series 2. Otherwise, the standard Xbox Series X controller is perfectly designed for casual gamers.

Editor's recommendations



25 Nov
Blog

Lenovo Yoga 7i Review: Too Many Compromises for Greatness

Lenovo Yoga 7i review featured picture

Lenovo Yoga 7i Review: Too Much Compromise to Be Great

“The Lenovo Yoga 7i performs well for a Core i5 if you are mostly using the CPU. Boot up the GPU and you will be disappointed. "

  • Excellent productivity performance for a Core i5

  • Solid build quality

  • Just good looking

  • Good keyboard and touchpad

  • Below average graphics performance

  • Disappointing battery life

  • The display lacks contrast

Lenovo is in a marketing rush, renaming laptops but keeping them apart except for updated internals. For example, the Lenovo Yoga 9i is a renamed Yoga C940, and the Yoga 7i is a renamed Yoga C740. While the laptops are outwardly identical to their predecessors, the internal upgrades are significant – both received the Tiger Lake platform from Intel. For the Yoga 7i, this promises improved performance while leveraging all of the Yoga C740's other strengths (and weaknesses).

Related Black Friday sales

I was given a midrange configuration of the Yoga 7i for review, a $ 899 model available from Best Buy that has an 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU, 12GB of RAM, a 512GB PCIe solid -State drive and a 14-inch model is equipped with a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) IPS display. That makes the Yoga 7i a kind of tweener – not a cheap laptop, but not a premium either. You can bring the laptop to over $ 1,100 by upgrading to a Core i7, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. On paper, however, my test configuration would be a good productivity workstation for the money. The Tiger Lake upgrade worked well for the Yoga 9i – will it do the same for the Yoga 7i?

design

Lenovo Yoga 7i designMark Coppock / Digital Trends

As mentioned earlier, the Yoga 7i is just like the Yoga C740 before it. That said, it's a rather conservative design with simple lines and angles and absolutely no jewelry other than the metallic logo in the top left corner of the lid. It has been Lenovo's business for a number of years to design laptops that go unnoticed but are nonetheless attractive in their own simplicity. My test device was the Dark Moss color (the other option is a darker slate gray) which was a bit brown with a hint of copper to my eyes. It's subtle, but I liked it.

In terms of build quality, the Yoga 7i is worth its price – and more. Like all Lenovo mid-range or better laptops (and even the budget devices like the Yoga C640), the Yoga 7i is well built and features an aluminum chassis that for the most part does not bend, twist, or bend. I noticed only the slightest sag when I twisted the display with a lot of force, and the keyboard deck had the least amount of flex. But these are nits – you won't notice that flex in real life. One complaint is that the hinge is pretty firm and requires two hands to open, but stays in place thanks to its four 2-in-1 modes (clamshell, tent, media, and tablet).

The Yoga 7i isn't quite in the same league as some newer 2-in-1 models like the HP Specter x360 13 and the Asus ZenBook Flip S to follow the trend towards tiny bezels. It has smaller bezels on the side, but the top bezel is a bit thick and the chin is chunky by the latest standards. That makes the Yoga 7i less modern and a bit bigger than it might have been. It's not the thinnest laptop at 0.61 to 0.69 inches and a little heavy at 3.09 pounds. The Asus ZenBook 14 UX425 clamshell is much thinner at 0.54 inches and weighs just 2.58 pounds, while the Specter x360 13 is 0.67 inches thick and weighs 2.88 pounds. The Yoga 7i is comfortable in use in all modes, except in tablet mode, where it is a bit unwieldy.

Connectivity is a bit poor for a 14-inch convertible. On the left side there are two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 support, on the right side a 3.5 mm audio jack and on the right side a USB-A 3.2 port. Unfortunately, there is no SD card reader, which will be a disappointment for creatives. Wireless connectivity is cutting edge with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.

performance

Lenovo Yoga 7i performanceMark Coppock / Digital Trends

My review Yoga 7i is the first one I've tested with the Tiger Lake Core i5-1135G7 CPU, and I looked forward to seeing how it compares to the Core i7s I tested. Suffice it to say, I was pleasantly surprised.

In Geekbench 5, 1,357 points in single-core mode and 4,246 points in multi-core mode were initially achieved. This is in line with my expectations for a laptop like the Dell XPS 13 9310 with its Core i7-1165G7. This laptop scored a more impressive 1,540 and 5432, while the even faster Acer Swift 5 scored 1,580 and 5,836.

The Yoga 7i, which encoded a 420 MB video as H.265 with Handbrake, took just under 3.5 minutes. The XPS 13 was only 6 seconds faster in normal performance mode. Even in performance mode, the XPS 13 only beat the Yoga 7i by 20 seconds. The Swift 5 was 17 seconds faster. I think that's a win for the Core i5 equipped Yoga 7i.

The results were similar in Cinebench 20. The Yoga 7i achieved 513 points in single-core mode and 1,853 points in multi-core mode, compared to the XPS 13 at 518 and 1,921 (525 and 1,988 in performance mode). The Swift 5 was a bit faster at 542 and 2,091, but the rendering of the Yoga 7i was still impressive. It actually beat the Asus ZenBook 14 UX425EA with its Core i7, which only managed 497 and 1,746. And it was much faster than the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 with a 10th Gen Core i5-1035G1 that only managed 355 and 924.

In terms of CPU, the Yoga 7i beats its weight class and is a great option for anyone looking for a laptop with solid productivity and slightly better energy efficiency. You probably won't notice the difference in real life from an 11th gen Core i7 laptop.

Play

Lenovo Yoga 7i GamingMark Coppock / Digital Trends

The graphics performance of the Yoga 7i wasn't particularly impressive, however. I was pretty surprised at how much slower the Yoga 7i was than other Intel Iris Xe laptops (admittedly, all with Core i7 CPUs). Note that the Core i5 has 80 execution units in its Intel Iris Xe graphics compared to the 96 execution units in the Core i7-1165G7, which explains a good part of the performance difference. Still, I was disappointed.

First, the Yoga 7i wasn't impressive in the 3DMark synthetic benchmark. Time Spy only got 913 points, compared to the XPS 13 at 1,647 and the Acer Swift 5 at 1,686. That's faster than an Intel Iris Plus laptop like the 10th generation Acer Swift 5 with 743 points, but not by much.

This feat led to real games. I ran Civilization VI on the Yoga 7i and it only managed 28 frames per second (fps) at 1080p and medium graphics. That is significantly slower than the Acer Swift 5 with 53 fps and even the Asus ZenBook 14 UX425EA with 36 fps, which I considered slower. Only the Asus ZenBook Flip S, which was dramatically underclocked, did almost as badly with 31 fps. I also ran Fortnite and the results were just as impressive. The Yoga 7i only achieved 20 fps at 1080p and high graphics, with the XPS 13 reaching 29 fps and the Swift 5 reaching 31 fps. In epic graphics, the Yoga 7i only achieved 12 fps, 10 fps less than the other comparison laptops.

I'm not sure if this level of performance is unique to the Yoga 7i or what can be expected from the Core i5-1035G7 in general. If it's the latter then you should keep this in mind when choosing your next laptop. While the graphics of the Core i7 is similar to an entry-level GPU like the Nvidia GeForce MX350, the Core i5 in the Yoga 7i is closer to the integrated graphics of Iris Plus from Intel.

display

Lenovo Yoga 7i displayMark Coppock / Digital Trends

The Yoga 7i uses a 14-inch Full HD IPS panel for its display, which in my opinion is the absolute limit for Full HD resolution. I hate pixelated text, and in fact, I prefer 4K displays even on 13.3-inch laptops – which I know will put me in the minority. From this perspective, I found the display of the Yoga 7i hardly acceptable.

I also found my colorimeter to be average in most areas. By that I mean the average for premium or near-premium laptops, which makes for a pretty nice display. For example, the brightness at 281 nits was just slightly below our preferred 300 nits, and the color width was 97% of sRGB and 75% of AdobeRGB with a DeltaE of 1.65 (accuracy of 1.0 or less) in the correct range for these The display class cannot be distinguished by the human eye and is regarded as excellent). The brightness was a bit low compared to the laptops I recently tested, most of which exceeded 300 nits (like the Acer Swift 5 with 327 nits and the XPS 13 9310 with an excellent 458 nits), but the colors were very similar.

As with the Yoga 9i, the Yoga 7i's display stayed below average in terms of contrast, scoring only 690: 1, which is a lower score for a premium laptop today, most of which approach the 1000: 1 ratio we wanted . The Swift 5 scored 950: 1 and the XPS 13 scored 1350: 1. Such low contrast can make the display look washed out, especially when showing black text on a white background (not very convenient for a writer).

Overall, I found the display to be usable with good colors, but I noticed the lack of contrast. I wouldn't recommend this ad to anyone who really wants their text to appear. Of course, it is also not a laptop for creative people, as it lacks the desired color width and accuracy.

The audio was impressive for a thin and light laptop, with lots of volume from upward facing speakers and no distortion. Mids and highs came through clearly, but as always the bass was missing. The Yoga 7i can't compete with the Yoga 9i's soundbar built into the hinge, but it's good enough for solo Netflix sessions. Music makes you want headphones. If you're sharing your screen, a pair of bluetooth speakers won't hurt.

Keyboard and touchpad

Lenovo Yoga 7i keyboard and touchpadMark Coppock / Digital Trends

The Yoga 7i shares the same keyboard as most yogas. Personally, I find it a little flat and the mechanism is a little mushy compared to more precise switches on laptops like the HP Specter x360 13, Dell XPS 13, and the Magic Keyboard on the latest MacBooks. The Yoga 9i has a new set of switches that gives every key press a high level of precision – and that's missing here. The keys are big and nicely shaped, with good spacing.

The touchpad is a good size considering the available storage space and is a Microsoft Precision touchpad with a responsive and precise feel. Windows 10 multi-touch gestures are well supported, but I found the click a little too loud. The touch display is responsive and accurate, giving you flexibility in controlling the cursor, tapping buttons, and scrolling through long web pages. While the display supports the Lenovo Active Pen for $ 100, these accessories are not included.

Windows 10 Hello support is provided by a fingerprint reader that is accurate and responsive. I had no problem logging in without a password.

Battery life

Lenovo Yoga 7i battery lifeMark Coppock / Digital Trends

Intel's Evo certification requires a laptop to have more than nine hours of battery life while in real-world use. I'm not sure if the Yoga 7i gets this certification, even with a battery capacity of 71 watt hours (a good amount for a 14-inch laptop), at least from my tests.

As with all of the Tiger Lake systems I have tested, I was unable to get the Yoga 7i to complete the Basemark web benchmark battery test. We use it to test the longevity under load. So instead, I used the PCMark 10 gaming test to at least compare it to other Tiger Lake systems. In this test, the Yoga 7i lasted 2.45 hours. That's significantly less than the XPS 13 9310, which lasted nearly four hours, but an improvement over the Swift 5 that couldn't quite make it to two hours.

In our web browser test, which best mimics productivity battery life, the Yoga 7i lasted a little over eight hours. This is an average score and less than the nine hours it takes to be Evo certification. It's also like I've seen other Tiger Lake systems like the Acer Swift 5 running on a more power hungry Core i7. I was hoping for more from the Core i5 in the Yoga 7i.

In our video test, in which a Full HD Avengers trailer is repeated until the laptop is idle, the Yoga 7i lasted 12.5 hours. That's a bit better than the XPS 13 and an hour longer than the Swift 5, but I was still hoping for more.

Whether you work a full day with the Yoga 7i depends entirely on your workflow. If you are putting heavy stress on the CPU or GPU at all, it is unlikely that you will make it. And I'm not sure what nine hours it takes to get Evo certification – no Tiger Lake system I've tested so far can do that.

Our opinion

The Lenovo Yoga 7i shows the CPU performance of the Tiger Lake Core i5 well, but also shows its graphical weakness. It's a well-built laptop with good input options, a colorful display without contrast and a long-lasting battery.

Ultimately, the Yoga 7i has too many compromises, even at its $ 899 price point. You can do better.

Are there alternatives?

The HP Specter x360 13 is a strong alternative to the Yoga 7i despite the smaller display. It looks more noticeable, is much smaller and lighter, and has a much better keyboard. However, we'll have to wait to get a Tiger Lake version to see how it works.

The Dell XPS 13 9310 is another strong competitor, albeit with a smaller display. However, it is slightly smaller due to its 13.4-inch dimensions and 16:10 aspect ratio. The XPS 13 is just as well built, has a much better display, and doesn't surprisingly cost you more money.

How long it will take?

The Lenovo Yoga 7i is as well built as you can find in this price range, and it should give you years of service. The components are modern and should keep you updated as well. Remember to buy an extended warranty if the standard 1 year warranty doesn't limit it.

Should you buy it?

No, there are better options for the same or just a little more money.

Editor's recommendations