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| | | PC World - 4:35AM (PC World)If you need a productive daily driver laptop but don’t want to spend a fortune, this deal’s for you: the Dell Inspiron 15 is now available for just $300 on Dell’s online store, down from $380. This makes an already great-priced laptop a total bargain.
This affordable notebook is the perfect choice for your home office, for studying, or for daily web browsing.
Under the hood, you’ll find a 12th Gen Intel Core i3 processor, which is far from the latest model but still provides decent enough performance. Paired with 8GB of DDR4 RAM, this laptop can easily multitask applications and handle tons of browser tabs.
Need a lot of storage space? The Dell Inspiron 15 comes with a 512GB SSD, which should be more than enough for day-to-day use. And since it’s an SSD, rest assured that booting up will only take seconds.
The 15.6-inch display offers a solid 1920×1080 resolution, which is pretty much all you need for general streaming and productivity. One nice detail is that the screen has an anti-glare coating, so you’ll even be able to use your laptop comfortably in bright rooms.
At just $300, you can’t go wrong with the Dell Inspiron 15 if you just need a dependable laptop for everyday use.
The Dell Inspiron 15 is only $300 right nowGet it now via Dell
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| | | PC World - 2 Jul (PC World)At a glanceExpert`s Rating
ProsLargely gorgeous displaySnappy keyboardEffective touchscreen stylusSlim and sturdy buildConsCPU faces some throttlingErgonomics could be betterOur VerdictThe Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 has a lot of good qualities and its display brings in some great qualities. It’s not without its faults, could be more comfortable to use, and could really have shined with just a little more cooling power. But its respectable performance, flexibility, and decent build are met by a reasonable price that still makes it an appealing laptop all the same.
Dell continues to round out its 2024 laptop lineup with the Inspiron 16 2-in-1 (7640), a larger, flippable laptop with touchscreen and stylus support for tablet-like capabilities alongside a laptop form factor. It packs in recent hardware with modest, though not workstation-class performance, and avoids being overblown when it comes to weight and price. Dell also provides customization options that can make for some significant variety in the machine, with both the system-on-chip and display options providing huge leaps in quality.
Still, the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 price only ranges from $999 to $1,599 while offering plenty. For those that don’t need a 2-in-1 laptop, it won’t make much sense as it comes with a few too many trade offs next to standard laptop competitors, but for those who want the flexibility, it may be a good choice.
Looking for more options? Check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops available today.
Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 (7640): Specs and features
The Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 comes in a couple of configurations. It starts at just $999 for a tame but respectable config built around an Intel Core Ultra 5 125U with 16GB of memory, 512GB of storage, and a 1920×1200 WVA display. Our test configuration bumps up a few specs, doubling the storage, leaping up to the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (and getting its corresponding leap to Intel Arc Graphics), and swapping over to a 2560×1600 Mini-LED display that offers a 90Hz refresh rate and high HDR brightness.
Somewhat hidden among the bumps is a boost to battery size, as the laptop comes with a 64Wh battery in its base spec or a 90Wh option for all other configurations. The test configuration raises the price to $1,349, which is a reasonable uptick for all that it changes. Maxed out, with double the RAM and all other upgrades, it hits $1,499. That goes to $1,599 if you opt for Windows 11 Pro instead of Windows 11 Home.
CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 155H
Memory: 16GB LPDDR5X
Graphics/GPU: Intel Arc Graphics
Display: 16-inch 2.5K Mini-LED Touch Display
Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD
Webcam: 1080p
Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1x HDMI 1.4, 1x SDcard reader, 1x 3.5mm combo audio
Networking: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Biometrics: Windows Hello fingerprint
Battery capacity: 90 watt-hours
Dimensions: 14.05 x 9.87 x 0.75 inches
Weight: 4.68 pounds
MSRP: $1,349 as-tested ($999 base)
Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 (7640): Design and build quality
IDG / Mark Knapp
IDG / Mark Knapp
IDG / Mark Knapp
The Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 is every bit the polished little pebble that the Inspiron 14 Plus I tested earlier this year was, except that the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 is a big thing. To fit its 16-inch display, it has to stretch out its chassis considerably. This results in a laptop that, while sleek with its largely aluminum exterior (except the bottom, which is plastic), takes up a good deal of space and packs on the weight at 4.68 pounds. This is pretty much par for the course for 16-inch laptops, though, save those that have put concerted efforts into being ultralight, like the Acer Swift Edge. At least Dell managed to keep it fairly thin at just three-quarters of an inch thick.
Dell has kept the design fairly simplistic. The chassis largely consists of large, flat expanses edged by smooth curves. This avoids any painful pressure points, but doesn’t make a visually memorable laptop. It’s not alone in this fate, as Lenovo and Samsung have similar laptops.
If you’re in need of a large system with touchscreen and stylus support, the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 checks a lot of boxes.
There are some quirks to the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1, hinting that the laptop took the design of a different model and retooled it. Two small panels on the underside of the laptop cover up what would have been bottom-firing speakers on another laptop. This gives the laptop a weird look from the sides and bottom. Since the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 has top-firing speakers tucked into two large grilles on either side of the keyboard, there’s little reason for the chassis to have had those bottom speaker cutouts unless this chassis was also used elsewhere.
Being a 2-in-1 model, the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 has a 360-degree hinge that lets the display flip over backward. You can use it as a tablet — albeit a massive, unwieldy one — or scribble on it with a stylus. The hinge is a little wiggly, but feels sturdy enough. The rest of the chassis hits a similar note, with a modicum of frame flex but decent resistance to light pressure and bending.
With this hinge design, the bottom edge of the lid ends up level with the bottom of the laptop, so the rear exhaust vents directly into the lid. There’s a decent gap for air to escape, but it still still seems like sub-optimal ventilation. Air intake is also minimal with only a small section of the bottom grille actually letting air in. The rest of that grille is blocked just past the grates, likely in a bid to block out debris. It’s a similar story for the vents, with only half of them being real vents with an open channel to the radiator fins.
Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 (7640): Keyboard, trackpad
IDG / Mark Knapp
IDG / Mark Knapp
IDG / Mark Knapp
Like the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus, which had an absolutely wonderful keyboard, the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 has an excellent keyboard. It might be a little simple with basic backlighting, square keycaps, and a flat surface, but it does the job with decent stabilization to the keycaps and a modest actuation force a travel required to depress each key. It lends to a confident and quick typing.
In my first test in Monketyype, even with one big stall after a typo, I managed 116 words-per-minute with 98 percent accuracy. That was promptly followed by 122 words-per-minute at 99 percent accuracy while feeling a fairly comfortable pace. Unlike its smaller sibling, the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 has a huge expanse between the keyboard and the front edge of the laptop, and this can make it a little more uncomfortable to reach up to the keyboard, but it wasn’t enough of a problem to ruin the typing experience on this system.
For a 16-inch laptop, it’s a shame Dell didn’t do more with the keyboard. It offers just the basics, with no extra navigation keys, spaced out arrow keys, or a number pad. More keys would have meant sacrificing the top-firing speakers unless Dell shifted them to live above the keyboard and squeezed down on the trackpad, and that might have been a smart move for ergonomics and extra utility. Alas, this laptop doesn’t appear designed for folks who will do a lot of data entry, and is instead more for the content creators and consumers, especially with its stylus support. In my testing, the optional stylus was responsive and accurate.
Dell also fits a massive trackpad below the keyboard. Even with my large hands, it provides plenty of space for multi-finger gestures. The surface is glassy and smooth. It may not be as wide as the Dell XPS 16’s absurdly large trackpad, but it has clearly defined boundaries that make it easy to use. It depresses slightly with clicks and pops back quickly, making it easy to use for hard mouse clicks as well as tap-to-click.
Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 (7640): Display, audio
IDG / Mark Knapp
IDG / Mark Knapp
IDG / Mark Knapp
The Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 display has some admirable qualities, but don’t let the Mini-LED specification fool you into thinking it’s flawless. The display certainly benefits from the brightness capabilities of its backlight technology, reaching as high as 622.2 nits for a 10 percent window of white in HDR. It can also briefly flash a 100 percent white window at 638 nits, but that brightness level quickly decays down to closer to 400 nits. In SDR it’ll also hold a max of 409.8 nits. It’s a bright display. And, with the Mini-LED backlighting providing strong local dimming, it can achieve a 7230:1 contrast ratio in SDR and HDR only boosts that further.
Those qualities are augmented by exceptional color, hitting 100 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color space and offering strong color accuracy with a max dE of 1.18. The screen is also sharp at 2560×1600 and gets a decent bump to smoothness from its 90Hz refresh rate. It’s an altogether pleasant screen for work and entertainment. The glossy surface can suffer from glare a bit, but the screen has the brightness necessary to brute-force its way to visibility.
Unfortunately, one of the bigger drawbacks of the display also stems from the Mini LED backlighting. The local dimming of the Mini LEDs isn’t incredibly precise and this can produce unsightly vignetting where dark and light content meet. In a bright white window surrounded by dark content, the edges of that white window can appear dimmed because the backlights in the area are lower than those in the center of the white area.
This issue can appear as either bright blooming if dark pixels are getting too much light or as a kind of shading if bright areas don’t get as much backlight because the display is trying to account for nearby dark areas and therefore leaving the nearest backlight dim. If a bright object moves across a black screen, there can also be an apparent flicker as backlights flash on when the bright object passes over them. Small HDR highlights also don’t get as much punch as large ones, as the display won’t brighten one of its backlights for one pixel as much as it would for 1,000 pixels. These are common issues of Mini LED displays, but really tend to fade into the background for most content, letting the positive qualities of the display take center stage.
Dell’s inclusion of both touchscreen and stylus capabilities on the display is useful for interacting with the laptop, and it’s worth noting they don’t seem to come with downsides. While I’ve seen some displays show a visible dot matrix in the display to enable these features, as was the case with the Asus Zenbook Pro 16X OLED in 2022, the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 avoids this for a clean and clear display.
The speakers on the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 are a decent pairing for the display. They can pump out considerable volume, easily enough to max out what anyone should be listening to with a device within arm’s reach. If you’re just trying to watch something with a friend or two in a quiet room, they’ll do the job there too. They can push out a modest frequency range, even giving a little lift to the bass, though they are far from sounding full and leave a gap between the bass they do produce and the mids. They largely focus on mids and can be a little overly bright in the treble, and they seem to duck some of the lower end when the mids are present. Sub-bass is out of the question.
Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 (7640): Webcam, microphone, biometrics
IDG / Mark Knapp
IDG / Mark Knapp
IDG / Mark Knapp
You’ll get a 1080p webcam with the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 that does a decent job with lighting, not suffering from serious over- or under-exposure. It also provides natural-looking color. It does produce somewhat soft footage, but it can still do the job it needs to do. The laptop has a built-in privacy shutter that slides over the camera as well, so you can easily cover it up. The cover has black and white lines on it which can just look like a reflection in some scenarios though, so it’s not always easy to tell at a glance if the light is actually covered.
The microphones on the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 are not impressive by default, but have room for improvement. They pick up everything a little too clearly, including background noise. But Dell has a noise suppression feature just a couple clicks away in the MyDell applications. It’s strange that it’s not enabled by default, because it does an effective and largely crucial job when it comes to providing a clear voice when hopping on calls.
While you can use a password or PIN to sign into the laptop, there’s also a small fingerprint scanner at the top right corner of the keyboard. This works quickly and effectively in my experience.
Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 (7640): Connectivity
IDG / Mark Knapp
IDG / Mark Knapp
IDG / Mark Knapp
For a 16-inch laptop, the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 has only a modest number of ports, but it covers its bases and provides variety. Two 5Gbps USB-A ports are on offer, with one on each side. The laptop includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports as well, but both are located on the left side, forcing you to charge the laptop on the left as a result. There’s also a full-size HDMI 1.4 port on the left side that Dell says doesn’t support 4K output, so the Thunderbolt 4 ports appear to be the intended display output for many users.
The right of the laptop also includes a 3.5mm audio combo jack and a full-size SD card reader. That latter inclusion is a boon for photographers who can easily transfer photos without having to rely on a dongle, which would just add to the weight they’re already taking on with this laptop.
Wireless connectivity has been strong. Wi-Fi 6E provides a strong baseline with many existing wireless networks and should hold up for years to come with plenty of bandwidth for most tasks. The Bluetooth 5.3 connection held stable in testing with wireless headphones over hours of use.
Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 (7640): Performance
The Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 is a reasonably kitted out ultrabook, running on the same Intel Core Ultra series of processors we’ve been seeing in a bunch of similar laptops lately. With the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and 16GB of memory, it’s sitting near the middle of the road for what’s on offer. There’s no shortage of machines with similar offerings. The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 bumps up the specs a bit and fits in discrete graphics for $350 extra. Meanwhile, the Acer Aspire Vero 16 AV16-51P-5641 and Lenovo Yoga 7i 16 (Gen 9 2024) drop down to more basic displays and Intel Core Ultra 5 125U processors with weaker graphics but cut a lot from the price tag. The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 (2024) is also a viable competitor, with similar internals fitted into a smaller package.
Performance on the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 is reasonably strong. It scores solid marks in PCMark 10, which is a fairly holistic test for a system’s capabilities across a broad range of tasks. Impressively, it keeps up fairly well with the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9, which has the benefit of more memory and discrete graphics. Storage can come into play in this test, though, and the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 offers quick storage with a PCIe NVMe SSD capable of over 5,000MB/s read speeds — not blistering, but speedy.
The performance is enough to keep the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 ahead of the two systems with the weaker Intel Core Ultra 5 125U chips, though not enough to truly outshine its cheaper, smaller sibling meaningfully, which falls behind largely as a result of just one component: its slower storage.
Though the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 may be a match for Lenovo’s higher-spec system when it comes to general purpose tasks, Handbrake highlights their differences when it comes to outright performance. The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 is able to encode our test video in nearly half the time of the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1. In addition to a higher performing chip, the Lenovo system is likely benefitting from enhanced cooling, as the Inspiron’s performance gradually declined from the start of the test.
That difference plays out in Lenovo’s favor a second time with the Lenovo Yoga 7i 16 Gen 9 falling only about 20 percent behind the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 in this test despite wielding the lower-power Intel Core Ultra 5 125U. Meanwhile the Acer Aspire Vero 16 shows clearly where performance can land with weaker cooling. Impressively, the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 manages to beat its bigger sibling in this test. Dell isn’t making the most of the size of the 16-incher to enhance cooling, and this just highlights it.
Cinebench serves to further highlight the differences of these systems, but demonstrates shorter, bursty workloads. Here again, we see that with the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9, you get what you pay for when it comes to performance upgrades. The smaller Inspiron 14 Plus even ekes out a lead over the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 again, albeit small, suggesting just how quickly its larger sibling can start to thermal throttle under load. The Inspiron 14 Plus is clearly benefiting from its extra side vent for sustaining performance over the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1’s single strip of semi-obstructed rear venting.
Graphics performance is unsurprising in this match-up. Intel Arc Graphics are impressive for an integrated option, but no match for even the low-level RTX 4050 packed inside the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9, which more than doubled the performance.
Dell’s laptops both easily outpace the two laptops with basic Intel Graphics. Though the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 has a margin lead over the Inspiron 14 Plus in 3DMark’s Time Spy test here, it’s a slim lead that belies a bigger difference (the smaller Inspiron largely outpaced it again in the CPU performance portion of this test), and the difference is slim enough that it could come down to something as simple how good the contact is between the chip and heat pipe inside the laptop.
Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 (7640): Battery life
The Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 is a reasonably strong performer when it comes to battery life. With its 88Wh battery (a little smaller than the 90Wh spec Dell lists), it manages to run for just shy of 13 hours in our battery test, which plays a 4K video on loop with the display at 250 nits. This dramatically outpaces the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9, serving as a reminder the discrete graphics usually come with a big hit to longevity. Of course, we also get a reminder that fancy displays can also come with hits to battery life.
Impressive though it might be, the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 is only narrowly leading the Acer Aspire 16 in battery life and Acer is running on a much smaller, 53Wh battery. The Lenovo Yoga 7i 16 Gen 9 also has a lead with its 71Wh battery. Both are likely benefiting from their lower-power chips and simpler display technology. Meanwhile, the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus outshines them all. It benefits from its simpler and smaller screen, managing to get over 17 hours from a 64Wh battery.
Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 (7640): Conclusion
The Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 is a specialty machine and to deliver on that quality, it makes some unfortunate sacrifices. While it has powerful hardware inside and a display with some truly excellent qualities, it misses the mark in other areas. Its performance is hampered by its design. We’ve seen the same components perform far better in other systems and Dell’s cooling system and power management appears to blame here. And though the display is largely gorgeous, it’s not ideal for all circumstances and takes quite a bit of power to make the most of.
Despite some of these fumbles, the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 still manages to be a fair value for the right users. If you’re in need of a large system with touchscreen and stylus support, the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 checks a lot of boxes. And it’s not as though it’s a weak system so much as it doesn’t keep up with some of its competitors. While Dell clearly had to make some sacrifices to build a machine with 2-in-1 capabilities, it’s those capabilities that may still make it a worthwhile system for some.
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| | | PC World - 2 Jul (PC World)What comes to mind when you think “powerful gaming setup”? Perhaps a monstrous PC tower in RGB-spiked glory. Or, if you’re like me, a top-of-the-line gaming laptop with absolute frame-crunching performance.
But when you confine such power into the tight constraints of a laptop, heat is always going to be an issue. With Nvidia’s GeForce RTX GPUs and Intel’s mobile chips shoe-horned into such diminutive enclosures, it’s no wonder they reach smelting-hot temperatures.
Is your gaming laptop running hotter than you’d like? This article covers several tips and tricks to help improve your temperatures, with advice ranging from beginner to expert in difficulty.
Modern laptops are designed for heat
Before we delve into the nitty-gritty of what can be done to mitigate heat, let’s establish some baseline expectations.
When it comes to the latest high-powered gaming laptops, the hottest component may surprise you. While the GPU gets most of the performance press, the CPU is actually what tends to run the hottest in most laptops.
For example, take the Intel Core i9-13900HX and Core i9-14900HX found in many class-leading units. It’s not uncommon to see these hit their 100C thermal limit and hover constantly in the 90C range. (AMD CPUs are at times more efficient, but even they still have to deal with high heat.)
These Intel chips, much like their desktop counterparts, are designed to run at high temperatures for maximum performance. These high-clocking 24-core mega beasts have little cooling headroom in small enclosures, so naturally they run hotter than comparable desktop units.
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
GPUs can also run toasty, of course, but they tend not to get as hot as CPUs. Powerful Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPUs can hover anywhere in the 70C to mid-80C range, depending on the laptop cooling prowess.
Fortunately, many high-end gaming laptops are designed with vapor chambers, multiple fans, and a bevy of heatsinks. Exotic liquid metal and other thermal interfaces can also make a difference in temperatures.
Further reading: The best gaming laptops right now
Some high-end laptops, like the Maingear ML-17 or those from Eluktronics, even offer external liquid-cooled solutions to reduce temperatures in their units.
But despite high-end gaming laptops being designed to run hot, you might still find it uncomfortable. The keyboard might get too toasty to touch and the hot air might make your room feel like a sauna.
Keep reading for what you can do to cool down your gaming laptop and make it run at a more comfortable temperature.
Tip #1: Tweak your power and fan settings
The easiest first step is to work with the predefined cooling profiles that come with your gaming laptop. You can find these in software such as Alienware’s Adrenaline, Asus’s Armoury Crate, etc.
The two items that will most affect cooling are the power settings and the fan speed settings.
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
If you max out your power settings, that’s going to necessitate higher fan speeds. High fan speeds will keep temperatures in check, but unfortunately that also typically means you’ll hear a cacophony of noise coming from your gaming laptop.
Reducing the power settings will help, but too much will hamper performance. A balanced setting, available on most laptops, can help keep things neutral with performance versus heat.
If you don’t wear headphones and find that your gaming laptop’s fans are too loud, you might want to lower the fan speed settings to a more tolerable level, even if it means accepting more heat.
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Most power profile tweaks simply limit the amount of power the CPU or GPU can use, thus lowering temperatures. While this works in theory, you’ll need to combine this with our next tip to ensure you aren’t sacrificing too much performance.
Some newer generation gaming laptops have AI power profiles, which help to mitigate heat by smartly applying different scenarios.
WhisperMode, part of the Nvidia Max-Q technologies, uses AI to balance performance with heat and noise. Nvidia GeForce Experience can help optimize game settings and Dynamic Boost can further help with power optimizations to the main components.
Tip #2: Use DLSS or FSR (if you can)
If you’re finding it tough to hit that sweet spot between noise and performance through laptop settings alone, consider adjusting in-game settings for games that make your laptop run hot.
Nvidia DLSS settings in Hogwarts Legacy.
Nvidia DLSS settings in Hogwarts Legacy.Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Nvidia DLSS settings in Hogwarts Legacy.Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
If you don’t want to sacrifice maximum graphics quality, consider using Nvidia’s DLSS 3 with frame generation. On modern RTX 40 series laptops, it can help cut down on power and heat while keeping frame rates high.
DLSS 3 looks great even on balanced settings, with big power savings that make it worthwhile. Frame generation takes performance even further while cutting power usage. (Unfortunately, this is only available for Nvidia’s RTX 40 series products.)
Further reading: What exactly is Nvidia DLSS 3? Explained
Similar to Nvidia’s DLSS, AMD also has its own FSR technology that can help with higher frame rates at lower power settings. It’s more widely available across hardware since it doesn’t specifically require a particular class of GPUs to be activated.
Further reading: AMD FSR 3 vs. Nvidia DLSS 3, compared
Tip #3: Reduce your in-game settings
Consider lowering ultra-high graphics settings down to just high-level graphics. The visual difference may be unnoticeable. Furthermore, turning down textures can also be a big benefit, allowing you to maintain higher frame rates even with lower power settings.
Ray tracing and path tracing are exciting technologies, but they absolutely require tons of horsepower. Consider turning them down to low or off, which may be enough for a game to have respectable performance with less fan noise and heat.
VSync can cap the frame rate to your monitor’s specifications, and you may get a performance boost by lowering the game resolution.
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Some laptops, such as the Razer Blade 16, can dual boot into either 1080p resolution or 4K resolution. The former allows higher performance in general due to the smaller pixel count, but keep in mind that lower resolutions tend to stress the CPU more and increase heat.
Tip #4: Use a laptop stand or cooling pad
When using a laptop, you always want to make sure it’s on a hard surface and that the vents aren’t blocked. Proper airflow is critical for laptop heat management. It also helps to use a laptop cooling pad.
Not only does a laptop cooling pad provide a hard surface for your laptop, it can help move heat away from your laptop and disperse it, minimizing the risk of it overheating.
The Razer Blade 16 with a simple laptop stand to lift it off the desk.
The Razer Blade 16 with a simple laptop stand to lift it off the desk.Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
The Razer Blade 16 with a simple laptop stand to lift it off the desk.Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Not all laptop cooling pads are the same, though, and just because one is good for a particular laptop doesn’t mean it’ll also be good for yours.
For example, the Razer Blade 16 does poorly with a heavy-duty, fan-based cooling pad like the IETS GT500. Instead, it benefits much more by simply lifting it off the table with a simple laptop stand, freeing up airflow so the laptop’s cooling apparatus can do its job.
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
You may find that a simple laptop stand is all you need to maintain comfortable temperatures for your laptop. But if it’s still running hot, you might want to try a specialized laptop cooling pad.
Some laptop cooling pads can get obnoxiously noisy at higher fan speeds, though. Thankfully, fan speeds are usually adjustable so you can find a happy equilibrium between cooling support and fan noise.
Tip #5: Undervolt your CPU/GPU (expert)
Many enthusiast-grade laptops come with the ability to tweak BIOS settings. Software such as Intel’s XTU (Xtreme Tuning Utility) can also allow you to modify some CPU-related power settings.
Keep in mind only very modest changes are typically allowed, and some changes can lead to instability. Tweaking your BIOS is an expert-level technique that we don’t recommend for novices.
But if you want to tinker, try undervolting. Undervolting is when you reduce the voltage of your CPU and/or GPU. This causes it to work less hard, trading a slight performance hit for reduced heat generation.
Undervolting is supported by many laptop models, such as the Asus ROG Strix 16 (which had a BIOS update to add that feature).
Further reading: Should you undervolt your graphics card?
If you don’t want to venture into your laptop BIOS settings, you might still be able to make similar tweaks using your laptop manufacturer’s suite of software that probably came with your laptop.
Asus has Armoury Crate, where you can set custom settings for CPU and GPU performance if you don’t want to use predefined profiles.
CPU overclocking and undervolting in Razer Synapse software.
CPU overclocking and undervolting in Razer Synapse software.Razer
CPU overclocking and undervolting in Razer Synapse software.Razer
Razer
Razer has Razer Synapse, which unlocks various ways to tweak Intel CPUs and adds customizations if you want to tweak further. Predefined profiles are always available, but true performance and heat savings are often only achieved through some degree of custom tweaking.
Tip #6: Apply fresh thermal paste (expert)
This final tip is only for experienced enthusiasts who aren’t afraid to open up their laptop and tinker inside.
Adding fresh (or better) thermal paste may help to reduce temperatures on both the CPU and GPU, especially if they’re a few years old. A higher-quality thermal interface may even help with newer models, too.
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Thiago Trevisan/PCWorld
Keep in mind that this can be very risky so consider it more of a last resort. Plus, many high-end laptops are already designed with custom thermal interfaces and they could end up damaged if modified.
Further reading: What’s the right amount of CPU thermal paste?
Do what you can and don’t sweat it
If your high-powered gaming laptop is running hot, it’s important to understand that it’s designed that way. The latest CPUs and GPUs thrive on power usage, with heat as the primary drawback.
If it’s so hot that it’s uncomfortable to use, these tips can greatly reduce the amount of heat generated and the loud fan noises that go along with it. From tweaking game and BIOS settings to propping your laptop up on a laptop cooling pad, there’s plenty you can do.
In the end, gaming laptops naturally run hotter than gaming desktops due to the powerful technology that’s crammed into such a tight space. If it runs well and it’s bearable, don’t sweat it.
Gaming Laptops Read...Newslink ©2024 to PC World | |
| | | PC World - 1 Jul (PC World)At a glanceExpert`s Rating
ProsAmazing battery lifeBeautiful OLED screenGreat pricing on RAM and storage upgradesConsNo headphone jack or USB-A portWindows on Arm app compatibility isn’t perfect“Yoga” name is misleading as this isn’t a 2-in-1Copilot+ PC AI features are half-bakedOur VerdictThis Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptop combines a beautiful 14.5-inch OLED display with long battery life. But Snapdragon laptops without an OLED screen will get even longer battery life, and application compatibility still isn’t perfect on these new Arm PCs.
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x is one of the first Copilot+ PCs. While Microsoft is talking up AI features, the real story here is the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite hardware inside this PC. Microsoft has been releasing Arm-based Windows PCs since the Surface RT, but this is the first time that Arm-based Windows PCs have finally become seriously competitive.
Yes, this Snapdragon X Elite-powered 14.5-inch laptop delivers extremely long battery life with snappy performance and cool and quiet operation in day-to-day use. The experience with day-to-day productivity applications is beautiful – just like the OLED display this machine has. (Despite the “Yoga” name, however, this is not a 2-in-1 laptop).
Of course, the Windows on Arm experience isn’t perfect. Microsoft’s Prism translation software offers much improved compatibility with traditional x86 apps. Most existing x86 applications “just work,” but not everything “just works” at the moment. And, while gaming performance is decent thanks to both the Prism translation layer and the impressive integrated GPU, this can’t deliver as much graphical horsepower as a discrete Nvidia or AMD GPU in a more traditional gaming laptop.
Looking for more options? Check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops available today.
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x: Specs
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x is part of the first wave of Copilot+ PCs, and it includes an Arm-based Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip. All Snapdragon X Elite chips include a neural processing unit (NPU) capable of 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS) as well as a Qualcomm Adreno GPU. This particular machine has Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 hardware.
There are four Snapdragon X packages at launch, from lowest-end to highest-end:
The Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100 avoids the “Elite” name and only has 10 cores.
The Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 in this machine includes 12 cores.
The Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 has 12 cores as well, but it gains a “Dual Core Boost” feature that can go up to 4.0 GHz for extra power when the CPU needs it.
The Snapdragon X Elite X1E-84-100 has 12 cores, but its Dual Core boost goes up to 4.2 GHz. It also offers faster multi-threaded CPU performance and a high-performance Qualcomm Adreno GPU.
It’s unclear how much the differences between these chips will matter in the real world until we see more reviews and have a chance to benchmark more laptops with the different models ourselves.
Qualcomm
Qualcomm
Qualcomm
There aren’t a lot of other hardware options when configuring this $1,199 machine. Our review model came with 16 GB of LPDDR5X-8448MHz RAM, but you can get this machine with 32 GB of RAM for an extra $69. Like many modern PCs, the RAM is soldered. You have to make your decision when buying the machine — you can’t upgrade it later.
Additionally, our system included a 512 GB PCIe Gen4 SSD for storage. You can upgrade to a 1 TB SSD for an extra $45. Those are very reasonable prices for the upgrades. At that price, I’d recommend it.
This machine has a neural processing unit (NPU) that can deliver 45 TOPS (trillion operations per second) of performance. That means it gets access to a variety of Copilot+ PC AI features. Unfortunately, with the splashy and controversial Recall feature delayed, the AI features on Copilot+ PCs aren’t particularly compelling at launch. They may become compelling in the future, especially when Recall launches, or if third-party application developers start using the NPU to power AI features in their Windows applications.
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100
Memory: 16 GB LPDDR5X-8448MHz
Graphics/GPU: Qualcomm Adreno
Display: 2944×1840 OLED with 90Hz refresh rate and touch screen
Storage: 512GB PCIe Gen4 SSD
Webcam: 1080p camera with shutter switch
Connectivity: 3x USB-C Full-Function ports (USB4 Gen 3, Power Delivery 3.1, DisplayPort 1.4)
Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3 (with Bluetooth 5.4 capable hardware)
Biometrics: IR camera for Windows Hello
Battery capacity: 70 Watt-hours
Dimensions: 12.8 x 8.86 x 0.51 inches
Weight: 2.82 pounds
MSRP: $1,199 as tested
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x: Design and build quality
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
While there are transformational changes under the hood, Lenovo didn’t reinvent the wheel with the Lenovo Slim 7x’s design. The chassis is a spitting image of the Lenovo Slim 7 14 we reviewed just a few months ago.
Like that laptop, this machine is made of aluminum and has a nice smooth metallic finish with lots of rounded edges and a small bezel around the display. Lenovo calls this laptop’s color scheme “Cosmic Blue.” It’s a nice, dark, professional-looking metallic finish. It has the “communications bar” at the top of the laptop’s display. That bar gives the webcam and IR camera a place to live, letting Lenovo shrink the bezel around the screen – and giving you a convenient handhold when opening the laptop.
While this machine bears the “Yoga” name, it doesn’t have a 360-degree hinge. This laptop does have a touch screen, but it’s not a convertible “2 in 1.” In fact, the screen doesn’t even lie flat. That’s fine, but I do think it’s a little confusing considering what the Yoga name has meant in the past. I showed this machine to another person who expected it to be a 2-in-1 thanks to the “Yoga” name. Lenovo says that it’s moving forward with using the “Yoga” name for more laptops in the US and that it’s already been using the name in this way internationally. Once again, that’s fine – just don’t be misled by the name.
At 2.82 pounds, this is a nice light laptop. The build quality feels nice and premium – the laptop is solid and doesn’t flex in any strange ways. The hinge action feels great. Lenovo says this “durable aluminum design” is tested to MIL-STD 810H military-grade standards, and it feels solid and sturdy while remaining lightweight.
Software-wise, this is a familiar Lenovo laptop experience. Bloatware is very restrained, but Lenovo does install a trial of McAfee antivirus, which will show you popups with a “welcome offer.”
Unlike Microsoft’s Surface Laptop, however, which omits the stickers below the keyboard, Lenovo chose to stick a variety of stickers to the left of the touchpad. It would be nice to see manufacturers move on from those stickers, but maybe we’ll be stuck with them going forward.
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x: Keyboard and trackpad
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x’s keyboard feels very nice to type on. The specs sheet says it has 1.5mm of key travel, which is nice for a laptop – especially one this thin. With plenty of travel, the keys are enjoyable to type on. They’re pleasantly snappy. This is no surprise as we spoke positively about this keyboard in our Lenovo Slim 7 14 review, too. The keyboard also has a nice white backlight.
The touchpad here is good. It’s a fairly standard touchpad with a reasonable size, accurate tracking, a good click, and solid palm rejection. These days, a standard touchpad on a PC laptop is pretty good. Lenovo hasn’t gone above and beyond the average ultrabook when it comes to the touchpad – but that makes sense, as this is a pretty good price. In addition to the touchpad, this machine also has a touch screen.
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x: Display and speakers
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x’s display is the star here. Lenovo included a 14.5-inch 2944×1840 OLED display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, 90Hz refresh rate, and a touch screen. It’s a bright, beautiful display. An OLED display means deep dark blacks and vivid colors, and you’re getting that here.
Really, it bears repeating: That display is one of the big reasons you’d pick this machine out of the first Copilot+ PC lineup. Microsoft’s Surface Laptop isn’t available with an OLED display, so you have to go for a Surface Pro tablet or a laptop from another manufacturer.
In our review of the Intel Core Ultra-powered Lenovo Slim 7 14 from earlier this year, we noted that its 1920×1200 OLED display was a step behind the competition. The upgraded display is awesome. And, thanks to the Snapdragon X Elite hardware here, Lenovo managed to deliver a higher-resolution OLED display and longer battery life versus than the Intel-powered Lenovo Slim 7 14.
The OLED display is a little on the glossy side and can pick up reflections, as you’ll notice in some of the photos in this review. But it’s bright enough that it was plenty readable even in the direct sunlight outdoors, which is a worst-case scenario for any laptop.
The speakers here are similar to that Intel-powered model. There are upward-firing speakers on each side of the keyboard. In our review of the Slim 7 14, we said that the speakers were typical for a laptop of this size and price range, saying that they “provide acceptable audio with good volume and clarity, but they lack the depth and complexity available in Lenovo’s more expensive laptops and 2-in-1s.” That’s a spot-on description of this laptop’s speakers, too.
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x: Webcam, microphone, biometrics
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x includes a 1080p webcam, which is on the “communications bar” that juts out a tiny bit above the display. It’s a nice webcam, and the quality seems a touch better than some other 1080p webcams I’ve used recently. It’ll be great for video meetings.
This machine has a physical webcam switch on its right side. Flip the switch and the webcam will be cut off. You might prefer a physical shutter that covers the laptop’s webcam if you’re a fan of webcam privacy tricks, but that’s often a more expensive feature for higher-end business laptops.
This machine has an IR camera for Windows Hello logins. It works very well: You can open your laptop, and it sees your face and signs you in. But this machine goes beyond that with an interesting presence sensor. If you activate the presence sensor, it will notice when you get up and walk away from your laptop, locking the laptop – which is great for both security and battery life. And, when you sit down in front of the laptop, the presence sensor will activate the laptop and sign you back in with Windows Hello. It’s a nice feature, and it’s something Microsoft’s Surface Laptop doesn’t offer.
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x: Connectivity
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x’s selection of ports feels simultaneously generous and skimpy.
If you’re looking for USB-C ports, it’s generous: You’re getting three USB-C ports, two on the left side of the laptop and one on the right side. They’re all “USB-C Full-Function ports” with USB4 Gen 3, Power Delivery 3.1, and DisplayPort 1.4. You will have to plug the charger into one of them to charge this machine, but you still have two USB-C ports to play with while it’s charging before you even have to think about a dongle.
That’s it, though. There are no other ports here: Not even a traditional audio jack or single USB-A port, and certainly not a microSD card reader or an HDMI port.
That’s fine if you’re willing to go all-in on USB-C! But it’s worth noting that some of these Snapdragon X Elite-powered Copilot+ laptops do offer more ports, so you do have the option of getting them along with this new Arm hardware. Asus’s larger Asus Vivobook S 15, for example, includes USB Type-A, an audio jack, HDMI out, and a microSD card reader.
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x includes Wi-Fi 7 support along with Bluetooth 5.4-capable hardware. The laptop’s Wi-Fi performed well, although I don’t have a Wi-Fi 7 network to test the latest standard on yet.
Lenovo lists Bluetooth 5.3 on this laptop’s spec sheet, but a Lenovo representative tells me that the company is a little conservative – other companies may list Bluetooth 5.4 as the hardware is capable of it, even though Windows doesn’t yet deliver it. Rest assured this laptop has just as much Bluetooth 5.4 capability as any other Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptop.
What about application compatibility?
Windows on Arm’s application compatibility is now very good — but not perfect. Remember: We’re talking about a major architectural shift for Windows here. These Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptops are Windows on Arm PCs that can run traditional x86 Windows applications through a Prism translation layer.
For the most part, applications “just work” — either because they have a native Arm version already available or because the x86 version runs through Prism. If it does “just work,” you don’t have to think about it.
But not everything works. Some applications will show errors and refuse to install. For example, the official Google Drive sync tool doesn’t work on these machines. It has to integrate with File Explorer, and it can’t do that through the Prism translation layer. Google hasn’t ported it to Windows on Arm yet.
Applications that need low-level access will be a problem in general. If you have a very old printer lying around that needs a manufacturer printer driver, for example, that traditional printer driver was likely created only for x86 versions of Windows. It likely won’t work on an Arm-powered laptop.
While PC gaming has been a focus of Qualcomm’s marketing, Microsoft says productivity applications will work better than PC games. The Windows on Arm Ready Software website attempts to catalog PC game compatibility, and it notes that Fortnite doesn’t run at all on these machines thanks to anti-cheat support. That’s just one example: Wide game compatibility isn’t here yet.
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x: Performance
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x delivered very snappy day-to-day performance while running on battery power in typical desktop applications, including web browsers like Edge, Chrome, and Firefox, as well as popular productivity applications like the Microsoft Office suite and Slack. While this laptop has fans for active cooling, it stayed cool and quiet in normal use.
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x is a great laptop for day-to-day use with typical desktop applications.
We ran the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x through our standard benchmarks to see how it performs.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
First, we ran a CPU benchmark with Geekbench 6. We normally run PCMark 10, but it doesn’t run on Arm computers like this one. Geekbench 6 runs natively on ARM, so we can get an idea of this machine’s CPU performance when running native Arm code without Microsoft’s Prism translation layer involved.
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x delivered an excellent score of 14013 in the multi-threaded CPU benchmark, beating both the Snapdragon X Elite-powered Microsoft Surface laptop and the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED with its Ryzen hardware. You can see the huge improvement from the older Arm-based Microsoft SQ3 processors in the Microsoft Surface Pro 9.
The fans stayed nice and quiet while this benchmark was running.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
Next, we run Cinebench R24. Cinebench R24 has a native Arm version, which means it isn’t running through the Prism translation layer. This is a heavily multithreaded benchmark that focuses on overall CPU performance. It’s a quick benchmark, so cooling under extended workloads isn’t a factor. But, since it’s heavily multithreaded, CPUs with more cores have a huge advantage.
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x delivered a score of 1023 in the multi-threaded benchmark, beating all the older machines we compared it to. It’s faster than recent Intel Meteor Lake CPUs here — in fact, it’s even noticeably faster than Microsoft’s Surface Pro 2-in-1.
The fans spun up while this multi-threaded benchmark was running — they kick in to provide extra cooling for intensive workloads like this one. (I didn’t notice them running much at all during day-to-day application use.) While Snapdragon X Elite laptops deliver cool and quiet operation in day-to-day use, they will run hotter and louder while performing CPU-intensive tasks.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
Next, we run a graphical benchmark. Despite Qualcomm talking a lot about gaming performance, this isn’t really a gaming laptop. It’s a laptop that can run some games in a pinch, but Microsoft says compatibility will be better with productivity applications than games. As always, we run 3DMark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU performance. We also run 3DMark Night Raid.
Time Spy is running through the Prism translation layer, while Night Raid is running natively on Arm. The pair of results shows the difference between x86 code translated with Prism and native Arm code.
The Yoga Slim 7x delivered a score of 1902 in the Time Spy benchmark. That’s faster than the Surface Laptop, once again. It’s noticeably slower than recent Intel and AMD chips. While Qualcomm is talking up gaming performance of existing PC games that haven’t been ported to ARM, one of the tricks it depends on is Auto Super Resolution, which uses the NPU to upgrade the image. That trick isn’t available to this laptop in this benchmark.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
When we ran the Night Raid benchmark, which runs natively on Arm, the Qualcomm Adreno GPU shot past the Intel Arc graphics in the Lenovo Slim 7 14, coming a close second to the AMD Radeon 780M graphics. While Prism works well, it’s clear these machines will perform best when running native Arm code.
While these graphical benchmarks hit the Yoga Slim 7x’s Qualcomm Adreno GPU hard, the laptop’s fans weren’t especially loud while they were running. The GPU can deliver its performance without a lot of noise or heat.
Overall, the performance was impressive. It’s exactly what I’d hoped to see: Nice snappy performance in desktop applications with competitive performance in traditional x86 applications running through the Prism translation layer. This machine also delivered slightly better performance than the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro across our benchmarks.
However, despite all the hype about gaming performance, I wouldn’t buy a Snapdragon X Elite with gaming in mind. Not all games run — and I was surprised to see that even Microsoft’s own Game Pass service for PCs won’t let you install PC games on these computers. It only offers the ability to stream Xbox games from the cloud. If these machines are great at running games, Microsoft’s Xbox team certainly hasn’t gotten the message yet.
For now, you’ll want a more traditional gaming laptop for maximum compatibility and maximum performance.
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x: Battery life
The entire industry has been talking up the battery life of these Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptops. Lenovo says the Yoga Slim 7x has “multiday battery life,” which the company describes as two 8-hour workdays of mixed workloads. Additionally, Lenovo says this machine has “Rapid Charge Express” technology and can get up to 3 hours of runtime in 15 minutes of charging time, and it seemed to charge nice and fast.
With a battery-sipping Snapdragon X Elite chip and a 70 Watt-hour battery, it should get pretty good battery life. We saw incredible battery life for a laptop with an OLED screen, although it’s not as much battery life as Microsoft’s Surface Laptop with its more energy-efficient display.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Steel on repeat in the Media Player app on Windows 11 with airplane mode enabled until the laptop suspends itself. We set the screen to 250 nits of brightness for our battery benchmarks, and it’s worth noting that OLED laptops have a bit of an advantage, as OLED screens use less power to display the black bars around the video. This is a best-case scenario for any laptop since local video playback is so efficient, and real battery life in day-to-day use is always going to be less than this.
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x lasted for an average of 951 minutes, which is a tad under 16 hours. That’s a truly incredible number for a laptop with an OLED display. In real use, too, the laptop delivered snappy performance in day-to-day computer usage — applications like Chrome, Edge, video meetings, Microsoft Office, and Slack — while the battery level dropped much slower than it would on the typical Intel or AMD laptop I’ve been reviewing.
Of course, that 14.5-inch OLED display is draining the battery a bit faster. Microsoft’s Surface Laptop beat this laptop in our benchmarks with an extra four hours of battery life — all while having a smaller 54 Watt-hour battery. If you’re looking for the longest possible battery life, you’ll likely want to look elsewhere. But you’ll be getting a less vibrant display. The trade-off is up to you — but, with battery life this good, sacrificing a little bit of it for a more beautiful OLED display feels like a reasonable move.
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x: Conclusion
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x is a great laptop for day-to-day use with typical desktop applications. It offers nice, snappy performance even on battery power. Thanks to the incredible energy efficiency of the Snapdragon X Elite hardware and the reasonably large 70 Watt-hour battery in this machine, this PC gets great battery life – even though it has a high-resolution OLED display.
If you’re interested in this machine, you’re likely in one of two situations:
First, you may be curious about Snapdragon X Elite PCs in general. If so, you should probably do some research to see whether the applications you depend on run on Snapdragon X Elite PCs in general. The lack of Google Drive will be a big deal for some people — and that’s just one example. PC game compatibility isn’t perfect, either. Intel’s Lunar Lake may deliver an experience more like this one with full x86 compatibility later this year. But, if the applications you do rely on work on this hardware and you’re interested in the excellent day-to-day performance with long battery life without waiting to see Intel’s next hardware release, I think you’ll be happy with one.
Second, you might be comparing the various Snapdragon X Elite Copilot+ PCs available now. Compared to a Surface Laptop, for example, this machine trades some of that battery life for a big and beautiful OLED display. And it offers a good deal if you want more RAM and storage, too. If maximum battery life is all that’s important to you, look elsewhere — like the Surface Laptop. If you want more ports (like a USB-A port, HDMI port, or headphone jack, this also isn’t the machine for you.
Ultimately, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x is a beautiful machine. Its main problems are with software: Windows on Arm still doesn’t have perfect software compatibility, and these Copilot+ PC AI features aren’t all they’re hyped up to be at launch. But I can’t help but love this kind of performance and battery life combined with a vivid OLED display.
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