I put the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition to the test — it’s great (if you ignore the gimmicks)

It’s a Lunar Lake laptop love-in

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition
(Image: © Future)

Tom's Guide Verdict

Ignore the AI gimmicks and ignore the aura. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition is just a great laptop all-round — packing solid graphics-focused performance and impressive power efficiency, a lovely screen, speakers that match the MacBook Pro’s prowess and a stellar keyboard in a gorgeously premium frame. It’s just a shame we couldn’t get an OLED version and that the touchpad is a little disappointing.

Pros

  • +

    Fantastic build quality

  • +

    Stellar speakers

  • +

    Impressive Lunar Lake performance

  • +

    Runs nice and cool

  • +

    Long battery life

Cons

  • -

    OLED > IPS

  • -

    Touchpad is a little squished

  • -

    Smart Mode gimmicks

Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.

I swear someone at Lenovo just saw everyone on TikTok talking about what their aura is and thought “jackpot.” But if you look past the gimmicks that come with this, you’ll find that the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition is just a really good laptop.

In fact, this is the system that has warmed me to Intel’s Core Ultra 200 Series chipsets (codenamed Lunar Lake). This has been team blue’s significant rethink of its portable CPUs — shifting its focus from trying to win the war on core count and focusing on efficiency, graphics and AI.

The end result is Geekbench numbers that haven’t shifted far forward from last generation (still fast enough for most of your workload), but with massive gains made to integrated graphics performance and battery life.

And all of this is packed into an unmistakably premium shell with a nice, bright touchscreen display, speakers that challenge the best in the business (the M4 MacBook Pro) and the kind of fantastic keyboard that Lenovo is known for.

There are a couple of gripes that I have here — namely the touchpad is on the smaller side, my wish for Lenovo to make the jump to OLED for Yoga hasn’t happened here and the Smart Mode and AI gimmicks can get in the way.

But for the overall high-quality experience you’re getting here, which will last you a good long while, these are easy to overlook. This is a great system, and easily one of the best 15-inch laptops you can buy.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition: Cheat Sheet

  • What is it? This is a premium notebook in build quality, performance and power efficiency.
  • Who is it for? This is for those who need an impressive productivity machine that will keep up with them all day long.
  • What does it cost? Lenovo will tell you it’s $1,299 (the company’s one of the worst when it comes to presenting the real MSRP as a discount), but don’t get this for anything more than $999.
  • What do we like? That all-metal build is unmistakably premium, and packed with impressive Lunar Lake power with battery life to boot. All of this Copilot+ PC feels great to use, and those speakers are mighty.
  • What don’t we like? There are AI gimmicks all over the shop that don’t really add much to the experience (easily ignored though), the touchpad is a little squished and I wish this had an OLED screen.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition: Specs

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Row 0 - Cell 0 Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition
Price$999 (MSRP is $1,299, but ignore that)
Display15.3-inch 3K IPS touchscreen display, 120Hz
CPUIntel Core Ultra 7 256V
Memory16GB LPDDR5
Storage1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD
Ports2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x USB Type-A, HDMI 2.1, 3.5mm headphone jack
ConnectivityWi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
Size13.5 x 9.3 x 0.6 inches
Weight3.4 pounds

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition: The ups

Underneath all the aura, you’ll find this is just a lovely laptop to use – from what lies under the hood to just the day-to-day enjoyment of getting things done.

A super solid all-rounder

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition

(Image credit: Future)

Aesthetically, you get the immediate vibe you’re holding something premium. That all-aluminum finish has a great feel to it in the hand, and while it is a touch on the heavier side, that fundamental confidence you get from holding something durable and alluring is very much here. Make no mistake about it — this is a good-looking laptop.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
LaptopDimensionsWeight
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition13.5 x 9.3 x 0.6 inches3.4 pounds
15-inch MacBook Air (M3)13.4 x 9.4 x 0.5 inches3.3 pounds
Asus Vivobook S1513.9 x 8.9 x 0.6 inches3.1 pounds

And that all-rounder nature comes when you open it up, too. The display has a nice brightness and color reproduction, though I wish it was OLED (more on that later), the selection of ports on offer here give you just the right amount of connectivity (props for putting a full-size HDMI on this super thin machine) and that keyboard. Oh my word, that keyboard!

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition

(Image credit: Future)

Lenovo has a legacy in keyboards after all, and this chiclet board stands up well to plenty of fast typing with a subtle dish in each key for your fingers to fall into and a satisfyingly tactile impact on every press. Typing this review out has been an absolute joy.

Shout-out as well to the beefy speakers — packing plenty of clarity in the highs and mids along with a surprising "oomph" of bassy warmth. For social listening, this is up there with the MacBook Pro.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition

(Image credit: Future)

Plus, that FHD webcam comes with that Copilot+ convenience of Windows Hello, while also producing a nice picture with decent detail and minimal noise in difficult lighting.

Peak performance where it matters

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition

(Image credit: Future)

Lunar Lake represented Intel’s big departure from its more traditional chip-building traits — removing hyperthreading and stepping back from the “number of cores” race.

Instead, there’s an emphasis placed on bumping single-core performance for zippiness, speeding up graphics, putting the RAM directly on the CPU die itself for improved multitasking and making sure it does all of this at a far lower wattage to just sip the battery.

The end result is performance that can keep up with you under most of your heavy-duty load. They may not look overtly mind-blowing, mind you, but in the day-to-day, this is more than enough.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
BenchmarkLenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition15-inch MacBook Air (M3)Asus Vivobook S15 (Snapdragon X Elite)
Geekbench 6.3 single-core253131022411
Geekbench 6.3 multicore107111205214438
Handbrake (time to transcode a 4K movie to 1080p)06:2306:3004:28

And when it comes to graphics, Intel has done some great stuff here.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition

(Image credit: Future)

This ensures faster performance in the likes of Photoshop, and with support for XeSS, I’ve managed to get F1 24 running at 1080p medium/low at around 50 frames per second.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
BenchmarkLenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura EditionAsus Vivobook S15 (Snapdragon X Elite)
3DMark Time Spy39821907
3DMark Fire Strike82146172

Flipping between all the Chrome Tabs with Spotify running, Photoshop processing a RAW photo and using NPU-driven effects on CapCut all ran zippily without any hitches in multitasking.

Longevity assured

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition

(Image credit: Future)

And there’s one last thing on that list above — better battery life. Historically, Intel laptops have always been the problem child of stamina. That is no longer the case.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
LaptopBattery life test results (hh:mm)
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition14:10
15-inch MacBook Air (M3)15:03
Asus Vivobook S1512:52

Yes, there are other laptops that last longer than the Yoga. But this peaks at that worry-free battery life territory that will keep going throughout the working day.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition: The downs

That’s not to say the Yoga’s aura is completely perfect, though. There are a couple of issues here.

NO-LED

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition

(Image credit: Future)

The 15.6-inch IPS display on here is a good-looker — don’t get that bit twisted. But I would have greatly preferred an OLED option to give you that vastly improved color and battery life gains.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
LaptopAverage brightness (nits)DCI-P3 color gamut (%)
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition487108.5
15-inch MacBook Air (M3)48277.5
Asus Vivobook S15369.682.8

What you end up getting is a good touchscreen display that is fast and responsive to the touch, which could’ve been great. And given the high caliber of the rest of the laptop, that’s a little disappointing.

Smart mode mediocrity

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition

(Image credit: Future)

And then we get to the Smart Modes. These are a set of AI-driven features that are supposed to adapt the laptop to what you need in that moment, from “Shield Mode” for improved privacy and “Eco Mode” to lower power draw to “Collaboration Mode” that tweaks webcam lighting and microphone clarity.

… But shouldn’t my laptop just do all this stuff anyway? Sorry if I’m being a bit cynical, but these things shouldn’t be packed into separate modes. These are the fundamentals of a laptop. And, as you’ll find, the webcam will automatically brighten up, privacy is still at the core of Lenovo’s laptop whether you have the shield up or not and low power mode will kick in anyway.

It just feels like an AI gimmick for the sake of the “aura.”

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition: Verdict

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition

(Image credit: Future)

While it’s a gimmick, the new Yoga Slim 7i definitely has an aura to it. It helped me get over my Intel grips and learn to love Lunar Lake with stellar battery life and impressive integrated graphics that apply to solid prosumer productivity and great gaming.

Shout-out in particular to the connectivity — Lenovo adorning this system with all the I/O you need, while packing it with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 keeps wired and wireless connections nice and speedy. Plus, that keyboard and touchscreen combo feels great for getting stuff done.

Look past the unnecessary tricks, and this is a great laptop.

Jason England
Managing Editor — Computing

Jason brings a decade of tech and gaming journalism experience to his role as a Managing Editor of Computing at Tom's Guide. He has previously written for Laptop Mag, Tom's Hardware, Kotaku, Stuff and BBC Science Focus. In his spare time, you'll find Jason looking for good dogs to pet or thinking about eating pizza if he isn't already.

Read more
Lenovo yoga pro 9i aura edition
I just tested the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i Aura edition — it has the best OLED display I’ve ever seen
Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i and Yoga Pro 7i Aura Editions
Lenovo just gave two of its Yoga AI laptops a major Aura Edition upgrade – here’s all the new features
Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x
The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x could be my new favorite budget laptop — here’s why
MSI Prestige 13 AI+ Evo in hand looking up to sky with building in the background
I just tested the lightest laptop I've ever used — and it packs plenty of power
Asus zenbook a14
I wanted the Asus Zenbook A14 to crush the MacBook Air, but it’s complicated — here’s why
MSI Prestige 16 AI EVO (2025) review unit on desk
MSI Prestige 16 AI Evo (2025) review
Latest in Laptops
HP OmniBook
HP’s new OmniBook lineup looks set to smash AI laptop price barriers — that’s a good thing if the company keeps up its end of the deal
Foldable MacBook concept
Apple's 18-inch foldable just tipped to run macOS — yup, the world's first touchscreen Mac
HP Omen 16 Slim laptop models front and back angles on colored background
HP reveals new RTX 50-series gaming laptops — and the Omen 16 Slim is the first on my radar
MacBook Air vs Pro - Apple Silicon
MacBook Air 15-inch M4 vs MacBook Pro 14-inch M4: Which is right for you?
MacBook Air M3 15-inch in hand with Tom's Guide Lowest Price badge
I wanted the M4 MacBook Air, but this near-maxed out MacBook Air M3 for $300 off just changed my mind
MacBook Air M3 15-inch in hand with Tom's Guide Lowest Price badge
Hurry! MacBook Air M3 just crashed to lowest price ever on Amazon
Latest in Reviews
MLB The Show 25 screenshot
MLB The Show 25 celebrates 20 years of baseball — but may not entice regular players
A screenshot of Assassin's Creed Shadows
I’ve played every Assassin’s Creed game since the start — here’s my verdict on Assassin’s Creed: Shadows after 60 hours
The Wacaco Picopresso on a wooden surface with an espresso glass next. toit
I tested a portable espresso machine for a month and the results shocked me — it actually makes proper coffee
The Logitech MX BRIO 705 pictured in front of a blue background
I just tested Logitech’s MX BRIO 705 webcam and my colleagues have never seen me this clearly before
the baratza encore esp coffee grinder with a 200g capacity hopper, steel burr, with plastic black exterior
I just tested one of the most famous budget coffee grinders — and it lives up to its hype
Soundcore AeroClip open-ear earbuds in champagne mist against a blue backdrop
Soundcore AeroClip review: sleek looks and stunning sound, these new open-ears just blew me away