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Lenovo unveils a slim Legion gaming laptop and a leather-clad Yoga

The Lenovo Legion Slim 7i is now the lightest laptop ever with RTX graphics inside.
By
August 31, 2020
lenovo legion slim 7i laptop
Lenovo
TL;DR
  • Lenovo has unveiled the Lenovo Legion Slim 7i, billed as the lightest gaming laptop with RTX graphics.
  • At 0.7in thick and just under 4lbs, it has the profile of an ultrabook with higher-end performance.
  • There are also new Yoga 9i and Yoga Slim 9i convertibles with optional leather coverings and next-gen Intel chips.

Lenovo is determined to show that gaming-friendly graphics and slim laptops aren’t mutually exclusive.

The company has unveiled a quartet of laptops headlined by the Legion Slim 7i (pictured above), a 15-inch system billed as the world’s lightest laptop with NVIDIA RTX graphics. It weighs a modest 3.96lbs and is closer to an ultrabook at 0.71 inches thick. However, it still manages to pack up to RTX 2060 Max-Q graphics and a Core i9-10980HK octa-core processor. This is a system portable enough to easily fit your bag (when it’s safe enough to leave, anyway) but still capable of playing the latest games at high speed.

Lenovo Legion Slim 7i: Slim but powerful

You won’t need to compromise as much as you think in some areas, either. You can equip the system with an optional 144Hz 1080p display or a 60Hz 4K HDR screen. Lenovo is also promising a newest-generation cooling system that won’t make excessive noise, a more mechanical-like keyboard (with optional RGB lighting), and an abundance of ports that include two Thunderbolt 3 connectors as well as two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports.

See also: The best gaming laptops you can buy

Lenovo claims up to 18 hours of battery life, although the 71Whr battery mated with this kind of processing power suggests real-world runtimes will be considerably shorter. You’ll have numerous memory and storage options, though, with up to 32GB of RAM and a 2TB solid-state drive.

The Legion Slim 7i will arrive in October at a starting price of $1,329, although you’ll need to pay considerably more to get the RTX 2060, a 144Hz refresh rate, and other perks.

New Yoga-branded laptops bring the style

You’ll have a host of choices if you’re more interested in flexibility and a dash of style. New 14- and 15-inch Yoga 9i convertible tablets and the Yoga Slim 9i laptop (IdeaPad Slim 9i in North America) will be some of the first systems using Intel’s “next-gen” Core processors using graphics based on Intel’s own Xe architecture. We wouldn’t count on blistering speeds, but they will offer Thunderbolt 4 ports, Wi-Fi 6, and Bluetooth 5.1. The 15-inch model uses up to current-gen Core i9 octa-core chips and GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q graphics.

They can be fashionable, too. The Yoga Slim 9i and a variant on the 14-inch Yoga 9i come with Lenovo’s first leather cover — it reportedly makes the system more comfortable to hold while still being tough enough to survive in your bag or exposed to sunlight. Both leather 14-inch models also have edge-to-edge glass palm rests and a trackpad with Apple-style haptic feedback to simulate clicks.

See also: The best laptops for students

The upgrade options are still substantial, with up to a 4K HDR screen, 16GB of RAM, and either a 1TB SSD on both Yoga convertibles or a 2TB model on the Slim 9i. Lenovo claims the new Intel chips and a larger 63.5Whr battery will get you up to 20 hours of use on the Slim 9i, while the 14- and 15-inch convertibles respectively boast up to 18 and 13 hours. Those may still be optimistic, but Lenovo touts rapid charging that can get you up to four hours of video playback on the Slim 9i in 15 minutes.

The 14- and 15-inch Yoga convertibles will ship in October. The 14-inch Yoga 9i will start a $1,399 for a standard metal version while adding leather raises the price to $1,699. The 15-inch Yoga will start at $1,799. You’ll need to wait until November for the Yoga/IdeaPad 9i Slim, which will begin at $1,599.