Lenovo Flex 7 laptop
A convertible 14" laptop that replaced my ASUS ROG Flow X13 (2021) .
What I like about it
SO CHEAP. I could have bought THREE of these for the cost of my previous laptop. I bought it for only $529.43 including tax, making it the cheapest laptop I've bought in my life, yet it's one of my favourites. I found the deal on Reddit's Laptop Deals.
Excellent battery life. It's well known that x86 laptops have worse battery life than Apple silicon, but this laptop with its asymmetrical CPU and 59Wh battery have never actually run out of power on me. No battery anxiety!
Small size at 14". I've owned 15.6" and 16" laptops before, and they are just a little too big for many situations I'm in: small tables at coffee shops, small airplane trays, even in the car. A 14" can work in surprisingly more situations where a 16" laptop really cannot.
Has Thunderbolt 4 so I could attach an EGPU in future, which should mitigate it's biggest downside below.
Low power consumption. It consumes only 65W, making it easier to charge than my previous laptop that wanted 100W and simpler to find USB-C docking stations for. It's a nightmare trying to find a docking station that will charge 100W while also providing sufficient IO.
Great pixel density at 188PPI. Text looks wonderful
The Intel 1355U CPU is powerful. It has better single thread performance than my previous laptop according to Passmark and Geekbench (1355U and 5900HS)
Physical switch on the webcam. For some shocking reason, many laptops do not have this, opting for only a light indicator to let you know if the webcam is on, but this too can be hacked. A physical switch is a rare example of something unhackable.
It's convertible, like my last laptop. I constantly use it in tent mode for a clean two display setup.
What I don't like
- GPU is Iris XE, which is awful. Even ancient games like Starcraft 2 do not run well on it, limiting me to simple 3D or 2D games. This is its weakest point and the one thing I want to change the most.
- Only one USB-C port. Sometimes I want to charge from the right side, but I cannot.
- Up and down arrow keys are a bit small and hard to press
- Front edge where wrist rests is a bit sharp
- Sometimes touchpad doesn't respond if I'm using keyboard at the same time
- Screen is only 60Hz
Boring specs for me only
Full spec sheet on Lenovo
- 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1355U
- Is a mobile processor so is unaffected by Intel 13th gen desktop CPU failures
- Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics (integrated)
- 16GB LPDDR4x-4266, soldered
- 1TB M.2 PCIe® NVMe® SSD
- 14" (2240x1400) IPS, 300nits, 100% sRGB, TÜV Low Blue Light (HW), glass, 60Hz, touch
- 59Wh battery
- Was manufactured 2023-08-15
- WiFi 6E