The Lenovo Slim 7x Gen 11 hasn't changed too much since the first one was introduced in 2024 (yes, it's the second Slim 7x but it's called Gen 11 to align with the rest of the Yoga 7 series), but it's a little lighter and a lot better. Critically, it has Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X2 Elite processor under the hood, a massive improvement for the laptop that was among the first devices to launch in May 2024.

It's not just that it has a Snapdragon X2 Elite, it's that Lenovo chose the correct one this time. With the first generation, it chose the X1E-78-100 chip, the lowest tier of Snapdragon X Elite, which was also chosen by others like HP. Products like the Surface Laptop 7 and Dell XPS 13 both had the X1E-80-100, which was much better.

For this product, Lenovo has three options, the Snapdragon X2 Plus and both the 12- and 18-core variants of the Snapdragon X2 Elite. Lenovo send me the 18-core one, and it's pretty great. Add on a pretty blue metal design, an OLED display, and a great keyboard, and this is a great product.

Lenovo sent XDA the Slim 7x for review. It had no input on the contents of this article.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x pricing and availability

Announced at CES 2026, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x Gen 11 is available now from Lenovo.com, starting at $1,099.99. That starting price comes with a Snapdragon X2 Plus X2P-42-100, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB SSD. The configuration that Lenovo sent me costs $1,599.99, with a Snapdragon X2 Elite X2E-88-100, 32GB RAM, and a 1TB SSD. This is also the only pre-made configuration that includes the 120Hz OLED display, while the base model has an FHD+ 60Hz OLED panel.

There's also a "build your own" option, with varying pricing for different components.

The Snapdragon X2 Elite era is here

Don't believe the app compatibility naysayers

You'll notice that unlike many Snapdragon laptop reviews, this one doesn't have a con list that says something like "some apps might not work". The reason is because that's my experience. I've been using Snapdragon laptops daily since X Elite launched two years ago. When I travel, it's the only thing I bring. I'm not someone that reviewed them when they came out two years ago, and switched back to a MacBook after I filed the article.

If you told me you were using a Snapdragon PC today and had app compatibility issues, I'd ask which apps. I don't know of any. The only app I even use that still runs via emulation is Adobe Lightroom Classic, and even that's because I'm too stubborn to switch to Lightroom CC.

I'm even running Forza Horizon 6 on this thing. The graphics are what you'd expect from a laptop with an integrated GPU, but that's the whole point of Windows. This might not be the product you'd want to run a game like that on, but you can.

Qualcomm beat Intel on the CPU race with Snapdragon X Elite two years ago. That's why I didn't care for the X1E-78-100 chip that was in the first Yoga Slim 7x. That chip was simply on par with Intel Lunar Lake. The Snapdragon X2 Elite smokes Intel Panther Lake.

Arm PCs are also just better than x86 PCs from a user experience perspective. There's something intangible about how these products are just more pleasant to use. They wake up a little faster, things feel a tiny bit snappier, and it's just good.

Here, have some benchmarks comparing the 18-core Snapdragon X2 Elite that's in the Slim 7x with the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme and the Intel Core Ultra X7 368H.

Qualcomm's offerings easily defeat Intel in both single- and multi-threaded CPU tests. Intel still wins with graphics performance, which is really important. That's been the company's focus since Lunar Lake a couple of years ago with its integrated Arc graphics, so it might be fine with losing the CPU battle here.

I don't run AI benchmarks, and that's not changing in the foreseeable future. The Snapdragon X2 family all comes with an 80 TOPS NPU, a big boost over the 45 TOPS NPU that was in the last generation. Intel is still at 50 TOPS, so if that's something you care about, it's another area where Snapdragon wins.

I know I'm doing a lot of praising of Snapdragon here, but like I said, I already use a Snapdragon laptop daily. I have Intel laptops I could use if I wanted to, but Snapdragon is where it's at. With X2 Elite, that cements my opinion even further.

Beautiful Cosmic Blue design

A beautiful blue design and USB4

Listen, if a company makes a laptop that's not black or silver, I'm going to talk about it. The Lenovo Slim 7x Gen 11 comes in Cosmic Blue, just like it did with the previous iteration. There's no black, no silver, nothing else.

It's a great look. It stands apart from the crowd, without looking too flashy. It weighs in at just over two and a half pounds, at least according to Lenovo's spec sheet. It does feel heavier than that to me, but it does make sense that it would be a little lighter than the last one, since the screen is now 14 inches instead of 14.5 inches.

There's one big issue with the look though. This thing is a massive fingerprint magnet. Keeping it clean and pretty seems nearly impossible.

It's only got a trio of USB Type-C ports, so if you still haven't moved your stuff away from USB Type-A over the past decade or so, now is probably the time to do that anyway. All three ports are USB4, which pretty much gives you parity with Thunderbolt 3. The previous model was all USB4 as well, but it's still worth noting since it was only a few years ago that Intel's Thunderbolt was a real differentiator.

Also on the sides of the chassis, you'll find a switch that internally disconnects the camera. There's no visual indicator that the camera is blocked, unfortunately, but you'll find it missing from the Device Manager.

Finally, the power button is on the side. It's one of those things that I really don't care for, but how often am I pressing that button anyway?

It's a great all-around laptop too

Don't sleep on the OLED display

When you open it up, you'll find a beautiful 120Hz 2.8K OLED display. It's only in the top-end configuration, but if you choose the "build your own" option on Lenovo's product page, it's only a $60 upgrade from the FHD+ version, which is just 60Hz. Both options are OLED, so while there are really no bad options, you'll still have a better time with the 2.8K 120Hz one. I suppose that statement goes for all upgraded specs though.

The keyboard is excellent too. This is something that I've pretty much always said with any Lenovo laptop that I've reviewed. ThinkPads are the best, but the consumer products like this one are really great too. It's comfortable to type on, it's accurate, and I've just never got any complaints about Lenovo's stuff.

The 9MP webcam is pretty great too. It's 3840x2400, to be specific, giving it a native 16:10 aspect ratio. Video resolution goes up to 1440p.

While the video resolution obviously doesn't use up the full resolution of the camera, obviously it leaves room for those fun effects that are so fashionable now where the camera will follow you around the room.

Should you buy the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x Gen 11?

You should buy the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x Gen 11 if:

• You just want a great laptop
• You use your laptop webcam instead of a dedicated one
• You like blue

You should NOT buy the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x Gen 11 if:

• You rely on GPU power
• You're still stuck on legacy ports like USB Type-A

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x Gen 11 is a great all-around laptop with few flaws, so it's easy to say you should buy it if you just want an excellent device. The only drawback to buying Snapdragon right now is that Intel does still have better graphics, although I'd argue that if you were focused on graphics-intensive loads like gaming or video editing, you're probably buying something beefier anyway. Also, Intel isn't really competing when it comes to NPUs, focusing on graphics performance for on-device AI instead.

One other thing to note about the Slim 7x is that it's not too pricey. We just saw Microsoft's Surface devices get dramatic price increases due to RAM shortages, and with a specced out Slim 7x coming in at $1,599, I don't think you can beat it.