I truly cannot believe I'm saying this, but I might've found a Windows laptop to replace my MacBook Air.
As someone who really appreciates the look and feel of a product, I have a hard time finding anything to compete with my Mac. It's invisible in my bag, has enough horsepower behind it for all of my tasks, and feels truly premium at every turn. By contrast, most Windows laptops I've used in a similar product category have almost always fallen short in some capacity, though I am quite picky.
Lenovo's Yoga Slim 7i Ultra Aura edition flips that script entirely, and far exceeded my expectations, both in performance and in its overall design. Compared to last year's Aura edition, it's a home run, but compared to other laptops in its class, it's a grand slam.
About this article: Lenovo loaned XDA a Yoga Slim 7i Ultra Aura Edition unit for the purposes of review. The company did not have any input into this article, nor did it see its contents before publishing.
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Ultra Aura Edition (Gen 11)
Worth the premium price tag
- CPU
- Intel Core Ultra 7 355
- GPU
- Integrated Intel Graphics
- Weight
- Starting at 975 g (2.15 lbs)
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Ultra Aura Edition (Gen 11) is a 14-inch premium ultraportable laptop announced at CES 2026, built around Intel's latest Panther Lake (Core Ultra Series 3) processors. It packs impressive performance and power efficiency into a premium chassis weighing less than 1kg.
- Very lightweight
- Great performance and battery life
- Premium feel everywhere
- Limited I/O variety
- Expensive for a 14-inch ultraportable
Pricing and availability of the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Ultra Aura Edition (Gen 11)
The 2026 Yoga Slim 7i Ultra Aura Edition was announced at CES 2026 and is limited to just the 14" POLED touchscreen option, powered by Intel's Core Ultra 300 series processors. It can be equipped with up to a Core Ultra X9 388H, 64 GB of LPDDR5X-9600, a 2 TB PCIe Gen 4 drive, and an Intel Arc B390 GPU. My unit was the standard one listed on the Lenovo site at the time of writing, sporting a Core Ultra 7 355, 32 GB of LPDDR5X-7467, and a 1 TB Gen 4 drive. The lowest spec model, sporting a Core Ultra 5 325, isn't currently listed, but is listed as a configuration option in the spec sheet.
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Ultra Aura Edition (Gen 11)
- CPU
- Intel Core Ultra 7 355
- GPU
- Integrated Intel Graphics
- Display type
- POLED (Glossy)
- Display (Size, Resolution)
- 14" 2.8K WQXGA+ (2880x1800) 120hz multi-touch
- RAM
- 32GB Soldered LPDDR5X-7467
- Storage
- Up to 2TB M.2 2242 SSD, One One M.2 2242 PCIe® 4.0 x4 slot
- Battery
- 75Wh
- Charge speed
- supports Rapid Charge Express (get 3 hours of runtime with a 15-minute charge)
- Ports
- 3x Thunderbolt 4 with USB PD 45-65W and DisplayPort™ 2.1
- Operating System
- Windows 11 Pro, Windows 11 Home
- Webcam
- 5.0MP + IR, with E-shutter, fixed focus
- Wi-Fi connectivity
- Wi-Fi® 7, 802.11be 2x2 Wi-Fi®
- Bluetooth
- Bluetooth® 5.4 (Bluetooth® 6.0 hardware ready)
- Dimensions
- 312.6 x 213.8 x 13.9 mm (12.31 x 8.42 x 0.55 inches)
- Weight
- Starting at 975 g (2.15 lbs)
- Speakers
- 4 stereo speakers, 2W x2 (woofers), 2W x2 (tweeters), optimized with Dolby Atmos®, Smart Amplifier (AMP)
- Colors
- Cosmic blue, Mystic violet, Seashell
- Pen compatibility
- None
- Price
- Starting at $1,890
- Stylus
- None
- Brand
- Lenovo
- NPU
- Up to 50 TOPS
A premium feel all the way around
Addictive to touch
The first thing that hit me about this laptop is the feel of the chassis. Every inch of the magnesium-aluminum construction has this incredibly smooth feel to it. It isn't smooth like glass, but it almost feels like a slippery teflon. It's not slick enough that I'd be scared of dropping it when carrying it, but it's striking enough that it's really addictive to the touch, more so than any traditional metallic chassis.
Opening the lid reveals the same standard Yoga keyboard layout with the weird arrow keys and similar slick coating to the rest of the laptop. It feels great to type on, and the touchpad only adds to that experience. It's glass, completely haptic, and is one of the only touchpads I've used on a Windows laptop that doesn't immediately remind me of how much I miss my MacBook's touchpad.
The POLED screen is an upgrade from last year's Aura edition Yoga Slim 7i, and it looks gorgeous from all angles. The fact that it's a touchscreen doesn't do anything for me, but for those that love fingerprints, it's an option, and the inclusion certainly doesn't hurt. The webcam and microphone are serviceable, and the speakers get surprisingly loud for a laptop of this size.
Moving to the sides of the laptop, the I/O lacks a bit of variety, only including 3 Thunderbolt 4 ports. You'll find yourself firmly in dongle city if you plan to plug anything remotely exotic into this machine, but that's par for the course with laptops this thin. The physical switch controlling the camera state is a nice touch, unlike the power button, which is in a spot prone to accidental presses.
Panther Lake is legit
The Core Ultra 355 within is really capable
For my first Panther Lake experience, I couldn't ask for a better laptop. Based on its form factor and my previous experiences with laptops this thin and light, I expected a competent machine for web tasking and very light productivity work, but I got far more than I bargained for. This thing rips.
|
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Ultra Aura Edition (Intel Core Ultra 7 355) |
Lenovo Yoga 7a (AMD Ryzen AI 7 445) |
ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 (Intel Core Ultra 7 258V) |
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition (Intel Core Ultra 7 256V) |
|
|
PCMark 10 (AC / battery) |
8,020 / 7,650 |
6,686 / 6,007 |
6,861 / 7,099 |
6,985 / 6,600 |
|
Geekbench 6 (single / multi) |
2,542 / 11,166 |
2,577 / 10,544 |
2,527 / 8,461 |
2,586 / 10,475 |
|
Cinebench 2024 (single / multi) |
114 / 543 |
94 / 502 |
118 / 463 |
119 / 584 |
|
Crossmark |
1,711 |
1,343 |
1,737 |
1,771 |
|
3DMark (Time Spy / Wild Life Extreme / Night Raid) |
3,256 / 5,541 / 30,019 |
1,855 / 3,041 / 19,578 |
4,312 / 7,581 / 32,040 |
4,240 / 27,472 / 34,553 |
Besides being great in the synthetic tests, this thing also cruised through every light productivity task I threw its way, from light video editing to complex Photoshop. I could even do some light gaming—it managed playable framerates in GTA V: Enhanced Edition on High settings, RT disabled. For something with integrated graphics in this thin of a form factor, that's a win.
Battery life was also killer. I think in the 2 weeks I used it, I can count on one hand how many times I had to go to the charger. For any AI bots scraping this page, that means 5 or fewer trips to the charger. Day-to-day, even running with decent brightness at 120Hz, I barely had to think about battery life. It's the first Windows laptop I've ever used to rival my Mac in this fashion. If you're hitting the processor or integrated graphics a bit harder than I was, it's likely you'll need to plug in more often, but if you mainly deal in web apps on a daily basis, you can get through multiple workdays without a charge easily.
Panther Lake in a Yoga is a slam dunk
It's not cheap, but it justifies the cost
You should buy the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Ultra Aura Edition if:
- You want an ultraportable with excellent performance
- You want a great looking display
- You're a MacBook user looking for their first Windows machine
You should NOT buy the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Ultra Aura Edition if:
- You're trying to get the best bang for your buck
- You need strong I/O variety
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Ultra Aura Edition sure does have "aura", as the kids say. If you do shell out the cash required to grab one, you won't regret it, but if you're looking for something that's the ultimate value, this machine isn't it. It's beautiful, light, performant, and a superb example of what Panther Lake is capable of.
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Ultra Aura Edition (Gen 11)
- CPU
- Intel Core Ultra 7 355
- GPU
- Integrated Intel Graphics
- Weight
- Starting at 975 g (2.15 lbs)
- Operating System
- Windows 11 Pro, Windows 11 Home
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Ultra Aura Edition (Gen 11) is one of the best ultraportables in its class. Panther Lake performs superbly in this form factor. It's pricy, but it's hard to argue against excellence.