2023 Lenovo Slim Pro 9i, Slim Pro 7 – what to expect

In this article, we’re discussing the 2023 Lenovo Slim Pro 9i and Slim Pro 7 lineups of premium performance ultrabooks.

The Slim Pro 9i, also known as the Yoga Pro 9i here in Europe, is a novelty for Lenovo and a competitor in the premium space of powerful thin-and-light laptops, aiming at popular series such as the Dell XPS, Asus ZenBook Pro, or the Apple MacBook Pro. It’s available in two sizes (14.5 or 16 inch), with a top-tier chassis, powerful specs for the size, excellent IO, and features such as 4/6 speakers, a 5MPx camera, or a mini LED display.

On the other hand, the Slim Pro 7 series (known as Yoga Pro 7 in some regions) has been available for a few years now (here’s our review of the previous model), but is revamped for the 2023 generation with a minimally updated chassis design, updated inputs, IO and display options, and the latest hardware specs from AMD and Nvidia.

Speaking of, the Slim Pro 9i models are exclusive Intel Core H + RTX 4000 platforms, while the Slim Pro 7 is an exclusive AMD Ryzen HS + RTX 4000 platform. However, the Slim Pro 7 is also a lower-power model only available with mid-tier RTX graphics, while the Pro 9is can be specced with RTX 4060 and 4070 chips.

Furthermore, you’re also getting certain features on the Slim Pro 9is that are not available for the mid-tier Slim Pro 7s.

We’ll touch on the important traits of these 2023 Lenovo Slim Pro models down below, and then follow up with updates and detailed reviews in the weeks to come. These laptops are expected in stores around April/May 2023, starting at $1200 for the Slim Pro 7 and $1700 for the Slim Pro 9i variants.

Update: Our detailed review of the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i (Yoga Pro 9i) is available over here.

2023 Lenovo Slim Pro 9i, or Yoga Pro 9i (gen 8) – specs sheets

But first, here’s a full specs sheet of the 2023 Lenovo Slim Pro 9i lineups, and then we’ll discuss the mainstream Slim Pro 7 series down below.

Lenovo Slim Pro 9i – Design, screens, and inputs

The Slim Pro 9i series borrows its design lines from the Lenovo Slim 9i series of the past years, with a compact footprint and a premium metal chassis with polished metal edges. With 14.5 or 16-inch displays, though, the Slim Pro 9i are larger and heavier laptops, but that also allows them to offer a solid set of ports, good inputs, and powerful specs.

Both variants are clamshell designs, available in Either Tidal teal or Storm Grey colors, with clean branding elements and color-matched keyboards and touchpads.

The keyboards on this series look much like the traditional Lenovo Yoga/Ideapad layouts, but are actually a new implementation with 1.5 mm of travel depth and slightly concave keycaps with an anti-smudge finish.

The more compact 14-inch model implements a minimalistic keyboard layout, while the 16-inch model gets an extra NumPad section. On both sizes, the keyboard is flanked by up-firing speakers (with extra speakers on the bottom as well). Both sizes also get large glass touchpads, centered under the space key.

For the screens, both sizes get 16:10 panels with glass finishes, so there’s no matte variant (you’re getting that on the Slim Pro 7, though). The choice in panels are either IPS or mini LED, with the latter offering zone lighting and excellent peak brightness. Both are 100% DCI-P3, though, and we’ll have to see how well-suited the mini LED implementations are for color-accurate work, knowing the quirks of zone-dimming for this sort of niched activity.

There’s no option for an OLED panel on any of these. You will find OLEDs on a few other 2023 Lenovo series, such as the Yoga 9i and the Slim 7i ultraportable designs, but not on any of these Slim Pro units.

Of course, the mini LED panel is going to be an extra option and most likely only available with the higher-specced variants of these laptops. The same 16-inch mini LED offered with the Slim Pro 9i is also offered in the newer Lenovo Legion 9i, which is a thin gaming laptop with much faster hardware.

Furthermore, due to the technical particularities of the mini LED technology, the configurations with these panels require a slightly thicker chassis, and are also slightly heavier than the standard models with the IPS screens. As an extra note, the miniLED version also comes with a better 5 MPx webcam, while the IPS models only offer a 2 MPx camera.

Now, neither of these Lenovo Slim Pro 9is is impressively lightweight, with the 14.5-inch model starting at 1.65 kg and the 16-inch model starting at 2+ kilos. For reference, the 14.5″ Slim Pro 9i is about on par in weight (and size) with the popular Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 series, although it might appear more compact from the included images.

The chassis volume is used for the internals, but also for the IO. There’s everything you’ll want on this laptop, including USB-C and USB-A ports, an SD card reader, HDMI 2.1, and an audio jack.

The 14-inch model charges via USB-C, and USB-C ports are only available on the left side, while the 16-inch model requires more power and comes with a standard Lenovo square-plug charger, but supports USB-C charging as well.

Lenovo Slim Pro 9i – Hardware and performance

As far as the hardware goes, the two sizes are mostly similar platforms, and can be specced up to an Intel 13th-gen Core i9-13905H processor and Nvidia RTX 4070 8GB graphics, with up to 64 GB of LPDDR4 storage and 2 TB of SSD storage (upgradeable if needed).

While still somewhat unclear, the RAM is most likely soldered on both sizes, and there’s a single M.2 slot for storage.

However, the Slim Pro 9i 16-inch is a more powerful platform and supports up to 100W TGP graphics chips, while the Slim Pro 9i 14.5″ support up to 80W TGP chips. There’s also a beefier thermal module on the 16-inch model, but Lenovo didn’t offer details on the exact design, cooling capacity, or power settings, so we’ll have to discover those in the reviews.

They did mention the implementation of the Lenovo X Power and AI Engine+ suites of software and hardware features designed to seamlessly improve performance in sustained workloads. For what is worth, these devices are going to ship with Nvidia Studio drivers, as they’re not designed with gaming in mind, but rather for all-purpose and productivity use. For gaming, Lenovo offers the dedicated Legion and Loq series.

Inside, both variants incorporate a 75Wh battery, so I’d expect the two sizes to share a common internal layout. That leaves me wondering how they’re using the extra space inside the 16-inch model, other than for extra speakers (we know there are 4x speakers on the 14-inch and 6x speakers on the 16-inch variant).

Finally, as mentioned earlier, the Slim Pro 14 charges via USB-C (around 135W), while the Slim Pro 16 needs a higher-capacity charger with a square plug.

2022 Lenovo Slim Pro 7 14.5″ (gen 8), or Yoga Pro 7 (gen 8)

And here’s a full specs sheet of the 2023 Lenovo Slim Pro 7 series, compared to the higher-tier Slim Prio 9i discussed above.

Just as a heads-up, this series is sold as the Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 outside of the North American market, and I still fail to understand why Lenovo keep using these different names for the same product in different markets.

Lenovo Slim Pro 7 – Design, screens, and inputs

The 2023 Slim Pro 7 follows up on the Slim Pro 7 X series from the previous years, discussed in-depth in this review, and is still a good-value all-purpose portable design.

Almost nothing changes between the generations in terms of design and exterior features. The Slim Pro 7 is still a compact and practical 14.5-inch metal chassis, available in either Storm Grey or Tidal Teal colors.

However, Lenovo have updated the keyboard in this model year, implementing the same variant that’s available in the Slim Pro 9i models. Hopefully, it addresses the shallow mushy feedback of the previous generation.

The IO is still rather minimalistic here, but includes USB-C ports (one of them being UBS 4.0), an HDMI 2.1 connector, a USB-A, and an audio jack, plus a camera eShutter. The camera is placed at the top of the screen and is a standard 2 MPx 2 MPx shooter. 4x speakers are also available on this series, two up-firing through the grills that flank the keyboard, and two placed on the underside.

Another welcomed addition for this 2023 Slim Pro 7 update is the choice in displays. You can get this with either an IPS 2.5K 90Hz panel with matte or glass finishing (not sure if touch or not?), or with a 3K 120Hz matte panel with 100% DCI-P3 color coverage. A high-gamut panel was not offered on this series in the past, and will most likely attract those of you who plan to use this sort of computer for photo/video editing.

Lenovo Slim Pro 7 – Hardware and performance

As far as the hardware goes, the Slim Pro 7 gen8 (2023) is now built on AMD platforms, with options for either AMD Phoenix (up to Ryzen 7 7840HS) or AMD Rembrant-R (up to Ryzen 7 7735HS) processors.

These are paired with RTX 3050 6GB (58W TGP) or RTX 4050 6GB (55W TGP) graphics chips, LPPDDR5/LPDDR5x memory, and gen4 SSD storage. The RAM is most likely soldered, and it’s unclear whether configurations with more than 16 GB of memory will be available (I sure hope so).

The overall power settings seem about similar to the previous Slim Pro 7 X generation, so expect around 50W sustained in CPU-heavy loads, 55W max TGP on the GPU, and around 75W combined-load TDP.

The cooling module is most likely similar to the previous generation as well, with dual fans, dual radiators, and dual heat pipes, as illustrated below. Nothing fancy, but a decent match for this chassis and hardware, although the CPU/GPU might run at high temperatures under sustained loads on the max-performance profile, based on our experience with the previous generation.

The battery has been slightly bumped to 73 Wh on this generation, up from 70 Wh on the previous model. Not much of an update, but don’t forget this is an AMD platform now, so expect some excellent runtimes with daily use and multitasking, better than on the Intel-based Pro 9i models.

This notebook charges via USB-C, and should ship with a 100W charger.

Final thoughts

While merely a refinement of an existing design, the 2023 Lenovo Slim Pro 7 series might well end up as one of the most popular all-purpose models of the year.

We already liked the previous model, and this one tends to address some of my previous complaints in the keyboard and display departments, while transitioning to an AMD platform with up to RTX 4050 graphics. That means it can be more powerful and more efficient, while offering a better typing experience and a richer display.

I just hope Lenovo will be able to keep this competitively priced and will be able to keep up with the demand.

This Lenovo Slim Pro 7 gen8 series is expected to start at $1199 MSRP in the US, with availability around April 2023.

The new Lenovo Slim Pro 9i lineup is not as competitively priced, but also aims at a higher niche of potential clients. It’s available in two sizes and offers better displays with an option for a miniLED panel, more ports, better speakers and cameras, and arguably more powerful specs, especially on the GPU side, where the 9is can be configured with 4060/4070 dGPUs that are not available on the Pro 7 model.

Update: Our detailed review of the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i (Yoga Pro 9i) is available over here.

The Legion Slim Pro 9i series are expected around May 2023, starting at $1699 for the Slim Pro 9i 14.5″ and $1799 for the Slim Pro 9i 16″.

I’m looking forward to spending more time with these devices and sharing my thoughts with you in the reviews, which should be available in the near future. In the meantime, let me know down below in the comments section what you think about these 2023 Lenovo Slim Pro lineups.