Lenovo Yoga Pro 7i Gen 11 Aura Edition Hands-on: The 15.3in creator's laptop with a touchpad that doubles as a graphics tablet

A quick note: this hands-on is based on the Japan-market unit. The keyboard layout, language and bundled software may differ in your region.

Now for the hands-on review of the Lenovo Yoga Pro 7i Gen 11 Aura Edition. Here's the spec of the review unit I used:

Note: configuration may vary depending on when and where you buy it.

Design

You can tell this is a Lenovo Yoga, and an Aura Edition at that — the build quality is on a different level. It doesn't feel anything like a budget laptop from the moment you pick it up. The logo on the lid catches the light nicely too ✨.

This finish — only an Aura Edition pulls this off!

The embossed YOGA logo is a nice subtle touch

The lid comes in Luna Grey too, for a smart, understated finish. It's got just the right amount of premium feel without being flashy.

The Luna Grey lid looks great even from an angle

The Lenovo logo keeps a low profile, and I actually prefer it that way

It's 16.7mm thick. For a 15.3in machine, that's proper Yoga-series slimness, and it should slide into a bag easily enough.

16.7mm thin — you'd never guess this was a 15in laptop!

Flip it over and you'll spot generous airflow vents, a sign of the large dual fans underneath. Lenovo's X-Power cooling system does the heavy lifting here, keeping heat in check despite the high-end specs.

Generous airflow vents mean heat dissipation isn't an afterthought

The hinge is well-made enough to open one-handed. The camera housing sticks out slightly at the front, which turns out to be handy — your finger catches on it perfectly. It opens to roughly 170 degrees at maximum.

The hinge opens smoothly with just one finger — satisfying

Confirmed it opens to around 170 degrees at most!

Portability

I weighed it myself and got 1,604g. For a 15.3in display, that's genuinely light. Having reviewed 14in machines that tip the scales at 1.55kg, getting this weight on a 15in laptop is honestly a real strength.

1,604g measured! Barely believable for a 15in laptop

One thing worth flagging, though, is the official charger. I weighed that too, and it came to 435g — proper heavyweight territory. With a discrete GPU on board, it needs the extra power.

The official charger weighed in at 435g — it has some heft to it

I tried plugging in an Anker 65W USB-C charger, but the charging icon never appeared. The official charger is rated at 140W, so it clearly needs that much power.

No dice with a compact 65W charger…

A 100W-plus USB-C charger, on the other hand, worked fine. For days out, that's a lighter option than lugging around the official brick.

A 100W-plus charger did the job properly!

Holding it one-handed, I wouldn't want to do it for long, but for a 15in laptop, it manages the size and weight well.

You can just about hold it one-handed

Display quality

The screen is stunning, and honestly, it was the biggest surprise of this whole review. It's a Dolby Vision-certified PureSight Pro display, and the colour reproduction you get from OLED had me impressed the whole way through.

OLED colours this vivid — genuinely surprised me!

Checking the details in the settings menu: 2560×1600 resolution, 165Hz refresh rate, VESA DisplayHDR True Black, and Dolby Vision support — the spec sheet alone tells you this is high-end. With a refresh rate that high, scrolling and general movement feel really smooth.

The spec sheet confirms just how high-end this display is

Viewing angles are wide too — even from a sharp angle, the colours barely shift. It's a genuinely beautiful panel.

Still beautiful even from an angle, with no colour shift

The aspect ratio is 16:10. Put it next to one of my 13in 16:9 laptops and the amount you can fit on screen is a different league. It should cut down on scrolling considerably.

That 16:10 ratio makes a real difference to the usable screen space!

The one thing that bugged me was reflections on the glossy panel. That's par for the course with a glossy screen, so it's not entirely fair to hold it against the laptop, but for a high-end machine, a bit more anti-glare treatment wouldn't have gone amiss. It's not a touchscreen, for what it's worth.

Being a glossy panel, reflections are a bit of a nuisance

Keyboard comfort

The key layout here is a neatly arranged Japanese keyboard, and it types well.

A neat, well-spaced key layout that's a pleasure to type on

The typing feel is excellent. Being a 15in chassis, there's no sense of cramped keys, and thanks to the Yoga coating (I assume), the keycaps feel pleasant under the fingers too. With 1.5mm of key travel and a chassis that doesn't flex, typing feels solid and stable.

Nothing to fault with the typing feel — comfortable for long writing sessions too!

The backlight is bright enough that working in dim rooms shouldn't be an issue.

The backlight keeps the keys visible even in low light

Quick heads-up: these photos are the Japan-market unit, so the keyboard shown is the Japanese layout. UK models ship with the standard UK (ISO) layout.

Touchpad usability

The touchpad on this laptop is noticeably large compared to the keyboard, and it's superbly usable. I'll get into the secret behind its size shortly.

You can click properly even at the top of the pad!

This touchpad actually supports something called ForcePad, and it uses Wacom technology to work like a graphics tablet. Look closely and there's a small logo in the corner that resembles a tablet icon — I'd guess that's the giveaway that pen input works here too.

That corner logo is the giveaway that this works as a graphics tablet!

So I brought my Lenovo Yoga Pen close to the pad, and sure enough, the cursor moved just like on a proper graphics tablet — touch it down and you can start drawing from that point. That's genuinely impressive! I had a go at drawing Crayon Shin-chan as a test. I lean more towards programming than illustration, so please forgive the result, but pressure sensitivity clearly worked — pressing hard gave a thick line, pressing lightly gave a thin one. Personally I find drawing directly on a screen, like with a pen display or an iPad, easier, but if you're used to a graphics tablet, this could genuinely work for creative tasks ✨.

The touchpad turned graphics tablet — I had a go at drawing Shin-chan, ha!

Gesture controls were handled without any fuss, and the overall feel was close to using a 15in MacBook Pro.

Multi-finger gestures felt smooth too

The touchpad itself is properly large, and the glide is excellent. You can really feel the difference compared with a traditional physical-click pad.

Being haptic, it registers clicks even at the top of the pad!

Performance

Onto CPU performance. It scored 8738 in PCMark 10 — I'd say that's enough grunt to handle everything from everyday team work to creative tasks.

8738 in PCMark 10 — a properly strong score!

I also ran Cinebench 2026 and got 4733 in multi-threaded CPU and 566 in single-threaded. Those are seriously strong numbers.

Cinebench 2026 recorded 4733 in multi-thread

3DMark Steel Nomad Light came out at 9219. On a lightweight laptop, 2,000-3,000 is typically the going rate for this benchmark, so 9219 is on another level. GPU performance looks genuinely promising.

3DMark score of 9219 — well beyond what you'd expect from a slim laptop

I measured storage speeds with CrystalDiskMark too: 6,599MB/s read and 5,842MB/s write. That's blisteringly fast storage.

6,599MB/s read speed — proper blistering storage!

Battery life

Battery verdict: on the short side

Checking the battery report, the design capacity comes in at 84Wh. Packing an 84Wh battery into a 15.3in laptop weighing around 1.6kg is a combination I haven't really seen before. That said, with a discrete GPU on board, battery life honestly isn't a strength here. Depending on how you use it, you might be lucky to get 3-4 hours out of a charge. If you're heading out, I'd take that 100W-plus USB-C charger I mentioned earlier along with you, just to be safe.

84Wh, with next to no degradation — a healthy battery

Fan noise and heat

At idle, it's pretty quiet — not something you'd really notice.

Barely noticeable noise levels at idle

Under load, it climbed to 45dB, which is a fairly high figure on paper, but thanks to the Lenovo X-Power cooling doing its job, it never turned into that unpleasant high-pitched whine. It is loud, no denying that, but personally I'd call it acceptable.

Up to 45dB under heavy load, though the tone itself isn't unpleasant

The exhaust vents sit at the back of the chassis, so even with a mouse in my right hand, I never got hit by warm air. That's a well thought-out layout.

Rear-mounted exhaust means no warm air blowing on your hands

There's a Lenovo X Power engraving on the underside too. With dual fans and four heat pipes, cooling performance looks to be genuinely strong.

The Lenovo X Power engraving speaks to how seriously cooling was taken

Expansion and ports

Making good use of the 15in chassis, port selection is generous. On the left, you get USB, HDMI, two Thunderbolt 4-capable USB-C ports, and an SD card slot.

Two Thunderbolt 4-capable USB-C ports on the left side!

The right side has two 10Gbps USB-A ports and a headphone jack. Having the power button on the right also turned out to be quietly handy when running the laptop in clamshell mode.

Two USB-A ports and a headphone jack on the right

Hooking up an external display over HDMI worked without a hitch for single-screen output.

Connected to an external monitor over HDMI with no fuss

The USB-C ports support DisplayPort Alt Mode, and with two of those plus the HDMI port, I tried driving four external screens at once, which also worked without issue. For a desktop-style setup, that's a genuinely comfortable way to work.

USB-C alone handled dual-screen output with room to spare

There's also an SD card slot, which photo editors will appreciate. It does stick out a little once a card's inserted, though, so leaving one in permanently might be a bit much.

The card sticking out slightly is a minor quirk you can live with

Webcam usability

I checked the built-in webcam too. At 5 megapixels, real-world footage looks properly sharp. I tested it on a plush toy I had lying around, and even the texture came through clearly.

5 megapixels, sharp enough to pick out the texture on a plush toy

There's a privacy shutter too, handy for blocking the camera during video calls.

The privacy shutter lets you switch off with peace of mind

Speaker quality

I gave the speakers a listen too, and the 4-speaker setup shows real attention to detail. There's decent bass weight and a good sense of surround width. Personally, I'd give it 5 out of 5.

Genuinely satisfied with the bass and surround feel from the 4 speakers

Security features

There's facial recognition, so you can unlock Windows with just your face. Being able to get straight to work is a quietly useful touch. It doesn't support fingerprint recognition, though.

Unlocking with just your face — quietly useful!

Price

Given the discrete GPU, 32GB of memory, 1TB of storage, and the performance on offer, this does sit fairly high up the price scale. That said, this configuration doesn't reach MacBook Pro territory at the very top end, so managing all this at this price is genuinely impressive. Even looking at £2,430.00, I'd call this a laptop that earns its keep.

Final verdict

The Lenovo Yoga Pro 7i Gen 11 Aura Edition manages to combine a measured 1,604g weight in a 15.3in chassis with a beautiful OLED display and genuinely strong performance. There are a few things to bear in mind — screen reflections, the weight of the official charger, and battery life — but even so, I'd recommend this fairly strongly to anyone doing photo editing, video editing, or programming. For anyone who wants to do creative work on a large screen, I'd call this a near-perfect fit.

This finish and this weight — well worth picking up and trying for yourself!