Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 Gen 11 (14-inch AMD) Hands-on: OLED display, class-leading keyboard feel — genuinely good value for the money.

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.

Here's the full hands-on review of the Yoga Slim 7 Gen 11 (14-inch AMD). The unit I tested had the following spec.

※ Specifications may vary by region and retailer.

Design

The Tidal Teal colourway has a cool, subtle blue-grey tone that looks sharp in person. Build quality is surprisingly solid — barely any plastic feel to it. There's a machined YOGA logo on the lower right of the palm rest that catches the light at certain angles; a nice, understated touch.

Front view: Tidal Teal finish with the machined YOGA logo

That machined YOGA logo!

The lid has an understated Lenovo logo — machined in, low-profile. No garish branding here, which I appreciate.

Minimal lid design — elegant rather than flashy.

At 13.9 mm, the Slim in the name is well earned — this thing is genuinely thin. It slides into a bag without any fuss.

13.9 mm — properly slim.

The underside is clean with four discreet screw holes and rubber feet that grip without being excessive.

Clean underside — well put together.

The hinge surprised me — smooth enough to open one-handed, and the slight protrusion near the camera acts as a natural grip point. Genuinely well thought through.

Opens one-handed without any drama.

Max opening angle is around 170 degrees, which is handy for turning the screen towards someone across a table.

170-degree opening — useful for sharing your screen.

Portability

Measured weight is 1,162 g. For a 14-inch laptop, that's genuinely light — daily carry without a second thought.

1,162 g on the scales.

The bundled charger is USB-C and weighs 170 g. 65W fast charging is a quiet but genuinely useful feature. 🔌

170 g charger — easy to slip into a bag.

Light and slim enough to carry one-handed — moving between rooms or desks feels completely effortless.

One-handed carry — no bother at all.

Display Quality

I went for the OLED model. The colours are vivid, and the black depth is in a completely different league to a standard IPS panel — you notice the difference immediately.

That OLED black depth. Held next to a real flower — honestly hard to tell the difference.

Wide viewing angles too — colours stay consistent even from the side, which makes a real difference during long sessions. ✌️

Stable colour from the side — no washing out.

The 16:10 aspect ratio gives you noticeably more vertical screen space than a 16:9 machine — less scrolling, more content visible at once.

16:10 — noticeably more screen real estate than the usual 16:9.

One genuine downside: the reflections. The glossy panel picks up overhead lighting fairly noticeably, which can be distracting depending on your workspace. No anti-glare coating that I can detect — understandable for a mid-range machine, but worth knowing before you buy.

Glossy panel — reflections are noticeable in bright rooms.

Keyboard Feel

The layout is standard and comfortable for everyday use. (Note: the review unit uses a Japanese JIS layout; the UK version will differ.)

Standard layout — no awkward surprises.

Honestly, the typing feel caught me off guard in the best way. The keytops have a slightly soft, matte texture that's natural under the fingers, and the chassis is rigid enough that there's no flex during typing. For this class of laptop, the keyboard feel is comfortably above average.

Soft, satisfying keytops — better than you'd expect.

Backlight is bright and even — typing in dim conditions is no problem at all.

Solid backlight for late-night working.

Trackpad

Large glass trackpad — smooth, precise, and genuinely pleasant to use. Cursor control across the screen feels effortless.

Takes up a good portion of the palm rest — and earns its space.

Multi-finger gesture support is solid. Windows overview and other gestures all work reliably. The larger surface is where it really shows.

Gestures handled smoothly — no fuss.

Performance

CPU is AMD Ryzen AI 5 430. PCMark 10 score is 6,149 — more than capable for everyday tasks through to light video editing.

PCMark 10: 6,149.

Cinebench 2026 multi-thread comes in at 1,699 — comfortably handles daily use and the occasional heavier workload without complaint.

Cinebench 2026 multi-thread: 1,699.

GPU (3DMark Steel Nomad Lite) scored 1,375 — light gaming and video encoding are both within reach.

3DMark Steel Nomad Lite: 1,375.

What really surprised me was the storage speed. Read at 6,665 MB/s and write at 5,242 MB/s — file operations are genuinely instant.

Read 6,665 MB/s / Write 5,242 MB/s — seriously fast.

Battery Life

Battery rating: decent to good

Capacity is 70 Wh, which is impressively large for a laptop this slim. Getting through a full day without plugging in should be very achievable.

Battery report: 70 Wh confirmed.

USB-C charging means any decent compact charger will do the job — an Anker in the bag and you're sorted. 👌

Third-party USB-C charger — works without issue.

Fan Noise & Heat

In everyday use and at idle, the fan is essentially silent. Perfectly café- and library-friendly.

Near-silent at idle.

Under heavy load it ramps up to around 40 dB — a mid-pitched whine. Audible, but not the worst I've come across. The tone isn't particularly unpleasant either.

Around 40 dB under load.

Nice design detail: the exhaust vent is at the rear, so warm air doesn't blow towards your mouse hand. Small thing, but you notice it.

Rear exhaust — no hot air on the mouse hand.

Port Selection

There are three USB-C ports and nothing else — no headphone jack, no USB-A, no HDMI. Honestly, the missing headphone jack is the biggest frustration. If you use wired headphones or earbuds, a USB-C hub with a 3.5mm output is basically essential.

Left side: two USB4 ports.

Right side: USB 3.2 Gen 2 (no video output from this one).

External monitor support works well, though. I tested it with a 27-inch 4K display — no issues. Just use the left-side ports for video output; the right one doesn't support it. 😉

27-inch 4K monitor connected — no trouble at all.

You can also run a triple-display setup via the left USB-C ports. Pair with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and it works as a surprisingly capable desktop replacement.

Triple display via USB-C — a legitimate desktop setup.

Webcam

The built-in 5 MP camera is bright and produces decent colour — more than usable for video calls.

Webcam output — bright and well-balanced.

There's a physical privacy shutter — a switch on the right side physically blocks the lens. Simple, reliable, and reassuring for anyone conscious about that sort of thing.

Physical shutter — blocks the lens properly, no software trust required.

Speaker Quality

Speakers are positioned on either side of the keyboard, facing forward — a sensible placement that directs sound towards you rather than downwards. I watched a film on Prime Video and I'd put the audio quality at around 8 out of 10. Decent bass, and more than enough for casual viewing or a video call.

Good speaker placement — audio comes at you, not at the desk. Great for watching films. 🎶

Solid placement for everyday audio use.

Security

Face recognition via Windows Hello works well — screen on, and you're logged in almost instantly. Given how many times a day you unlock your machine, that convenience genuinely adds up.

Face recognition — instant login every time.

Price & Value

Lenovo's Yoga line has always aimed for mid-range pricing with above-average quality, and this generation keeps that going. In a market where laptop prices keep creeping up, the spec you get at this price is genuinely difficult to beat.