Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 14 G8 AMD Review – Custom Zen4 CPU meets great 2.9K OLED

Lenovo currently offers plenty of very good subnotebooks/multimedia laptops with 14-inch displays and the new Yoga Slim 7 14 G8 is no exception. Compared to the Yoga Pro 7, it is slimmer and lacks some ports like HDMI or USB-A, but it also offers the more modern Zen4 processor from AMD as well as the brand-new 2.9K OLED screen. 

The processor Ryzen 7 7840S is exclusive for Lenovo laptops, but we did not find a difference compared to the regular Ryzen 7 7840HS. Only the minimum TDP can be set to less than 35 Watts, so Lenovo has more influence on the power profiles, which is also visible. The performance is very good in High Performance mode and the multi-core performance in particular is superior to modern Intel CPUs in this TDP range, but we also have to say that the cooling solution in the slim chassis is having a hard time with the powerful processor. If you really use the performance, the fans get loud quickly and the chassis warms up quite a bit. You can obviously use the more efficient power profiles, but a U-series processor would have been a more suitable choice for the cooling performance. 

The aluminum chassis itself leaves a very good impression and is very sturdy, and you will immediately notice the slim lid. The hinges could be a bit firmer and the silver color variant does not provide a big contrast between the key caps and the white background illumination. The keyboard itself provides a very comfortable typing experience. Lenovo also equips the chassis with a 6-speaker sound system, which is one of the best in this size class.

The new Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 14 G8 is a very good subnotebook with a powerful AMD Zen4 processor, but it is also a big challenge for the cooling solution. The new 2.9K OLED screen offer improved quality over its predecessor, but the HDR capabilities are limited due to the comparatively low maximum brightness.

The new 2.9K OLED screen leaves a good impression in general. The problems with the Moiré effect of the old 2.8K versions are gone and Lenovo offers very accurate color profiles for P3 as well as sRGB. However, there are also issues like the low maximum HDR brightness as well as the constant PWM flickering. Asus shows how this can be done better with its own OLED laptops. Still, this does not change the fact that the picture quality is great and that the glossy surface is a bigger issue in practice.

The battery runtime is very good for an OLED device, but the IPS competition just offers longer runtimes. One of the biggest rivals is Lenovo’s own Yoga Pro 7, which is not much slower with the Zen3+ chip, but the IPS panel does not use PWM and the battery runtime is significantly better. There is also a version with the discrete GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop, which offers much more graphics performance. Huawei’s MateBook X Pro is also a very good, but also much more expensive alternative. If you prefer a slightly more compact device without fan noise, there is no way around the MacBook Air M2, even though it is also more expensive with comparable specs (1 TB SSD, 24 GB RAM). The Schenker Vision 14 convinces with better maintenance options, more ports and longer battery runtimes, but is a bit slower and also more expensive.