Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 Carbon Overview
The first thing you’ll notice about the IdeaPad Slim 7 Carbon is just how light it is. At only 2.4 lbs (1.1kg) it is actually lighter than the ThinkPad X1 Carbon that we took a look at recently. Lenovo calls the color of the laptop “light grey”, but it really looks like more of a silver.
Typically we see the Carbon moniker reserved for Lenovo’s ThinkPad series, but we have it here on the IdeaPad Slim 7. That means that the lid is made of a carbon fiber reinforced magnesium while the rest of the chassis is magnesium alloy. Picking up the laptop for the first time it is pretty easy to grip, but it does not have that soft coating like we saw on the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. I did however notice that the material does not pick up fingerprints, which is definitely a plus. On the lid of the laptop in the corner is a small Lenovo logo.
Looking at the laptop from the side you can see just how slim it actually is. At its highest point it is only 0.59-inches tall. On the left side there are two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports. One of these ports supports power delivery and is where you’ll plug in the included power adapter. These ports also support DisplayPort for video out. There is also a small audio combo port on this side.
On the opposite side there is a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C connection, a small slider button to disable the webcam, and a power button. The three Type-C connections are the only connections on the laptop, which is pretty interesting as we saw at least one Type-A connection on the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. This is probably why Lenovo does include the dongle with the laptop. It is also pretty interesting to have the power button on the side of the laptop.
The laptop does make use of a single hinge design which does allow you to open the laptop up with a single finger. You can open the laptop all the way up so the screen sits flat on your desk but no tent or turning the IdeaPad into a full on tablet like we’ve seen with Lenovo’s Yoga products.
Opening up the laptop you’ll be greeted with an absolutely stunning 14-inch touchscreen OLED display. Looking at the display for the first time you’ll be blown away at how crisp it looks. Lenovo calls this a “2.8K” resolution display, with the official resolution being 2880 X 1800. I really like that Lenovo has gone with a 16:10 aspect ratio display, which gives you more vertical room. The display is also a 90 Hz display, which I know many people will appreciate. We’ll go into more details on the display once we get into testing. Towards the top of the display is a small notch with a webcam. There is no privacy cover, but remember there is a switch on the side of the laptop to completely disable it.
You’ll find a pretty standard keyboard and trackpad layout on the laptop with the keyboard taking up the top-half of the chassis and the trackpad taking up the bottom-half. If there is one thing Lenovo always gets right it is their keyboards, they are always comfortable and easy to type on and this keyboard is no exception. The keyboard is backlit, which will get into on the next page. The keyboard is flanked on each side by speakers.
On the bottom of the laptop there is a large rubber strip and two smaller ones which will keep the laptop in place on your desk. You’ll notice there is no ventilation on the bottom of the laptop, it is actually hidden behind the hinge.
