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MagyarCore i7-1355U debut: Lenovo Yoga 7 16IRL8 convertible review
The 2023 Yoga 7 16IRL8 is the successor to the 2022 Yoga 7 16IAP7. It introduces several changes both inside and out alongside an upgrade from Intel 12th gen Alder Lake-P to 13th gen Raptor Lake-U. The latest model also drops any dedicated GPU options to reduce prices and extend battery life.
Our exact configuration with the Core i7-1355U CPU, 16-inch 16:10 1200p IPS touchscreen, 16 GB LPDDR5 RAM, and 512 GB NVMe SSD can be found on Best Buy for $850 to $1000 USD. Additional SKUs with a higher resolution 1600p touchscreen and faster 13th gen Core-P options are planned.
Competitors to the Yoga 7 16 include other midrange to high-end 16-inch convertible laptops like the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 16, Asus ExpertBook B5 Flip, HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 16, or Dell Inspiron 16 7620 2-in-1. The IdeaPad Flex 5 16 can be seen as the lower-end budget alternative to our Yoga 7 16.
More Lenovo reviews:
Potential Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 86.6 % | 04/2023 | Lenovo Yoga 7 16IRL8 i7-1355U, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 2 kg | 16.99 mm | 16.00" | 1920x1200 | |
| 88.7 % | 08/2022 | Lenovo Yoga 7 16IAP7 i7-1260P, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 2 kg | 19.2 mm | 16.00" | 2560x1600 | |
| 86.7 % | 04/2023 | Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 16, i5-1340P i5-1340P, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.7 kg | 13 mm | 16.00" | 2880x1800 | |
| 86.5 % | 03/2023 | Asus ExpertBook B5 Flip B5602FBN i7-1260P, A350M | 1.8 kg | 19.9 mm | 16.00" | 3840x2400 | |
| 87.3 % | 01/2023 | HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 16-f1075ng i7-12700H, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 2 kg | 19.9 mm | 16.00" | 3072x1920 | |
| 85.7 % | 06/2022 | Dell Inspiron 16 7620 2-in-1 i7-1260P, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 2.1 kg | 18.41 mm | 16.00" | 1920x1200 |
Case — No Sharp Corners
The 2023 model utilizes similar aluminum alloy materials as its predecessor for a similar look and feel. Its shape has changed slightly along the rear and bottom bezel of the display in order to reduce thickness. The speaker grilles on the bottom have also been removed to serve as an easy visual distinction between the 2022 and 2023 models.
Chassis rigidity is just slightly below the pricier Spectre x360 16. Twisting the base or pushing down on the outer lid or keyboard center would result in slightly more warping than on the HP alternative, but not enough to be of any huge concern. The lid still feels strong with no creaking when trying to twist it from its corners.
The newer model is thinner than the outgoing design by a couple of millimeters while maintaining roughly the same length, width, and overall weight. The competing Spectre x360 16 is smaller in footprint but thicker in profile while the Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 16 is both thinner and lighter to be a potentially better alternative for travelers.
Connectivity — No More Full-Size SD Reader
Port positioning has changed to be less crowded along the left edge. Integrated options are better than on the Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 16 or Spectre x360 16, but the Inspiron 16 7620 2-in-1 has the slight edge as it includes everything on the Lenovo plus a full-size SD reader.
Disappointingly, the HDMI port is 1.4b and not 2.0 meaning external 4K monitors at 60 Hz is not supported via HDMI.
SD Card Reader
While last year's model would include a full-size SD card reader, this year's model only supports MicroSD cards. Transfer rates remain about the same at 60 to 90 MB/s with our UHS-II test card compared to 130 to 160 MB/s on the HP Spectre x360 16 or Dell XPS series.
| SD Card Reader | |
| average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 16-f1075ng | |
| Lenovo Yoga 7 16IAP7 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 16, i5-1340P (AV Pro SD microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Lenovo Yoga 7 16IRL8 (AV Pro SD microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Dell Inspiron 16 7620 2-in-1 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Asus ExpertBook B5 Flip B5602FBN (AV Pro SD microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
| HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 16-f1075ng | |
| Lenovo Yoga 7 16IRL8 (AV Pro SD microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Lenovo Yoga 7 16IAP7 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 16, i5-1340P (AV Pro SD microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Dell Inspiron 16 7620 2-in-1 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Asus ExpertBook B5 Flip B5602FBN (AV Pro SD microSD 128 GB V60) | |
Communication
An Intel AX211 comes standard for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity. Transfer rates are stable and the unit would exhibit no issues recognizing our Wi-Fi 6E network unlike on our recent XPS 15.
Webcam
Lenovo has not upgraded the 2 MP webcam. The competing Spectre x360 16 includes a sharper 5 MP sensor in comparison, but at least the webcam here isn't as bad as the muddy 720p one on the latest XPS 15.
IR comes standard alongside a physical shutter slider for privacy.
Maintenance
The bottom panel pops off relatively easily after removing its seven Torx screws. The internals have been completely revised from the previous generation, but upgradeable options remain the same: RAM continues to be soldered and there is only space for one M.2 SSD. Note that Lenovo has dropped support for dedicated graphics this time around.
Accessories and Warranty
There are no extras in the box other than the paperwork and AC adapter whereas many Yoga 9 models would include an active stylus pen for free. The standard one-year limited manufacturer warranty applies if purchased in the US.
Input Devices — IdeaPad Keyboard Through And Through
Keyboard
The keyboard has not been improved over last year's model meaning the shallow travel and weak feedback have not been addressed. We know Lenovo is wholly capable of producing some excellent laptop keyboards as demonstrated by the ThinkPad series and so it's disappointing to not see such expertise on the Yoga family. Competing models like the Spectre x360 16 or LG Gram 16 have keyboards with noticeably sharper feedback for a more comfortable typing experience.
Touchpad
The clickpad (13 x 8 cm) is identical in size to last year's model and it retains the very loud clicky feedback when pressed. If you find the clickpads on most laptops to be too soft, then you might prefer the firmer feel of the one here. The loud click is nonetheless a double-edged sword when in more quiet environments like in some classrooms.
It's unfortunate that Lenovo offers no 90 Hz or faster refresh rate panel options. Touchscreens with faster refresh rates tend to react more swiftly to inputs.
Display — Limited Color Range
Our review unit comes with a 1200p touchscreen instead of the 1600p touchscreen on last year's model. This lower resolution panel offers inferior colors (60% sRGB vs. 100%) and a dimmer backlight (280 nits vs. 400 nits) to reflect its cheaper price. If you plan to do a lot of photo editing, then be sure to find a 1600p configuration or consider the Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 16, Spectre x360 2-in-1 16, or Dell Inspiron 16 7620 2-in-1 instead where full sRGB coverage is available.
Response times and contrast ratio are otherwise pretty good for an IPS panel to comfortably support gaming and video playback.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 81 %
Center on Battery: 279.4 cd/m²
Contrast: 1552:1 (Black: 0.18 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 5.12 | 0.55-29.43 Ø5.2, calibrated: 1.84
ΔE Greyscale 5.5 | 0.57-98 Ø5.4
43.5% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
62.8% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
42% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.22
| Lenovo Yoga 7 16IRL8 LEN160FHD, IPS, 1920x1200, 16.00 | Lenovo Yoga 7 16IAP7 Lenovo LEN160WQXGA, IPS, 2560x1600, 16.00 | Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 16, i5-1340P ATNA60CL02-0, AMOLED2X, 2880x1800, 16.00 | Asus ExpertBook B5 Flip B5602FBN Samsung ATNA60YV02-0, OLED, 3840x2400, 16.00 | HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 16-f1075ng AU Optronics AUO50A3, IPS, 3072x1920, 16.00 | Dell Inspiron 16 7620 2-in-1 BOE NV16N45, IPS, 1920x1200, 16.00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 57% | 106% | 84% | 72% | 57% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 42 | 67 60% | 99.9 138% | 71.7 71% | 75.6 80% | 67 60% |
| sRGB Coverage | 62.8 | 95.7 52% | 100 59% | 100 59% | 100.2 60% | 95.9 53% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 43.5 | 69.3 59% | 96.5 122% | 97.1 123% | 77.2 77% | 69.3 59% |
| Response Times | -16% | 98% | 92% | -49% | -1% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 31.8 ? | 36 ? -13% | 0.5 98% | 2 ? 94% | 52 ? -64% | 32 ? -1% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 20.9 ? | 24.8 ? -19% | 0.5 98% | 2 ? 90% | 28 ? -34% | 20.8 ? -0% |
| PWM Frequency | 240 | 240 ? | ||||
| Screen | 23% | 1492% | 299% | -5% | 2% | |
| Brightness middle | 279.4 | 393.7 41% | 408 46% | 379 36% | 425 52% | 320.7 15% |
| Brightness | 257 | 367 43% | 412 60% | 382 49% | 406 58% | 309 20% |
| Brightness Distribution | 81 | 84 4% | 98 21% | 98 21% | 78 -4% | 90 11% |
| Black Level * | 0.18 | 0.38 -111% | 0.002 99% | 0.01 94% | 0.24 -33% | 0.36 -100% |
| Contrast | 1552 | 1036 -33% | 204000 13044% | 37900 2342% | 1771 14% | 891 -43% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 5.12 | 1.97 62% | 2.27 56% | 2.79 46% | 5.8 -13% | 4.18 18% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 19.42 | 5.46 72% | 3.53 82% | 5.29 73% | 11.03 43% | 8.48 56% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 1.84 | 0.62 66% | 2.42 -32% | 2.5 -36% | 4.16 -126% | 0.77 58% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 5.5 | 2.1 62% | 2.69 51% | 1.92 65% | 7.57 -38% | 6.3 -15% |
| Gamma | 2.22 99% | 2.1 105% | 2.45 90% | 2.38 92% | 6600 0% | 2.21 100% |
| CCT | 6407 101% | 6461 101% | 6942 94% | 6270 104% | 6258 104% | |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 21% /
25% | 565% /
996% | 158% /
223% | 6% /
5% | 19% /
14% |
* ... smaller is better
The display is not calibrated out of the box. Calibrating the panel ourselves with an X-Rite colorimeter would improve average grayscale and color deltaE values from 5.5 and 5.12 to just 1.3 and 1.84, respectively. However, keep in mind that highly saturated colors will still be inaccurate no matter what since the panel does not support full sRGB colors. Owners can apply our calibrated ICM profile above to get the most out of the panel.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 20.9 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 11.2 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 9.7 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 37 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is similar to the average of all tested devices (22.3 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 31.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 15.4 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 16.4 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.25 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 33 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is similar to the average of all tested devices (35.1 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected |  | ||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 19035 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
Outdoor visibility is average for a midrange clamshell laptop but otherwise below average for a convertible form factor. Alternatives like the Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 16, ExpertBook B5 Flip, or Spectre x360 2-in-1 16 all have brighter screens for better outdoor visibility. The 1600p configuration of our model targets a brighter 400-nit backlight compared to our 300-nit 1200p unit.
Performance — 13th Gen Intel CPU With Old Gen iGPU
Testing Conditions
We set our unit to Performance mode via Windows and Extreme Performance mode via Lenovo Vantage prior to running the benchmarks below. It's recommended that owners become familiar with Vantage as it is the central hub for Lenovo-specific updates, warranty status, power settings, and more. The UI could use some work, however, as many of the settings are hidden under multiple submenus such as the all-important performance settings.
Processor
Our Core i7-1355U performs within 5 to 10 percent of the Core i7-1260P in the older Yoga 7 16IAP7. Users who may have been expecting a significant increase in performance over last year's model may be disappointed as the CPU transition is more of a sidestep than an upgrade.
Performance differences are also minor when compared to the 12th gen Core i7-1255U that the Core i7-1355U directly replaces. In this case, the newer processor offers 5 percent and 15 percent faster multi-thread and single-thread performance, respectively, over its predecessor.
Performance sustainability is poor for a laptop but otherwise average for a convertible. When running CineBench R15 xT in a loop, the initial score of 1689 points would drop by 25 percent after 4 runs to show high Turbo Boost potential for only short bursts.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.4: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.4: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
* ... smaller is better
| Blender | |
| v3.3 Classroom HIP/AMD | |
| Lenovo Yoga 7-14ARB G7 | |
| v3.3 Classroom OPTIX/RTX | |
| MSI Summit E16 Flip A12UDT-031 | |
| v3.3 Classroom CUDA | |
| MSI Summit E16 Flip A12UDT-031 | |
| v3.3 Classroom CPU | |
| HP ProBook 450 G9 6A180EA | |
| Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (387 - 1156, n=55) | |
| Lenovo Yoga 7 16IAP7 | |
| Lenovo Yoga 7 16IRL8 | |
| Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 16, i5-1340P | |
| MSI Summit E16 Flip A12UDT-031 | |
| Lenovo Yoga 7-14ARB G7 | |
| HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 16-f1075ng | |
* ... smaller is better
AIDA64: FP32 Ray-Trace | FPU Julia | CPU SHA3 | CPU Queen | FPU SinJulia | FPU Mandel | CPU AES | CPU ZLib | FP64 Ray-Trace | CPU PhotoWorxx
System Performance
PCMark scores are comparable to last year's model since they perform so similarly. A dedicated GPU option like on the MSI Summit E16 Flip would have significantly improved scores, but this was likely omitted to keep weight and price from ballooning.
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
| PCMark 10 Score | 5933 points | |
Help | ||
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
LatencyMon reveals no major DPC issues when opening multiple browser tabs of our homepage or when running Prime95. 4K video playback at 60 FPS is perfect as well with no dropped frames recorded.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 16, i5-1340P | |
| Asus ExpertBook B5 Flip B5602FBN | |
| HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 16-f1075ng | |
| Lenovo Yoga 7 16IRL8 | |
| Lenovo Yoga 7 16IAP7 | |
| Dell Inspiron 16 7620 2-in-1 | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices — No Support For M.2 2280 SSDs
Our unit ships with a 512 GB WD PC SN740 PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSD which provides much faster transfer rates than the 512 GB Micron 2450 drive in last year's model. Transfer rates top out at 5000 MB/s compared to only 3000 MB/s with the Micron. Performance would remain stable when under stress as well.
Only one internal drive is supported like on many other 16-inch convertibles currently in the market. However, keep in mind that the model only supports the shorter M.2 2242 form factor and not 2280.
