Lenovo Yoga 7 2-in-1 16 review: a $650 laptop that could cost twice as much

As we await the latest wave of new laptops from CES 2025, I’ve been taking a look at some lower-priced budget laptops. Lenovo’s IdeaPad Flex 5i was a 14-inch 2-in-1 that came in at around $550, but sometimes you want a larger machine that doesn’t break the bank.

That’s where the Lenovo Yoga 7 2-in-1 16 comes in. It features a large 16-inch display in a convertible 2-in-1 form factor, and it has some fairly redeeming features. The only thing holding it back from a solid recommendation is a disappointing display.

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Specs and configuration

There are only a few configurations of the Yoga 7 2-in-16, and they’re all on sale right now at Lenovo’s web store. For $587, you get an AMD Ryzen 5 8640HS, 8GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 16.0-inch FHD+ IPS display (the only option). Upgrading to a Ryzen 7 8840HS that will be considerably faster is just $31, and 16GB RAM has an upcharge of $25. That makes the high-end model with the Ryzen 7, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD (only available with 16GB of RAM) just $650.

List prices range from $805 to $890, which is a lot less attractive. However, at the sale prices, the Yoga 7 2-in-1 16 is great. You’ll struggle to find another large laptop that’s as good at these prices, but the display is one thing that might stop you from pulling the trigger.

Design

Despite its relatively low price, the Yoga 7 2-in-1 16 is constructed of aluminum rather than plastic. There was a time when a large near-budget laptop like this would likely have included some plastic in the chassis, and I’m happy to see that’s not the case here. The Yoga 7 2-in-1 16 is a solid laptop, with no bending, flexing, or twisting in the chassis, keyboard deck, or lid. It feels as robust as laptops costing twice as much and more.

The design is also comfortable, with rounded edges that make the laptop feel great in hand. Lenovo has adopted the same design for many of its recent laptops, and I like it. There’s also the reverse notch at the top of the display housing the webcam and other electronics, which keeps the top and side bezels reasonably thin. The bottom chin is rather large, though, which is typical for convertible 2-in-1s. The width and depth are OK, while the Yoga 7 2-in-1 16 is thin at just 0.67 inches and reasonably light at 4.39 pounds.

Aesthetically, it’s minimalist but attractive, with a dark gray colorway unbroken by chrome or other adornment. I have no complaints there, and really, it’s necessary to point out at this point because outside of gaming laptops, very few are ostentatiously designed. Minimalism is pretty much the game today. But, importantly, you won’t look at the machine and see “budget.”

Keyboard and touchpad

The keyboard is Lenovo’s usual version, with sculpted keycaps (although somewhat smaller than I remember on other recent laptops), plenty of key spacing even with the (likely unnecessary) numeric keypad, and snappy switches. The bottoming action is a little abrupt, which would be my only complaint. It’s not as good as Apple’s Magic Keyboard or HP’s version on its new OmniBook lineup, but it’s still good enough for comfortable long-term typing like writing this review.

The touchpad is OK. It’s mechanical — unsurprising at these prices — and it’s large enough. The button clicks are a bit loud and sharp, though. It’s not great, but it’s not terrible, either. The display is touch- and pen-enabled, befitting a 2-in-1.

Connectivity and webcam

Connectivity is fine, with a number of ports that will support the needs of most people. The biggest limitation is that there are no fast ports such as Thunderbolt 4 or USB4. But most people will likely find connectivity sufficient. Wireless connectivity is fast enough.

The webcam is a 1080p model, which has become the new standard. It’s fine, offering a decent image for videoconferencing. The AMD chipset doesn’t have a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) to speed up on-device AI processing, so it’s a bit behind other, newer chipsets. The Yoga 7 2-in-1 16 isn’t a part of the new AI generation of laptops, so you don’t get features like AI background blur or microphone processing.

Performance

The Yoga 7 2-in-1 16 is available with AMD’s Ryzen 8000 series chipsets, either the 8-core/16-thread Ryzen 7 8840HS or the 6-core/12-thread Ryzen 5 8640HS. I reviewed the machine with the latter. Both run at 28 watts, so they consume more power than the more efficient Qualcomm Snapdragon X and Intel Core Ultra Series 2 chipsets (also known as Lunar Lake) which are the more contemporary offerings.

The Ryzen 7 is faster and more competitive with the Qualcomm chipsets and AMD’s own Ryzen AI 9 offerings, while the Ryzen 5 in the Yoga 7 is closer to the Intel chipset. What that means in practice is that while the Yoga 7 2-in-1 16 is fast enough for most productivity uses, it’s not the fastest laptop by a considerable margin. Its Radeon 760M graphics also don’t impress, but then none of these laptops except for the Asus ProArt PX13 with an entry-level discrete GPU are great for gamers or creators.

Battery life

The Ryzen 8000 series isn’t aimed at extreme efficiency like the Qualcomm and Lunar Lake chipsets. Even so, the Yoga 7 2-in-1 16’s 71 watt-hour battery and low-res IPS display combine for decent battery life.

The laptop has good enough efficiency that you’ll make it through most of a working day on a charge. You won’t get multi-day longevity as you will with some other laptops, but there’s nothing to complain about here.

Display

Although it’s been less common over the last few years, there’s one corner that’s often cut to hit budget prices: the display. On paper, that’s exactly what you see here. The Yoga 7 2-in-1 16 has a large, 16-inch display that’s too low-resolution at FHD+ (1920 x 1200). If you like sharp displays, you’ll immediately dislike this one. It doesn’t help that the IPS technology doesn’t produce dynamic colors or deep blacks — something I’ve grown used to in reviewing so many laptops with OLED displays.

Things didn’t get much worse when I used my colorimeter to evaluate the display objectively. It was bright at 408 nits, well above our 300-nit baseline, and contrast as good at 970:1, just below our 1,000:1 threshold. But colors weren’t very wide at just 68% of sRGB, 48% of AdobeRGB, and 48% of DCI-P3. IPS displays average around 100%, 75%, and 75%, respectively. And color accuracy came in at a DeltaE of 3.20, a lot worse than the 2.0 or better you want to see for productivity use and worse than I usually see today.

Ultimately, the display matters a lot on a large laptop like this. If you don’t care about dynamic or accurate colors, then it’s not terrible. But you can do better.

Attractive while on sale, but questions remain

The Yoga 7 2-in-1 16 is well-built, reasonably portable, and gets good enough performance even with its entry-level chipset. Battery life is a strength as well. It looks fine, its keyboard and touchpad are good enough, and you can’t argue with a price that tops out at $650.

What makes this a difficult laptop to rate is its display, which isn’t high-res enough at 16 inches and has poor color width and accuracy. But, if you just have to have a large laptop and colors aren’t as vital, the price might be enough to convince you.