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Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i
The IdeaPad Pro 5 is worth checking out for mobile content creators who want consistent performance and a wide range of physical ports. The 2.5K IPS display is colorful and bright enough, and it supports Thunderbolt 4 for a wide range of accessories.
Pros
- Crisp screen with 120Hz refresh rate
- Larger touchpad is a welcome change
- Thunderbolt 4 support
Cons
- Heavy at 4.41 pounds
- Only Intel CPUs for North American market
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Source: Lenovo
Lenovo Slim Pro 7
The Lenovo Slim Pro 7 is an AMD-powered creator laptop with a crisp, colorful 14.5-inch 2.5K IPS display and GeForce RTX 3050 graphics. It’s powerful enough for video or photo editing, and has decent battery life.
Pros
- Powerful performance
- Easy to carry
- Sharp display with 90Hz refresh rate
Cons
- Glitchy performance with docking stations
- Poor palm rejection on the touchpad
After a reliable and affordable laptop for content creation on the go? Might we suggest starting the search by looking at two recently released Lenovo notebooks? The Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 (2023) and Slim Pro 7 (2023) look to be among the best Lenovo laptops for creators. They have Nvidia Laptop GPUs, powerful CPUs, and 2.5K resolution screens that will give more desktop to work with. The two notebooks have many other similarities too, but they differ in two key areas, namely the CPU manufacturer and the screen size. We’ve got the rundown on how they’re the same, how they differ, and how you can utilize them for your workflow.
Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 (2023) vs Lenovo Slim Pro 7 (2023): Price, specs & availability:
The Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 (2023) is available now from Lenovo.com and Newegg, starting from $1,499 for a model with a Core i5 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a GeForce Laptop 3050 GPU. A model with a Core i7 CPU will be coming later this year.
Lenovo launched the Slim Pro 7 earlier this year, starting from $1,200. It’s available at Lenovo.com and retailers like Best Buy. That price gets you an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS, 512GB of SSD storage, and a 2.5K display. According to Lenovo’s documentation, there are other configurations planned, although it’s not clear when these will launch or for what price.
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Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 (2023) Lenovo Slim Pro 7 Brand Lenovo Lenovo Color Arctic Grey, Frost Blue Storm Grey Storage Up to 2TB 512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD CPU Intel 13th-gen H-series processors AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS Memory Up to 32GB 16GB LPDDR5 6400MHz dual-channel Operating System Windows 11 Home Windows 11 Home Battery 75Wh, up to 14 hours 73Wh Ports 2x USB-C, 2x USB-A, 1x HDMI, 1x SD card reader slot, 1x audio jack 1x USB4 40Gbps, 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, 1x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1x HDMI, 1x 3.5mm headphone jack Camera 1080p IR camera Full HD 1080p + IR Display (Size, Resolution) Up to 2.5K (2560×1600) IPS 16:10 display 14.5-inch IPS, 2560×1600 resolution, 90Hz refresh rate, 100% sRGB, touch Weight Starting at 1.95kg/4.30lbs 3.5 pounds (1.59kg) GPU Up to NVIDIA RTX 4050 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 6GB Dimension 14.01 x 9.88 x 0.69 inches (356 x 251 x 17.5mm) 325.5×226.49×15.6mm (12.81×8.92×0.61 inches) Network Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1 Wi-Fi 6E 2×2 + Bluetooth 5.1 Speakers 2x two-watts speakers with Dolby Atmos support Four 2W speakers with Dolby Atmos Price Starting at $1,499.99 $1,199 Model Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5/5i Slim Pro 7
Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 (2023) vs Lenovo Slim Pro 7 (2023): Design
While Lenovo has embraced the 2-in-1 design on many of its devices, both of these laptops are classic clamshell designs. The IdeaPad Pro 5 sold in North American markets is a 16-inch variant, with consumers elsewhere having access to a 14-inch variant as well. The Slim Pro 7 has one 14.5-inch option. Both notebooks use sandblasted aluminum as the case material and have a similar external notch on the screen that houses the webcam.
Both of these notebooks are fairly substantial, with the IdeaPad Pro 5 weighing 4.41 pounds and the Slim Pro 7 weighing 3.5 pounds. That’s not light by any means, but it’s also an easy weight to carry around. The additional weight is because these are not slim ultrabooks, but that also means they come with more usable ports, so you don’t have to carry additional weight in the form of docking stations or dongles around.
The IdeaPad Pro 5 has a full complement of ports, including one Thunderbolt 4.0, a USB 3.2 Type-C, two USB 3.2, a full-sized HDMI 2.1 port, an SD Card Reader, and an Audio Jack. The Slim Pro 7 has one USB4 40Gbps port, one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, one USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, a full-sized HDMI, and an audio jack. That’s enough to satisfy most creators without resorting to dongles or docking stations. We should point out that our reviewer had issues with docking stations on the Slim Pro 7, where they reset the connection every so often. We’re hopeful this will be fixed in a future firmware update by Lenovo.
The keyboard on both notebooks is as you would expect from a Lenovo device. They’re both pretty great to type on, and it’s been a long time since we used a Lenovo laptop with a keyboard we found any faults with. Both are backlit, and the amount of tension and travel distance is pleasing. The IdeaPad Pro 5 has a 25% larger touchpad, according to Lenovo, which could make things easier to control. The Slim Pro 7 has a frustrating touchpad that seems to have no palm rejection feature, but this could be fixed in a future software update.
Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 (2023) vs Lenovo Slim Pro 7 (2023): Display and hardware
Both of these laptops are aimed at content creators on a budget. That means IPS screens here, with no options for OLED or mini-LED, to spice things up a little. The IdeaPad Pro 5 has a 16-inch 2.5K (2560×1600) IPS display, with claimed 100% coverage of sRGB. It also has a 120Hz refresh rate and 350 nits max brightness. The Slim Pro 7 has a 14.5-inch 2.5K (2560×1600) IPS display, also with 100% sRGB coverage (which we tested to be accurate), 90Hz refresh rate, and 350 nits brightness. The higher refresh rate of the IdeaPad Pro 5 slightly wins here, but there really isn’t much to choose between these two displays.
Lenovo has decided that only the Intel version of the IdeaPad Pro 5 will be sold in North America. That means a 13th-gen Intel Core i5 or i7 H-series CPU, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of Gen 4 NVMe SSD storage (at least on the only available model currently). The Slim Pro 7 has the AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS CPU, with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of Gen 4 NVMe SSD storage. Both models currently available use the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU with 6GB of GDDR6 RAM. Lenovo’s specs sheets mention an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 model, but it’s not clear when that will be released.
Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 (2023) vs Lenovo Slim Pro 7 (2023): Performance and battery life
The IdeaPad Pro 5 will come with two CPU choices in North America, the Intel Core i7-13700H or the Intel Core i5-13500H. We tested an Acer laptop with the same 45W i7 CPU, and it was power-hungry and lagged behind the lower-power 28W P-series chips. That might be okay, as you’ll want to keep this laptop plugged in while doing content creation anyway.
The Slim Pro 7 has an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS processor, which can be configured between 35 and 54W TDP. Our testing shows that while it won’t beat 13th-gen Intel chips in single-core situations, it’s more than capable of daily tasks. Both of these laptops have Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPUs to supplement the low performance of integrated graphics, so they can offload creative tasks to the GPU.
According to Lenovo’s spec sheets, the battery life on the two laptops is pretty similar. The IdeaPad Pro 5 has an integrated 75Wh battery that can last 14 hours when playing local 1080p video files with the screen at 150 nits. The Slim Pro 7 has a 73Wh integrated battery, with nearly 15 hours of playback with the same test conditions. You’ll still want to pack a charger as these are not MacBook Air levels of performance, but they are decent for Windows-based devices.
Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 (2023) vs Lenovo Slim Pro 7 (2023): Which is right for you?
While both of these Lenovo models are among the best laptops for budget-conscious content creators, only one can win today. That’s the IdeaPad Pro 5, but not perhaps for the reasons you might think. While both laptops have similar performance, similar screen specifications, and similar ports, one has issues in a very important area. That’s the flaky performance of the Slim Pro 7 with docking stations, an important tool in many creators’ workflow.
Until Lenovo fixes that, the IdeaPad Pro 5 is the clear winner. It has enough power for creative tools, decent battery life away from the wall, and a clear, crisp 2.5K screen that is color-accurate.
Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 (2023)
Editor’s Choice
The IdeaPad Pro 5 is worth checking out for mobile content creators who want consistent performance and a wide range of physical ports. The 2.5K IPS display is colorful and bright enough, and it supports Thunderbolt 4 for a wide range of accessories.
The Slim Pro 7 is still worth checking out for content creation needs. It has a powerful AMD Zen 3 processor paired with discrete Nvidia graphics and performs well at tasks like photo editing. The 2.5K screen is also color-accurate and smooth, and the smaller size and weight makes it easier to carry around all day.
Source: Lenovo
Lenovo Slim Pro 7
Good alternative
The Lenovo Slim Pro 7 is an AMD-powered creator laptop with a crisp, colorful 14.5-inch 2.5K IPS display and GeForce RTX 3050 graphics. It’s powerful enough for video or photo editing, and has decent battery life.
If neither of these Windows laptops fits your needs, perhaps it’s time to check out one of the best Macs. Thanks to Apple silicon, they’re lightning fast and have a thriving ecosystem geared towards creator tools. You will have to contend with a steep learning slope until you find your way around macOS, but the extra effort could pay off.