-
Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch (2023)
The Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch (2023) is a big convertible laptop. Its large screen, combined with solid speakers and keyboard, makes for a great-feeling machine, though its substantial heft hinders its portability somewhat and its hollow-feeling trackpad leaves something to be desired.
Pros
- Large screen
- Generous port selection
- Better default SKU value
-
Source: HP
HP Envy x360 15 (2023, Intel)
The HP Envy x360 is a versatile 15.6-inch convertible laptop that packs plenty of power into its sleek chassis. Its standout features are its high-resolution webcam and selection of specifications, It’s also a really decent price for what you get.
Pros
- High-res webcam
- Premium build
- Better upgrades
Cons
- Heavy
- Dim screen
- 16:9 aspect ratio
If you’re in the market for a premium-feeling yet affordable convertible laptop, you’ve likely seen these two machines pop up. The Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch (2023) and HP Envy x360 15.6-inch (2023) are two standouts in this space. They both feature big screens, the latest processors from Intel, and come in at around $1,000. But which of the two is the true king of this sub-category? While they feel similar on their face, they have some varying specs that’ll make or break your decision. Either way, they’re some of the best best HP and Lenovo laptops available right now, especially if you want something with a large display.
Lenovo Yoga 7i (2023) vs HP Envy x360: Price, specs & availability
The Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch (2023) and HP Envy 15.6-inch x360 are available starting at $1,000 and $950, respectively. They both became available in 2023 and also come in smaller sizes, should you prefer a 14-inch machine at a lower cost. For this comparison, I’m focusing on the largest versions of both.
They both come in several SKUs with more storage and memory options. The HP Envy x360 has options for Nvidia’s 30-series graphics cards, whereas the Lenovo Yoga 7i sticks with Intel’s Iris Xe graphics across the range. There are also different screen upgrades as you go up in price, too. Lenovo offers a higher-resolution panel, while HP opts to throw in an OLED at higher price points. As similar as these two notebooks are in their base configurations, they start to branch off when it comes to upgrading. That said, neither is going to blow you away as the best laptops you can buy, simply by nature of their midrange price tags.
-
Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch (2023) HP Envy x360 15 (2023, Intel) Brand Lenovo HP Color Storm Grey Natural silver Storage 512GB SSD M.2 2242 PCIe 4.0×4 NVMe 512GB PCIe NVME M.2 SSD CPU Intel Core i7-1355U Intel Core i5-1335U Memory 16GB LPDDR5-5200 8GB Operating System Windows 11 Home Windows 11 Home Battery 71Wh with Rapid Charge Express 55Wh Ports 1x HDMI 1.4b, 2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Always On, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1x MicroSD card reader 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x USB 10Gbps, 2x USB 10Gbps, 1x 3.5mm combo, 1x SD card reader Camera FHD 1080p Windows Hello IR webcam with shutter 5MP with shutter, 1440P video recording Display (Size, Resolution) 16-inch IPS, 1920×1200 resolution, supports touch and optional pen input 15.6-inch IPS, 1920×1080 resolution, supports touch and pen input Weight 4.49 pounds 4.22 pounds GPU Integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics Integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics Dimension 14.3×9.6×0.67 inches 14.1x9x0.7 inches Network Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.1 WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 Price Starting at $1,000 Starting at $950
Design: Thin but certainly not light
Whether you go with the Lenovo or the HP, you’re going to get a laptop with great build quality in an understated design. The Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch and HP Envy x360 15.6-inch are 0.67 and 0.7 inches thick, respectively, and are no more than 0.6 inches different in their width or depth dimensions. This makes them both rather slim. They’re both rather flat designs, meaning that the thickness is similar across the chassis which means that when you fold the screen over into tablet mode, neither should feel off-balance nor odd in the hand — just a bit large.
Both are thin convertible laptops, meaning that they forego extensive I/O and big cooling assemblies to be as portable as possible. However, due to both being on the large side in terms of screen size, their weight makes them rather cumbersome. The Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch and HP Envy x360 15.6-inch are 4.49 and 4.22 pounds, respectively. Both machines make use of aluminum in their chassis’. This should make both feel substantial and stiff like they’re not likely to break easily. Both must have strong hinges for their convertibility. The Lenovo’s slightly larger footprint and substantially larger battery could also play a role in its additional heft over the HP.
Both machines feature thin bezels, fully backlit keyboards, thin base profiles, and very similar layouts. However, the HP Envy x360 15.6-inch’s keyboard lacks a number pad and its trackpad is centered. In contrast, the Lenovo’s keyboard is full-width and its trackpad is more aligned with the spacebar. Which trackpad alignment you prefer will come down to personal preference, though I prefer mine to be centered, not with the keyboard.
On the surface, both machines share similar I/O. There are two USB-A ports, two Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports, a headphone/microphone combination 3.5mm port, HDMI out, and a card slot. In Lenovo’s case, this slot is for microSD cards, whereas you get a full-sized SD card slot on the HP. The latter’s HDMI port is of the 2.1 standard vs the older and less capable HDMI 1.4 port found on the Lenovo Yoga 7i. Because of this, the HP can output up to UHD at 120Hz via HDMI whereas the Lenovo can only output up to UHD at 30Hz through its HDMI port. However, the Lenovo should be able to match the HP’s max resolution and refresh rate output when using the Thunderbolt 4 connector with an appropriate cable or adapter.
Another notable difference in their designs is that the Lenovo Yoga 7i has a notch at the top of its screen, sticking out past the display. This is where Lenovo has stored the Yoga 7i’s webcam and other sensors for use with Windows Hello. This means that the top of the lid doesn’t sit fully flush with the rest of the chassis which could be a turn-off for some as it looks a tad out of place to my eyes. However, this is likely to allow the top bezel to be thinner which makes for the illusion of a sleeker and more premium design. The HP’s webcam assembly is more traditional in its look and sits in the top bezel without a notch and, as a result, has a thicker top bezel.
Performance: Similar performance, disparate battery life
These notebooks share the same Intel Core i5-1335U 10-core processors in their respective base models, along with a 512GB PCIe nVME M.2 SSD, though the HP starts with 8GB memory vs the 16GB found in the Lenovo. This added memory should help in keeping the machine responsive when multitasking. While 8GB is fine, we recommend upgrading to 16GB.
In our Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch (2023) review, we found the Core i7 model to perform admirably in everyday tasks. The HP Envy x360 can be had with the same Core i7-1355U, though this is where the CPU upgrades stop. Lenovo offers more powerful versions of the 13th-generation Core i7 as you go up in price, with the range-topping model coming with the Core i7-1360P, which has two extra performance cores, 6MB more cache, and consumes more power than the Core i7-1355U which should lead to substantially better performance, especially in heavily-threaded workloads such as light video editing and 3D modeling.
Intel lists both the Core i5-1335U and the Core i7-1355U processors as consuming 15W base power and 55W under max load. This means that there shouldn’t be a huge difference in power consumption or heat output. This is no surprise considering they share the same number of cores, threads, and amount of cache. It’s just that the Core i7 is clocked slightly higher. This means while you might feel a difference between the two, it likely won’t mean upgrading to the i7-1355U. If you’re looking to buy the Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch but want more power, you’re better off going for the model with the Core i7-1360P processor to see a bigger jump in speed.
For the base models, due to the Core i5-1335U’s two performance and eight efficiency cores, most everyday tasks shouldn’t be a problem, but any kind of higher-strain photo or video editing could prove tricky for either machine, and you should expect slightly worse performance compared to the machine in our review. It’s no surprise given the lack of dedicated graphics cards and lower-clocked processors, but it’s worth keeping in mind if you have more than a standard office workflow.
Should you opt for the Core i7-1335U models, you will likely see slight performance improvements, but also slightly worse battery life due to the added performance on the same platform. Neither laptop comes in a crazy powerful SKU, so serious gamers, professional video editors, and those requiring a lot of performance should opt for a different style of laptop — something thicker with better cooling to allow for beefier components.
You likely aren’t going to be gaming on either of these with their integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics as they don’t have the graphical grunt to push many games past 20-30FPS. While dedicated graphics are more costly, you can opt for a pricier SKU of the HP Envy x360 15.6-inch, which will allow you to get the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 4GB mobile GPU. While this won’t run games at UHD, 60FPS, it should allow you to play some basic esports titles like Valorant, Rocket League, and League of Legends at 1080p, 60FPS. This might not be ideal for a serious gamer, but for the more casual gaming fan who wants a convertible for work or study, these more expensive models are decent options. The Lenovo Yoga 7i only comes with Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics.
Battery life, on the other hand, is an area In which these two start to show their differences. The Yoga 7i’s 71Wh battery is almost 30% larger than the Envy x360’s 55Wh cell. This means that the Lenovo should handily beat the HP in battery life given that they use the same processor and similarly-sized screens at a similar brightness level. It’s possible that the Lenovo’s slightly wider and deeper chassis makes room for more battery, but it’s certainly not anywhere near 30% larger.
In terms of real-world usage, our testing of the Yoga 7i 16-inch (with the Core i7 CPU) showed about eight hours and 30 minutes on a charge with the Windows 11 efficiency mode enabled. This is respectable given the machine’s size, and so I’d expect the Core i5 model to score slightly better in battery life compared to the Core i7 model. However, I’d expect the HP Envy x360 15.6-inch to perform worse than the Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch due to the significantly smaller battery. Upgrading either machine is going to result in decreased battery life — especially if you go for the dedicated graphics card on the HP Envy x360 which consumes, under load, a minimum of 35W.
Display: Different shapes with distinct upgrade paths
The HP Envy x360 15.6-inch comes with a standard 16:9 aspect ratio 15.6-inch 1920×1080 IPS display. This is about the standard for the price range and category. The Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch sports a slightly larger display, as you’d expect, instead taking the 16:10 aspect ratio with a 1920×1200 resolution in the IPS format. This means that while they are physically similar sizes, you will probably feel the Lenovo’s added screen resolution when it comes to productivity as it allows for a taller display without a huge jump in chassis size. This means that some pages will require less scrolling, that quadrant-snapping windows can be taller, but also that standard 16:9 video content will have small black bars on top and bottom in full-screen.
Now, these base screens share similar issues. At an advertised 250 nits, they are both quite dim even at max brightness. This will affect visibility in direct sunlight, further impacted by the fact that these are glossy touchscreens designed to be used with a pen. This added glare over a more traditional non-touch matte display will only compound visibility issues. This can be remedied by opting for the pricier SKUs. However, Lenovo and HP have decided to take radically different approaches to their higher-end models’ screens.
Lenovo’s Yoga 7i 16-inch (2023) can be had with a higher resolution 2560×1600 IPS display rated at 400 nits peak brightness — certainly a bump in both brightness and sharpness. This added resolution could also be used to sharpen up on-screen elements with Windows scaling which keeps elements at the same size as a standard FHD setup but with higher-resolution buttons and text. You could alternatively keep scaling at the default and have more screen real estate for more windows or text.
HP, on the other hand, has opted to include an FHD OLED option. This display will have a broader contrast ratio, reproduce inky blacks, and potentially increase battery life thanks to OLED’s ability to completely turn off individual pixels where an IPS LCD needs to keep a backlight on constantly. At this screen size, I would prefer a lower-resolution OLED panel over a higher-resolution IPS screen for punchier colors and contrast. However, that’s a personal preference and your needs may well be different from mine.
Lenovo Yoga 7i (2023) vs HP Envy x360: A tough decision
In their base configurations, picking between these two laptops is pretty tough. They offer similar specs, designs, and connectivity options. The main differences are that the HP Envy x360 15.6-inch is usually $50 cheaper, and comes with a traditional 16:9 aspect ratio display whereas the Lenovo’s screen is the taller 16:10 format. The HP also comes with a pen in its standard spec whereas Lenovo requires you to spend a little more to get its pen.
However, due to the Lenovo Yoga 7i’s substantially bigger battery and more memory as standard, it just edges out the HP for my pick in its base SKU. The slightly taller screen would certainly come in handy for productivity and the substantially larger cell would allow for longer on a charge.
Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch (2023)
The better base
The Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch (2023) is a big convertible laptop. Its large 16-inch screen combined with solid speakers and keyboard make for a great-feeling machine. Though its substantial heft hinders its portability somewhat and its hollow-feeling trackpad leaves something to be desired.
When you start looking at the pricier variants of each machine, there are some substantial upgrades, and my opinion shifts. I would definitely go with the HP Envy x360 15.6-inch for the OLED panel and dedicated GeForce RTX 3050 graphics. This would make tasks like photo and video editing more viable due to the added pixel-pushing grunt, and the prettier OLED display would make for a better viewing experience in my opinion than a QHD IPS screen. You’d also be able to play light games on it where the Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch would struggle.
Source: HP
HP Envy x360 15 (2023, Intel)
Better upgrade path
The HP Envy x360 is a versatile 15.6-inch convertible laptop that packs plenty of power into its sleek chassis. Its standout features are its high-resolution webcam, and selection of specifications, It’s also a really decent price for what you get.