By The Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7 is a 16-inch cheap business laptop with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus processor. It offers what you’d hope to see from an ARM-powered Windows PC: In our regular test, the battery lasted about 22 hours and the desktop program performed well.
However, other aspects of the experience, like the dull and unimpressive display, shout “cheap business laptop.” It is also important to note that Lenovo has selected the cheapest Snapdragon X Plus hardware. The GPU is significantly slower than the typical laptop with a Snapdragon X processor, while the CPU is slower. Nevertheless, it is a good machine that will do the job.
Specification
The Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered model is the Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7 QOY laptop we reviewed here. (Lenovo also offers ThinkBook 16 Gen 7 laptops with Intel Core and AMD Ryzen processors).
This 16-inch laptop is a first-generation Copilot+ PC with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus processor. That’s an Arm-based processor, which means it runs older Win32 applications that haven’t been recompiled for Arm machines through Microsoft’s Prism emulation layer. Application compatibility is now pretty good, although not perfect.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 processor is noteworthy. With much worse GPU performance and somewhat worse CPU performance than more costly variants, it is the slowest and lowest-end Snapdragon X Plus chip on the market. Our testing model included 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of solid-state storage, although Lenovo offers this machine with up to 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD.
- CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100
- Memory: 16 GB LPDDR5X RAM
- Graphics/GPU: Qualcomm Adreno
- NPU: Qualcomm Hexagon NPU (up to 45 TOPS)
- Display: 16-inch 1920×1200 IPS display
- Storage: 512 GB PCIe Gen4 SSD
- Webcam: privacy shutter and 1080p webcam
- Links: HDMI 2.1, SD card reader, combination audio jack, two USB Type-C (USB 10Gbps full function with DisplayPort and Power Delivery), and two USB Type-A (USB 5Gbps).
- Networking: Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 7
- Biometrics: Windows Hello fingerprint reader
- Battery capacity: 84 Watt-hours Dimensions: 0.6 x 14.0 x 9.8 inches
- 4.02 pounds in weight
- MSRP as tested: $999
Design and build quality
The Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7 is a robust 16-inch laptop. It has darker keycaps and a “Luna Gray” design. This laptop will not draw attention since it is so drab, with only the term “ThinkBook” on the lid and tiny “Lenovo” labels on the keyboard tray and lid to break it up. However, that is not its purpose.
The build quality is good — there’s no weird flexing when you hold the laptop anywhere on the keyboard tray, you can open the laptop with one hand, and the hinge feels solid.
The laptop’s aluminum body gives it a fairly light feel. Still, overall, it weighs more than average for a compact business laptop, particularly one with Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus ARM processors.
It weighs 4.02. This laptop is larger than average at 16 inches, thus its weight is reasonable. Despite having a 360-degree hinge, Samsung’s more costly Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 weighs somewhat less at 3.73 pounds. This laptop is not the best option if you are looking for the lightest one.
Keyboard and trackpad
The Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7 features a full-size keyboard with a white backlight and a number pad. I admit that I did not have a good first impression. I prefer a keyboard that is quick and has a reasonable amount of travel. For instance, the keyboard on this computer does not feel nearly as sharp and responsive as one on a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop.
However, I adapted to it. And it feels a lot better than I anticipated right now as I type this evaluation on the keyboard. It is not mushy at all. The activation is obvious and simple to adjust to. However, it is not crisp; it is a little “soft” when you press the key down. Even so, I believe it is okay because I am typing the review quickly and the keys are giving me clear feedback. However, I had to get used to it, and those who want crisper key activation—like that found on ThinkPads—might want to look elsewhere.
But the trackpad is really good. It is situated somewhat to the left of the keyboard deck and is large, but not overly so so that it is conveniently accessible while your fingers are in the customary position on the keyboard. The click feels good and the movement is fluid. As usual, I wish it had a haptic trackpad, but it is still not a feature that most laptops have. The trackpad is good.
Display and speakers
The Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7 boasts a 16-inch IPS display that measures 1920 x 1200 pixels. The display is quite large, but it is not a very high-end one. According to Lenovo, the main issue is the poor brightness, which is only 300 nits. Additionally, even for an IPS panel, the colors are not very vivid, and the refresh rate is only 60 Hz. Although it is a fine presentation, it is only fine. It will suffice for workplace productivity tasks.
However, at a comparable price, you can find laptops with OLED screens or even just IPS screens that are brighter, more vivid, and have a greater refresh rate. At such a low brightness level, it is reassuring to note that the laptop’s display has a matte covering and is quite resistant to reflections. Additionally, it is important to note that this display is not a touch screen.
The bottom-firing speakers on this device are approximately what you would anticipate from a low-cost business laptop. They offer enough loudness for online meetings, watching a few movies, or listening to music. However, the sound quality is not very high; you will probably want to use a decent pair of headphones when you want to watch a movie or listen to music. The audio performs better at lower volume levels and may get slightly distorted at the 100% volume level.
Connectivity
The Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7 boasts many connectors, particularly for a Snapdragon X processor. This device features a combo audio jack, two USB Type-C (USB 10Gbps full function with DisplayPort and power delivery) connections, and an HDMI 2.1 port on the left side. Remember that you will connect the charger to one of the USB-C ports on this laptop.
The ThinkBook has a full-size CD card reader, two USB Type-A (USB 5Gbps) connections, and a Kensington Nano lock slot on the right side. Although this is a business laptop, some users might prefer an Ethernet connector for a wired networking connection, therefore the port choices are adequate. You can always get a dongle for anything else you might desire.
Performance
It should come as no surprise that the Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7 offers good, snappy performance in daily operations because it combines a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus engine with a fast solid-state drive. One significant surprise, though, was the graphics performance. As usual, we tested the Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7’s performance using our common benchmarks.
Running designed-for-x86 benchmarks through the Prism emulation layer is not the best approach to gain a true sense of speed, and native benchmark tools are currently scarce for Windows-on-ARM computers. We chose Cinebench R24 because it offers a native version for Windows on ARM. This benchmark is highly multithreaded and concentrates on CPU performance overall. Since it is a fast benchmark, cooling during prolonged workloads is irrelevant. Nevertheless, because of its heavy multithreading, CPUs with more cores are far more advantageous.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 hardware in this system ran a bit slower than the Snapdragon X Plus hardware in previous machines, with a Cinebench R24 multithreaded score of 746. This is because the Snapdragon X1P-42-100 hardware is the most affordable Snapdragon SKU on the market right now. For further information, view the official Snapdragon product chart here. It reaches 3.2 GHz rather than 3.4 GHz.
A graphical benchmark is then run. Even if this laptop is not meant for gaming, it is still worthwhile to see how well the Adreno GPU works. This is particularly true given Qualcomm’s exaggerated claims about the hardware’s gaming capabilities, even though we do not currently believe they are very good PC gaming computers. 3Dmark Time Spy, a graphics test that concentrates on GPU performance, is the first thing we always run. This benchmark is being run through the Prism emulation layer because it is not yet ARM-native. The low score of 1,037 is not surprising, but you will also observe that this machine’s graphics performance is far slower than that of other Qualcomm Snapdragon X systems.
We also play Night Raid on 3Dmark. We can compare apples to apples without any emulation layers interfering because this benchmark is available in both ARM and x86 native versions. The Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7’s graphics performance, with a 3Dmark Night Raid score of 16518, is not quite as poor as those of those Intel-powered computers. However, compared to other Snapdragon X Plus-powered devices, such as the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, its graphics performance is still significantly slower.
This is because, once more, the Snapdragon X1P-42-100 hardware is the most affordable Snapdragon SKU on the market right now. Qualcomm claims that the Adreno GPU in this machine operates at 1.7 TFLOPS, whilst the majority of Snapdragon X Plus and Snapdragon X Elite GPUs operate at 3.8 TFLOPS. This is less than half the speed of the typical Snapdragon GPU on paper! Additionally, the benchmarks demonstrate that using this low-end Qualcomm Adreno GPU comes with a significant performance cost.
Naturally, this is intended to be a low-cost business laptop. Lenovo probably anticipates—and is probably right—that the typical user of a low-cost business laptop will not be playing a lot of PC games. However, some users might utilize desktop programs that require strong GPU performance. You should be aware that this machine and its Snapdragon X Plus SKU do not produce the kind of GPU performance people have seen on higher-tier Snapdragon X Plus and Snapdragon X Elite systems, even though there has been a lot of hype about these machines’ excellent GPU performance.
Battery life
The Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7 has a high 84-watt battery life, a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chip that uses a lot of power, and a display that should not use a lot of power. With this hardware setup, we would anticipate amazing battery life. And we did!
We repeatedly play a 4K version of Tears of Steel on Windows 11 with airplane mode turned on until the laptop suspends itself to test the battery life. Since local video playback is so effective, this is the best-case situation for any laptop; in actual use, day-to-day battery life will always be lower than this. For this benchmark, we set the screen brightness to 250 nits, which required turning up the brightness slider on this computer.
In our typical battery depletion test, the Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7 lasted an average of 1,314 minutes. That is just under twenty-two hours. This computer has better-than-all-day battery life, however, you will not get nearly that long in practical use. That is a great score.
Conclusion
Lenovo pitches the Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7 as a budget business laptop. Many people will be thrilled to get this kind of machine from their jobs. Yes, it’s not going to be ideal for gaming or CPU-heavy tasks, but as a 16-inch productivity machine that gets a very long battery life with snappy desktop application performance, you could do a lot worse. If the applications a business needs all run well on Windows on ARM — and most do now — then it’s a fine machine.
According to Lenovo, the price of this laptop is $999. Other than the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge, a more expensive device with a starting retail price of $1,450, I am not aware of any other 16-inch laptops with Snapdragon X. I guess it is a decent deal for a 16-inch Snapdragon laptop from that angle.
However, I have some reservations about this laptop because of its low-end CPU, much slower GPU, and dim, subpar display. If you are prepared to pay a little more money, you can have a better experience with another Snapdragon laptop, especially if you can get that other, more costly Snapdragon laptop on sale.
Is a laptop with a Snapdragon processor really necessary? The market for productivity laptops with incredibly long battery lives is quickly becoming more competitive as Intel Lunar Lake-powered computers become available. Laptops like this one might become slightly less expensive in the future, and they will be much more intriguing at that price.
