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Lenovo’s new IdeaPad Slim 7 Carbon boasts an OLED screen with 90Hz refresh rate

Luke Larsen
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OLED laptops are becoming very commonplace, and Lenovo’s new IdeaPad Slim 7 laptops are taking them to the next level with higher refresh rates. Lenovo has announced the second-gen IdeaPad Slim 7 Carbon and IdeaPad Slim 7 Pro — or the “Yoga Slim,” if you’re buying outside of North America.

These new laptops are ultra slim, as the name implies, but they also take the screen technology in new directions. Compared to the original IdeaPad Slim 7, these new models have a higher resolution, taller screen, a better screen technology, and a higher refresh rate.

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The IdeaPad Slim 7 Carbon is the smaller, 14-inch model and comes with a QHD+ 16:10 OLED panel with a 90Hz refresh rate.

The front of the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 Carbon.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

High-end mobile devices like tablets and smartphones already have high refresh rates, but all non-gaming laptops up until this point have been stuck at 60Hz.

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These OLED panels, both made by Samsung, also support the new DisplayHDR 500 TrueBlack certification and Dolby Vision.

Apart from the screen, the IdeaPad Slim 7 is also distinctive for its size. At 2.4 pounds, Lenovo says the IdeaPad Slim 7 Carbon is the lightest 14-inch OLED laptop ever released. It’s over a half-pound lighter than the original IdeaPad Slim 7, and it’s also just 0.59 inches thick. Like the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, the IdeaPad Slim 7 Carbon’s chassis is made of a carbon-fiber and magnesium material that, in theory, should allow it to be both light and durable.

A top-down view of the keyboard on the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 Carbon.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The IdeaPad Slim 7 Pro is a larger laptop with a 16-inch screen, still in the 16:10 aspect ratio. It’s made of a darker silver aluminum (though it comes in Cloud Gray or Storm Gray) and bares a strong resemblance to the Legion 5 Pro gaming laptop, minus the glowing Legion logo on the lid. It’s substantially heavier than the IdeaPad Slim 7, though, at 4.6 pounds.

Ports are another difference between these two laptops. The IdeaPad Slim 7 Carbon is restricted to three USB-C ports and a headphone jack, while the IdeaPad Slim 7 Pro is more comprehensive. It features HDMI, a full-size SD card reader, two USB-A ports, one USB-C port, and a headphone jack. The IdeaPad Slim 7 Pro also boasts a 90Hz refresh rate.

Both laptops are powered AMD’s Ryzen 5000 processors, though the IdeaPad Slim 7 Carbon uses the 25-watt U-series chips while the Slim 7 Pro employs the 45-watt H-series chips. The IdeaPad Slim 7 Carbon includes an option for discrete graphics, though they’re limited to Nvidia’s MX450. The IdeaPad Slim 7 Pro, on the other hand, can be configured up to an Nvidia RTX 3050.

Both models are limited to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage.

The IdeaPad Slim 7 Carbon starts at $1,290, while the Pro model starts at $1,449. Both models are expected to be available in October 2021, alongside the launch of Windows 11.

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Luke Larsen
Luke Larsen
Senior Editor, Computing
Luke Larsen is the Senior editor of computing, managing all content covering laptops, monitors, PC hardware, Macs, and more.
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