ThinkBook 16 Gen 7 QOY: Don’t sleep on a Snapdragon

When you first read the name “ThinkBook 16 Gen 7 QOY,” it doesn’t offer any clues other than the 16-inch screen about its purpose. Sometimes, when getting an email about a new review unit, the mystery of what might be arriving is part of the fun. I was fortunate enough to be one of the first to receive the Yoga Slim 7x for review, so I had a good understanding of the Snapdragon Elite Series chip. However, I wasn’t familiar with the Snapdragon X Plus 8 core processor mentioned here. The marketing spec sheets showed a little less performance than the Snapdragon X Elite, but sometimes the trade-off is much better battery life, so don’t give up yet 🙂 Here’s a hint, it surprised me, and it just might surprise you as well!

The ThinkBook lineup from Lenovo is more business-oriented, so you may be let down when the packaging isn’t retail-ready. However, this is okay, as businesses typically buy them in bulk and don’t require the retail appearance. The unit that I reviewed came packed with features. I’ll put the full spec sheet below. Still, for a glance, my unit was powered by the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core CPU, a 120Hz 16-inch IPS display running at a 1920 x 1200 resolution and powered by 32GB of LPDDR5x dual-channel RAM, a 1TB M.2 SSD, a fingerprint reader, a FHD webcam with privacy shutter, all wrapped in a MIL-SPEC chassis. It all sets up as a nice package on paper, and you can see the full specification sheet down below.

When I conduct reviews, unless a company is on a tight timeline or has specific requirements, it’s a full test drive, not a group of benchmarks, a few tests, and then put it back in the box. If someone is going to invest in a device, they should know what it’s like once the honeymoon phase has ended. Review units should be put through a real-day-to-day workflow, and every device I review undergoes this style of testing. It took me a little time to adjust, as I had just wrapped up another device powered by the Snapdragon X Elite chip.

I can’t sit here and tell you that you won’t notice the difference if you’re coming from the Elite chip versus the X Plus. The X Plus is a little shower; it doesn’t have the snappy feeling when opening an app. I am not saying it’s slow or that it failed any of my workflows; there’s a difference, and it was something that I could notice. If this is your first Snapdragon-powered device, it may not matter at all. What does help here is the 32GB of RAM in the dual-channel model. This was the first Snapdragon device I’ve had a chance to test with 32GB of RAM. I was very pleasantly surprised. The extra RAM helped the Snapdragon X Plus chip perform more efficiently during my daily workflow, making me notice the Snapdragon X Plus processor less noticeably.

Running Slack, a couple of dozen Chrome tabs, Microsoft Teams, throwing in a YouTube video, and firing up some Linux emulation via WSL, it hung in there. The 120Hz screen was on par, helping keep things feeling responsive. It looks good too at 100 percent sRGB, and Eyesafe 2.0 Certified.

The port selection for this laptop was fantastic, and I hope other manufacturers take note. Yes, on the right side, you have a full-size SD card slot and two USB-A ports. On the left, you have two full-service USB-C ports, a headphone jack, and a full-size HDMI port. It’s worth noting that you will need to give up one of the USB-C ports for your power source. A 65-watt power adapter is included.

Packed with ports and efficient, this laptop shines. The 84-watt-hour battery kept me going throughout my workday. I didn’t have to worry about staying close to a power source; at the end of each day, with brightness set to 50 percent or less, a full day of use was easily accomplished, leaving about 30-35 percent of the battery’s capacity remaining at the end of the day.

You can also add a touch of entertainment to your workday with the Dolby Atmos speakers—a set of 2-watt super-linear speakers with Smart Amp technology to deliver high-fidelity audio. These are worth mentioning because they are more serviceable than many speakers in this class. No, you’re not going to sound like a concert hall on your desk, but they are very suitable for your virtual meetings, some podcast listening or some video content playing in the background while you work.

As we wrap this up, we have to ask ourselves, who is this laptop for? Initially, this was a business-only solution, enabling daily productivity tasks to be completed without being tied to an outlet. This laptop will get that accomplished for you with room to spare. I was not a huge fan of the trackpad on this one. Although it is spacious, the diving board mechanism required more effort to click than it should, and there seemed to be a dead zone between the left and right sides. Over time, those are things we adjust to, and I was no different; my muscle memory was adjusting. This laptop would be ideal for students or business professionals who need to be on the go but have a reliable docking setup when they return in the evening. The 120Hz screen would lend itself to some good cloud gaming in your downtime.

At the time of writing this post, you can purchase this unit at various online retailers for less than $600. If you’re looking for a solid productivity workhorse with the battery to get you through the day, you can’t go wrong here.