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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
  • Lenovo Slim Pro 7
    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.


  • Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 (2023)Lenovo Slim Pro 7
    BrandLenovoLenovo
    ColorArctic Grey, Frost BlueStorm Grey
    StorageUp to 2TB512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD
    CPUIntel 13th-gen H-series processorsAMD Ryzen 7 7735HS
    MemoryUp to 32GB16GB LPDDR5 6400MHz dual-channel
    Operating SystemWindows 11 HomeWindows 11 Home
    Battery75Wh, up to 14 hours73Wh
    Ports2x USB-C, 2x USB-A, 1x HDMI, 1x SD card reader slot, 1x audio jack1x USB4 40Gbps, 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, 1x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1x HDMI, 1x 3.5mm headphone jack
    Camera1080p IR cameraFull HD 1080p + IR
    Display (Size, Resolution)Up to 2.5K (2560x1600) IPS 16:10 display14.5-inch IPS, 2560x1600 resolution, 90Hz refresh rate, 100% sRGB, touch
    WeightStarting at 1.95kg/4.30lbs3.5 pounds (1.59kg)
    GPUUp to NVIDIA RTX 4050Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 6GB
    Dimension14.01 x 9.88 x 0.69 inches (356 x 251 x 17.5mm)325.5x226.49x15.6mm (12.81x8.92x0.61 inches)
    NetworkWi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1Wi-Fi 6E 2x2 + Bluetooth 5.1
    Speakers2x two-watts speakers with Dolby Atmos supportFour 2W speakers with Dolby Atmos
    PriceStarting at $1,499.99$1,199
    ModelLenovo IdeaPad Pro 5/5iSlim Pro 7

Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 (2023) vs Lenovo Slim Pro 7 (2023): Design

Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro 1

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.

Angled eye-level rear view of the Lenovo Slim Pro 7 with the lid open at around 45 degrees

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

Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro 2

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 (2560x1600) 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 (2560x1600) 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.

Angled front view of the Lenovo Slim Pro 7 on a wooden table with grass in the background

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

Overhead view of the Lenovo Slim Pro 7 keyboard and touchpad

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.

A picture of the Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5
Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 (2023)
Editor's Choice
$1280 $1340 Save $60

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.

Lenovo Slim Pro 7
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.