Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 14 G8 laptop review – AMD Zen4 isn’t automatically better

We have already tested the current 8th gen Yoga Pro 7 14 (also known as the Yoga Slim Pro 7 in quite a few markets) in a few different configurations — from the AMD processor (Zen3+) with an iGPU and a 2. 5K display to the top model with an Intel CPU, GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop and an optional 3K panel. All versions of the subnotebook or multimedia laptop have achieved good results and Lenovo now also offers versions with the latest Zen4 CPUs from AMD.

Our test device is the Yoga Pro 7 14APH G8 (82Y80020GE) with the Ryzen 7 7840HS including the Radeon 780M iGPU, 32 GB RAM, a 1-TB SSD and a matte 2. 5K panel. This configuration costs around US$1,300 or US$1,200 as a campus model.

Optionally, you can get the new Zen4 chip alongside the GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop and a 3K panel for about US$1,650 (campus model: US$1,500) — however, only with 16 GB RAM. In this review, we will mostly be focussing on the new processor’s performance, as well as the laptop’s emissions and runtimes. For more information about its case, connectivity, input devices and speakers, check out our previous reviews: The laptop’s matte IPS display with an aspect ratio of 16:10 and a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 pixels is one we know well from its predecessor, so we can keep it short.

Subjectively, the 90-Hz panel’s picture quality remains very good, as content is depicted sharply and even lighter areas don’t appear grainy. Furthermore, its reaction speeds are good and it doesn’t make use of PWM. In terms of brightness, the present test device did minimally worse, with an average of 348 cd/m².

In turn, its black value of 0. 22 is a little better, leading to a better maximum contrast ratio. In principle, however, these minor deviations are within the normal range of series production.

We measured the panel using the professional CalMAN software (X-Rite i1 Pro2) and the display already appeared decent in its delivered state. Although we noted a minimal blue tint and its color temperature is a little on the cool side, this can only be seen with the naked eye in direct comparison with a calibrated monitor. However, its color deviations compared to the sRGB reference were already very small, only 100 % red was above the important deviation of 3.

Using our own calibration (profile is available for free download in the display box below), we were able to improve these values overall and correct its slight color tint, but its red deviation remained. Thanks to its complete sRGB coverage, the panel is still suitable for editing images/videos. Outside, the matte display made a decent impression — only direct sunlight proved to be too much for the laptop’s maximum brightness and the screen couldn’t remain legible.

The IPS panel’s viewing-angle stability is good. Lenovo offers its Yoga Pro 7 14 G8 with Intel’s new Zen4 CPUs and compared to the old model, the Ryzen 7 7840HS has now been combined with the dedicated GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop — in the past, this was reserved for the Intel versions. In terms of RAM, this model continues to suffer from unnecessary restrictions: While our iGPU test device was delivered with 32 GB RAM, the model with the GeForce GPU continues to only feature 16 GB.

In the pre-installed Vantage app, Lenovo offers different performance modes which can comfortably be selected via the key combination “Fn+Q”. As already seen on its predecessor, it makes little sense to use the mode “highest performance” (64/60 watts) on the model with the iGPU, as the resulting added performance is pretty low, while the fans only spin louder. During simple tasks, you can confidently rely on battery-saving mode (28/25 watts).

We carried out the following benchmarks and measurements using the mode “intelligent cooling” (28/25 watts). In total, we noted slightly increased power limits over those of its predecessor with the Ryzen 7 7735HS . The AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS features 8 modern Zen4 cores that can process a total of 16 threads at once and can reach a maximum of 5.

1 GHz. Its performance is excellent in total and (also thanks to its higher power limits) it was 20 % faster during the multi-core tests and 12 % faster in the single-core tests compared to the Ryzen 7 7735HS with Zen3+ cores. Its multi-core performance was also able to overtake that of the competition featuring Intel CPUs (even the new Meteor Lake Core Ultra 7 155H ), while the Intel chips were slightly faster in the single-core tests.

Its CPU performance remained completely stable under permanent load and in battery use. Further CPU benchmarks can be found in our tech section. In everyday use, the Yoga Pro 7 14 with the Zen4 processor reacts quickly and its synthetic benchmark results were impressive.

During the test, we noted no issues with the device. During our standardized latency test (surfing the web, 4K YouTube playback, CPU load), the test device showed no problems when it came to the important value “interrupt-to-process latency” — only one driver had some issues. As a result, the device is well suited for real-time audio uses.

The 1-TB version of the Samsung PM9A1 is installed into our test device and after first booting up the device, users have 892 GB free to use. The PCIe-4. 0 drive is very fast with maximum transfer rates of over 7 GB/s, however, its performance doesn’t remain stable under permanent load, leading to a loss of 50 %.

At over 3 GB/s, its performance is still enough for everyday use without any limitations. Further SSD benchmarks can be found here. The Yoga Pro’s graphics card is the Radeon 780M , which in this case benefits from fast LPDDR5x-6400 RAM in a dual-channel configuration and it is one of the fastest Radeon 780Ms we have tested so far.

The iGPU is was around 11 % faster than the Radeon 680M during the benchmarks, but it was beaten in the synthetic tests by the new Intel Arc GPU (8 cores) within the new Meteor Lake mobile processors. However, the 6 % gap between them is not too huge. The iGPU is suitable for everyday use, including playing back high-resolution videos, and its performance is even sufficient for the odd game or two — although you will usually have to do without playing the latest games.

In less demanding games, however, you can often play using medium to high details. In the actual gaming tests, the Radeon 780M also came ahead of the new Intel Arc GPU, although we don’t yet have that many benchmark results of this model. If you have bigger gaming ambitions, you should choose the Yoga Pro 7 14 G8 with the GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop , although you will then have to do without 32 GB of RAM.

The laptop’s graphics performance remains completely stable under constant load, which is also the case in battery mode. Further GPU benchmarks are available here . Overall, the Yoga has become a little louder with the Zen4 processor, which is also due to its increased power limits.

The fans also start up a little faster in everyday use than on the predecessor model. If you don’t need the full CPU performance, we would recommend using battery-saving mode in everyday use. The values are still comparable under low load, but the Zen4 model was slightly louder while gaming and in the stress test.

In highest performance mode, the maximum we measured was 47. 7 dB(A). There were no other electronic noises coming from the test device.

In idle mode and under low load, the laptop’s surface temperatures are completely unproblematic. However, the underside of the base unit becomes noticeably warm under load and we measured a maximum of just under 50 °C in the rear central area. As a result, you should avoid skin contact in this area.

The top of the base unit remains significantly cooler at a maximum of 42 °C, but your fingers will also get warmer here when typing. In the stress test, the Ryzen processor’s power consumption stabilized at just under 50 watts. The Zen4 Yoga’s power consumption has increased in idle mode and under load, leading to it reaching the 100-watt power supply’s limits for a short period of time.

During the stress test, its consumption quite quickly sank a little again, however, it doesn’t leave much space to charge the battery. The device’s 73 Wh battery capacity has not changed, but its runtimes are worse than the last AMD Yoga due to its higher energy requirement. During the WLAN test with a brightness of 150 cd/m² and a refresh rate of 60 Hz, we measured 10:18 hours (09:25 hours at 90 Hz) and 07:56 hours at full brightness (07:39 hours at 90 Hz).

In the video test, we noted 12:17 hours, leading to the results being shorter overall than the Yoga with the Zen3+ processor . Even after its switch to the Zen4 processor from AMD, the Yoga Pro 7 14 G8 remains an excellent multimedia laptop and in many aspects (case, connectivity, input devices, display), it hasn’t changed at all. The processor switch from AMD Zen3+ to Zen4 brings more performance (CPU as well as iGPU), however, at the cost of higher power limits.

In everyday use, this leads to higher fan activity, which wouldn’t have been completely necessary. Here, Lenovo could’ve graduated its performance modes more clearly, as its performance values using intelligent cooling mode and highest performance mode are practically identical. The laptop’s power consumption is also slightly higher which, in turn, harms its runtimes.

The Zen4 processor from AMD may offer more performance but as a result, the Yoga Pro 7 14 G8 becomes louder and its runtimes aren’t as good. If you don’t need the added performance and can make do with 16 GB RAM, then you can without a doubt also go for the variant with the Ryzen 7 7735HS , featuring slightly quieter fans and longer runtimes — plus, you’ll save a bit of money, too. In any case, it is positive that the Zen4 processor can now also be combined with the dedicated GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop , but in this case, Lenovo unfortunately limits the maximum RAM configuration to 16 GB, which simply doesn’t make sense.

The Yoga Pro 7 14 G8 retails for around US$1,300. While the version with the AMD processor can’t be found on Amazon, the version with an Intel CPU can be found for US$1,299 . .