FEBRUARY 2021 PCWorld 69travel, and keystrokes feel snappy and springy,
perfect for avid typists. Even better, the
keyboard is quiet enough that you won’t
disturb those in close proximity. You also get
hotkeys for mic mute, airplane mode,
Windows 10 settings Windows lock, Task
View, and the Calculator app. There aren’t
any media playback hotkeys.
The Slim 7’s glass-covered touchpad felt
smooth and responsive. Crucially, it did a fine
job of rejecting false inputs, both during the
regular course of my typing and also when I
deliberately smushed my palms into the
bottom corners of the trackpad. I noticed
perhaps a couple instances of a herky-jerky
cursor during several weeks of testing, but
otherwise, it was smooth sailing.
The IdeaPad’s
fingerprint sensor
is embedded into
the power button
that sits on the
right side of the
laptop, up near
the hinge. The
fingerprint reader
was awfully finicky
during my testing,
perhaps because
of the sensor’s
slightly awkward
positioning on the
side of the laptop.
In any case, I
frequently had to rescan my fingertip before
successfully unlocking my Windows profile.
Luckily, I had much better luck with the IR
camera, which worked pretty much flawlessly
and made unlocking the Slim 7 a breeze.
Once I got started with facial recognition on
the laptop, I never looked back.
Equipped with a pair of upfiring speakers
that have been optimized for Dolby Atmos,
the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 delivers impressive
sound for a laptop, although (here comes our
usual disclaimer) you’ll get much better audio
from an external speaker or a pair of
headphones. Tuning up “Live and Let Die” by
Paul McCartney and Wings, the Slim 7’s
speakers teased out plenty of detail while not
ignoring the mid-range. There was even someThe Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 boasts a comfy, snappy keyboard, while its touchpad
does a nice job or rejecting false inputs.