The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 is less expensive and offers strong performance for gaming and engineering work, featuring a high refresh rate display and dedicated graphics. However, it may not have as vivid a display or as long battery life as the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16. The ThinkPad Z16 comes with a premium OLED touch screen, more storage, and a higher resolution, making it suitable for tasks requiring strong color accuracy such as photo editing, but it is heavier on the wallet. Consider the Legion Slim 7 if your priority is gaming or engineering tasks and you are looking to save money. Opt for the ThinkPad Z16 if top-notch screen quality, a touch screen, and a larger budget align with your needs, especially for professional creative work. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6"
Good for gaming and AI
Advantages of the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Best in class speakers
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.7/10
8.6/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
350.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
393.0 nits
9.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
7.0 Hours
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.8/10
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is very good for general use, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" is good.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 stands out for general use due to its higher RAM capacity, which enables smoother multitasking, and its OLED screen provides superior image quality with better resolution and color accuracy. In contrast, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7's strengths in portability and battery life make it a serviceable choice for general tasks, but it doesn't match the Z16's performance due to lower RAM and a less vibrant IPS screen.
Gaming and AI
7.4/10
6.7/10
7.1/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.6/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" is good for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is only fair.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 boasts the Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU and a higher screen refresh rate of 165 Hz, which is favorable for smooth gaming and 3D rendering; however, the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 features the AMD RX 6500M GPU and a superior OLED display with a higher resolution but a lower refresh rate of 60 Hz, which may offer more vivid colors and sharper visuals at the cost of refresh rate performance.
Engineering and Design
7.8/10
8.4/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
7.1/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.6/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is very good for engineering and design, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" is good.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 stands out for engineering and design work with its more powerful AMD Ryzen 7 processor, double the storage of the Lenovo Legion Slim 7, and significantly higher RAM, providing smoother multitasking and handling of complex tasks. While the Legion Slim 7 has a capable Nvidia GPU for graphics-intensive applications, the ThinkPad Z16 features a high-quality OLED screen with better resolution and color accuracy, which is essential for precision work, although both laptops have similar portability and input device quality.
Content Creation
7.7/10
8.5/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is very good for content creation, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" is good.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
7.5/10
8.2/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is very good for software development, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" is good.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Screen Quality
7.7/10
8.5/10
15.6in
SIZE
16.0in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
350.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
393.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 has a better screen than the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 has a better screen for general use, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
If you prioritize a vibrant and sharp display for everyday tasks like browsing and watching videos, the ThinkPad Z16's higher resolution and brightness enhance overall visual quality, making it a better choice compared to the Legion Slim 7. For engineering and design work that requires accurate color representation, the Z16 stands out with superior color gamut coverage, essential for precise and professional editing. However, both laptops are less suited for gaming and 3D applications because their screens don't offer the high refresh rates needed for smooth visuals in fast-paced scenarios.
Battery
9.0 Hours
7.0 Hours
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 has 9 hours of battery life. The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 has 7 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Cost
$1,200
$1,120
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
$1,600
$1,800
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" has a price of $1,200 and the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 costs $1,120.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 and Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" both have good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.6/10
8.0/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 to have very good build quality, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
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How the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" and the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 compare to other laptops
"The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 is a slim Legion notebook that is just as excellent with Nvidia & Intel. However, the Legion Slim 7i slightly sullied by lacklustre battery life. You get a slim aluminium chassis, great input devices, decent port selection, fast high-quality WQXGA display and great performance. Supporting Thunderbolt 4 is one advantage of the Intel/Nvidia model tested in this review. Moreover, this variant has slightly higher CPU performance as well as better GPU performance in certain applications (e.g. CUDA-based apps). The Lenovo Legion S7i is thin, premium and performant – but less efficient than its AMD counterpart."
"Lenovo’s ThinkPad Z16 tries has some success in its effort to tweak the ThinkPad formula. The laptop is attractive, yet still tame, and material quality is on par with the best Windows competition. I also like the smooth, responsive haptic touchpad and the wide range of modern connectivity. Yet the Z16 doesn’t fix ThinkPad’s typical weakness: value. Starting around $1,550, and more typically near $1,700, the Z16 finds itself facing alternatives that have better performance or an improved display for the same price, or less."
Get a great deal on the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" or the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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