Enlarge / Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 2-in-1. (credit: Scharon Harding)

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga , now in its 7th iteration ( $1,870.03 MSRP as tested, as of writing), continues its modern take on the business-focused ThinkPad. It has the durability expected of a business machine, as well as smooth navigation underscored by a thoughtfully programmed keyboard fit for frequent typists, and, of course, that famous red nub.

However, the laptop doesn't necessarily outperform high-end consumer laptops, even some with slightly cheaper price tags. And similar to other ThinkPads we've tested, heat in its Best performance mode is so much of an issue that even light workloads will run the machine so warm that you won't want to touch it in certain areas.

ThinkPad styling

Part ThinkPad, part Yoga. (credit: Scharon Harding)

Naming tells you this machine is part Lenovo ThinkPad, part Lenovo Yoga, but the styling and tough build lean more toward the former. Yes, there's the same 360-degree hinge found on Lenovo Yoga 2-in-1s, as well as a modern, thin-and-light build in a dark gray that's more fun than the more traditional ThinkPad black. But the density and tough feel of the aluminum chassis combined with the deep keyboard, advanced trackpad, and famous red rubber nub all scream ThinkPad.

Enlarge (credit: Scharon Harding)

Google is testing a method to boost the battery life of Chromebooks by changing how they work with the Chrome web browser. It's shaping up to be a potentially attractive update for users who leave a lot of tabs open on their Chromebooks.

Google Chrome currently cuts the CPU time and throttles the CPU load for any tab you haven't touched or looked at for five minutes. Google calls this " intensive throttling of JavaScript timer wake up, " and it's supposed to help conserve system battery life. The feature also makes the page wake up once every 60 seconds to check if you're actively using the tab again.

It seems Google is interested in pushing the idea even further, at least for Chromebook users. About Chromebooks this week spotted a new flag in Chrome OS 105, currently being tested in the dev channel, that changes this five-minute period to 10 seconds.

Enlarge / System76 Lemur Pro. (credit: System76 )

System76 has refreshed its thin-and-light take on Linux laptops, the company announced Tuesday, as spotted by Tom's Hardware . The revamped 14-inch Lemur Pro , like its predecessors, prioritizes a longer battery life, with the latest model claiming up to 14 hours of use.

Backlit keyboard. (credit: System76 )

System76 didn't detail how it tested the laptop's battery life (we've asked and will update this article if we hear back). But the Lemur Pro has a proven reputation for solid battery life. In our Lemur Pro review in 2020, when the machine was offered with an Intel Core i7-10510U, it lasted at least 1 hour longer than any other laptop we reviewed around that time when playing BBC's " 10 Hours of Relaxing Oceanscapes" at 1080p resolution and max brightness.

The PC has a 180-degree hinge. (credit: System76 )

It was clear that System76 had fine-tuned the machine more for longevity between charges than productivity performance.

Enlarge / Acer's 2022 Swift 5 laptop. (credit: Scharon Harding)

The Acer Swift 5 ( $1,500 MSRP) may not be your dream ultralight laptop, but it's not a bad one. You won't squeeze the most performance out of the Swift, and its touchpad still bothers me after weeks of use. But with perks like a good port selection and a strong keyboard, the laptop is worth a look if you want to save some money. Even though there are some compromises, it's a decent option with a lower price tag than similarly specced alternatives.

Colorful design

The Swift 5 is priced lower than other ultralights with 12th Gen CPUs, a fact that is apparent when you hold it. According to Acer, the chassis is made from 6053 aluminum alloy with a 75 HV hardness and anodization to fight degradation (its gold accents are double-anodized). But instead of a luxurious metallic-like finish, like Lenovo's Yoga 9i carries, it looks and feels like lightweight plastic that can still fall victim to scratches.

Subtle texturing helps the design, though, and prevents the laptop from feeling too slippery during use. The keyboard showed subtle flex when I typed aggressively, and that flexing became more apparent when I pressed down on the keyboard.

Enlarge (credit: RISC-V International )

The world's first laptop to use the RISC-V open source instruction set architecture (ISA) will reportedly start shipping in September.

The Roma laptop is available for pre-order on Xcalibyte's website , but the site merely takes interested parties' information without providing much detail or any pricing. According to a report from The Register on Friday, the laptop will start shipping in September, according to spokespeople from Xcalibyte, which did system tuning for the laptop, a company called DeepComputing, which engineered the laptop, and RISC-V International.

According to the announcement from DeepComputing (which shares the same CEO with Xcalibyte, The Register reported), Roma uses an unspecified quad-core processor with a 28 nm or, for the "pro" version, 12 nm node in a system-on-module (SoM) package. There's also an Arm SecurCore SC300 security enclave processor, an unnamed GPU and neural processing unit, and a feature accelerator.