Laptops costing $ 1,000 or lesshave get seriously good . And when it come up to the basics , those midrange laptops have all your bases covered .
But as I pluck theconvertible 2 - in-1Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 9 out of its box and started setting it up , I was reminded of why a premium laptop like this is so deserving the extra cash .
Between the thinness , gamy - end textile , and general attention to detail , the Yoga looks and feel spectacular . It ’s also immobile and rollick a spectacular OLED showing . The mediocre battery life is the only thing control back the Yoga 9i Gen 9 .
Specs and configurations
Lenovo has n’t publish all the available conformation for the Yoga 9i Gen 9 . The 2 - in-1 starts at $ 1,477 with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H chipset , 16 GB of RAM , a 512 GB SSD , and a 14.0 - inch 2.8 cat valium OLED display . It costs $ 1,589 with a 1 TB SSD and a 4K+ OLED instrument panel . My revaluation whole is priced at $ 1,509 with a 1 TB SSD and a 2.8 K display .
Those are premium 2 - in-1 cost but not too expensive , given the build quality and performance . TheLenovo Slim 7i Gen 9is less expensive at $ 1,116 with 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD , but the OLED show is a lower declaration at 1920 x 1200 . The HP Spectre x360 14 is also a convertible 2 - in-1 with a standardized display , and it starts at $ 1,450 ( currently $ 1,150 on sale ) with a Core Ultra 5 . With a Core Ultra 7 , the HP costs $ 1,550 ( $ 1,250 on sale ) .
Design
As I hinted in the introduction , the Yoga 9i Gen 9 make a very in force first impression . Like other exquisitely design laptops , including theApple MacBook Air , HP Spectre x360 14 , and the earlier Gen 8 version , the Yoga feels cohesive — every constituent attain sense and serves a purpose . The chassis boundary are round off and feel nicely cool to the tactual sensation while ooze a imperial hue in the right lighting .
My review building block ’s colour scheme is Cosmic Blue , and galactic allusion away , it exudes elegance , and the more or less dark keyboard makes it easier to see without breaking up the aesthetical . The Spectre x360 14 also has an off - colour keyboard that more or less detracts from rather than enhances that 2 - in-1 ’s elegance .
but put , the Yoga is a very attractive laptop computer . It ’s also thoroughly modern without compromising functionality . The top and side presentation bezels are very thin , with the webcam and microphone house in a reverse mountain pass at the top .
That ’s the opposite access from the one Apple took with the MacBook ’s presentation notch , and not only does Lenovo ’s solution forfend bear upon the substance abuser interface , it also provide a sassing that makes spread out the eyelid a great deal easier . The bottom display chin is larger , but that ’s to house the flexible joint and soundbar , where two of the laptop ’s four speakers are located ( more on those later ) .
The all - aluminum Yoga 9i Gen 9 is also incredibly well - build . The keyboard deck of cards and chassis bottom are unbending , and while the lid does give in to truehearted press , it ’s still less pliable than the MacBook Air ’s . TheDell XPS 14is more solid overall , but the Yoga still gives off a definitely premium feel .
The hinge is rather stiff , much more so than the MacBook Air ’s and the XPS 14 ’s fantabulous dual - clutch version , but the Yoga is a transformable 2 - in-1 . The hinge successfully hold things tough in grapple , tent , and media modes . And once you alternate it all the elbow room around to tablet mode , the hinge disappears . transmutable 2 - in-1s are always a little chunky as tablets , but the Yoga works well with the included active penitentiary .
The Yoga 9i Gen 9 is a sanely lean 14 - inch laptop at a maximum of 0.64 inches , which is slightly lean than the Spectre x360 14 ’s 0.67 inch . It ’s also a bit lighter at 2.98 pounds versus 3.19 pounds . The two laptop computer are , therefore , very close in sizing , but the Yoga somehow feel smaller to me .
The grapple MacBook Air is much thin at 0.44 inch and lighter at 2.7 punt , while the XPS 14 is the thickest ( 0.71 inches ) and heavy ( 3.7 pounds ) . The latter can be configure with a discrete GPU , which needs more room to move aura around .
Keyboard and touchpad
I enjoy the Yoga ’s keyboard quite a bit . It has the lineup ’s common sculptured keycaps , and the keyboard runs almost edge - to - edge , giving it plenty of spacing . The shift were lightsome and snappy , with a comfy bottoming action . I still like the MacBook ’s Magic Keyboard more , but I found the Yoga ’s perfectly well-to-do while typing this critical review .
The mechanically skillful touchpad was wide enough and had convinced clit clicks that were slightly too brassy . I would much rather see a tactual touchpad on a premium laptop computer , such as the excellent version on the ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 . I ’m seeing more tactual touchpads on Windows laptop , and it ’s a welcome style that ’s miss here .
Ports and webcam
The Yoga 9i Gen 9 has just o.k. connectivity for a 14 - inch 2 - in-1 . It has three USB - C ports , two of which support Thunderbolt 4 , and each can power the laptop computer . There ’s also a USB - A porthole for bequest connectivity and a 3.5 millimetre audio seaman . Wireless connectivity is unadulterated except for the bleeding - edge Wi - Fi 7 .
The webcam is a mellow - resolution 5MP version stick out 2.5 K TV , and an infrared camera fend for Windows 11 Hello facial credit . The Yoga 9i Gen 9 includes Lenovo ’s user - sensing technology , which can put the laptop computer to kip and lock it when the drug user steps away , then wake it back up and log back in when the user come back .
Performance
Unsurprisingly , the Yoga 9i Gen 9 is power by Intel ’s 28 - James Watt Core Ultra 7 155H. This ubiquitous chipset is a member of the Meteor Lake series , and it utilizes extra Low Power Efficient core to raise efficiency . The 16 - magnetic core ( six Performance , eight Efficient , two Low Power Efficient ) , 22 - thread chipset has provided substantial productiveness performance . It also features a Neural Processing Unit ( NPU ) for on - gadget AI , but that ’s limited to just a few tasks like power Microsoft ’s Studio Effects in videoconferencing .
The Yoga 9i Gen 9 stay relatively cool and quiet even during intensive benchmarking . The fans spun up , but they were only a loud whisper , and the bottom of the chassis was quick but never too hot for comfort .
Its performance was militant with other laptop with the same chipset while rivaling the 45 - watt Core i7 - 13700H. The Yoga 9i Gen 9 is also well faster than the previous generation , which ran with Intel ’s 13th - gen 28 - watt microchip . Especially in carrying into action mode , the Yoga 9i Gen 9 is a truehearted laptop for productiveness user .
The integrated Intel Arc graphics fall between the older Intel Iris X3 graphics and an entry - level discrete GPU like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 . That specify the Yoga ’s carrying out in gambling and in originative apps that can utilize the GPU .
In the PugetBench Premiere Pro bench mark , the Yoga tally 2,329 in performance mode . That ’s faster than the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED with the same chipset , which seduce 2,026 , and it ’s thanks to the Yoga ’s slightly faster GPU performance . But , the HP Spectre x360 16 with the same chipset and an RTX 4050 score 3,552 . The MacBook Air M3 score 3,633 , demo the M3 ’s encode and decode optimizations .
While Meteor Lake promises greater efficiency , that has n’t always been the case in my review . The Yoga 9i Gen 9 has a large 75 - watt - hour battery and a high - Re 2.8 K OLED display , and its battery liveliness was less than telling .
In both our web - browsing and television - loop tryout , the Yoga was well below average , even compared to other Meteor Lake laptops with like displays that were also below norm . Two notable exclusion are the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus with its 2.2 K IPS panel and the Asus Zenbook 14 Q425 with its FHD+ OLED display . The Lenovo Slim 7i Gen 9 also has a 2.8 K OLED presentation and was equally inadequate , while the MacBook Air is the longest - hold up by a fair border .
With a typical workflow , the Yoga wo n’t last much past lunch period , which is a pace back from the old generation . Hopefully , Lenovo can meliorate barrage fire life history with a firmware update .
Display and audio
I reviewed the Yoga 9i Gen 9 ’s 2.8 K ( 2880 x 1600 ) OLED presentation , which campaign up to 120Hz . It was drop - dead gorgeous out of the box , with bright and dynamic coloring , inky-black blackamoor , and first-class sharpness . There ’s a 4K+ ( 3840 x 2400 ) OLED show option , but that dialog box runs at just 60Hz . I ’ve become accustomed to quicker refresh rates , which makes a noticeable difference in how smoothly Windows runs .
consort to my colorimeter , the presentation is as adept as any other OLED video display I ’ve try out . lightlessness were utter thanks to near - space contrast . Its color were all-encompassing at 100 % sRGB , 97 % AdobeRGB , and 100 % DCI - P3 , with excellent accuracy at a DeltaE of 0.83 ( 1.0 or less is indistinguishable to the human oculus ) . Brightness was also dandy at 400 nits .
The exhibit also supports Dolby Vision , which provides a quality paradigm in gamey dynamic mountain range ( HDR ) content . Only the MacBook Pro 14 ’s mini - LED showing is better .
The Yoga 9i Gen 9 has the fellowship ’s Soundbar , which houses two tweeter and leave clear speech sound in the 2 - in-1 ’s four mode . It has two side - firing woofers , do for a very good four - loudspeaker system form . I tested a form of audio content , including a Netflix film , a YouTube trailer , and several medicine track , and the apparatus bring out tons of volume , with well-defined mids and highs and more bass than most 14 - inch Windows laptops . I noticed slight distortion at full book , which was very tatty , but that went away when I turn it down to 95 % .
The MacBook Air might be the Yoga ’s equal here , but no other Windows laptop I ’ve test so far is as good .
Taken together , the showing and audio system make for an fantabulous media machine . Productivity users will appreciate the jet - black text edition on clear ashen backgrounds , and creators will love the colors .
An outstanding convertible 2-in-1 with one significant flaw
I wish the Yoga 9i Gen 9 . A quite a little . It ’s a gorgeous exchangeable 2 - in-1 that ’s very well made , and its OLED display and excellent audio make for a fun media experience . It ’s also quite fast and jolly portable . Its one significant flaw is below - modal shelling life .
It also be around $ 1,500 , 50 % more expensive than some other laptops with similar spec . Is a 2 - in-1 ’s flexibleness and a spectacularly attractive physique more authoritative to you than all - twenty-four hours assault and battery biography ? If so , then , by all means , buy the Yoga because only its battery living holds it back from a higher military rank .
