Lenovo was one of many first corporations to essentially nail 2-in-1 design, and ever because it’s been refining the formulation for its top-notch convertibles. And whereas there are a pair small variables I’m not totally on board with for this 12 months’s version, there isn’t any doubt the brand new 14-inch Yoga 9i is continuous Lenovo’s glorious monitor document. You get excellent battery life, intelligent (and surprisingly) highly effective audio system, good efficiency, loads of ports and even an non-compulsory OLED show. In brief, in case you’re in search of a lightweight, long-lasting and really adaptable 360-degree hybrid, this factor belongs on the prime of your listing.

Design

Now I’ve to confess, after I first unboxed the Yoga 9i, there was one thing about its design that simply didn’t look proper to me. And after desirous about it for a pair days, I noticed Lenovo’s try and create a luxurious aesthetic does not fairly go far sufficient. Most of the laptop computer is constructed out of matte aluminum together with its lid, deck and backside, whereas different elements like its keyboard and touchpad have been painted to match. Lenovo calls this explicit colour oatmeal, which is not particularly flattering, although I need to say the addition of delicate brown tones seems to be higher in particular person than its identify suggests. Nothing actually uncommon to date.

Pros

• Gorgeous OLED show
• Powerful speaker
• Strong battery life
• Four USB-C ports
• Physical webcam shutter
• Included stylus and journey sleeve

Cons

• Whiny followers
• Shallow keyboard
• No built-in stylus storage

The situation is that for 2022, Lenovo rounded out the Yoga 9i’s sides to make the laptop computer extra comfy to carry, which is and it feels nice. But then the corporate polished these edges to a mirror-like shine which, when seen subsequent to its satin end, feels very mismatched. Then you add in the truth that the one different little bit of shiny metallic on all the system is its combo hinge/speaker bar, and also you’re left with one thing that does not fairly give off the identical vibes as high-end jewellery, and in addition lacks the enchantment of extra minimalist rivals like a Surface or MacBook. Of course, magnificence is within the eye of the beholder, so if you assume the 9i seems to be nice, be at liberty to disregard me. (That mentioned, I preserve numerous Lenovo’s older Yogas wanting higher than the brand new one.)

Aside from its look, the Yoga affords nice construct high quality with little or no flex throughout its chassis. Other small enhancements embody a bigger touchpad, some useful new media and video calling keys on the precise, and a delicate notch across the webcam that makes the lid only a contact simpler to open. I additionally respect the devoted fingerprint reader within the backside proper. My solely remaining nitpick is the texture of the keys. They do not have quite a lot of journey and their gentle actuation weight leaves the entire affair feeling a bit lifeless, which is type of a disgrace. And having used numerous ThinkPads through the years, I do know Lenovo can do higher.

On the brilliant aspect, the 9i features a stylus that options 4,096 ranges of stress sensitivity. It additionally comes with a built-in USB-C for simple charging. And whereas there isn’t a spot to stash the pen within the laptop computer like on some earlier Yogas, you’ll be able to throw each the stylus and the laptop computer in Lenovo’s bundled journey sleeve.

Display, sound and webcam

By default, the Yoga 9i ships with a 14-inch 1,920 x 1,080 LCD show with a brand new and barely taller 16:10 facet ratio (up from 16:9 on the earlier mannequin). But our $1,500 overview unit has a 2,880 x 1,800 OLED display that is brilliantly punchy. Not solely does it function VESA DisplayHDR 500 True Black certification, it pumped out simply shy of 400 nits of brightness. So you get wealthy, vivid colours along with glorious display readability, whatever the circumstances. If you might have a bit of wiggle room in your price range, it is a nice part to improve.

As for audio, the Yoga 9i options Lenovo’s signature speaker bar hinge. So along with boasting an modern design that ensures sound is directed at you in virtually any mode (you realize, as a substitute of away from you or down right into a desk like some laptops love to do), the Yoga pumps out nice audio with a number of the deepest bass I’ve heard from a laptop computer this dimension. Look, you are not going to rattle your neighbor’s china cupboard, however that is one the few occasions I’m not going to complain a couple of pocket book missing low-end thump.

In one other small, however very welcome improve, the 9i comes with a brand new 1080p webcam that helps Windows Hello. I’ve mentioned it earlier than and I’ll say it once more: 1,920 x 1,080 ought to be the naked minimal for cameras on fashionable laptops. And whereas I admit its picture high quality could be a bit grainy in low gentle, it is nonetheless a lot sharp for all of your video calling wants. And in case you look shut, you will discover there’s even a bodily shutter you’ll be able to slide closed when it is not in use. That’s a pleasant contact for some additional peace of thoughts.

Performance

The Yoga 9i packs a brand new Twelfth-gen Intel Core i7-1260P CPU, as much as 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, promising loads of velocity for all of your customary productiveness wants. Among ultraportables with out discrete graphics, it posted top-tier scores in Geekbench 5, PCMark 10, and Cinebench. However, its Intel Iris built-in GPU signifies that regardless that it posted a strong time of 37 seconds in our 4K video encoding benchmark in Handbrake, you are still gonna need one thing a bit extra substantial in case you’re trying to do quite a lot of heavy photograph or video modifying.

My one small criticism in regards to the 9i’s efficiency is that whenever you’re actually pushing it, it’s possible you’ll hear a high-pitched whine from the followers. I solely encountered this whereas gaming, and also you may not discover all of it that distracting. But even in case you do, you’ll be able to change the laptop computer’s mode to decrease the noise, although which will lead to some thermal throttling.

Battery life and ports

Moving on to battery life, even with its above common efficiency, the Yoga 9i nonetheless turned in a superb time on our native video rundown check. It lasted 14 hours and 22 minutes, which is the second longest mark we have seen this 12 months, solely behind the Surface Laptop Go 2’s time of 14:43. And in the actual world, I had no issues making it by means of a complete work day on a single cost.

On prime of that, as a result of the laptop computer helps charging by way of USB-C, even in case you overlook your energy brick at residence, there is a good likelihood you’ll be able to borrow an adapter from a pal or colleague in a pinch. Finally, I need to give credit score to Lenovo for locating room for 4 USB ports (one Type-A and three Type-C) together with two with Thunderbolt 4. A number of laptop computer makers have began equipping programs with simply two or three ports – even on customary clamshells – so it is good to see that the nook reducing hasn’t hit the Yoga line but.

Wrap-up

Not counting my admittedly subjective complaints in regards to the Yoga 9i’s design, this factor is an almost preferrred 2-in-1. It affords good efficiency, nice sound and even higher battery life in a well-built and adaptable chassis. Heck, Lenovo even consists of an energetic stylus and a laptop computer sleeve within the field, the latter of which you should use to stash the stylus whereas touring. Its show is now 16:10, which provides you a bit of bit of additional display house for productiveness, and because of its curvy edges, this factor is noticeably nicer to carry than final 12 months’s mannequin. You even get two completely different choices for biometric login.

The solely actual situation is its considerably shallow and mushy keyboard. But given the remainder of the 9i’s strengths, that is most likely not a dealbreaker until you are a really discerning typist. And whereas its beginning value of round $1,250 is not low cost, our overview mannequin with its OLED display prices simply $1,500 which kinda seems like a steal. I also needs to point out that a minimum of within the US, the OLED mannequin is a Best Buy unique. However, no matter which model you go for, you are getting a high quality product. Considering the pedigree of Lenovo’s Yoga line, it is hardly a shock that this 12 months’s 9i fares properly by virtually each metric. So in case you’re in search of a premier all-rounder with nice longevity, there aren’t quite a lot of programs that do it higher than this.