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Lenovo Yoga 9i review: Elegant 2-in-1

Lenovo Yoga 9i review: Elegant 2-in-1

Lenovo Yoga 9i

With its lovely OLED screen and fantastic audio, the Lenovo Yoga 9i is one of the best laptops you can get now for watching videos. This luxury 2-in-1 Windows convertible looks classy and performs well enough. Just be prepared to pay a premium for its elegant design and high-end specs.

Quick specs

  • 14-inch 2,880 x 1,800-pixel OLED screen, 90Hz
  • Intel Core i7-1260P processor with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD
  • 2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, 1x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A, headphone jack
  • 1.4kg

With its rounded corners and edges, the Yoga 9i looks like two tablets stacked on top of each other. The sides of the Yoga's bottom has a glossy, smartphone-like finish, while the lid and the interior are matte. It's an interesting contrast. More importantly, there are no sharp edges to poke you when you're typing or carrying it. Holding it all together in the middle is a flexible 360-degree hinge. Two Bowers & Wilkins tweeters inside the hinge rotate along with the lid as you open it. Hence, they remain unobstructed, whether the device is in stand, laptop, or tent mode. Coupled with two subwoofers at the bottom of the device, the sound from the Yoga is immersive and surround-like. It's so much better than the perfunctory audio from most laptops.

Lenovo Yoga 9i
Credit: Vincent Chang/Can Buy or Not

Its 14-inch OLED screen is the other killer feature that makes the Yoga 9i ideal for entertainment. My review set has a high-resolution 2,880 x 1,800-pixel (QHD+) touch display, but the versions on Lenovo's website come with either Full-HD or 4K touchscreens. While all the displays are VESA DisplayHDR certified and support Dolby Vision, only the QHD+ and 4K ones are OLED. The screen can also be pretty bright (peaks at 600 nits). At the top of the display is an infrared webcam that supports face unlock, and has a useful privacy shutter. But the webcam could be better — images appear fairly noisy. The Yoga 9i does have several features to improve your video calls, from adjusting the lighting to beautifying your appearance.

Lenovo Yoga 9i
Credit: Vincent Chang/Can Buy or Not

Lenovo has also added five function keys to the rightmost column of the keyboard. My favourite is a quick shortcut that blurs the background in video calls. Other handy keys lets you switch the power, display or audio profiles. There's also a fingerprint sensor to round things off. The keyboard itself is spacious and comfortable. While the keys are shallow, they are not mushy and have good resistance. The touchpad is large and clicky. There's no stylus holder for the included pen, though. The keyboard does not feel overly warm in benchmarks, but the Yoga 9i's bottom can get a touch uncomfortable.

With its 12th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, the Lenovo Yoga 9i is capable enough for common computing tasks. Its performance in benchmarks is almost identical to other 12th-gen laptops, like the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED. However, its 8-hour battery life, while decent, is almost an hour shorter than the Asus. It's also relatively expensive at S$2,799 for a 4K OLED model (available from Lazada and Shopee), especially when compared to the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (S$1,899 for a QHD+ screen). But the 2-in-1 Yoga 9i is more versatile, and looks more attractive, too. I feel it's worth the premium, if you have the budget.

See Also
Torras Coolify 2S

Note: Review unit provided by Lenovo.


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Verdict



CAN BUY

Classy 2-in-1 convertible that's great for videos.

Available at Lazada
Buy it at Shopee

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