Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 evaluate: a pleasant OLED laptop computer

MSRP $1,700.00

“The Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 would not enhance battery life, however retains its nice show, design, and efficiency.”

Professionals

• Quick productiveness efficiency
• Spectacular OLED show
• Stable construct high quality
• Good keyboard and touchpad
• Elegant beauty

Cons

• Battery life is beneath common
• Barely costly

The Lenovo Yoga 9i has lengthy been one of many go-to selections for a convertible 2-in-1 laptop computer. The following technology is popping out this yr, and I checked it out forward of its launch on April 10.

Now in its eighth technology, the convertible 2-in-1 holds on to what made the Yoga 9i Gen 7 a nice laptop computer whereas updating to Intel’s Thirteenth-gen CPUs.

You’ll discover the identical rounded edges and total elegant design, progressive soundbar, and strong building. The battery life and worth are nonetheless its two greatest weaknesses, however the Yoga 9i stays a strong choice in its eighth technology.

$1,700+

As of this writing, the Yoga 9i Gen 8 is available in a couple of configurations, all based mostly across the Intel Core i7-1360P CPU and 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM. The value for my evaluate unit, with a 14.0-inch 2.8K OLED show and a 512GB SSD, is $1,700. Add $50 to improve to a 1TB SSD, and $100 for a 4K+ OLED panel.

The utmost worth is, due to this fact, $1,850. That locations the Yoga 9i Gen 8 firmly in premium territory, however with moderately priced upgrades. Anticipate extra configurations when the laptop computer is formally launched in April 2023.

HP Spectre x360 13.5, whereas Dell’s XPS 13 machines are easier in design and don’t stand out fairly as a lot. The Yoga 9i Gen 8 has moderately small show bezels alongside the highest and sides, however as with all convertible 2-in-1s, the underside chin is just a little chunky. That detracts from a contemporary look, however the rotating soundbar provides a splash of high-tech panache. Total, it’s a beautiful laptop computer.

It’s additionally well-built, with an aluminum unibody CNC chassis and lid that resist all bending, flexing, and twisting. It’s as inflexible because the HP Spectre x360 13.5, the Dell XPS 13 Plus. and the Apple MacBook Air M2. Actually, the latter has some bending within the lid, that means the Yoga 9i Gen 8 arguably feels extra strong than the MacBook. That’s an accomplishment. The hinge is just a little stiff, requiring two arms to open the lid whereas holding the show firmly in place.  That stiffness does create some confidence in its use in tent mode, which with some 2-in-1s feels just a little free.

The keyboard is the Yoga commonplace, providing giant, sculpted keycaps and loads of key spacing. It’s nearly edge-to-edge, leaving room on the suitable facet for some particular operate keys, together with a Good Energy charger and fingerprint reader. The switches are very gentle, but snappy, with a cushty bottoming motion.

I are likely to favor stiffer keys, however I acclimated to the keyboard rapidly sufficient. It’s not fairly as exact because the keyboards on the HP Spectre or Apple’s Magic Keyboard (which stays one of the best), however it’ll please most individuals. The touchpad is giant and exact, and it was straightforward to really feel assured within the clicks — I simply want they have been a bit quieter.

Connectivity is generally USB-C, with loads of Thunderbolt 4, however there’s additionally a USB-A port for some legacy help. Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1 give the laptop computer fashionable connectivity.

The webcam is 1080p and offers a pointy picture for videoconferencing. It additionally contains an infrared digicam for Home windows 11 Hiya, all of which inserts into the now-iconic Lenovo inverted notch on the prime of the lid. A fingerprint reader offers one other technique to log in with no password.

Lastly, Lenovo included its consumer presence-detection know-how that may inform whenever you step away, placing the laptop computer to sleep. It’ll then detect whenever you return, get up, and robotically log in. The function labored nice throughout my testing and is an actual comfort for public settings the place you don’t need your data remaining seen whenever you depart your laptop computer sitting alone.

Apple MacBook Air M2 was the general chief.

	Net looking	Video	PCMark 10 Purposes
Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 (Core i7-1360P)	7 hours, 41 minutes	13 hours, 25 minutes	9 hours, 40 minutes
HP Dragonfly Professional (AMD Ryzen 7 7736U)	14 hours, 40 minutes	15 hours, 57 minutes	16 hours, 31 minutes
Dell XPS 13 Plus (Core i7-1280P)	8 hours, 0 minutes	9 hours, 20 minutes	6 hours, 52 minutes
Asus ZenBook S 13 Flip (Core i7-1260P)	8 hours, 38 minutes	13 hours, 16 minutes	11 hours, 18 minutes
Samsung Galaxy Book3 Professional 360 (Core i7-1360P)	12 hours, 57 minutes	N/A	12 hours, 21 minutes
Apple MacBook Air M2 (Apple M2)	17 hours, 59 minutes	21 hours, 9 minutes	N/A

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