The Lenovo Yoga 9i has been a top choice for a 2-in-1 laptop that can be used as a tablet or a computer for a long time. The next generation will be released this year, and I checked it out before it came out on April 10.
The flexible 2-in-1 is now in its eighth generation. It keeps what made the Yoga 9i Gen 7 a great laptop and adds Intel’s 13th-gen CPUs.
You’ll find the same rounded corners, elegant design, innovative soundbar, and robust construction. The Yoga 9i’s most significant problems are its short battery life and high price, but it is still a good choice in its eighth generation. Visit Samsunghubs to learn more about the latest news!
As of this writing, the Yoga 9i Gen 8 has a few different versions, but they all have the same Intel Core i7-1360P CPU and 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM. My review unit costs $1,700. It has a 14.0-inch 2.8K OLED screen and a 512GB SSD. Add $50 for a 1TB SSD and $100 for a 4K+ OLED panel to get a better model.
So, the most you can pay is $1,850. That puts the Yoga 9i Gen 8 in the high-end category, but the improvements are inexpensive. You can expect more options when the laptop comes out in April 2023.
Lenovo has changed how its Yoga laptops look in the last couple of versions. The bottom of the chassis now has chromed, rounded edges and the angles along the display are smoother. This gives the laptop a bit of elegance and makes it easier to hold in all four modes: clamshell, tent, media, and tablet.
The rest of the body is either Oatmeal, which looks like silver, or Storm Gray. My review unit was Oatmeal, and the keyboard was the same color, so it was a lovely laptop. The HP Spectre x360 13.5 is the only 2-in-1 mobile that looks like it. Dell’s XPS 13 machines are more straightforward and stand out less. The top and sides of the Yoga 9i Gen 8’s screen aren’t too big, but as with all 2-in-1 convertibles, the bottom chin is a bit big. That makes it look less modern, but the speaker that spins adds a touch of high-tech style. In general, it’s a beautiful machine. Also Read – PUBG Mobile Announces New Bugatti Collection to Celebrate its 5th Anniversary
It’s also well made, with a CNC metal unibody chassis and lid that won’t bend, twist, or flex. It’s as stiff as the HP Spectre x360 13.5, the Dell XPS 13 Plus, and the Apple MacBook Air M2. The MacBook’s lid is slightly bent, so the Yoga 9i Gen 8 might feel more solid than the MacBook. That’s something to be proud of. The handle is stiff, so you need two hands to open the lid and keep the display from falling. This makes it easier to use as a tent, which is only sometimes the case with 2-in-1s that are more relaxed.
The keyboard is typical of Yoga, with big, sculpted keycaps and a lot of space between the keys. It’s almost edge-to-edge, leaving room for special feature keys like a Smart Power charger and fingerprint reader on the right side. The switches are very light but snappy, and they bottom out pleasantly.
I like stiffer keys but I got used to the keyboard fast enough. It’s less accurate than the buttons on the HP Spectre or Apple’s Magic Keyboard, but most people will be happy with it. The extensive and precise touchpad makes it easy to trust the clicks. I wish they were a little less loud. Also Read – CEO of Twitter Elon Musk says he’s open to buying Silicon Valley Bank
Most of the ports are USB-C, and there are a lot of Thunderbolt 4 ports. There is also a USB-A port for older devices. Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1 let the laptop link to the internet modernly.
The 1080p webcam gives a clear picture for meetings. It also has an infrared camera for Windows 11 Hello, which fits into the now-iconic reversed notch at the top of the lid. A fingerprint reader is another way to get in without a password.
My review unit had a 13th-generation Intel Core i7-1360P processor with a 28-watt TDP, 12 cores (4 Performance and 8 Efficient), 16 threads, and a maximum Turbo Frequency of 5.0GHz. We looked at two computers with this chip, and their benchmark scores were close to each other. They are faster than the Core i7-1260P from the last generation, even though they have the same power, number of cores and threads, and Turbo Frequency.
Features of Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8
In most of our tests, the Core i7-1360P came out on top, especially regarding speed on a single seat. It didn’t beat the Dell XPS 13 Plus with the Core i7-1280P (a faster version of the 1260P) in our Handbrake test, which encodes a 420MB movie as H.265, but it did improve performance in other ways. In multi-core tests, the AMD Ryzen 7 7736U in the HP Dragonfly Pro was faster everywhere.
Overall, the Yoga 9i Gen 8 is a fast machine for people who need to get a lot done. Its Intel Iris Xe is built in, so it will only do well in creating apps requiring a separate GPU. However, it’s fast for CPU-intensive work. But it’s not a gaming machine because the graphics are built in.
The Yoga 9i Gen 8 I looked at for my review had a big 75-watt-hour battery and a power-hungry 2.8K OLED screen. The 28-watt CPU didn’t help, so that the battery life would be good but not great.
After putting the laptop through our energy tests, I found it could have been better than the rest. Our web-browsing trial only lasted 7.75 hours, which could be better, and it couldn’t reach the 10 hours that is close to normal in the PCMark 10 Applications test. Ultimately, it ran for 13.5 hours when we looped a movie on it.
You may be unable to use the laptop for a full day’s work. That makes sense, given the screen and CPU, but it’s still frustrating.
One rival that stands out is the HP Dragonfly Pro, which got almost twice as long of battery life in several tests thanks to its lower-resolution IPS screen and mighty AMD processor. And, of course, the winner was the Apple MacBook Air M2.
This is getting to be a broken record, but OLED screens are still the best. Yes, the mini-LED screens on Apple’s latest MacBook Pros give it a run for its money, especially in terms of being brighter and better for HDR with the same kind of dark blacks, but OLED wins when it comes to wide color range and accurate colors.
This is still true with the Yoga 9i Gen 8’s 2.8K OLED screen. It’s bright enough at 395 nits and has a vast color range with 100% of sRGB and 96% of AdobeRGB. At a DeltaE of 0.73, the accuracy is outstanding. (anything less than 1.0 is professional-grade). Contrast is high (27,510:1), and Dolby Vision is available for excellent HDR performance.
Again, it won’t get as bright as Apple’s mini-LED, but you’ll love the display if you’re a producer, artist, or media consumer. It also runs at 90Hz, which makes the Windows graphics a bit smoother. You can switch to a 4K+ OLED panel at 60Hz, but a 14-inch screen isn’t big enough to make it worth it. Also Read – ChatGPT Will Get Even Improved. What We Know About The New GPT-4 Neural Network
The unique speaker has two tweeters that can be turned to get the best sound no matter how it is set up. Two woofers on the side are meant to make the bass sound better. Lenovo made an excellent audio system with plenty of noise, clear mids and highs, and just a touch of bass. It’s enough to watch many videos and listen to music without headphones or other speakers.
Another great two-in-one convertible
Lenovo continues to make great 2-in-1 computers, and the Yoga 9i Gen 8 is no different. It’s fast, built well, looks great, and has an impressive screen. It needs to be more closed for creative apps that use a lot of GPU power, but for everyone else, it will handle your job without a problem.
But it’s expensive, starting at $1,700 right now. In the future, combinations will cost less. But if you have the money and want a high-end 2-in-1, the Yoga 9i Gen 8 is a great choice.
