Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 review: combining sophistication with speed

This Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 review will be most relevant to those looking for one of the best 2-in-1 laptops, it's also one of the best laptops you can buy in a more general sense, making it a great everyday business computer. 

If you’re on the hunt for the best student laptop, then one of its cheaper, more basic configurations could be worth adding to your shortlist, even if it won’t be as powerful as the all-singing, all-dancing models. 

Sitting at the top of Lenovo’s line of 2-in-1 laptops, the Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 is a premium Windows 10 device. It’s sleek, fast and comes with a stylus garaged in the body of the laptop. 

If you’re considering splashing out on it, this review will be a valuable resource. It’s split up into a few key areas including design and screen as well as performance and battery life, you’ll also find details about pricing, where to buy and what’s new in comparison to the last generation of the PC. 

 Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 review: price and what’s new 

Direct from the Lenovo website, the Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 starts from $1,060 in the US and £1,111 in the UK - that’s for the basic version of the laptop with the Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage. 

For this Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 review, I tested out the version with the Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. You can pick it up for $1,690 in the US and £1,600 in the UK.

What used to be the Lenovo Yoga C940 has been renamed the Lenovo Yoga 9i - it’s Lenovo’s premium 2-in-1 laptop. This PC isn’t much different to the computer that came before it and the changes are mostly internal. Firstly, Lenovo has updated the processor and graphics, so they now pack the 11th Gen Intel Core CPUs and Intel Iris Xe graphics. They’ve also made Thunderbolt 4 the connection standard to make file transfers quicker than ever, and Lenovo has improved the Wi-Fi standard to the newest Wi-Fi 6. This is the first of their laptops that offer the leather lid as well.

Before you buy, check our Lenovo discount codes to see if you can save on your order.

 Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 review: design and screen 

The Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 Shadow Black is a premium 2-in-1 laptop, you just push the screen back to convert it into a tablet. A metal chassis makes it feel sturdy while the glass palm rest and touchpad give it a touch of class, completed by the leather design on the lid. You can also buy it in a silver colourway without the leather detailing. A stylus comes garaged in the body of the laptop, and it features a Dolby Atmos rotating soundbar along the bottom of the screen. 

The glass palm rest looks great, but it is prone to picking up fingerprint marks, you’ll want to have a microfibre cloth handy to wipe the grime away. I also found that because the touchpad was integrated into the body of the laptop, it didn’t have firm left and right clicks so it didn’t always work well for me, and made it less accurate than on other computers. To unlock it, there’s a fingerprint reader in the glass where your right hand naturally sits - it managed to register my fingerprint quickly and consistently every time.

This laptop is relatively light, starting from 1.35kg. It won’t be heavy to carry around with you but I wouldn’t class this as a super lightweight laptop. You’ll want a proper case for it as well so you don’t damage the leather. 

Lenovo hasn’t skimped on the keyboard, it feels very nice to use. The low form factor keys are firm and clicky, they’re also well-spaced out to prevent mistyping. I don’t have a bad word to say about using it. It’s nice to have a dedicated key to access the snipping tool on Windows as well.

Around the frame of the laptop, you’ve got one USB-A 3.1, two USB-Cs (for Thunderbolt 4, DisplayPort and power delivery) as well as a 3.5mm audio and mic port. It’ll be enough for most. There’s no MicroSD card reader though, which is a shame because there is definitely space for one.

A 14inch UHD IPS touchscreen display takes up 90% of the top panel. While the bezels are quite slim, there are plenty of computers that take things a step further than what the Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 offers. It’s a glossy screen which makes it a little hard to see in direct sunlight, but the 500 nits peak brightness meant that I could still see it in most bright spots around the house. With 90% DCI-P3, colours look vivid and accurate so the display manages to reach a high standard on that front. Overall the screen will do a great job with most tasks delivering on clarity and precision, whether that’s word processing, photo editing or Netflix streaming.

In the top bezel, there’s a 720p HD webcam with a privacy shutter that you can slide across, it’s very fiddly to do but it’s always a great feature to have. The webcam is better than average making this a good laptop for anyone who makes lots of video calls. There are also two microphones built-in to the soundbar, as well as a microphone mute button on the keyboard for when you want to be sure no one can hear you.

Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 review: performance and battery

Intel Evo certified, the Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 uses the 11th Generation Intel Core i7 processor paired with Intel Iris Xe graphics, a long battery life, Wi-Fi 6 and fast response times. This particular laptop has 16GB RAM and 512GB of storage although you can buy it with varying configurations.

Using it felt unproblematic, it was quick at everything I tried out on it. Even with multiple windows and tabs open at once, it seemed to find every task easy with fast loading times. That was proven by its Geekbench 5 scores where it reached 1,465 in single-core and 5,018 in multi-core, which is similar to other premium powerhouses like the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 or the Huawei MateBook X Pro (2021). When it came to the graphics, I used 3D Mark’s TimeSpy benchmark test, the Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 scored 1,459. That’s pretty good for a 2-in-1 computer but that also shows that this isn’t a dedicated gaming PC. 

A 4 cell, 60Wh battery sits inside the Lenovo Yoga 9i 14. Lenovo alleges it’ll last up to 11 hours of local video playback. I tested that out by downloading and running a video over two hours on full brightness. In that time, the battery dropped by 36% suggesting it would have lasted about 5 and a half hours in total which isn’t anywhere near what they claim. Using the 65W charger, it took just over an hour and a half to go from empty to 100% so you’ll be up and running in no time if you do get caught short.

Running on Windows 10 Home, the laptop is a pleasure to use and when you push the screen back it automatically switches into tablet mode. I like Windows tablet mode, it’s clean and intuitive just like its usual PC interface. The included stylus is very basic, and it’s thin which makes it a little hard to grip. You’ll still be able to use it for quick note-taking and sketches but don’t expect to use it for more detailed drawings or design work.

Having a dedicated soundbar means that the audio quality is great, giving you 360-degree sound which is loud and accurate across video calls, games and streaming services. You can easily understand voices while music comes out clear, balanced and punchy. Considering it’s a laptop speaker, I was impressed.

As well as having access to Cortana, Microsoft’s voice assistant, this laptop also has the Alexa assistant built-in. You’ll be able to seamlessly hook it up to the rest of your smart home.

Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 review: verdict 

Versatile and sophisticated are the best ways to describe the Lenovo Yoga 9i 14. It’s a 2-in-1 laptop which is every bit the workhorse you could need for day-to-day business use, with a high-quality ultra-high-definition display that equally suits delicate creative tasks as it does streaming video. 

Of course, there are some downsides like the battery life which leaves a lot to be desired. Then there’s the glass trackpad which isn’t quite as easy to use as you’d expect, it didn’t quite give as much precision or the firm click you get from other laptops. One other thing to note is how basic the stylus is. These aren’t major issues though, they’re definitely things I’d be willing to look past because this laptop does have a lot to offer. 

It will be best used by those who plan to work on it, be that in a business or academic sense, especially given how enjoyable the keyboard is to type on. Another stand out feature is the Dolby Atmos soundbar. It really is one of the best laptops there is for the audio quality, you won’t need a separate speaker with this PC. 

Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 review: also consider 

Another premium 2-in-1 laptop you should take a look at is the HP Elite Dragonfly G2. Because it weighs just 1kg, it’ll be a great choice for anyone who plans to take their laptop with them to work in different places, be that on trains, in cafes or at a library. Like the above, the battery life is fairly average but it’s a small price to pay for such a powerful, lightweight laptop. 

For some, long-lasting battery life is an absolute necessity. If that’s the case, then the Dell XPS 13 (9310) will be a better choice for you. Again, it’s a 2-in-1 laptop boasting power and good looks, while the audio quality may be average and it doesn’t have loads of ports, it will last you the whole workday and then some. 

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