This is one of the best times of the year to purchase a laptop. As companies announce fancy new chips and PCs, deals pop up on older hardware to clear out stock. The discounted PCs are still in their original box, but they are a few months old, so you can get them at a better price than what they launched at. Right now, you can save $350 on the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1. That discount brings the convertible laptop to $1,099.99 for a model with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Intel Arc graphics, and a 14-inch 2.8K OLED display.
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A nearly perfect laptop design
The Yoga 9i 2-in-1’s design has been refined for several generations, resulting in a nearly perfect layout. Lenovo took lessons from previous Yoga laptops and other hardware to make the Yoga the epitome of a modern laptop. The Yoga 9i 2-in-1 is compact, has thin bezels, and tosses in some extra features that make it stand out, such as the soundbar that lives in the hinge of the device. That placement delivers better audio quality when flipping between modes.
Lenovo stuck with its rounded design when making this version of the Yoga 9i 2-in-1. The corners of the laptop’s body, the edges of the PC’s keys, and even the trackpad has a bit of a curve. Some may prefer sharp corners, but I think Lenovo’s design language is lovely, and it’s showcased well on the Yoga 9i 2-in-1.
We reviewed the 2022 version of the Yoga 9i 2-in-1, and many of the strengths of that laptop live on in the Gen 9 model.
I’d argue that the design of the Yoga 9i 2-in-1 is about as close to perfect as you can get for this form factor. But making a laptop this thin has some downsides. The PC lacks an HDMI port, which probably couldn’t fit in the body of the laptop. While the Yoga 9i 2-in-1 does not have an HDMI port, it does have two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports and a USB-A port on the left and an audio jack and a USB-C port (USB4) on the right.
Performance and battery life
Inside the Yoga 9i 2-in-1 is an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H. That processor is from Intel’s first wave of Core Ultra chips. Alongside the CPU bump comes a jump to Intel Arc graphics. The internals of the PC promise power and efficiency despite the thin-and-light design of the laptop.
When you open up the Yoga 9i 2-in-1, you’ll see a 14-inch 2.8K OLED display. that screen has a response time of 1ms, covers up to 100% DCI-P3 and sRGB, and supports Dolby Vision. The laptop has a notch above the display, which allows Lenovo to place an uninterrupted rectangular screen front and center, unlike what Apple has done with its MacBooks.
Intel has since released its Core Ultra Series 2 processors, which promise better performance and efficiency. While those newer chips are better than their predecessors, laptops with first-generation Core Ultra processors are still great for everyday computing. The release of the newer Core Ultra Series 2 processors is one of the reasons you can get the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 at such a big discount.
