Overview
I tested the Yoga 9i 14 expecting a standard premium 2-in-1. What I got was a laptop that prioritizes the experience over raw specs. The display quality, the audio, the build materials. This machine isn’t trying to be a content creation powerhouse. It’s the laptop I reached for when I wanted to actually enjoy what I was doing, whether writing, browsing, watching, or sketching.
Display
The 14-inch 2.8K (2880x1800) OLED panel is the Yoga 9i’s centerpiece. Colors are rich and accurate with 100% DCI-P3 coverage. Blacks are true OLED black. The 90Hz refresh rate makes scrolling and pen input feel smoother than 60Hz, though I’d love to see 120Hz here. Peak brightness hits 500 nits for HDR content.
Touch response is excellent. Pen input with Lenovo’s Precision Pen 2 feels natural. The anti-reflective coating cuts glare without the dull, grainy look you see on some competitors. I used this display for everything from writing to editing photos, and it made every task more pleasant.
Audio
Here’s what surprised me. The Bowers & Wilkins soundbar built into the hinge fires sound directly at you in laptop mode. I’ve reviewed dozens of laptops, and this is genuinely the best audio I’ve heard from any of them. Room-filling, balanced, with actual bass presence. I stopped plugging in external speakers during the testing period. For casual listening, podcasts, YouTube, even music, it’s that good.
Performance
The Intel Core Ultra 7 258V is a low-power chip optimized for battery life and AI tasks. It handled my productivity workloads without breaking a sweat: Office, browsing, video calls, light photo editing. It’s not built for video rendering or gaming, and I wouldn’t use it for those tasks. But for the target audience, it’s more than enough.
Battery Life
The 75 Wh battery gave me 8 to 9 hours of mixed productivity with the OLED display. Solid, but not class-leading. IPS-equipped competition often hits 10 to 12 hours. That’s the trade-off for OLED visual quality, and for me, the display was worth the shorter runtime.
Build and Design
Full aluminum chassis with a polished hinge. At 3.1 lbs, it’s comfortable in tablet mode. The 360-degree hinge is firm and smooth. The keyboard is comfortable with decent travel, though I’ll be honest: the ThinkPad line still has better key feel. If you prioritize typing, look there. If you prioritize the total experience, the Yoga 9i wins.