Lenovo was one of the first manufacturers to master the 2-in-1 design, and it has continued to refine the process ever since for its top-notch convertibles. Although there are a few small factors I don’t entirely agree with this year, Lenovo’s 14-inch Yoga 9i continues the company’s excellent track record. Lenovo Yoga 9i has an excellent battery life, clever (and surprisingly powerful) speakers, good performance, plenty of ports, and even an optional OLED display. If you’re looking for a very adaptable, long-lasting, and very light 360-degree hybrid, this is the best 2-in-1 laptop of 2022.
The Lenovo Yoga 9i (940) is one of the most powerful convertibles that you can buy. Starting at $1500, it’s pretty expensive for an 11-inch notebook. But the convertible form factor makes it worth the premium price tag if you can afford it. The Yoga 9i (940) has enough performance to handle basic work tasks and gaming on the go with ease, making it a fantastic secondary laptop if you own an all-in-one desktop at home or your primary laptop at work isn’t as powerful as your desktop.
Design
Best 2-in-1 Laptop of 2022
The Lenovo Yoga 9i is a gorgeous device. It’s thin and light, with a sleek aluminum chassis that looks and feels premium. The display is bright and vibrant, and the speakers are loud and clear. In addition, the keyboard is comfortable to type on and the trackpad is responsive. Overall, the Yoga 9i is a great 2-in-1 device.
After unboxing the Yoga 9i, I decided the design didn’t seem quite right to me. After considering it for a few days, I realized Lenovo doesn’t quite succeed in creating a luxury aesthetic. Besides its lid, deck, and bottom, most of the laptop is made from matte aluminum, while other components like its keyboard and touchpad are painted to match. Its name oatmeal doesn’t sound all that flattering, but the addition of brown tones looks better in person than its name implies. So far, nothing really unusual has occurred.
Pros and Cons in Design
The problem is that Lenovo round off the edges of the Yoga 9i in 2022 to make the laptop more comfortable to hold, which made it feel great. But then they polished those edges to a high shine, which makes it feel mismatched when viewed alongside its velvety finish. On top of this, the machine comprises mostly of dull plastics. Considering that it has only a combo hinge/speaker bar that functions as a bling accessory and can’t hold a candle to minimalist laptops like the Surface and MacBook, the look might not sit well with some customers. However, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so if you think the 9i is all that, feel free to disregard me.
Despite its appearance, the Yoga offers a good build quality with very little flex. There is also a larger touchpad, some handy media and video calling keys on the right, and a slight notch around the webcam that makes it easier to open. My only nitpick is the way the keys feel. I also appreciate the dedicated fingerprint reader on the bottom right. They don’t have a great deal of travel, and their light actuation weight leaves the whole affair feeling a bit lifeless, which is too bad. And having used ThinkPads for years, I know Lenovo can do better.
There are some positive aspects of the 9i, such as the stylus’s 4 096 levels of pressure sensitivity. Additionally, the phone comes with a built-in USB-C for easy charging. The stylus isn’t built into the laptop, as it is on some previous Yoga models, but you can store both it and the laptop in Lenovo’s travel case.
Keyboard & Trackpad
Best 2-in-1 Laptop of 2022
The Lenovo Yoga 9i has a great keyboard. The keys are well-spaced and have a good amount of travel, making them comfortable to type on for long periods of time. The backlighting is even and bright, making it easy to see the keys in low light conditions. There is also a dedicated numeric keypad, which is handy for data entry or other tasks that require a lot of numbers. Overall, the keyboard is a great feature of this laptop.
The trackpad on the Lenovo Yoga 9i is one of the best I’ve used on a laptop. It’s large, smooth, and responsive, with none of the jitteriness that can plague other laptops. The fingerprint reader is integrated into the trackpad, which is a nice touch. Overall, the trackpad is an excellent addition to an already great laptop.
Webcam, display, and sound
Best 2-in-1 Laptop of 2022
Display
Our $1,500 review unit has a brilliantly sharp 2,880 x 1,800 OLED screen. That’s in addition to the Yoga 9i’s default 14-inch 1,920 x 1,080 LCD display with a 16:10 aspect ratio (up from 16:9 on the previous model). Additionally, it also boasts VESA DisplayHDR 500 True Black certification and brightness of just shy of 400 nits, which ensures rich colors along with excellent readability in all lighting conditions. Upgrade to this component if you have a little wiggle room in your budget.
Sound
Sound-wise, the Yoga 9i is above average. Apart from an innovative design, the laptop ensures that audio aims in the right direction. Whether this is on the hinge or in laptop mode, audio will have enough punch and even deep bass in most cases. Look, this isn’t going to disturb your neighbor’s cabinet, but it’s one of the few times I’m not going to be mad at a notebook that lacks low-end sound.
Webcam
Besides the 1080p webcam that supports Windows Hello, another small and welcome upgrade is the 9i, which comes with a stunning 1080p webcam. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: even though its image quality can be a bit grainy in low light, it’s still plenty sharp for video conferencing. There’s even a physical shutter, which can be closed when not in use, for additional security.
Port selection
The port selection on the Lenovo Yoga 9i is impressive, with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB-C 3.2 port, an audio jack, and a microSD card reader. The Thunderbolt 4 ports support DisplayPort 1.4 and power delivery, so you can charge your laptop and connect to an external monitor without any issues. The USB-C 3.2 port is great for connecting peripherals or charging your phone. The audio jack is a welcome addition, as many laptops are moving away from them. And the microSD card reader is handy for quickly transferring files from your camera or phone to your laptop.
Performance
The Lenovo Yoga 9i is a powerful 2-in-1 that can handle anything you throw at it. It has a 12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, making it a great choice for power users. The included 512GB SSD provides plenty of storage space, and the 14-inch 4K IPS display is bright and clear. In Geekbench 5, PCMark 10, and Cinebench, it scored highly among ultraportables with no discrete graphics.
Although it posted a solid time of 37 seconds in our 4K video encoding benchmark in Handbrake, if you’re going to do a lot of photos or video editing, you’re going to need something more substantial (like a desktop). The only downside is the battery life; at just under six hours, it’s not the best in its class. But if you’re looking for a powerful 2-in-1 that can handle anything you throw at it, the Lenovo Yoga 9i is a great choice.
Battery Life & Charging Speed
Best 2-in-1 Laptop of 2022
In terms of battery life, the Yoga 9i still performed very well in our local video rundown test, despite its above-average performance. We’re only two minutes behind the Surface Laptop Go 2’s score of 14:43, which is the second longest mark this year. It wasn’t a problem to get through the entire work day on one charge in reality. And when it did need to be charged, it only took about an hour and a half.
Additionally, since the laptop uses USB-C to charge, even if you leave your power brick behind at home, it’s possible to borrow an adapter from a friend or colleague. Lenovo has been credited for squeezing four USB ports into the laptop (one Type-A and three Type-C), including two Thunderbolt 4 ports. Several laptop makers have started to equip their systems with only two or three ports – even on clamshells – so it’s nice to see that the Yoga line hasn’t been affected yet.
Let’s conclude
Aside from my subjective complaints about the Yoga 9i’s design, it is a nearly ideal 2-in-1. It has good performance, good sound, and good battery life in a well-made and adaptable chassis. Lenovo includes even a stylus and a carrying case for the laptop so that the stylus can be stored while traveling. The 16:10 display gives you a bit more screen space for productivity, and the curvy edges make it noticeably easier to hold. Biometric login even comes with two options.
Despite a somewhat shallow and mushy keyboard, it’s unlikely to be a dealbreaker unless you’re a very discerning typist. Our review model with its OLED screen costs just $1,500 and while that isn’t cheap, it still feels like a steal. I should also mention that, at least in the US, the OLED model is exclusive to Best Buy. No matter what version you opt for, you’ll get a quality product. With the pedigree of Lenovo’s Yoga line, it’s no surprise that the 9i fares well by almost every metric. When it comes to a premier all-arounder with exceptional longevity, there aren’t many systems that do it better than this.