Lenovo’s Yoga 9i Gen 7 Statement Piece

For a laptop to make a statement, it needs to have more than just the latest components–it has to have style. Lenovo’s Yoga 9i is ready to compete in today’s market with its Intel 12th Gen P-series CPUs, but it shows it’s more than just another thin-and-light convertible with luxurious details.

You can immediately tell the Yoga 9i was designed to grab your attention with its shiny, polished finishes. It’s the creature comforts like a high-resolution webcam with background blur and an optional tall, fast OLED touchscreen that tells the whole story.

(Note: The OLED versions of the Yoga 9i aren’t available for purchase, but Lenovo told us they should be available at Best Buy within the next two weeks. )

Slim and shiny

The Yoga 9i proves that a laptop doesn’t have to be a MacBook or even a MacBook imitator to offer a striking design. My test unit came in silver aluminum, but it also comes in a lighter gray and an oatmeal-like gold shade. The silver version’s matte deck, keyboard, and lid sparkled beautifully. The carved Lenovo and Yoga logos are not begging for attention and instead wait to be noticed on the lid’s edges.

You might call this laptop’s design “edgy”–not because it’s rebellious, but because of the deck’s striking, shiny edges. They are polished and reflective, so they provide a more round alternative to the pointed, sharp laptop edges that we see. Although Lenovo claims that the edges make it easier to use in tablet mode, I found them too slippery.

More cumbersome is the slim, flat power button on the right side of the deck; I repeatedly hit it accidentally when moving the laptop, even after a few weeks of using the machine. Although the Yoga 9i’s polished edges look nice, I prefer dull, unreflective edges.

If you rarely hold your laptop on the left and right sides, you probably won’t be bothered. The power button is not located on the spine.

There’s also a soundbar. The holes covering the 360-degree hinge and its two tweeters are the final details that turn the laptop into a statement piece. I am still concerned about the durability of the speakers, particularly considering that they are visible even when closed.

Finally, the Yoga 9i doesn’t let slimness ruin port selection. On the left, it has two Thunderbolt 4 ports and even a USB-A port (3.2 Gen 2 at 10 Gbps). On the right, you will find a 3.5mm jack as well as another USB-C port (3.2 Generation 2).

There’s no HDMI or DisplayPort, but between the Thunderbolt 4 options for a USB-C monitor and the OLED screen, you’ll hopefully be able to make do.