Meet Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen7 - Superb for pros and even creatives on the go!

Lenovo just released the refresh of the Yoga 9i for 2022 that now features a 12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P with 12 cores.

Meet the new Lenovo Yoga 9i with Intel Core i7 1260P

The Lenovo Yoga 9i retains its premium build and design with an all-metal chassis, slim bezels, a 360-degree hinge, an OLED screen, a rotating soundbar with 4x Bowers & Wilkins speakers, and Dolby Atmos support. It is still a thin and light laptop with a 15.25 mm thickness and weighs 1.4 kg.

It has a full-metal chassis with a new Comfort Edge design

On paper, this gives a solid upgrade in processing speed over the Lenovo Yoga 9i  Gen5 that we reviewed recently. Let's have a look!

Meet Lenovo Yoga 9i 12th Gen - Superb for pros and even creatives on the go!

The keyboard is great to type on and the trackpad is big!

As expected, Lenovo ensured that the Yoga 9i is solid all-around. The device is made mostly of metal, making it feel more premium than other devices. We also noticed that the new Comfort Edge design has bezels that are slightly slimmer at just 2.9mm on both the left and right making it sleeker-looking and more immersive than ever.

Similar to most Yoga devices, this device is ultra-versatile. It can tilt, stand, work as a regular laptop, and even has a tablet mode.

Yoga versatilty!

This also has the improved Bowers & Wilkins quad-speaker rotating soundbar to provide good tunes in whatever mode you use it. This is very clever in our opinion

In terms of the keyboard, it has a compact, low-profile keyboard with no numpad. It does cram a lot of functions via button combinations which can pose a bit of a learning curve. On the right, you can find some shortcut keys for different functionalities such as brightness control, mute, and more. It also has a dedicated fingerprint scanner beside the arrow keys.

The trackpad is fairly large which makes it a very good mouse substitute. The large real estate of the trackpad allows for easy navigation and precise movements. It has a matte finish and has tactile feedback when pressed down. Overall, it provides a good typing and navigation experience.

It also has an ample amount of ports like 1x USB-A 3.1 Gen2, 2x USB-C  Thunderbolt 4.0 port w/ DisplayPort and Power Delivery, and a 3.5mm headphone jack slot.

Multimedia Experience

14-inch OLED screen with 2.8K resolution!

This new Lenovo Yoga 9i has a 14-inch PureSight OLED screen with 2880 x 1800 resolution, a 90Hz refresh rate, 100 percent DCI-P3 color gamut, VESA DiplayHDR TrueBlack 500, Dolby Vision, touchscreen capabilities, and 243 ppi pixel density.

It isn't 4K in reso, but it is OLED. OLED is OLED.

One of the best screens around!

The screen gets really bright at 100 percent. We highly recommend that you hover around 60 percent brightness for a good balance of comfort and functionality.

This even has a hardware-based Low Blue Light setting that reduces harmful eye fatigue.

Being a 2-in-1 laptop, it features a touchscreen as well as a stylus. The touch response is great which makes it good for creative work such as sketching. The 100 percent DCI-P3 color gamut provides good color accuracy for video and photo editing as well.

The rotating soundbar has 4 Bowers & Wilkins-tuned speakers!

In terms of multimedia, the OLED panel provides vibrant colors and great contrast. This is further enhanced by Dolby Vision and VESA DisplayHDR TrueBlack 500. During dark scenes, the blacks are truly black while colorful scenes pop up with life and vibrancy.

If you need to game though, the OLED screen is good enough for single-as well as fast-paced esports games. It is worth noting that this is geared more toward creative and professional work.

Great speakers!

The rotating soundbar is very good! As mentioned earlier it has a quad-speaker tuned by Bowers & Wilkins. It also has Dolby Atmos support to enhance the experience further.

The speakers have great bass as well as clear highs and mids. With its rotating design, you can definitely enjoy great audio in tent mode, laptop mode, flat mode, and tablet mode. It also has a dedicated 3.5mm headphone jack.

Performance

Geekbench 5.0 results

In terms of performance, the unit we got features a 12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P 12-core CPU, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16GB LPPDR5 RAM, and 1TB Gen4 SSD. This is a pretty powerful device for an everyday work laptop and the benchmarks show. Everything we threw at it ran perfectly and started up quickly.

Its Multi-Core Score is almost double that of the 5201 of the previous Yoga 9i.

In terms of gaming performance, we tested Valorant and it runs a solid 60fps at 1080p with the graphics setting on low. It is doable but it is better suited for more casual games as well as single-player games.

You can't expect to play the latest AAA games though since it does not have a dedicated mobile GPU. The Intel Iris Xe graphics can only do so much.

It is also worth noting that Lenovo Yoga 9i's cooling still needs to improve. During our benchmarks and gaming tests, the laptop got hot to the point that it got uncomfortable to use especially when charging. The hottest spots are found near the speakers, right above the keyboard.

Note that we used it in a non-airconditioned room. Thermals will be better if you have AC in your area.

Cooling for the Lenovo Yoga 9i 12th Gen is already good but leaves room for improvement, especially during heavy loads.

In terms of battery life, it has a 75WHr battery with 65W Rapid Charge Boost via USB-C. The battery for our model was able to last for around 8 hours on 75 percent brightness, high-performance power profile, and 65 percent volume. It took us around 55 minutes to fully charge the Yoga 9i from 10 percent.

It also has an FHD IR webcam with TrueBlock privacy shutter for security. It is pretty respectable for video conferences in tandem with the built-in microphone. This is slightly better for Zoom calls and more compared with traditional 720p laptop cams.

Here are the Lenovo Yoga 9i benchmark results:

1. GeekBench 5 - 1,719 (Single-core), 9,147 (Multi-core), 21,459 (OpenCL)

2. Blender 3.1.0 - 121.22

3. 3DMark Time Spy - 1,959 (Overall), 1,741 (Graphics), 6,790 (CPU)

4. Cinebench R23 - 1,714 (Single-core), 8,707 (Multi-core)

The 12-core CPU really did wonders here. For the 11th Gen Yoga 9i, its multi-core scores for Geekbench 5.0 and Cinebence R23 were just 5,201 and 4,987 respectively. As you can see, the 12th Gen model increased that significantly.

This means that multi-core tasks, as well as single-core tasks, will be faster and smoother. The Blender benchmark score more than doubled too!

Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen7 Specs

Display: 14-inch IPS touch screen w/ 2.8K 2880 x 1800 resolution at 243 ppi

CPU: 4.7GHz 12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P 12-core processor

GPU: Intel Iris Xe graphics

RAM: 16GB LPDDR4X

ROM: 1TB M.2 Gen 4 SSD

Selfie Camera: FHD IR webcam w/ TrueBlock privacy shutter

Battery: 75WHr w/ 65W Rapid Charge Express technology

OS: Windows 11 Home

Connectivity: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, 1x USB-A 3.1 Gen2, 2x USB-C Thunderbolt 4.0 port w/ DisplayPort and Power Delivery, 3.5mm headphone jack

Others: Side-mounted power button, dedicated fingerprint sensor, 360-degree Hinge, backlit keyboard, built-in microphone, Bowers & Wilkins quad-speaker Rotating Soundbar w/ Dolby Audio, USB-C, Colors: Storm Grey, Oatmeal

Dimensions: 318 x 230 x 15.3 mm

Weight: 1.4 kg

Price: PHP 109,995

Our thoughts

The Lenovo Yoga 9i with the 12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P processor is a significant upgrade from its 11th Gen variants.

It has big leaps in terms of performance, especially in multi-core applications. This is a great companion for creative and business professionals who need a powerful laptop that is light and easy to carry around.

Priced at PHP 109,995, this strong value for money due to its premium build, versatility, and speedy overall performance. It is also available with a 3-year Accidental Damage Protection on top of a 3-Year Premium Care Warranty.

The device is available at Lenovo Yoga stores at SM North Edsa and SM Mall of Asia. You can also get it via Lenovo Exclusive stores and authorized resellers nationwide.

For more information and updates on Lenovo Legion Philippines, visit their Facebook and Instagram pages.

What do you guys think?