Lenovo's latest premium laptop, the Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition 14, boasts a lot of premium features.From its all-metal chassis (with polished edges around the bottom case) to the extremely nice OLED panel, here's why I think this is the Windows laptop to get in the sub-$2,500 price range.Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition 14 8 Operating System Windows 11 CPU Intel Core Ultra 7 355, 8 cores, up to 4.7GHz GPU Integrated Intel Graphics RAM 32GB LPDDR5x-7467, soldered Lenovo's premium Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition 14 is a top-tier laptop with an all-metal body, 120Hz OLED display, and a fantastic keyboard and trackpad experience.
The all-day battery life lives up to the claim, and it even has enough power to play some games.Pros & Cons Excellent build quality Great keyboard and trackpad Gorgeous 120Hz OLED display Smooth performance, even allowing for some gaming Excellent battery life and retention Can't run more demanding games for the price On the pricier side of laptops $2350 at Best Buy $2380 at Lenovo Expand Collapse See Our Process How We Test and Review Products at How-To Geek We go hands-on with every product to ensure it's worth your time and money.Posts By Justin Duino Price and Availability The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition 14 is available to purchase from Best Buy and Lenovo with pricing starting at $2,350.
Specifications Brand Lenovo Operating System Windows 11 CPU Intel Core Ultra 7 355, 8 cores, up to 4.7GHz GPU Integrated Intel Graphics RAM 32GB LPDDR5x-7467, soldered Storage 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD Battery 70Wh Display (Size, Resolution) 14-inch, 2880 × 1800, 120Hz Camera 5MP with IR and privacy shutter Speakers Four 2W speakers: two woofers, two tweeters Colors Cosmic Blue Ports 2× Thunderbolt 4 USB-C, 1× USB-A 10Gbps, HDMI 2.1, 3.5mm audio Network Wi-Fi 7 Dimensions 12.49 × 8.76 × 0.60 inches Weight Starting at 2.84 pounds Form Convertible 2-in-1 laptop Price $2,350 Adaptor and Battery 65W USB-C adapter, 70Wh battery Power 65W USB-C charging Finish Aluminum chassis, polished edges Card Reader None Keyboard Backlit, 1.5mm key travel Display type OLED touchscreen, glossy, anti-fingerprint Audio Dolby Atmos, four-microphone array Connectivity Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Security Windows Hello facial recognition, TPM 2.0, camera privacy shutter Expand Collapse The polished edges are only the start of the premium feel Lenovo really hit it out of the park with build quality Close When I first pulled this laptop out of the package, I was honestly a bit surprised at how great the build quality was.I shouldn't have been — it's a more than $2,000 Lenovo laptop, so it be built well.But still, it felt extra premium to me.
The bottom case has polished edges, and I wasn't a fan at first, but it started to grow on me.I can definitely see it getting scuffed up down the road, but the initial feel of this laptop definitely impressed me.The entire thing is made from a metal alloy of sorts, and that adds to the premium feel.
Think MacBook, but in a much better color, and with more rounded edges.Apple could take note from what Lenovo did on the bottom case here for sure.The keyboard is also fantastic.
I don't often praise a laptop keyboard, but the Yoga 9i has a great one.I had no problem writing full articles from it, which is saying something for most laptops for me.Lenovo also did a great job with the trackpad here.
I really enjoyed using it.The trackpad is large enough to be extremely usable but isn't prone to the tilting that cheaper trackpads are.Multi-touch gestures worked well, and I just really enjoyed the trackpad experience.
The OLED is exactly what I’d expect from a premium Yoga Bright and vivid don't even begin to describe this screen Not all OLEDs are created equal.I've reviewed laptops with bright and dim OLED panels, but the display on this Yoga 9i is truly stunning.With a peak HDR brightness of 1,100 nits and an OLED panel, this screen worked well for me both inside and outside.
I am a sucker for a good OLED panel.The inky blacks and vivid colors are just unlike any other panel type, and it really shines with the quality panel that Lenovo put on this Yoga 9i.This is also a 2-in-1 laptop, which is normally a negative for me.
I'm just not someone who loves the 2-in-1 experience, though I do understand it.Lenovo didn't drop the ball here, though.Typically, a 2-in-1 hinge isn't all that great.
I've never found a 2-in-1 with a hinge I enjoyed until the Yoga 9i.The speakers are also built into the hinge, which is a very unique, but also welcome change from the normal.The touchscreen is responsive.
The included Yoga Pen and Yoga Pen Case are also great additions here and work well with it.I do love that Lenovo doesn't pre-attach the pen case for those who, like me, likely wouldn't use it often on the laptop.But it's still included for those who do enjoy using a pen on a laptop.
What impressed me most, though, was how well the screen rejected fingerprints.It's nearly impossible to completely reject fingerprints on a screen (sadly), but the Yoga 9i does a great job at it.Everyday work feels smooth, and gaming is a welcome bonus The little laptop that could Close Without a dedicated graphics card, I didn't expect much in the gaming department for this laptop.
However, it impressed me there.Day to day, I never felt it slow down even once.This should be expected, with a Core Ultra 7 CPU and 32GB of RAM.
But that's not always the case—thankfully it was with the Yoga 9i.I ran it through its paces for normal work, for sure.I ran ChatGPT's Codex on it for some development and automation tasks.
I ran Obsidian for writing, did heavy web work on it, and more.It never broke a sweat.I never even heard the fans come on during normal operation.
However, one area where I hear the fans was when gaming — as one would expect.Overall, the gaming performance actually surprised me.Forza Horizon 5, which is a go-to game of mine, ran at 64 FPS during the benchmark on the low graphics preset at 1920x1200 resolution.
However, it felt very playable in-game and was definitely something that surprised me.The newer Forza Horizon 6 benchmarked (and felt) way lower at 37 FPS.Still playable, but not nearly as smooth.
One of my favorite games, No Man's Sky, was actually a pleasant surprise.I started off with no frame generation enabled at all, and the experience wasn't that great.I was getting between 10 and 30 FPS depending on where I looked, and it was very jumpy and jittery.
However, after enabling Intel XeSS (since this system doesn't have a dedicated GPU), I was able to play No Man's Sky at between 40 and 80 FPS.The 1% lows improved a lot, and the overall experience was honestly pretty great.I'd have no problem playing it on the Yoga 9i, even with the settings on standard and the resolution at 1920 x 1200.
The battery holds up between uses, too Battery life isn't always about how long it lasts while in use I would comfortably say that I could get a full day's worth of work out of the Yoga 9i without breaking a sweat under normal usage.Gaming or photo/video editing at full brightness would definitely tank that estimate, but I never worried about it dying midway through the day.However, where I really thought the Yoga 9i shined was in its standby time.
Windows laptops used to have abysmal standby, but Lenovo has really dialed in its laptop here.I recently took a trip to Hawaii to go to the Snapdragon Summit (thanks, Qualcomm, for sending me!), and I brought the Yoga 9i along with me.I worked on and off from the laptop throughout the week, not a ton of work, but some writing here or there for a bit as I went about my day.
I left home on Monday, September 21, with a full charge on the Yoga 9i.I returned on Saturday, September 26, with over 70% left.As I said, I only used it very lightly during the trip.
But in the past, Windows laptops would have dropped more than 30% in a week of just standby, let alone actually being used and traveling halfway around the world.Should you buy the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition 14? Lenovo's latest Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition 14 is definitely not for everybody with its $2,350 price point.However, it is almost in a class of its own.
If you're looking for a high-quality OLED panel with 32GB of RAM and the latest Core Ultra 7 Series 3 processor, there aren't many options on the market.And, out of all of them, the Yoga 9i is the best of the bunch, I'd say.Really, in the $2,000 to $2,500 price range, I'd say that the Yoga 9i is one of the better laptops you could get in the category.
It has an extremely premium build quality, a great trackpad and keyboard, a fantastic OLED display, and plenty of power for most tasks.So, if you're in the market for a premium laptop with a great OLED screen and solid power, then the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition 14 is perfect for you.Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition 14 8 Operating System Windows 11 CPU Intel Core Ultra 7 355, 8 cores, up to 4.7GHz GPU Integrated Intel Graphics RAM 32GB LPDDR5x-7467, soldered Lenovo's premium Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition 14 is a top-tier laptop with an all-metal body, 120Hz OLED display, and a fantastic keyboard and trackpad experience.
The all-day battery life lives up to the claim, and it even has enough power to play some games.$2350 at Best Buy $2380 at Lenovo Expand Collapse
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