Among the novelties for this year, Lenovo are updating their premium tiers of Yoga ultraportables for 2024, and in this article we’re discussing the new Yoga Pro 9i and Yoga 9i 2-in-1.
The Yoga Pro 9i gen 9 is a creator-aimed 16-inch thin-and-light performance laptop, a competitor for popular lineups such as the Dell XPS 16, Asus Zephyrus G16 or the MacBook Pro 16. This has been also offered as the Slim Pro 9i in some markets in the past, and is a premium metal design with Meteor Lake and Nvidia RTX 4000 specs and a spectacular mini LED display, the same one that Lenovo also offer on their Legion 9i top-tier gaming model.
Last year Lenovo also offered a 14-inch Yoga Slim/Pro 9i model, reviewed here, but there’s no mention of that being updated for 2024. Hopefully that’s still available, as it was an excellent device in its class.
The Yoga 9i 2-in-1, on the other hand, is one of the better 14-inch portable hybrid designs out there, and has been updated to a slightly smaller chassis for this year, as well as Meteor Lake hardware with Intel Arc graphics.
The previous 9i generations earned solid recommendations in our past articles (2023 Yoga 9i review, 2022 Yoga 9i review), and this generation offers a more balanced hardware platform for daily use and occasional work/play activities, alongside the excellent craftmanship quality, the excellent inputs, the beautiful OLED display and the punchy audio with the hinge acting as a soundbar.
We’ll get in depth on the particularities of these 2024 Yoga 9i models further down, and explain their main features and what has changed over the 2023 models.
2024 Lenovo Yoga 9i gen9, vs 2023 Yoga 9i gen8
Here’s the full specs-sheet of the 2024 and 2023 model years.
| 2024 Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16″, gen 9 | 2023 Lenovo Slim Pro 9i 16″ (Yoga Pro 9i 16″ in Europe), gen 8 | |
| Screen | 16-inch, 16:10, touch or non-touch, both glossy 3.2K 3200 x 2000 px IPS, 165Hz, 400-nits, 100% DCI-P3 (touch or non-touch) 3.2K 3200 x 2000 px mini LED, 165Hz, 1200-nits peak HDR, 100% DCI-P3 (touch only) |
16-inch, 16:10, touch or non-touch, both glossy 3.2K 3200 x 2000 px IPS, 165Hz, 400-nits, 100% DCI-P3 (touch or non-touch) 3.2K 3200 x 2000 px mini LED, 165Hz, 1200-nits peak HDR, 100% DCI-P3 (touch only) |
| Processor | Intel Meteor Lake Core Ultra H, up to Core Ultra 9 185H 16C/22T | Intel 13th-gen Raptor Lake Core H, up to Core i9-13905H 14C/20T |
| Video | Intel Arc + RTX 4000 graphics, up to RTX 4070 8GB 80W | Intel Xe + RTX 4000 graphics, up to RTX 4070 8GB 100W |
| Memory | up to 64 GB LPDDR5x (onboard) | up to 64 GB LPDDR5x-6400 (onboard) |
| Storage | PCIe gen4 – 1x slot | PCIe gen4 – 1x slot |
| Connectivity | Wireless 6E with Bluetooth 5.1 | Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1 |
| Ports | Left: 1x USB-C with TB4 (DP 1.4, PD3.0 140W charging), 1x USB-A gen1, DCI-In, HDMI 2.0 (6 Gbps), audio jack Right: 1x USB-A gen1, SD card reader, 1x eShutter button |
Left: 1x USB-C with TB4 (DP 1.4, PD3.0 140W charging), 1x USB-A gen1, DCI-In, HDMI 1.4b (6 Gbps), audio jack Right: 1x USB-A gen1, SD card reader, 1x eShutter button |
| Battery | 84Wh, Lenovo square plug charger | 75Wh, Lenovo square plug charger |
| Size | IPS version – 362 mm or 14.3” (w) x 245 mm or 9.64″ (d) x from 17.9 mm or .7″ (h) mini LED version – from 18.2 mm or .71″ (h) |
IPS version – 362 mm or 14.3” (w) x 245 mm or 9.64″ (d) x from 17.9 mm or .7″ (h) mini LED version – from 18.2 mm or .71″ (h) |
| Weight | from 2.2 kg (4.8 lbs) + charger | IPS version – from 2.06 kg (4.53 lbs) + charger mini LED version – from 2.23 kg (4.91 lbs) + charger |
| Extras | clamshell design with 150° hinge, white backlit keyboard with NUmPad and glass touchpad, 5MPx webcam with ToF and eShutter, 4x mics, 6x speakers, available in Luna Grey or Tidal Teal colors |
clamshell design with 150° hinge, white backlit keyboard with NUmPad and glass touchpad, 5MPx webcam with ToF and eShutter, 4x mics, 6x speakers, available in Storm Grey or Tidal Teal colors |
This 16-inch Yoga Pro 9i is primarily a hardware refresh of the 2023 generation, with Intel Meteor Lake Ultra H specs and a larger battery (84 vs 75 Wh). Both will help it address one of the major complaints of the 2023 series, the poor battery life with daily use, especially on the mini LED display version.
Those aside, though, nothing seems to have changed. Except for the Grey color of the 2024 model, which is Luna Grey, thus a lighter shade than the Storm Grey on the 2023 version.
I haven’t reviewed the previous generation so I can’t get in-depth on its particularities. The available reviews praise its ergonomics and the excellent display options, with either the regular IPS or the mini LED version that we’ve tested on the Legion 9i. They also consider this a good performer in its class, although I may add that it’s not a match for true performance laptops available out there, both on the CPU and GPU side. And it’s not that portable either, at 2.2+ kilos in weight.
I don’t expect the performance of this 2024 update to change significantly, since the Meteor Lake Ultra H hardware is a close match to the Intel Raptor lake Core H implemented in the 2023 models, and nothing has changed on the GPU department. But we’ll have to test this properly before drawing conclusions. Hopefully we get to review it this year.
The 2024 Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16-inch is expected in stores around April this year, starting at $1699 MSRP.
2024 Lenovo Yoga 9i gen9, vs 2023 Yoga 9i gen8
| 2024 Lenovo Yoga 9i OLED, gen 9 | 2023 Lenovo Yoga 9i OLED, gen 8 – review | |
| Screen | 14.0 inch, 16:10, glossy, touch, OLED 4K 3840 x 2400 px, 60 Hz, 400 nits, 100% DCI-P3 OLED 2.8K 2880 x 1800 px, 120 Hz, 400 nits, 100% DCI-P3 |
14.0 inch, 16:10, glossy, touch, OLED 4K 3840 x 2400 px, 60 Hz, 400 nits, 100% DCI-P3 OLED 2.8K 2880 x 1800 px, 90 Hz, 400 nits, 100% DCI-P3 |
| Processor | Intel Meteor Lake Core Ultra H, up to Core Ultra 7 155H, 6PC+10Ec/22T |
Intel Raptor Lake 13th-gen Core P, up to Core i7-1360P, 4C+8c/16T |
| Video | Intel Arc, up to 2.4 GHz | Intel UHD, 96 EUs, up to 1.5 GHz |
| Memory | up to 32 GB LPDDR5x-7467 (soldered) | up to 16 GB LPDDR5-4800 (soldered) |
| Storage | gen4 SSD , single M.2 2280 slot | gen4 SSD , single M.2 2280 slot |
| Connectivity | Wireless 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 | Wireless 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 |
| Ports | 1x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, 1x USB-C 3.2 gen2 (PD 3.0, DP 1.4), 2x USB-C Thunderbolt 4 (PD 3.0, DP 1.4), audio jack | 1x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, 1x USB-C 3.2 gen2 (PD 3.0, DP 1.4), 2x USB-C Thunderbolt 4 (PD 3.0, DP 1.4), audio jack |
| Battery | 75 Wh, 100W USB-C charger with quick-charging | 75 Wh, 100W USB-C charger with quick-charging |
| Size | 315 mm or 12.4” (w) x 218 mm or 8.58” (d) x from 15.9 mm or .63” (h) | 318 mm or 12.52” (w) x 230 mm or 9.06” (d) x from 15.25 mm or .6” (h) |
| Weight | ~3 lbs (1.35 kg) + charger | ~3.1 lbs (1.4 kg) + charger |
| Extras | convertible format with 360-hinge, white backlit keyboard, updated glass touchpad, 5MPx webcam with IR and camera shutter, 2x mics, quad-speakers – Bowers&Wilkins, Luna Grey and Cosmic Blue colors |
convertible format with 360-hinge, white backlit keyboard, glass touchpad, 2MPx webcam with IR and camera shutter, 2x mics, quad-speakers – Bowers&Wilkins, Storm Grey and Oatmeal colors |
On a first glance, the 2024 update of the Yoga 9i 2-in-1 is very similar to the previous generations, but it is actually a new chassis, slightly smaller and lighter for this model year. The differences are with a few mm, but you can tell that this is more compact from the smaller bezels around the display.
The display is still 14-inch 16:10, with a choice of 2.8K or 4K OLED panel. It supports touch and implements a digitizer for pen use (the pen is included), thus expect the graininess in image quality, especially noticeable on white background, that comes associated with touch OLEDs. This article better explains the OLED panel technology on current laptops, with pros and cons.
For the most part, though, the design lines and particularities of this Yoga 9i generation haven’t changed, with the same all-metal construction, the same clean minimalistic branding, the same rounded edges and the same hinge that acts as a soundbar and allows for 360-degree rotation of the screen, as this is a 2-in-1 model.
New for this year are the colors available for the 9i, though, Luna Grey and Cosmic Blue, with the latter looking quite special.
Furthermore, Lenovo have slightly updated the inputs, with what looks like a more spacious touchpad, but the keyboard seems similar to the one in the past versions.
The IO is just the same as well, with 3x USB-C ports, a single USB-A and an audio jack, positioned in the same place as before. An SD card-reader and HMDI would have been a nice addition, but at least you’re able to charge the laptop on either side via the available USB-C ports.
Nonetheless, the hardware refresh is significant for this generation of the Yoga 9i, with the 13th-gen Raptor Lake P platform being replaced by Intel’s Meteor Lake Core Ultra H platform, with more capable processors and much improved Arc graphics.
Given the Yoga 9i is a fairly powerful implementation for its class at 35-40W sustained on the Extreme Performance profile, with an advanced dual-fan thermal module (as long as this has not changed with the new chassis – to be confirmed in the review), expect the 2024 model to offer up to 30% faster CPU performance in sustained loads, and up to 2x the performance of the past Xe-based configurations in graphics applications and games over the 2023 configuration.
The cooling module on the previous-gen 2023 Yoga 9i
Furthermore, Meteor Lake hardware proved to run more efficiently with daily and light use than Raptor Lake, and Lenovo didn’t skimp on the battery quality here, still opting for the 75 Wh one offered on past 9i models. Hence, expect 5-8 hours of daily use and 12+h of video streaming on this 2023 model, even in the 4K OLED takes its toll.
All in all, the 2024 Legion Yoga 9i gen9 is a notable update of the past generations, primarily in terms of performance and efficiency. So I’d surely have this on my radar if interested in a premium-tier 14-inch 2-in-1, as long as you’re willing to pay the premium tax over a more standard 2024 Meteor Lake design such as a Lenovo Slim 7i or an Asus Zenbook 14. The refreshed Yoga 9i is expected in stores around Q2 2024, starting at $1499, but higher-specced models will probably go for closer to 2K.
Anyway, that’s about it on these refresh 2024 Lenovo Yoga 9i models. Look for our reviews in the months to come, and in the meantime, let me know what you think of these updates.
