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The Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8, which starts at $1,399, is an improvement on its predecessor. It makes small but important changes that make it one of the best 2-in-1 computers on the market.
This expensive convertible has a 14-inch OLED touchscreen, Intel’s 13th Gen Raptor Lake processors, and enough battery life to get you through a day at work or school. It also comes with a stylus and a carrying case, making it a great choice for artistic people who are always on the go. But the stylus is easier to lose than ever because the Yoga 9i no longer has a built-in charging room where you can store it when you’re not using it.
Lenovo Yoga 9i (Gen 8) Specifications
Specification | Lenovo Yoga 9i (Gen 8) |
---|---|
Processor | 11th Gen Intel Core i7 or i9 |
Graphics | Intel Iris Xe or NVIDIA GeForce GTX |
Display | 14-inch or 15.6-inch IPS Touchscreen |
Resolution | Full HD (1920 x 1080) or 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) |
RAM | Up to 16GB or 32GB DDR4 |
Storage | Up to 1TB PCIe SSD |
Keyboard | Backlit, Spill-resistant |
Lenovo Yoga 9i (Gen 8): Design

Our review unit of the Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 is slim and smooth to the touch. Its machined metal chassis has rounded corners that give it a high-end feel. Lenovo is quick to point out that the Yoga’s smooth edges make it easier to hold as a tablet, which is true. When you turn the screen around so it’s flat, the Yoga 9i Gen 8 is surprisingly easy to hold for a 14-inch laptop.
You won’t mistake it for an iPad any time soon, but at 12.52 x 9.06 x 0.6 inches and up to 3.09 pounds, it’s pretty thin and light. The Yoga 9i is actually a little bit lighter than the old 13.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360, which was always one of our top choices for best 2-in-1 laptop here at Tom’s Guide. You can buy this laptop from its official website
Lenovo Yoga 9i (Gen 8): Display
The 14-inch 2.8K (2,880 x 1,800 pixels) 90Hz 16:10 OLED touchscreen on our review unit of the Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 looks bright and rich in person, with colors so bright you might want to touch them if you’re like me. But we didn’t touch the Lenovo Yoga 9i’s screen because we were afraid my dirty fingers would mess up its beautiful, but relatively dim, surface.
We quickly got over this fear, and with a cheap microfiber cleaning cloth and a tight ban on all finger foods, I was able to keep fingerprints from showing up on the reflective screen as little as possible. The work paid off, because movies, pictures, and games look great on the 2.8K OLED touchscreen of our Yoga 9i Gen 8 review unit. This is because the colors are bright and the contrast is sharp.
Keyboard and Touchpad

The LED backlit keyboard on the Yoga 9i doesn’t have a number pad, but it does have a special set of functionality keys on the right side that let you quickly change audio and performance settings, blur the background of the webcam, and switch between light mode and dark mode. Below these keys is where the fingerprint reader is.
The F12 key quickly brings up a calculator, which we find interesting. Even though this might be useful for some people, it’s a little strange. Maybe Lenovo did this to make up for the lack of a number pad. Other function keys take the user right to the lock screen, to the settings, to the help menu, to airplane mode, or to the screen projector.
Lenovo Yoga 9i (Gen 8): Connectivity
The Lenovo Yoga 9i is a laptop built for 21st-century connectivity. All three of its USB Type-C connections can supply power and display alternative modes. The two USB-C connectors on the left side support Thunderbolt 4. These are linked by a single USB-A port and a 3.5mm audio jack.
Too much reliance on USB-C can cause issues. To connect to a USB-A device or an HDMI device (like a TV or projector), you’ll need to invest in either an adapter or, more likely, a USB-C hub or dock.
Lenovo Yoga 9i (Gen 8): Software
The right side of a normal keyboard, there are four function keys that can’t be changed. The top key lets you switch from low power to neutral power to high power. The second key, which is especially useful, blurs the background and seems to work no matter what video program it is in. The third key changes the sound profile, and the fourth key turns Windows between light and dark mode. There is a fingerprint reader under that.
Lenovo Yoga 9i (Gen 8): Battery Life
The Yoga 9i can last all day, which is much better than other PCs but not as good as the MacBook Air (M2). On our battery test, which included constant web browsing, video streaming, and graphics testing at 150 nits of brightness, the Yoga 9i lasted a strong 10 hours and 38 minutes, which is two to three hours longer than the Dell XPS 13 Plus (9320) and the last-generation Lenovo Yoga 9i (Gen 7). The MacBook Air (M2), on the other hand, which doesn’t have a touch screen, stayed on for 14 hours and 5 minutes.
Final Words
The Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 is a great 2-in-1 laptop that looks and feels like high-end tech. From the polished, rounded metal edges to the bright OLED screen on top of the powerful soundbar, this laptop looks and feels high-end.
This convertible doesn’t just look nice on a desk; it’s also fast enough for everyday work at home, in a coffee shop, or in class. With a starting price of $1,399, the Yoga 9i can compete with laptops and 2-in-1s that don’t look or sound as good. The pen and carrying case that come with every Yoga 9i are the icing on the cake.
Lenovo Yoga 9i (Gen 8) review: The good and The bad
The Good
- Elegant chassis easy to carry
- Vivid, oversaturated OLED display
The Bad
- Dim screen in direct light
FAQS
The Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 (2021) is basically a more expensive version of the Lenovo Yoga 7i 14 (2021). The 9i is built better, has a better screen with more color and brightness, and has speakers that sound much better.
Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 2-in-1 14″ FHD Touch-Screen -11th Generation Intel Evo Platform i7-1185G7-16GB DDR4 – 512GB SSD – Active Pen – Alexa Built-in – Fingerprint Reader – USB-C 4.0/Thunderbolt 4 – Win 10 – Mica. Choose a different seller if you want to add the following things to your buy.