Lenovo has one of the widest ranges of 14-inch laptops around. Among its ThinkPad, Yoga, and Slim lineups, you can choose from a variety of different prices and features. The Slim 9i is the company’s premium consumer clamshell laptop, and the Yoga 9i is its premium 360-degree convertible 2-in-1.
They’re different laptops but they share the same DNA. In particular, they enjoy the same new rounded design that debuted on the Yoga 9i Gen 7, which is both gorgeous and comfortable to hold. Is the Yoga’s 2-in-1 flexibility the only thing going for it? That’s what we’ll look at here.
Specs
Lenovo Slim 9i
Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 7
Dimensions
12.40 inches by 8.44 inches by 0.59 inches
12.52 inches x 9.06 inches x 0.65 inches
Weight
3.02 pounds
3.26 pounds
Processor
Intel Core i7-1280P
Intel Core i5-1240P Intel Core i7-1260P
Graphics
Intel Iris Xe
Intel Iris Xe
RAM
32GB
8GB 16GB
Display
14.0-inch 16:10 UHD+ (3840 x 2400) OLED
14.0-inch 16:10 FHD+ (1,920 x 1,200) IPS 14.0-inch 16:10 2.8K (2,880 x 1,800) OLED 14.o-inch 16:10 UHD+ IPS
Storage
512GB solid-state drive (SSD) 1TB SSD
512GB SSD 1TB SSD
Touch
Yes
Yes
Ports
3 x USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 1 x 3.5mm audio jack
2 x USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 1 x USB-C 3.2 1 x USB-A 3.2 1 x 3.5mm audio jack
To be frank, Lenovo’s pricing can be confusing, and it changes often. At the time of writing, the Slim 9i starts at a premium price of $1,760 for a Core i7-1280P CPU, 32GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 14-inch UHD+ OLED display. Up that configuration to a 1TB and you’ll pay a whopping $380 more, at $2,140.
The Yoga 9i Gen 7 starts at $1,000 for a Core i7-1260P, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 14-inch FHD+ IPS display. The same configuration with OLED costs almost $900 more, at $1,880. There are other configurations in between, including 1GB SSD and 2.8K IPS options. The entry-level price is in the midrange, but beyond that, you’re going to spend a premium amount.
Design
Lenovo introduced a new aesthetic with the Yoga 9i Gen 7, migrating from a traditional design with sharp angles to a rounded design that’s highlighted in tasteful chrome. It’s both an elegant aesthetic and provides a comfortable feel, particularly when in tablet mode. Speaking of which, the Yoga is a 360-degree convertible supporting four modes: clamshell, tent, media, and tablet. The laptop’s all-aluminum build quality is second to none among Windows laptops, and its hinge opens with one hand while holding the display firmly in place in each mode.
The Slim 9i is a clamshell version sporting the same gorgeous and comfortable design. It, too, is solidly built with an excellent hinge. But the Slim 9i isn’t identical to the Yoga 9i. Its lid is covered in frosted glass, adding some density and an ultrasmooth surface that ups the elegance factor. These are both beautiful laptops, but the clamshell has a slight advantage.
Both laptops use Lenovo’s reverse notch at the top of the display to house 1080p webcams and infrared cameras, along with microphones that contribute to great videoconferencing experiences. Windows 11 Hello passwordless login is provided by facial recognition thanks to the IR camera, and Lenovo’s Zero Touch Lock and Login are supported on each machine. This feature locks the laptops and puts them to sleep when users walk away and wakes them up when users return.
The Yoga 9i Gen 7 has more convenient connectivity than the Slim 9i, with USB-A ports for legacy devices. Both use the latest wireless standard.
Finally, you’ll find essentially the same keyboard and touchpad on both laptops. It’s a solid offering, with plenty of spacing and large keycaps, and a light, snappy switch that’s not as deep as the better keyboards on Dell’s XPS and HP’s Spectre lines. The touchpads are the same size and offer a precise surface and quiet, confident buttons. Both laptops have touch displays, while the Yoga 9i Slim 7 also supports Lenovo’s active pen.
Performance
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends
The Slim 9i and Yoga 9i Gen 7 are built around 28-watt Intel 12th-gen CPUs. The clamshell is limited to the 14-core/20-thread Core i7-1280P running at up to 4.8 GHz, while the 2-in-1 offers a choice between the 12-core/16-thread Core i5-1240P at up to 4.4GHz and the Core i7-1260P running at up to 4.7GHz.
The two laptops scored similarly in Geekbench 5 and our Handbrake test that encodes a 420MB video as H.265. The Slim 9i was significantly faster in the Cinebench R23 benchmark, thanks to more cores and threads and a higher-clocked CPU. We used Lenovo’s thermal management utility to test balanced and performance modes, and both results are in the table.
These are fast productivity machines that can handle the most demanding workflows. Neither is particularly fast at demanding creativity tasks, mainly because of the integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics. Gaming is also neither laptop’s strength.
Lenovo Slim 9i (Core i7-1280P)
Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 7 (Core i7-1260P)
Geekbench 5 (single / multi)
Bal: 1.720 / 10,115 Perf: 1,726 / 11,074
Bal: / 1,717 / 9,231 Perf: / 1,712 / 10,241
Handbrake (seconds)
Bal: 114 Perf: 95
Bal: 130 Perf: 101
Cinebench R23 (single / multi)
Bal: 1,795 / 9,467 Perf: 1,824 / 11,301
Bal: 1,626 / 7,210 Perf: 1,723 / 8,979
Display and audio
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends
The Yoga 9i supports more display options than the Slim 9i, which comes with “just” a 14-inch 16:10 UHD+ OLED display. The 2-in-1 also offers FHD+ and 2.8K IPS panels, which promise better battery life.
We tested both laptops with OLED panels, and they provided almost identical quality according to our colorimeter. You can’t go wrong with either, thanks to wide and accurate colors, good brightness, and deep contrast providing inky blacks. Whether you’re doing productivity work, editing photos and video (performance aside), or consuming high dynamic range (HDR) video, you’ll find both laptops to offer spectacular experiences.
Lenovo Slim 9i (OLED)
Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 7 (OLED)
Brightness (nits)
389
406
AdobeRGB gamut
95%
95%
sRGB gamut
100%
100%
Accuracy (DeltaE, lower is better)
0.89
0.87
Contrast ratio
24,310:1
28,380:1
The Yoga 9i Gen 7 incorporates the same rotating Soundbar that Lenovo introduced on the 2-in-1 a few years ago. It packs in two tweeters and two 3-watt woofers, providing quality sound no matter which mode it’s in. It’s not as good as we expected, with some distortion at higher volume. But it was slightly better than the four-speaker setup in the Slim 9i.
Portability
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends
The Slim 9i is slightly shallower than the Yoga 9i Gen 7, while being a bit thinner and lighter. Both are nicely sized 14-inch laptops that will fit easily into a backpack.
Both of our review machines were equipped with 75-watt-hour batteries, and both were built around power-hungry OLED displays. The Slim 9i lasted for almost three hours less in our web browsing battery test, which was surprising given the almost identical score in the PCMark 10 Applications test. Less battery life was to be expected given the extra cores running at a higher clock rate, but the clamshell’s battery life when web browsing was surprising. Both laptops came in around 14.5 hours on our local video test — another surprise, given the Slim 9i’s higher resolution UHD+ display.
The PCMark 10 test is a good indication of battery life running a typical productivity workflow, and according to the results here, either laptop can approach a working day’s longevity. However, for more demanding users, both laptops will need their power adapters handy.
Lenovo Slim 9i (Core i7-1280P)
Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 7 (Core i7-1260P)
Web browsing
6 hours, 28 minutes
9 hours, 10 minutes
Video
12 hours, 36 minutes
12 hours, 45 minutes
PCMark 10 Applications
8 hours, 10 minutes
8 hours, 32 minutes
Clamshell or 2-in-1, take your pick
The Lenovo Slim 9i and Yoga 9i Gen 7 are two of the best 14-inch laptops you can buy. The clamshell is slightly faster but gets less battery life, while the 2-in-1 has slightly better sound and is a bit thicker and heavier.
The biggest difference is price, with the Yoga 9i Gen 7 offering a significantly lower entry-level price. That’s important, but if you want an excellent clamshell machine, the Slim 9i won’t disappoint, either.
Although no one likes a know-it-all, they dominate the Internet.
The Internet began as a vast repository of information. It quickly became a breeding ground for self-proclaimed experts seeking what most people desire: recognition and money.
Today, anyone with an Internet connection and some typing skills can position themselves, regardless of their education or experience, as a subject matter expert (SME). From relationship advice, career coaching, and health and nutrition tips to citizen journalists practicing pseudo-journalism, the Internet is awash with individuals—Internet talking heads—sharing their “insights,” which are, in large part, essentially educated guesses without the education or experience.
The Internet has become a 24/7/365 sitcom where armchair experts think they’re the star.
Not long ago, years, sometimes decades, of dedicated work and acquiring education in one’s field was once required to be recognized as an expert. The knowledge and opinions of doctors, scientists, historians, et al. were respected due to their education and experience. Today, a social media account and a knack for hyperbole are all it takes to present oneself as an “expert” to achieve Internet fame that can be monetized.
On the Internet, nearly every piece of content is self-serving in some way.
The line between actual expertise and self-professed knowledge has become blurry as an out-of-focus selfie. Inadvertently, social media platforms have created an informal degree program where likes and shares are equivalent to degrees. After reading selective articles, they’ve found via and watching some TikTok videos, a person can post a video claiming they’re an herbal medicine expert. Their new “knowledge,” which their followers will absorb, claims that Panda dung tea—one of the most expensive teas in the world and isn’t what its name implies—cures everything from hypertension to existential crisis. Meanwhile, registered dietitians are shaking their heads, wondering how to compete against all the misinformation their clients are exposed to.
More disturbing are individuals obsessed with evangelizing their beliefs or conspiracy theories. These people write in-depth blog posts, such as Elvis Is Alive and the Moon Landings Were Staged, with links to obscure YouTube videos, websites, social media accounts, and blogs. Regardless of your beliefs, someone or a group on the Internet shares them, thus confirming your beliefs.
Misinformation is the Internet’s currency used to get likes, shares, and engagement; thus, it often spreads like a cosmic joke. Consider the prevalence of clickbait headlines:
You Won’t Believe What Taylor Swift Says About Climate Change!
This Bedtime Drink Melts Belly Fat While You Sleep!
In One Week, I Turned $10 Into $1 Million!
Titles that make outrageous claims are how the content creator gets reads and views, which generates revenue via affiliate marketing, product placement, and pay-per-click (PPC) ads. Clickbait headlines are how you end up watching a TikTok video by a purported nutrition expert adamantly asserting you can lose belly fat while you sleep by drinking, for 14 consecutive days, a concoction of raw eggs, cinnamon, and apple cider vinegar 15 minutes before going to bed.
Our constant search for answers that’ll explain our convoluted world and our desire for shortcuts to success is how Internet talking heads achieve influencer status. Because we tend to seek low-hanging fruits, we listen to those with little experience or knowledge of the topics they discuss yet are astute enough to know what most people want to hear.
There’s a trend, more disturbing than spreading misinformation, that needs to be called out: individuals who’ve never achieved significant wealth or traded stocks giving how-to-make-easy-money advice, the appeal of which is undeniable. Several people I know have lost substantial money by following the “advice” of Internet talking heads.
Anyone on social media claiming to have a foolproof money-making strategy is lying. They wouldn’t be peddling their money-making strategy if they could make easy money.
Successful people tend to be secretive.
Social media companies design their respective algorithms to serve their advertisers—their source of revenue—interest; hence, content from Internet talking heads appears most prominent in your feeds. When a video of a self-professed expert goes viral, likely because it pressed an emotional button, the more people see it, the more engagement it receives, such as likes, shares and comments, creating a cycle akin to a tornado.
Imagine scrolling through your TikTok feed and stumbling upon a “scientist” who claims they can predict the weather using only aluminum foil, copper wire, sea salt and baking soda. You chuckle, but you notice his video got over 7,000 likes, has been shared over 600 times and received over 400 comments. You think to yourself, “Maybe this guy is onto something.” What started as a quest to achieve Internet fame evolved into an Internet-wide belief that weather forecasting can be as easy as DIY crafts.
Since anyone can call themselves “an expert,” you must cultivate critical thinking skills to distinguish genuine expertise from self-professed experts’ self-promoting nonsense. While the absurdity of the Internet can be entertaining, misinformation has serious consequences. The next time you read a headline that sounds too good to be true, it’s probably an Internet talking head making an educated guess; without the education seeking Internet fame, they can monetize.
TORONTO – A new survey says a majority of software engineers and developers feel tight project deadlines can put safety at risk.
Seventy-five per cent of the 1,000 global workers who responded to the survey released Tuesday say pressure to deliver projects on time and on budget could be compromising critical aspects like safety.
The concern is even higher among engineers and developers in North America, with 77 per cent of those surveyed on the continent reporting the urgency of projects could be straining safety.
The study was conducted between July and September by research agency Coleman Parkes and commissioned by BlackBerry Ltd.’s QNX division, which builds connected-car technology.
The results reflect a timeless tug of war engineers and developers grapple with as they balance the need to meet project deadlines with regulations and safety checks that can slow down the process.
Finding that balance is an issue that developers of even the simplest appliances face because of advancements in technology, said John Wall, a senior vice-president at BlackBerry and head of QNX.
“The software is getting more complicated and there is more software whether it’s in a vehicle, robotics, a toaster, you name it… so being able to patch vulnerabilities, to prevent bad actors from doing malicious acts is becoming more and more important,” he said.
The medical, industrial and automotive industries have standardized safety measures and anything they produce undergoes rigorous testing, but that work doesn’t happen overnight. It has to be carried out from the start and then at every step of the development process.
“What makes safety and security difficult is it’s an ongoing thing,” Wall said. “It’s not something where you’ve done it, and you are finished.”
The Waterloo, Ont.-based business found 90 per cent of its survey respondents reported that organizations are prioritizing safety.
However, when asked about why safety may not be a priority for their organization, 46 per cent of those surveyed answered cost pressures and 35 per cent said a lack of resources.
That doesn’t surprise Wall. Delays have become rampant in the development of tech, and in some cases, stand to push back the launch of vehicle lines by two years, he said.
“We have to make sure that people don’t compromise on safety and security to be able to get products out quicker,” he said.
“What we don’t want to see is people cutting corners and creating unsafe situations.”
The survey also took a peek at security breaches, which have hit major companies like London Drugs, Indigo Books & Music, Giant Tiger and Ticketmaster in recent years.
About 40 per cent of the survey’s respondents said they have encountered a security breach in their employer’s operating system. Those breaches resulted in major impacts for 27 per cent of respondents, moderate impacts for 42 per cent and minor impacts for 27 per cent.
“There are vulnerabilities all the time and this is what makes the job very difficult because when you ship the software, presumably the software has no security vulnerabilities, but things get discovered after the fact,” Wall said.
Security issues, he added, have really come to the forefront of the problems developers face, so “really without security, you have no safety.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.
As online shoppers hunt for bargains offered by Amazon during its annual fall sale this week, cybersecurity researchers are warning Canadians to beware of an influx of scammers posing as the tech giant.
In the 30 days leading up to Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, taking place Tuesday and Wednesday, there were more than 1,000 newly registered Amazon-related web domains, according to Check Point Software Technologies, a company that offers cybersecurity solutions.
The company said it deemed 88 per cent of those domains malicious or suspicious, suggesting they could have been set up by scammers to prey on vulnerable consumers. One in every 54 newly created Amazon-related domain included the phrase “Amazon Prime.”
“They’re almost indiscernible from the real Amazon domain,” said Robert Falzon, head of engineering at Check Point in Canada.
“With all these domains registered that look so similar, it’s tricking a lot of people. And that’s the whole intent here.”
Falzon said Check Point Research sees an uptick in attempted scams around big online shopping days throughout the year, including Prime Days.
Scams often come in the form of phishing emails, which are deceptive messages that appear to be from a reputable source in attempt to steal sensitive information.
In this case, he said scammers posing as Amazon commonly offer “outrageous” deals that appear to be associated with Prime Days, in order to trick recipients into clicking on a malicious link.
The cybersecurity firm said it has identified and blocked 100 unique Amazon Prime-themed scam emails targeting organizations and consumers over the past two weeks.
Scammers also target Prime members with unsolicited calls, claiming urgent account issues and requesting payment information.
“It’s like Christmas for them,” said Falzon.
“People expect there to be significant savings on Prime Day, so they’re not shocked that they see something of significant value. Usually, the old adage applies: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Amazon’s website lists a number of red flags that it recommends customers watch for to identify a potential impersonation scam.
Those include false urgency, requests for personal information, or indications that the sender prefers to complete the purchase outside of the Amazon website or mobile app.
Scammers may also request that customers exclusively pay with gift cards, a claim code or PIN. Any notifications about an order or delivery for an unexpected item should also raise alarm bells, the company says.
“During busy shopping moments, we tend to see a rise in impersonation scams reported by customers,” said Amazon spokeswoman Octavia Roufogalis in a statement.
“We will continue to invest in protecting consumers and educating the public on scam avoidance. We encourage consumers to report suspected scams to us so that we can protect their accounts and refer bad actors to law enforcement to help keep consumers safe.”
Falzon added that these scams are more successful than people might think.
As of June 30, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre said there had been $284 million lost to fraud so far this year, affecting 15,941 victims.
But Falzon said many incidents go unreported, as some Canadians who are targeted do not know how or where to flag a scam, or may choose not to out of embarrassment.
Check Point recommends Amazon customers take precautions while shopping on Prime Days, including by checking URLs carefully, creating strong passwords on their accounts, and avoiding personal information being shared such as their birthday or social security number.
The cybersecurity company said consumers should also look for “https” at the beginning of a website URL, which indicates a secure connection, and use credit cards rather than debit cards for online shopping, which offer better protection and less liability if stolen.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.