Tech
Lenovo Slim 9i vs. Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 7 – Digital Trends
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 |
Wireless | Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 | Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 |
Webcam | 1080p with infrared camera for Windows Hello | 1080p with infrared camera for Windows Hello |
Operating system | Windows 11 | Windows 11 |
Battery | 75 watt-hour | 75 watt-hour |
Price | $1,760+ | $1,000+ |
Rating | 4 out of 5 stars | 4 out of 5 stars |
Price and configurations
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
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
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
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.
Editors’ Recommendations
Tech
The Ultimate Recap of Sea Otter 2024 – Pinkbike.com
Vittoria Releases New Peyote & Mezcal XC Race Tires
Maxxis Team Spec Aspen ST Tire
New DT Swiss 240 DEG Hubs
Kali Protectives’ New Full Face Helmets
Industry Nine’s SOLiX M Hubs & Wheelsets
Michelin’s Aggressive New Wild Enduro Tires
Praxis’ New Flat Pedals, Stem, & Carbon Bottle Cage
Transmission Cage Upgrades from Kogel, Ceramicspeed, and Cascade Components
Randoms Round 1 – Sea Otter 2024
Madrone Cycles’ SRAM Eagle Repair Kits & Prototype Derailleur
Vorsprung’s New Telum Coil Shock
EXT’s Vaia Inverted DH Fork & Updated Coil Shocks
Randoms Round 2: New Tools, Goggles, Grips, Racks, & More – Sea Otter 2024
What’s New in Women’s MTB Apparel at Sea Otter 2024
Even More Randoms – Sea Otter 2024
Randoms Round 3: Dario’s Treasures
What’s New for the Kids at Sea Otter 2024
Deity Releases New Stems, Grips, & Pedals
Dario’s Final Sea Otter Randoms
Brian’s Randoms from Sea Otter 2024
Videos
With roots dating back to 1991, the Sea Otter Classic is one of the biggest biking events and tradeshows each year and brings together all sides of the biking industry from athletes to brands, spectators and consumers. Taking place in April in the sunny hills of Monterey, California, that means this event really feels like the official start to the biking season in North America. Christina Chappetta covers why it’s much different to an indoor European biking tradeshow, a World Cup racing weekend or even Crankworx mountain bike festival, in that it encompasses nearly ALL of the biking disciplines, including road cycling, enduro, downhill, dual slalom, XC, trials riding and more.
In the past fortnight, we have seen large amount of new tech releases. However, Sea Otter 2024 represents some of the first opportunities for many riders to see these things in the flesh, as well as take a deeper dive into what the product aims to do.
Welcome to a video summary from Day 2 of the Sea Otter Classic.
There are so many giveaways, interesting new products and colourful characters at Sea Otter Classic that it’s hard to stand out from the crowd. Ben Cathro takes a lap of the venue to find his favourites.
Tech
Apple iPad Air 2024: Insider Makes Hasty U-Turn On New Feature – Forbes
Well, that was quick. On May 18, a respected industry insider predicted a new display technology for the iPad Air that’s expected in the coming days—Apple just announced its latest special event.
The new 12.9-inch iPad Air, the report claimed, would have the same miniLED backlighting currently found on the larger iPad Pro, using the leftover inventory from the current Pro as that model switches to OLED. That was exciting news.
But now, Ross Young, the analyst who made the claim, has changed his mind. The new prediction, shared with paid subscribers only, is that the miniLED technology won’t be coming to the iPad Air, in either size.
While it made sense that the inventory could be maximized in this way, it now “makes sense” that it won’t.
Young says that while he’d heard from supply chain sources that it would, he’d now had contact from “even more supply chain sources” that it won’t.
And the reason this change of heart now makes sense is that this miniLED technology is expensive, so it would be surprising if it made it to the iPad Air, which is more affordable than the Pro.
That’s not quite all the analyst shared. He also said that there are now reports of a new iPad coming later in the year. This is a 12.9-inch iPad, with miniLED backlighting and it could arrive between October and December this year.
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This is intriguing. What could it be? Assuming that the iPad Pro and iPad Air are released in May, it’s extremely unlikely either will be updated later in the year. And if the iPad Air isn’t pricey enough for miniLED to be included, what tablet could Apple be introducing that is the same size as the bigger Pro, with a pricey screen tech, which would sit between the Air and the Pro, it seems?
Young is highly reliable, but this seems slightly preposterous to me. The only other iPad in the range due a refresh is the regular iPad (at 12.9-inches, the iPad mini is clearly out of the picture) and that doesn’t seem likely either.
It seems to me that any regular iPad will almost certainly have the same screen size as now, 10.9 inches. The regular iPad only grew to this size screen in the current generation, and Apple almost never changes designs after one iteration.
Perhaps things will become clearer as the year goes on.
Tech
Woman who left beaten dad on floor for 2 days was 'overwhelmed' with his care, judge told – CBC.ca
A Calgary woman who abused her sick, 77-year-old father was “overwhelmed” at the task of caring for him, a judge heard Wednesday at a sentencing hearing.
In January, Tara Picard, 52, pleaded guilty to charges of assault and failing to provide the necessaries of life after her father (whom CBC News is not naming) was found injured on a basement floor, where he’d been lying for two days.
On Wednesday, prosecutor Donna Spaner and defence lawyer Shaun Leochko asked the judge to allow Picard to serve her sentence in the community under conditions as part of a conditional sentence order.
Justice Indra Maharaj agreed to a two-year conditional sentence for Picard followed by a year of probation.
“There is no doubt she became overwhelmed,” said Spaner in her submissions. “There is no question Ms. Picard has remorse.”
Leochko told the judge that caring for her father “was really more than [Picard] could handle.”
Maharaj heard that Picard is Indigenous and was the victim of abuse growing up. She lives in a sober dorm-style facility and is working with a mental health and addictions navigator, according to Leochko.
A ‘willingness to give back’
As part of the sentence, Picard must complete 300 hours of community service.
Justice Maharaj commended Picard for “taking that on.”
“That shows me Ms. Picard sincerely does recognize what has happened here,” said the judge.
“What I interpret from that is Ms. Picard’s willingness to give back to her community.”
During Picard’s plea, court heard that in November 2021, Picard and her father fought over his drinking.
Nurses discover victim
The victim suffers from a number of medical issues, including diabetes, heart disease, dementia and alcoholism.
At the time, home-care registered nurses were assigned to help provide supplementary care.
Nurses found the victim wearing a soiled adult diaper and suffering from two black eyes with blood on his head.
He told the nurses who discovered him that he’d been there for two days.
Picard admitted she knew her father had fallen and she had “administered a number of physical blows.”
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