Lenovo Yoga 7i review: A long-lasting 2-in-1 with tradeoffs

Price When Reviewed

$899

Best Prices Today: Lenovo Yoga 7i 16

Lenovo continues its collection of versatile, folding laptops with the brand new 16-inch Yoga 7i (16IML9). This mannequin brings some high-quality design and modest {hardware} to a manageable, sub-$1,000 beginning value. It does make some sacrifices within the identify of hitting that value level, not providing probably the most spectacular show or packing certainly one of Lenovo’s greatest keyboards, however it proves an total dependable system for all kinds of computing wants.

Looking for extra choices? Be positive to take a look at PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops out there at this time.

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Specs and options

The Lenovo Yoga 7i is available in just some completely different configurations, making the purchasing course of easy. You’ll both get the Intel Core Ultra 5 125U examined right here or an upgraded Core Ultra 7 155U processor for an extra $144. Windows 11 Home may also be upgraded to Pro for $51 additional. And the 512GB of storage will be doubled to 1TB for $30 (a really cheap supply for such an improve). The show and reminiscence aren’t upgradeable. The result’s a $900 base value that solely goes barely larger. And since Lenovo fluctuates its costs so usually, it’s very doubtless you’ll be capable of snag the system for lower than the bottom value and spec upgrades would counsel.

• CPU: Intel Core Ultra 5 125U
• Memory: 16GB LPDDR5
• Graphics/GPU: Intel Graphics
• Display: 16-inch 1200p IPS
• Storage: 512GB PCIe Gen4 SSD
• Webcam: 1080p
• Connectivity: 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 2x Thunderbolt 4 / Power Delivery 3.0 and DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x microSD card reader, 1x 3.5mm combo audio, 1x HDMI 2.1 TMDS
• Networking: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
• Biometrics: Windows Hello fingerprint, facial recognition
• Battery capability: 71 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 14.24 x 9.84 x 0.67 inches
• Weight: 4.21 kilos
• MSRP: $899 as-tested ($899 base)

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Design and construct high quality

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

The design is probably the spotlight of the Lenovo Yoga 7i.There’s little noticeable change from last year’s model. It’s nonetheless a easy, aluminum laptop computer coming in a smoky grey end Lenovo calls Storm Grey. With all that steel, it comes collectively strong, with minimal flex. The show hinge has some wobble to it, however that’s maybe unsurprising from a hinge that’s accountable for letting the show flip over a full 360 levels.

This versatile hinge is a signature of the Yoga collection, letting it sit in a typical laptop computer place, fold flat onto a desk, flip over right into a “tent” mode, or flip all the way in which over right into a pill mode. The tent mode has some practicality for a laptop computer with a 16-inch display screen, offering view of the whereas permitting it to be set in locations with out taking over as a lot floor space — assume a desk on an airplane or a kitchen counter the place house is valuable. 

Its measurement does put it at odds with the pill use, however it will possibly simply be folded flat to relaxation on a pill and make the most of its contact and stylus inputs. When it’s totally opened, it holds agency, which is essential for stylus use. If the show had been bouncing up and down with each pen stroke, the expertise can be ruined, however Lenovo’s design avoids that efficiently.

Lenovo managed a fairly skinny design, although holding the burden down would have been troublesome. It’s nonetheless spectacular that it managed to simply narrowly exceed 4 kilos, however there are different massive laptops managing to slide underneath 4 kilos, such because the MSI Prestige 16. 

Lenovo’s 2-in-1 design ends in a considerably massive backside bezel, which has confirmed itself troublesome to keep away from on folding laptops like this. The remainder of the bezels are pretty skinny although. Lenovo expanded the world the place the webcam sits to additionally create a lip for simply opening the laptop computer’s lid. Unfortunately, the bottom of the laptop computer isn’t fairly heavy sufficient to remain down whereas opening the lid, so it nonetheless finally ends up being a two-handed process.

While the design is pretty easy past the hinge, one uncommon side of it’s that Lenovo has put the facility button on the sting of the laptop computer as a substitute of someplace across the keyboard. So far, I’ve discovered all of it too simple to hit the button and put the laptop computer to sleep any time I seize the edges of the laptop computer to maneuver it.

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Keyboard, trackpad

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

The Lenovo Yoga 7i simply doesn’t have an important keyboard. It’s a disgrace to say when so many Lenovo laptops have nice keyboards and the Yoga 7i’s appears to be like nearly similar, however it merely lacks the stabilization it must really feel good. Any strain close to the sides of keycaps will see them wiggle significantly, and this makes for an insecure feeling.

Ultimately, I managed to achieve a typing pace of 122 words-per-minute with 98 % accuracy in Monkeytype, which was nonetheless fairly respectable, however I’ve a variety of time on Lenovo keyboards behind me, and none of that made it really feel any higher beneath my fingertips. The mushiness of the keys close to their edges may make repeated presses hit and miss, so consistency proves troublesome. 

A small concession is that Lenovo features a quantity pad with all of the keys of their normal locations (albeit with barely slender keys), which is a large win for anybody doing knowledge entry.

The trackpad is not less than fairly easy and spacious, offering a simple technique of navigation. It responds persistently to clicks and faucets in addition to multi-finger gestures. While it’s centered beneath the alpha keys of the keyboard, this does see it left of middle on the laptop computer itself, which may make right-handed navigation much less ergonomic. 

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Display, audio

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

You get an enormous show with the Lenovo Yoga 7i, however that’s about the place it ends. It has a reflective glass coating that feels good and easy for contact enter, but additionally ends in a bit extra glare than we’d need to see from a laptop computer that tops out at 297 nits of brightness. It’s not dim, however it’s additionally not shiny sufficient to problem severe overhead lighting or sunny situations.

At 16 inches, the 1920×1200 continues to be sharp sufficient for many use circumstances, although not spectacular. And although Lenovo advertises Dolby Vision as part of the package deal, the show is just lower than the duty of displaying something beautiful. It has a strong distinction ratio, hitting almost 1500:1, however it has poor coloration gamut, hitting a paltry 67 % protection of sRGB. The result’s drab coloration and underwhelming visuals.

The audio system on the Yoga 7i are greater than a bit of respectable, although. They pump out first rate quantity — greater than sufficient for listening at a distance in a small, quiet room. More impressively, they also have a little bit of low finish to spice up motion pictures and music together with extra the burden they want. They shouldn’t be mistaken for bumping, bassy audio system, as they actually go away decrease bass and sub-bass notes out of the combo. But they provide greater than a variety of their contemporaries, particularly these within the sub-$1,000 bracket.

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

The Yoga 7i contains a 1080p webcam, giving it a shocking improve over the fundamentals the place different parts of its {hardware} don’t attempt to overachieve like this. It’s pretty sharp and fairly shiny, although skews towards a colder coloration temperature. Bigger than the decision is the inclusion of Windows Hello facial recognition, which continues to show a quick and handy approach to check in in comparison with the extra inconsistent response from fingerprint scanners. That mentioned, the Yoga 7i additionally features a fingerprint scanner.

The microphones paired with the Yoga 7i are efficient at canceling out some background noise, together with sound coming from the laptop computer itself, and so they choose up on my voice even when I’m speaking quietly. They do an honest job of capturing a lifelike sound for voice, although most devoted {hardware} will nonetheless be an improve.

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Connectivity

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

Lenovo has slapped on strong connectivity for the machine. It’s a pleasure to see the skinny design not sacrificing good port selection. It has match two Thunderbolt 4 onto the left aspect, both in a position to deal with the duty of charging the laptop computer. Those come alongside a 3.5mm combo audio jack and an HDMI port. The reverse aspect homes a pair of USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports and a microSD card slot. The onboard quantity and selection is sweet, and the extensibility with Thunderbolt 4 offers nice flexibility for hubs and docks when extra ports are known as for.

Wireless connections are additionally robust with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. During testing, I encountered no stability points with these wi-fi connections, and they need to present good assist with present and upcoming networks and units. 

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Performance

The Lenovo Yoga 7i isn’t working the top-tier of Intel’s newest processors, however it comes with a decent Intel Core Ultra 5 125U, which packs in a pair of efficiency cores, eight environment friendly cores, and two extra low-power environment friendly cores for a mixed 12 cores and 14 threads. In on a regular basis operation, that is greater than sufficient to get by, particularly with 16GB of reminiscence and a modestly zippy SSD. 

That bears out in PCMark 10, the place the Lenovo Yoga 7i performs in league with a number of different bigger ultrabooks, albeit towards the tail finish of the bunch. The system might have scored higher if it weren’t for barely weaker graphics outcomes. The Yoga 7i provided robust ends in the Essentials and Productivity parts of PCMark’s take a look at, holding shut and even exceeding among the competitors, however it lagged far behind in rendering and modifying picture and video. 

That trailing efficiency is simple to chalk as much as the CPU, which simply isn’t fairly as quick because the competitors on each the single-core and multi-core stage in lots of cases. Cinebench R20 reveals the Lenovo Yoga 7i lagging far behind a lot of the competitors right here, which boast higher-tier Intel or AMD processors. The one exception is the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i, a novel foldable that has its efficiency headroom hampered by its design. The gulf between these techniques carried over into Cinebench R15 and R23 as nicely.

That mentioned, the place Lenovo might not have the very best efficiency, it does present consistency. Over a sustained 10-minute run in Cinebench R23, its multi-core rating dropped from a median of 9,288 to simply 8,847, suggesting it doesn’t find yourself majorly throttled by warmth buildup. And that energy confirmed in our Handbrake take a look at, which sees the CPU work away over an prolonged interval to encode a big video file. Where the Yoga 7i had trailed behind the Acer Swift Edge 16 in different CPU assessments, it got here out narrowly forward on this sustained efficiency take a look at on account of that thinner laptops incapability to successfully handle warmth throughout extended stress.

PCMark hinted on the Lenovo Yoga 7i’s weak graphical efficiency, and 3DMark additional confirmed it. Despite providing one of many newest Intel CPUs, this laptop computer doesn’t get Intel Arc Graphics. Instead, it will get the nondescript Intel Graphics, which fare little higher than earlier Intel Iris Xe Graphics working on the Acer Swift Go 16. If your makes use of don’t embody a lot graphical work and also you don’t plan to sport, this can be a nonissue.

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Battery life

For all of the faults of its show and its missing efficiency, the Lenovo Yoga 7i turns issues round within the battery division. Even with only a 71Wh battery (the Yoga Book 9i and MSI Prestige 16 AI EVO B1MG match bigger batteries), the Yoga 7i leads the pack in runtime by a large margin. Only MSI retains up, and its battery is greater than a 3rd bigger. Lenovo manages over 13 hours in our battery take a look at, which performs a 4K video file on loop till the battery runs down fully. 

Office use with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled trims that battery life a bit, as video playback is a positive situation, however the Yoga 7i continues to be readily lasting via an eight-hour workday. This is with loads of tabs open in Chrome. If that work includes heavier stress on the CPU, it won’t final fairly as lengthy although. 

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Conclusion

Lenovo has put collectively a curious package deal within the 16-inch Yoga 7i (16IML9). It’s a nicely constructed piece of {hardware}, however it’s not constructed round nice elements. With a lackluster show and unsatisfying keyboard, the methods you’ll truly work together with the laptop computer don’t meet the identical normal of high quality that the chassis brings to the desk. 

You’ll nonetheless discover a big footprint for productiveness within the 16-inch show, and also you gained’t undergo from a very heavy machine. Performance is first rate for workplace duties, and the battery life is greater than respectable in that situation. Having the choice to make use of a keyboard and trackpad, a touchscreen, or a stylus additionally delivers flexibility that will profit customers with a wide range of workflows who need one gadget to assist with all of them. There are higher laptops to go for in case you have extra easy computing wants, but when your work requires Lenovo’s flipping trick, the Yoga 7i is a reasonably smart possibility at $900.