Lenovo Yoga 7i Review: Strong Performance 2-in-1 with Flip

With the new 16-inch Yoga 7i (16IML9), Lenovo keeps up its line of flexible, folding laptops. This model has excellent design and a low hardware count to fit a reasonable, sub-$1,000 beginning cost. Though it offers overall dependability for a range of computing tasks, it does make some concessions to reach that price point, not providing the most fantastic display or keyboard, which is one of Lenovo’s best.

Lenovo Yoga 7i Specifications

Intel’s 12th Gen, Lenovo’s 7th

Combining one of Intel’s newest Core i5-1235U CPUs, 8GB of memory, a 512GB PCIe 4.0 solid-state drive, and what Lenovo refers to as a 2.2K (2,240-by-1,400-pixel IPS touch screen), the $849.99 base model of the Yoga 7i 14 includes Our $949.99 test device boosts the RAM limit to 16GB and raises the CPU to an Intel Core i7-1255U. Two more choices are a 1TB SSD and a more powerful Core i7-1260P CPU. Selling for $1,799.99, the premium model replaces the IPS panel with an OLED display with a sharper 2,880 by 1,800-pixel resolution and 400 rather than 300 nits of brightness.

Lenovo Yoga 7i Pricing And Features

Made with an Intel Core i7-1355U CPU, Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, a 16-inch 1,920 x 1,200-pixel IPS glossy display, and Windows 11 Home, our Lenovo Yoga 7i model comes in Storm Grey. Available on Lenovo’s website, it runs $999.99. Starting at $799, the basic edition of the Yoga 7i is much the same, but it has an Intel Core i5-1335U processor and 8GB of RAM. At $1 339, the most costly model has Windows 11 Pro, Intel Core i7-1360P processor, 16GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD storage, and a 16-inch 2,560 x 1,600-pixel IPS glossy display.

Design of the Lenovo Yoga 7i

Lenovo’s Yoga series speaks to me in terms of style: emphasizing the texture of its aluminium body rather than flashy gimmicks, a brilliant colour choice that strikes the ideal balance between sleek and personal, and deft use of negative space creates a rare case whereby a laptop is called “minimalistic” rather than “boring.” Apart from the dark grey lid, there is a brushed steel Lenovo logo at the top left and a reflective Yoga logo in beautiful iconic typography at the bottom right. Opening the lid exposes a simple deck featuring a complete keyboard, an off-centre trackpad, and another Lenovo logo at the bottom right. Besides the 360-degree hinges, the speaker system spans almost the entire top deck. At last, to the right of the trackpad sits a fingerprint scanner.

The Yoga 7i is 14.3 x 9.8 x 0.7 inches and weighs 4.5 pounds. Though slightly lighter than the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 (4.6 pounds, 14 x 9.9 x 0.6-0.7 inches), it is bigger and heavier than the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (2.9 pounds, 11.5 x 7.9 x 0.3-0.7 inches). Though smaller, the 4-pound, 14 x 10 x 0.5-inch Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360 is still somewhat similar in dimensions.

Getting Along Well And Looking Good

Our test unit’s high-quality, 14-inch IPS panel does the job; the Yoga 7i is all about the screen, which serves a double purpose as both a laptop display and tablet touchscreen. Working best in tablet mode, the 16:10 aspect ratio of the screen is somewhat taller than the standard 16:9 ratio and calls for slightly less scrolling. Though we were disappointed that the pen isn’t included, the glossy display offers a 10-point touch and active stylus functionality.

Whether I was working on documents or watching films, the display was bright and clear, looking incredibly vibrant and pleasing while viewing HDR material on Netflix and other sources. Our objective tests supported Lenovo’s assertions; the panel registered 100% of the sRGB colour gamut and 324 nits of peak brightness. Due to low-blue-light technology that reduces the spectrum area, which is most likely to weary or harm the eyes, should also be pleasant for long-term usage.

Lenovo has historically been strong in keyboards; the Yoga 7i 14 Gen 7 is no exception. With Lenovo’s trademark scalloped essential design that’s both physically appealing and wonderfully tactile, the keys provide a supremely comfortable typing sensation with a good depth of travel and substantial springiness with every keystroke. A benevolent extra-wide touchpad with a smooth glass surface and support for multitouch gestures lies beneath the keyboard. The pad would be excellent for easy navigation on a notebook without touchscreen and tablet capability. On the touch-centric Yoga, a nice flourish is improving the laptop experience.

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Audio display

You get a large display with the Lenovo Yoga 7i, but that’s roughly where it ends. Though it results in a little more glare than we would wish from a laptop that peaks at 297 nits of brightness, its reflective glass coating feels lovely and smooth for touch input. Though not dark, it’s also not bright enough to challenge sunny circumstances or central overhead illumination.

Though not spectacular, the 1920×1200 at 16 inches is sharp enough for most applications. Lenovo promotes Dolby Vision as part of the package; however, the display is unfit for showing anything beautiful. It has a solid contrast ratio—almost 1500:1—but a low colour gamut, covering only a meagre 67 per cent of sRGB. Drab colour and unimpressive images follow from this.

Still, the Yoga 7i speakers are more than a bit respectable. Their output is reasonable, more than enough for distant listening in a small, quiet room. Additionally, they have a little low end to support films and music, along with the additional weight they need. They should not be confused with thumping, bassy speakers since they leave lower bass and sub-bass sounds out of the mix. But, especially those in the sub-$1,000 range, they provide more than most of their peers.

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Biometrics, microphone, webcam

With a 1080p webcam, the Yoga 7i surprises over the minimum in terms of hardware, as other components of its design do not aim to overachieve like this. Though it leans towards a lower colour temperature, it is rather sharp and reasonably bright. Windows Hello facial recognition is more significant than the resolution. It keeps proving to be a quick and easy method of signing in compared to the more erratic reaction from fingerprint scanners. Said otherwise, the Yoga 7i also features a fingerprint scanner.

Although I’m speaking softly, the microphones connected with the Yoga 7i pick up my speech and help suppress some background noise, including sound emanating from the laptop itself. Though most dedicated gear will still be an improvement, they perform a decent job of recording a lifelike sound for speech.

Lenovo Yoga 7i: Networking

Lenovo has tagged the machine as having robust connectivity. Seeing the small design not compromising excellent port diversity makes me happy. It has fit two Thunderbolt 4s onto the left side and can perform the laptop charging duty. Those go with an HDMI port and a 3.5mm combination audio jack. A microSD card slot and two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 connectors occupy the other side. The extensibility of Thunderbolt 4 gives hubs and docks excellent flexibility when extra ports are asked for; the onboard amount and diversity are good.

With Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, wireless communications also are robust. While testing, I found no stability problems with these wireless connections; they should support existing and upcoming networks and devices well.

Battery Life Of Lenovo Yoga 7i vs Others

Conclusion

Designed with outstanding productivity performance, fast SSD measurements, and a fantastic sound system wrapped up in a stunning yet understated aluminium appearance, the Lenovo Yoga 7i is a solid 2-in-1 laptop. Our model, which costs $1,000, will not disappoint you in terms of features. Although good performance usually compromises power efficiency, its long-lasting battery life escaped the scrutiny of its suitable measurements.

But this otherwise excellent laptop has an awful display. If the screen were at a reasonable level of mediocrity, I would have avoided our testing less rigorous; instead, its extreme colourlessness makes its peak brightness useless against a sliver of sunshine. For those ready to forgo colour depth and brightness for a less expensive product, the Yoga 7i is a decent choice otherwise.