Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i 14″ Gen 9 Review: An OLED on a budget with all-day battery

While there’s a lot of interest in the new generation of CoPilot+ PC’s, there’s still a bigger call for laptops running x86 architecture, and with just as many people not interested in generative AI, the new range of Lenovo laptops are hitting shelves in Australia.

Priced from $1649 for the base model, Lenovo offer a number of configurations for the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i (14, 9). The laptop was announced at CES earlier this year as a thin and light, ‘premium’ edition EVO laptop, offering premium features at an attractive price.

The laptop can be configured with up to an Intel Core Ultra 155H processor, with 32GB of RAM and up to 1TB SSD the laptop also includes 16GB of Intel ARC graphics and a 4 Cell Li-Polymer 65W battery for all day battery life.

Lenovo have sent across a slightly higher spec than standard, with an Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU, 1TB SSD and 32GB of RAM. The laptop only comes in one colour option: Luna Grey, but it works. 

I’ve been using the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i gen 9 for a fortnight and here’s how it went. 

Hardware and Design

To start with, the Luna Grey is actually very nice. It’s a subtle grey with a sort of purplish hue to it which is pleasant. A few more colour options for those not into Luna Grey would be nice, but it is what it is.

It’s not an ultra-portable, but with an aluminium chassis and panels on the top and bottom, the Yoga Slim 7i is very light, weighing in at just 1.39kg. 

While it’s fairly slim at just 14.9mm thin, it’s still remarkably solid with very little flex at all in the chassis. It also  still supports multiple full-sized ports including dual USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 ports on the right with a HDMI 2.1 port, and a USB Type-A port and combo audio jack on the left – and there’s Wifi 6e and Bluetooth 5.1 for wireless connectivity too.

The base of the unit includes multiple vents for cooling, as well as plastic capped feet on the bottom. The feet didn’t have as much traction as other laptops I’ve used, but didn’t seem to matter too much, even on quite a shiny table surface.

Lenovo seems to have delineated their Yoga and Yoga Slim line-ups by the hinge, with the Slim series including a lay-flat 180° hinge rather than the 360° hinge on the full-blown Yoga series – so basically the question comes down to: Do you need a convertible?

The lower deck includes an excellent, spacious and backlit keyboard with dish shaped keys which make it comfortable for resting your fingers. The keyboard has 1.5mm travel which gives you a solid hit on the key without too much ‘mush’. It’s a full 6-row keyboard including a full row of Function keys – and something I value more each time I review a laptop: a Print Screen button.

The trackpad is large and easy to hit when typing, without getting in the way. It also has a very satisfying, solid click to it when you hit it. It also supports multi-touch for those that use gestures. 

Performance

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, with 32GB of RAM and 1TB M.2 Gen 4 SSD is a great, fast combo for performance – at least when it comes to day-to-day stuff, unfortunately the 16GB Intel ARC GPU on-board is not up to gaming. 

To start off, it’s very quick to boot up to Windows, and the Windows Hello login means you’ll be up and running in no time. As far as office work including Google Docs, or Office 365 goes, it runs fantastically. You can also easily watch movies and even play some lower end games like Minecraft are all fine.

In terms of higher end gaming on the Intel ARC GPU doesn’t quite cut it. I tested out a range of games, but found I was only hitting low twenties FPS even on Low settings in Cyberpunk and Sons of the Forest (Yes, still playing it). 

Of course I ran the usual 3D Mark benchmarks and here’s how it went. 

Display and Audio

There’s a gorgeous 14” WUXGA (1920×1200) resolution OLED display on board which looks fantastic. There’s also dual speakers on either end of the keyboard to complete your A/V experience. 

There’s minimal bezel around the 14” OLED display which is oriented in a 16:10 aspect ratio. There’s a small lip above, making room for the FullHD resolution Infra-Red camera which supports Windows Hello touchless login. 

Lenovo have also included an e-shutter for the camera, which disables the camera in the OS, but doesn’t physically cover the sensor. It works the same, cutting access which is what matters. The switch is located on the side which is actually a little more convenient, though I did have to keep remembering it’s there.

The colour reproduction on the OLED panel is excellent, with support for 100% DCI-P3 Colour Gamut, and includes 10-bit colour depth as well as Dolby Vision certification. 

At 400 nits, it’s bright enough for easy viewing in the office, and it’s decently bright to work outside though can get a little bit of glare thanks to the glossy finish on the display. 

The audio side of things is decent, with up-firing speakers on either end of the keyboard. The laptop carries Dolby Atmos certification as well as Dolby Vision, giving you a pretty complete entertainment experience – or, as I put it, movies look and sound great.

Battery and Charging

There’s a decently sized 65W battery inside the laptop, with a 65W USB-C charger included in the box. (Ed Note: The review unit is European, but the Australian retail models include the AU charger.)

In terms of battery life, I easily got through the day on the 65W battery doing pretty standard office work, watching YouTube and Netflix. If you start running processor intensive apps like Premiere, the battery can drop pretty quickly. 

In terms of charging, there’s support for Rapid Battery Charge and it’s decently fast. Lenovo says just a 15 minute charge can get you to 2 hours of use. My testing found that 15 Minutes charge got the battery to 24% which is about right for 2 hours of use, with the battery taking around 100 Minutes to reach 100%.

Software

The laptop comes with Windows 11 home by default, though it can be configured with Windows 11 Pro if you need the higher end networking functionality.

There’s some pre-loaded apps on-board including the usual Microsoft Office trial, McAfee Livesafe with a 30-day free trial – yes, the annoying pop-ups are present almost as soon as you boot in. There’s also an array of various utilities like Dolby Access and Intel Graphics Command Centre. 

Lenovo do include their own utilities, Lenovo Now, a sort of central hub for all software, as well as Lenovo Vantage. Vantage is a control app for your new laptop to let you access all the details, widgets and information about your PC as well as your performance profile if you need it. 

Should you buy it?

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i 14 Gen 9 offers a lot in terms of bang for your buck. The use of the new Intel Core Ultra processor combined with the all aluminium design makes for a nicely compact laptop with plenty of power in terms of battery and performance for a full day of work.

You could lament a few things like the lower resolution panel, but overall this is a really well put together laptop that doesn’t feel clunky and slips into your bag, ready to go when you are. 

If you want to check it out, you can head to the Lenovo store online, or the usual retailers.