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Lenovo’s most costly consumer convertible, the Yoga 9i 14, only uses Intel processors. The brand-new Raptor Lake Core i7-1360P, however, falls short of expectations in our evaluation because it is inferior to AMD counterparts from the previous year, particularly in terms of the integrated GPU and efficiency.
One of the greatest convertibles available was the Yoga 9i 14 with its 4K OLED display, which was evaluated last year. It did have several weaknesses, though, most notably the relatively high fan activity brought on by the processor’s high power restrictions. Performance was excellent, although it frequently resulted in the fans turning on during brief load surges. The brand-new Raptor Lake processor from Intel has been able to somewhat increase processor efficiency and speed, but the power constraints are still quite high at up to 64 watts, and the excessive fan activity continues to be one of the Yoga 9i 14’s biggest issues. Nothing about the previous version and the integrated graphics card has changed other from the new processor.
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Two of these issues might be resolved by an AMD processor, as models from last year’s Zen3+ generation like the Ryzen 7 6800U (or the current Ryzen 7 7736U) would give respectable power restrictions of up to 30 watts in addition to the considerably faster Radeon 680M iGPU. The lack of Thunderbolt would likely not be a problem for most users due to USB 4 support. Lenovo may have chosen against AMD models because it only wants to use the newest parts in its high-end convertible and since the new Zen4 chips of the HS and U series are still a ways off. So, only the Raptor Lake CPU is left, even if the “old” Ryzen 7 7736U would provide customers greater benefits.
Lenovo offers two distinct OLED touchscreens, so you should be cautious while selecting one. It was examined that the 2.8K variant is similar to other Lenovo products like the Yoga 7. The overall image quality is decent, however there is a raster effect (also known as a moiré effect) that is noticeable, especially close up and on bright surfaces.
The subjective quality of the image determines whether this is unpleasant or not, however its advised to pay the extra fee of about US$120 for the 4K OLED touchscreen because the effect does not occur there and the subjective image quality is higher. The 2.8K OLED, however, appears to use considerably more power. However, its continued to believe that it would be preferable if Lenovo sold its finest consumer convertible solely.
Photo Credit: Lenovo
If the Yoga 9i 14 is truly what you want, you should choose the model from last year with the Intel Alder Lake processor because it has no real practical disadvantages over the new Raptor Lake chip, allowing you to purchase the cheaper units without hesitation. Its suggested that the 4K OLED, and similar models can be purchased right now for less than US$1,400.
