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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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