Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i review: beauty hurts this stunning laptop
I love how the Yoga Slim 9i looks, which makes me love to use it. But there are way too many drawbacks to recommend it
š Rating: 3/5
ā
Pros
šŗ Gorgeous 4K OLED display
š Stunning design with glass lid
šļø Good performance for most tasks
ā”ļø Thunderbolt 4 support
āØļø Comfortable keyboard
š Surprisingly good speakers
ā Cons
šø Awful webcam
šŖ« Middling battery life
šļøāāļø Kinda heavy
š° There are better values on the market
The Shortcut review
Lenovo makes a lot of laptops, yet the Yoga Slim 9i managed to stop me in my tracks. It has a design that stands out among the rest of the companyās lineup and the laptop market at large. Itās glossy, itās curvy, itās covered in glass, and it has super-slim bezels. Itās a stunning device from a company thatās known for making unimpressive aluminum shells for laptops, giving the Yoga Slim 9i quite the edge in Lenovoās lineup.
The design draws me in so much that I want to use it over my MacBook Pro, but I just canāt do it. No, itās not because Iām married to macOS or anything. Itās the fact that, beyond the good looks, the Yoga Slim 9i is nothing to write home about. Sure, the design and OLED display are stunning, but what good is that if the laptop canāt last all day or power through all the stuff you have to do? Oh, and donāt get me started on the webcam.
At $1,820, the Yoga Slim 9i is tough to recommend. Unless you need a gorgeous laptop to show off to your friends, there are plenty of better options for less money. Itās really nice to use, but you run into problems too quickly to make this laptop worth buying.
Full review
Design and ports
š Absolutely gorgeous. The Yoga Slim 9i is straight-up gorgeous. Thereās no two ways about it, itās one of the prettiest laptops Iāve ever reviewed. Glass panels on laptops used to be more popular than they are now, but maybe itās time for manufacturers to use them once again. It gives the Slim 9i a shimmering, eye-catching aesthetic that blends perfectly with the curved edges. There is also a unique 3D swirling pattern on the lid that catches light in various ways. The rest of the machine is mostly aluminum, a nice complement to the shiny lid.
š¢ This teal, tho. Iād also like to mention that Iām a very big fan of Tidal Teal. Itās the only color available for the Slim 9i, so youāre out of luck if you want a more generic finish. Still, on its own, itās a great color that stands out in a world of gray, metallic laptops.
šļøāāļø Pretty hefty. One aspect of the design that isnāt great is the weight. The Yoga Slim 9i weighs 2.76 pounds which is noticeably heavier than most 14-inch laptops. Youāll likely notice it when you slot it in your bag as a result. Itās likely due to the glass lid which undoubtedly adds weight to the design.
āØļø Comfy keyboard and trackpad. Open the laptop and youāll be greeted with a keyboard and trackpad combo thatās both comfortable and functional. I like the travel and clickiness of the keys, while the size of the trackpad isnāt too small, where youāll get frustrated trying to perform multi-finger gestures.
š« Awkward, inaccurate fingerprint reader. In the bottom right corner of the keyboard sits a fingerprint reader, which is one of the most awkward places you can put a sensor like that. Even if you get used to its position, though, thereās no guarantee itāll work. The sensor has been highly inaccurate for me during my testing; Iāve gotten it to work somewhere around 10-15% of the time on the first try, with the sensor failing completely to read my fingerprint more often than not. I hope youāre ready to enter your PIN every time you open your laptop.
š Limited ports. The Yoga Slim 9i comes with two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, one on each side. There are no USB-A or HDMI ports here, and thereās no headphone jack. This means youāll need to buy a USB-C hub if you want access to any extra ports, which is unfortunate given the price of this machine. That being said, if all you use are USB-C devices, youāll probably be fine.
Display
šŗ OLED is the way, the truth, and the light. The 14-inch display Lenovo includes is absolutely stunning. Not only is it OLED, but it also comes with a 4K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate, which helps it feel more responsive than traditional 60Hz panels. The bezels are also incredibly thin all the way around the screen, while the curved corners give it a modern aesthetic. It also comes with Dolby Vision, HDR, and advanced color support, translating to one of the best displays Iāve seen on a laptop in a while.
š” Crank it up. The display can also reach 750 nits of peak brightness, which is enough to see in the sunlight at a coffee shop. Whereas many laptops canāt reach this level of brightness, Iām glad to see Lenovo include it here. It makes a world of difference when you donāt want to sit inside and get out to do your work.
Webcam and speakers
š„ Potato, anyone? The Yoga Slim 9i is the first laptop on the market to ship a webcam behind its display. Weāve seen this technology before on smartphones (like the Galaxy Z Fold 6), but itās now starting to creep into more product categories. But maybe it shouldnāt, because the camera on this laptop is terrible. Itās a 32MP sensor that only appears when you need it to through a black orb at the top of your screen, but Lenovo fails to maintain detail, clarity, and color by placing it behind the OLED panel. The result is a camera youāll never want to use, even for occasional video calls.
š Delightful speakers. The speakers on the Yoga Slim 9i are solid. There are twin 2W tweeters and two 3W woofers that kick out good audio quality. Backed by Dolby Atmos support, the speakers sound full and offer deep bass. I wasnāt expecting these speakers to do much, so this was a nice surprise.
Performance
šļø Snappy for light tasksā¦ Lenovo included Intelās Lunar Lake Core Ultra 7 258V processor with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage in my review unit, and as a result, you get great performance for lighter tasks. Most of my day is consumed by Google Chrome tabs, Lightroom edits, and Spotify in the background, and the Slim 9i had no issue handling it all. The base model gets you a slightly less powerful Core Ultra 7 256V chip and 16GB of RAM which should be enough for most, but if youāre like me and keep things running in the background all the time, the extra RAM makes a big difference.
šØ ā¦ not so much for creatives. Where performance gets questionable is when you fire up heavier projects like video edits, Photoshop, and games. The Slim 9iās integrated graphics are enough for casual users, but not for those who need to eek out every ounce of performance they can. The Slim 9i struggles to maintain usable performance when under heavy loads, which turns this nearly $2,000 laptop into a super-fancy word processor. Other laptops in this price category can handle heavier tasks like this just fine, but not the Slim 9i.
š„µ It tends to run warm. On top of the middling performance, the Yoga Slim 9i runs hot. Even under light conditions, the Slim 9iās base starts to heat up and stays hot while you use it. Thereās a fan inside the laptop that keeps quiet even when itās on full speed, but it never seems to be enough to cool this machine. Your best bet is using it on a desk in a cool place, not on your lap by the pool this summer.
š The right wireless specs. Lenovo includes Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 on the Yoga Slim 9i, which gives you the latest connectivity technology to keep all of your accessories and internet connection afloat, all with steady connections. They also help to future-proof the Slim 9i so you can take advantage of faster wireless connections in the future.
Battery life
šŖ« A middling experience. Thereās nothing worth bragging about in the battery department for the Yoga Slim 9i. Lenovo includes a 75Whr battery which isnāt the smallest or largest weāve ever seen, and when it comes to lasting all day, it can barely squeak by. I can generally get 7-8 hours of use out of it before it conks out, unless I have to spend a lot of time in Lightroom. This is very middle-of-the-road performance for laptop battery life in 2025. Charging remains pretty efficient at 65W, which is nice, but youāll be relying on the plug more often than not with this laptop.
Pricing
š° Yeah, not great. Itās $1,820 to start, which sends it into a pricer market filled with laptops that perform better, last longer on a charge, and are often lighter and thinner. In the case of the Yoga Slim 9i, youāre paying for a premium design that stands out from the competition, but ultimately fails to keep up with similar price points. Youāll find much better values in the Microsoft Surface Laptop, Asus Zenbook S 14, and even Lenovoās own Yoga Slim 7i.
Should you buy the Yoga Slim 9i?
Yes, ifā¦
ā You want a gorgeous laptop to stare at
ā You want a beautiful display
ā You donāt need a ton of ports
ā You need speedy performance
ā You want a comfortable keyboard
No, ifā¦
ā You take a lot of video calls (get the Microsoft Surface Laptop)
ā You need more powerful performance for video editing or gaming (get the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i)
ā You need long battery life (get the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 with Snapdragon)
ā You want the most bang for your buck (get the MacBook Air M4 or Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x)
Max Buondonno is an editor at The Shortcut. Heās been reporting on the latest consumer technology since 2015, with his work featured on CNN Underscored, ZDNET, How-To Geek, XDA, TheStreet, and more. Follow him on X @LegendaryScoop and Instagram @LegendaryScoop.