Lenovo Yoga Buyers Guide - What's the Best Thin and Light Laptop for You?
The Lenovo Yoga lineup has so many models its easy to get confused between the Yoga Pro 9i, Yoga Pro 7, Yoga 9i 2 in 1, Yoga Slim 7i and Yoga 7i 2 in 1. What makes them different other than price? Well let's try to explain the whole Lenovo Yoga lineup in 2024 for Battery Life, Performance, and more.
This video is sponsored by Lenovo.
Buy items in this video from Lenovo below (affiliate links):
Yoga Pro 9i - lenovo.vzew.net/PRO9i2
Yoga Pro 7 - lenovo.vzew.net/PRO7SERIES
Yoga 9i 2 in 1 - lenovo.vzew.net/9i2in1
Yoga Slim 7i - lenovo.vzew.net/slim7i2024
Yoga 7i 2 in 1 - lenovo.vzew.net/7i2in1
GET MERCH ►hwcstore.com
SUBSCRIBE ►bit.ly/SubHWC
Timestamps:
0:00 - Buying a laptop is FRUSTRATING
0:57 - Yoga Pro 9i vs Pro 7 vs Slim 7i vs 2-in-1
1:42 - Lenovo Yoga Prices
2:44 - Size & Weight Compared
3:50 - Charger Size is IMPORTANT
4:48 - Battery Life = VERY Different
5:58 - Screen Quality
6:35 - Webcam & Microphone Comparison
7:47 - Keyboards are TOP NOTCH
8:43 - Port Selection
10:11 - Lenovo Yoga 2024 Specs
11:37 - The Ultimate Performance Testing
12:56 - No Cuts by Lenovo!
This video is sponsored by Lenovo. All links are
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#hardwarecanucks
Guys note that although this is a sponsored video, it’s more of a product showcase with objective information to let you make your own decision. They’re not trying to hard sell you on anything
Thanks. That was the intent from the start.
Love it!!! Just got a legion slim 5 16" w/7840hs & 4060 for $1049. Couldn't pass it up. Definitely love the larger screen
Thank you! I've been using Lenovo for so many years and I've been looking at the new Yoga 7i 2 in 1 for the next one. I know this is a sponsored video, but just getting to see them in use like this answers so many questions I've had,
Thanks!
😅mj e
Great video! I've been looking for someone to review the yoga 7i 2-in-1 and I swear to God, there's pretty much nothing. I myself actually bought one very recently (still waiting for its arrival) and I did a few comparisons, yet I would have liked to see someone talk about all of its features, advantages and possible problems.
Thank you so much! It's almost impossible to compare computers across different brands when I can't even compare computers amongst its own brand lol.
production quality went dummy on this one. Nicely done
I would love a report on best 35" to 45" TVs for PC gaming because I now use my monitor for streaming movies as well as gaming.
The video quality is top notch. I've been eyeing on these exact yoga laptops.
This is helpful. Is there a build quality difference between the 7i 2 in 1 and the 9i 2 in 1? I've read that the 9i is more robust. Is that true?
I'm in the same shoes. I am currently using Lenovo ThinkPad S1 Yoga, it is the 1st generation of "yoga" in a ThinkPad, out a decade ago (2014). Surely I want an upgrade without breaking my bank.
Saw a review of the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i. Amazing laptop for creators and engineers. Also, good for gaming. If someone doesn't want a M3 Max MacBook Pro, it is arguably the best Prosumer laptop on the market. Other alternatives: Dell XPS 16 or HP Spectre x360 16-inch (2024).
I'm in tech and usually pretty up to date on the latest releases but the laptop market is the most confusing it's been in over a decade. No way a non tech person has a chance
Nice one ! Are you going to do an in-depth video for each one , I am specially interested in the Yoga pro 7i since its has the best price per performance ratio
Some of them yes. Provided we get final production devices. We don't review pre-production units.
would appreciate to test and show every case...how they bends. and etc. also the hinges; those are the main components of the laptop which you came in a direct contact with. Also when talking about these it would be nice to test the tablet mode and the stylus
Heya, do you guys know when the Yoga Pro 9i 4070 be available in the US?
No segments for disassembly, maintenance or upgradability?
just ordered a Pro 7i Core Ultra 7 155H, 32GB RAM (7467MT), 3K touch IPS, should be arriving this week for £1280 and hopefully I can claim the 20% trade-in cash back, making it £1024. This also includes 2 years accidental damage warranty and a matching Tidal Teal sleeve. Cannot wait!!
Yeah that trade-in bonus can be a game changer.
I can't believe they took the yoga part out of the yoga.
Pretty good article, but it's not true to say you can't get a discrete GPU without going for a Pro 9 - I have a Slim 7 with AMD's excellent 7840HS processor and an RTX 4070. Also I would say that it's not essential to have a Thunderbolt 4 port even if the laptop will spend a lot of its time docked; a monitor port is probably all you need. There are some excellent Bluetooth keyboards and mice out there. Mine also came with the largest power supply which uses the square connector. I'm not sure what the difference is between mine and a pro model aside from the price - perhaps the screen.
Will Lenovo send out a slim7i 125h baseline model. Interested in that sku.
Thanks for the video! I’m a huge fan of the Yoga series, and I’d love to get one myself. Maybe this guide will help decide :)
For me my priorities after price are...... *1. Tested Battery Life* (10+ hours web browsing) *2. Weight* (am I going to dread lugging this after a few weeks?) *3. Display* (size, resolution, 300+ nits brightness, IPS/OLED) *4. Performance* (# of CPU cores, iGPU/dGPU, wattage, VRAM amount) *5. RAM, Storage, I/O, keyboard speakers* (how much and port combos, mush or tactile? upward or downward firing?) *6. Design & build quality* (slim or thick? 180° or 360° hinge? Plastic or aluminum? Aesthetics? Textures?) *7. Accessories* (carrying sleeve/bag, USB-C hub, GaN charger, BT keyboard, ergo mouse, etc.
Just like the video. Although I think we should avoid lenovo yoga for now though. Have been hearing terrible stuffs about them lately.
Thanks for the guide. How about hinge durability? Is yoga 7 2 in 1 any good?
I've been using the 9i 2-in-1 as a daily driver for the last week and it seems good...so far.
You should never buy a Yoga laptop because of the power button. It's a poor design and a known issue. Probably the main reason why Yoga laptops end up at repair centres or get sent back
Have they fixed the power button design flaw for the 2024 model?
@@deepantomyponnezeth891 only time will tell i suppose, but the button is till on the side of the chassis so i think it's unlikely that they've addressed it.
What is the issue with power button being on the side? Could you please tell since I always thought its just inconvenient. I didnt realise it resulted in more repairs. @@design-dwg5785
I dunno what to say but their x360 models have problem. And other normal laptop like Yoga or Yoga Pro series...I don't see any complains on build quality.
The 7i 2 in 1 looks like the best option for me, though it's really difficult to find an AMD version of it in stores :( I refuse to buy anything intel these days.
I can't find the tidal teal option for yoga pro 7 😭 can someone help?
Lots of paid promotional videos for products not worth long term investing especially nowadays since money is tight.
You do Realise that they have to Pay Bills and Feed some Family. 😅
😢
Umm@@Mohannd-sq6rk
Love this, very useful
We don't seem to even get the Slim Pro 7i in the US at this point, just last year's AMD version with the 3050, locked at 16gb of RAM. 😢. The Lenovo Slim 7i is on my short list along with the ASUS Zenbook 14" and M3 Air.
We do get it in the US. It's renamed the Yoga Pro 7i, and it's featured in this video with the RTX 4050.
@@rar23424 I can't find it on Lenovo's site, at least not the 14.5" version.
You didn't talk about anything other than the 4 laptops; which would you use to replace your carbon x1?
This is a Sponsored Video so I didn't actually want to make a recommendation, nor make a choice. Truth be told, I still haven't found a suitable replacement that I can personally afford, not with two kids under the age of two running through diapers so quickly. ;) - Mike
@@HardwareCanucks so why to start the video the way you did?
@@HardwareCanucks P14s gen 4 AMD? would be a great upgrade to the x1 carbon gen 6
@@demimascot Probably to keep it in mind, he'll get back to it when diaper changing time is over 😄
Definitely more of these reviews please, or 2 in 1 comparisons
Pro 7 links to the amd version
Where are the AMD models? Battery life is critical for such portables and no AMD variants not being showcased here is disappointing.
Actually we didn't have access to the AMD models at any time during this video production. We tried getting them through official sources or through buying from Lenovo Canada where stock seems to be hit and miss for AMD devices. Luckily I finally sourced one yesterday (from the UK of all places) and we'll have a full AMD vs Intel comparison on both Yoga and Zenbook devices in the coming weeks.
Meteor Lake beats AMD when it comes to battery life, but performance isn't on par with AMD ones
I don't know even why I'm watching this as a ~1000$ laptop in in USA will cost like 2000 euro here in EU so....
Same thing with us Canadians since we have to take our huge sales taxes into account.... :(
@@HardwareCanucks Count yourselves lucky if you at least get to keep the RAM! The moment they land on Australian shores, prices get doubled while RAM gets halved.
Have they fixed the power button design flaw for the 2024 model?
We have thirteen 2023 and 2024 Yogas here now, between pre production devices and ones we bought. Haven't experienced a power button issue yet. I understand that's anecdotal evidence but until we can replicate the issue, its hard to comment.
No
Are U processors good for the 13 gen? I mostly handle data sets
Data sets are typically processed in single threaded applications or at least lightly threaded. If you want a thin and light then Intel or AMD U-series chips are fine. Not great, fine.
@@HardwareCanucks I'm having second thoughts on which CPU to get, Either the U series on the 7 2 in 1 or the 9 2 in 1, do you think the H processors will have better longevity? I'm more focused on the battery life, thermal throttling and longevity.
I was literally looking at the yoga lineup for a new laptop today, what a timing! There are still some things unclear to me. I'm in Europe and here we have the Yoga 7 2-in-1 aswell as the the Yoga 7i 2-in-1. So no Yoga Slim versions of these laptops. For the non-i version, the Yoga 7 2-in-1 there are both AMD and INTEL versions (intel version isn't available on their site but multiple reputable retailers sell it). The Yoga 7i 2-in-1 seems to be the same as the one in the video, because the min and max CPU in the video and their website match. Do you happen to know how I should translate this video's information into the lineup/naming scheme in Europe? Mainly because the Yoga 7 2-in-1 doesn't seem to exist outside of Europe (atleast not with the same name)
So, the Yoga 7 2-in-1 is a very region-specific model that would have an AMD Ryzen 8000 CPU whereas the "i" in the 7i 2-in-1 denotes an Intel CPU. The laptops should have the exact same specifications other than Thunderbolt 4 on the Intel being replaced with a USB 4 port on the AMD device. In my research the only AMD specific model than came up was the Pro 7, though now it seems that the Yoga 7 2 in 1 (AMD) is available in the UK , Canada and possibly Singapore & India as well.
@@HardwareCanucks And how do you think the intel version of the yoga 7 2-in-1 fits in this lineup? Since if I spec the 7i on the Lenovo website the same as the Intel YOGA 7 (without the i) in the retail stores, its around €400 (~ $587 canadian) more expensive. Which to me indicates that it's not an intel version of the Yoga 7 2-in-1. Also the AMD Yoga 7 2-in-1 is only available in storm grey and Arctic Grey, and is available with an ips screen. The 7i on the Lenovo website is available in the tidal teal color, and only with OLED. Thanks for your response, it means a lot that you interact with your viewers! PS Lenovo should really fix their naming scheme to avoid such confusions
Very useful
Conveniently forgot to mention that the new fancy screen option for the i9 is only available with a 4060, no 4070. So dumb
If you look at the Lenovo PSREF site, there are actually a bunch of regions that have the highest end screen as an option with the 4070.
@@HardwareCanucks yes but none of them let you actually customize it that way. or at least it wont work for me.
Good video
We get Lenovo for work. Unfortunately Lenovo build quality has fallen off a cliff in recent years compared to previous Lenovos most recent issue is the battery. Not covered under normal warranty because its considered a 'consumable'. Lead time is 2 months and still waiting from official Lenovo. Im breaking up with Lenovo after this.
I think a lot of that perception is tied to this insane Apple-fronted push to go thinner and lighter. There's a point where there's a law of diminishing returns when combining thin, light and build quality with pricing.
@HardwareCanucks can you explain how Apple laptop design has led my perception of my laptop turning itself into a desktop? Does 2 months to source a battery that must be sound like long time for something they're calling a consumable. Model is T14s gen 2 so this should be a readily available given the t14 is in wide use in businesses.
i like how you doing a sponsored video with great effort and information without selling too much
Thanks. The intent here is information, not subjective opinions.
I don’t have any money for that, so that’s not even on my radar
This is looking like that other video "What To Look For In A Laptop and What We Use" when at the end was just an AD for Razer. Thank you SponsorBlock .
That wasn't our video. We always, always put the sponsor callout in the first few minutes.
Another ad perhaps? At least this one clearly shows and states that it's sponsored. HWC has been a shilling channel recently. I hope it's at least honest, but they clearly accept Lenovo talking points. Thanks for the video Mike, at least it was more information based instead of only fake 'wow' buzzes.
Everyone accepts talking points for sponsored videos. The difference is we actually admit when a video is sponsored and pay the price for that in the comments. Also, I recommend you watch the video as there are ZERO recommendations or subjective talking points that highlight these laptops as being superior to competitors. The only minor exception to that is the keyboard discussion but at this point, after so many independent reviews, Lenovo's keyboard superiority is pretty much an objective fact.
@HardwareCanucks as always love the content from the group. There is a large disparity between your sponsored videos and let's say J's 😂
@@HardwareCanucks I don't agree with your first point, there are reviewers who clearly dictate what they want to say and talk about, and don't accept any forced points. Just Josh has a pretty clear video about this. I will also say that the other person on this channel reviewing laptops doesn't make it very clear that it is sponsored, in this video you clearly put it on the top right corner and mentioned it in a specific part. In another (yoga?) review, he just mentions it really quickly as he is talking among the lines of " oh and this is sponsored btw" . I also know that a lot of peopl ehave been complaining about your channel recently, so maybe take this feedback and do something with it. In my last sentence I did mention that I watched it, hence I thank you for the video and say that this one is at least information based, instead of a full on promotion. I also really like Lenovo laptops, and yes their keyboards are superior, but this was never my point. Im a long time viewer of this channel but having to mention that now sucks, it shouldn't have to matter.
Nice but a tad overpriced, methinks.
Funny no mention of the Ryzen models, which everyone with at least half a brain would go for instead.
Absolutely not. If you are shopping for an AMD laptop, you should buy a previous generation model. Anyone with half a brain would see that AMD simply rebranded their 7000-series and is charging an "Ai Tax" on new models. They're typically more expensive than Intel too these days, at least in many regions.
You guy only need 8 hours to work in a day?
Within 8 hours I'd expect you to be somewhere near a charger. ;)
“Insane 200 nits”💀
See the correction. ;)
insane its that bad
See so many broken yogas in the shop lol
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Not so helpful buyer content, since it's just one company and a paid promotion.
The intent was to distill a single lineup into a single video. The same will be done with ASUS, HP and a few others. Adding competing laptops introduces potential bias since it is, as stated, a sponsored video.
Welp, let's just hope that this garbage helps to finance proper videos later.
The best buying option for this laptop is to not buy it
This video should only have to be about 5 seconds long. All that's needed to be said is this... "Please resist buying Chinese products".
While commenting on a Chinese built product 😀🤡
@@jbli19 Yeah, that's the point (that flew right over your head).
And exactly which product out there in the laptop world isn't made in China?
Of course there's always that one xenophobic comment
@@HardwareCanucks It's one thing to proxy-support the CCP by promoting/buying a product made by a non-Chinese company who happens to use Chinese factories for the assembly of their products but it's a totally different thing to directly support the CCP by promoting/buying products made by Chinese companies. In one scenario you choose to get paid to shill for the CCP. In the other the company who's paying you chooses to shill for the CCP. Both are obviously terrible alternatives but one of them is way worse and very easily avoidable. Lots of people these days seem to believe that earning/saving some money is more important than refusing to supporting genocide, forced slave labor, a total lack of human rights, a government who hates and wants to rule/kill us all, the worst pollutor on earth... I can go on and on and on... and on. I'm just pointing it out when I see it. But hey, you do you.
Probably the more problematic laptop design of the last decade or so, Lenovo yoga series is just e-waste, thank you very much. You should keep your ThinkPads but make sure it's T or P series
Can you link to proof? We have consistently seen Lenovo laptops being the highest rated on third party sites (Best Buy for example) for short to mid-term use. In the office we've had several Yogas being used as lab input devices for 2 years or more without any of the problems associated with the Dells, HP's and ASUS' we've used alongside them.
@@HardwareCanucks I didn't intend to claim that Lenovo makes only bad laptops, and I actaully wanted to praise the thinkpad lineup altough after reading what I wrote I've seen I made a typo where it actually said to not buy the T or P thinkpad series, but they're great laptops, incredibly durable I usually recomend them to my close family and friends, and they usually last near or even over a decade before showing ANY issues whatsoever. (I have since edited my original coment to fix this typo). For evidence on the issues with the yoga lineup I would point to laptop and PC repair YT channels, like salem techsperts, you could also google the issues and you'll see the sheer amount of the same issues. I think the most egrigious is the power button that has a critical design flaw and will definitely fail, and then you can't replace it, because you can't find it anywhere, it's non standard, and it's soldered to the motherboard! So you'd need to replace the whole motherboard to fix a power button. That's the worst one because it's in many model-year laptops and they just dont seem to want to fix it. Or sell replacement parts. I don't know if they finally did that recently, as I'm yet to disassemble one from the last 2 years or so. the second worst would be the hinge breaking on the bottom of the screen, also, very common, and frequently cracks the screen which makes it worse. There is one yoga model that had a great hinge design but most don't. There's also the keyboard, that is literally plastic-soldered to the chassi and can't be replaced by itself unless you just break things, you'd need to replace the whole chassi. Given the price point of the yogas as a technician I just can't recommend them, unless you plan on changing laptops every 2-3 years or even sooner. I say all that but my personal laptop is a very cheap lenovo ideapad, that's because I really don't need processing power on my laptop, I have a desktop for that, and so I wanted to spend the minimum possible on a device that I know will eventually break and I'll have to throw it out. But I chose lenovo because yeah, they're definitely better than HP, or Asus, but especially, anything is better than HP. Dell has it's issues but it also has very good quality laptops in it's range. If we compare to Acer or HP, the cheap lenovos will have longer lasting hinges, altough they will still fail, just, you know, a little slower. they will have longer lastng keyboards altough, again, they will still eventually fail quicker than they should, and definitely quicker than the hardware inside, the chassi will. the chassi also lasts longer but will also eventually fail (usually the hinges fail first and you throw it out though, before the chassi). When you consider I'm only replacing keyboards on thinkpad T series, P series or X series after about a decade, speakers on these never break, screens never break, somehow 10-13 years-old thinkpads can still hold 3-4hours on their original battery, the hinges NEVER fail, etc, etc. You know they are just making the other laptop models to fail, and for the price you pay on a Yoga series laptop that just shouldn't be the case. I can understand that on an ideapad-level pricing but not on a Yoga-level pricing. And then there's those power buttons... They are just shameful, clearly designed to fail! And why does ALL laptop manufacturers use plastic solder to glue their keyboards to the chassi nowadays? That's just anti-consumer design, you need to replace the entire chassi of your laptop to fix a single keyboard key that might break. The thinkpad series doesn't have this issue though, you don't even need to fully disassemble the laptop to remove the keboard, it just comes out from the top, it's great! And they have used this design on cheaper models before, dell has done it too! There's no reason to not use it, besides planned obsolescence.
Ah yes, more proof that this channel is mostly Lenovo Shills
We've been called Apple Shills, Razer Shills, NVIDIA shills, Intel Shills, Logitech Shills, ASUS Shills, OMEN Shills, Dell Shills.....may as well add Lenovo to that list too! Thanks!
Personally found this helpful and as they said they will ve doing more laptop buying guides going forward.
@@HardwareCanucksI guess you're just general all-round shills? LoL