Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Review: Is It As Good As HP's OmniBook Ultra Flip?
September 2, 2025
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Yoga 9i vs. OmniBook Ultra Flip
Summary
While its competition is stiff, the Yoga 9i tries to carve out its place for students or light users who value versatility.
Table of contents:
Design & Build Quality
The Yoga 9i 2-in-1 looks and feels premium, with a sturdy mostly-metal chassis and minimal flex in both the keyboard deck and display. Its slightly larger footprint makes it less compact than some competitors, and the glossy lid is a magnet for fingerprints. Compared to rivals like the Dell XPS 13 or MacBook Air, its design feels just a touch dated.
Display & Pen Experience
Its 14-inch OLED touchscreen impresses with a 2880x1800 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and over 500 nits of brightness. Color coverage is excellent, making it suitable for media and light creative tasks. Pen input is smooth, responsive, and well-tuned for palm rejection. Users who prefer a “paper-like” feel may still lean toward HP’s OmniBook Ultra Flip, but Lenovo’s Slim Pen remains a highlight.
Keyboard, Trackpad & Ports
As expected from Lenovo, the keyboard is excellent—clicky, quiet, and satisfying. The inclusion of extra function keys and a fingerprint reader is thoughtful, though the backlight could be brighter. The trackpad, however, underwhelms. It works fine, but feels clunky compared to HP or Apple’s haptic ones.
Port selection is just okay: two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, an additional USB-C, and a USB-A. For many buyers, that USB-A could make the difference in day-to-day convenience, but the inclusion of an HDMI would have also been nice to see.
Performance & Battery Life
Equipped with Intel’s latest Lunar Lake CPUs, the Yoga 9i handles everyday workloads like Office apps, web browsing, and light coding without issue. However, performance benchmarks place it behind peers with more powerful processors like Apple’s M4 or AMD’s Ryzen 9.
Battery life is disappointing compared to competitors. While not terrible, it lags behind laptops like the Zenbook S 14 and HP’s OmniBook Ultra Flip. At least performance doesn’t throttle heavily on battery, which is a plus.
Multimedia & Gaming
Speakers housed in the hinge deliver immersive sound with better bass than most slim laptops. Casual gaming is possible thanks to integrated graphics, but don’t expect to run demanding modern titles at high settings.
Verdict
The Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition is a refined convertible laptop with standout features like its display, speakers, and keyboard. Its weaker battery life and lackluster trackpad hold it back from being the top choice in its class. For most buyers, HP’s OmniBook Ultra Flip edges ahead—but if you prefer Lenovo’s keyboard and want strong pen support, the Yoga 9i remains an excellent option, especially when it goes on sale.
Best for: students, home users, and professionals with light workloads who value pen input and premium build quality.