Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 overview: Greatness at each flip

Greatest Costs Right this moment: Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version

Normally, after I consider a high-end laptop computer, I consider one which has pulled out the entire stops, going far too unique on construct supplies, cramming an excessive amount of {hardware} in too skinny a machine, and winding up with an exorbitant price ticket that completely illustrates the idea of diminishing returns. At first look, the Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version seems to be prefer it may simply be that form of machine.

With a high-power CPU, a discrete GPU, and two show choices that each are geared as much as dazzle, the Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version definitely has the {hardware}, however it’s packed right into a modest aluminum body that’s not overly formidable in its thinness. And with a $1,949 price ticket for the potent configuration examined right here, it appears like Lenovo struck the proper stability, delivering strong high quality in all places it counts to make for a really respectable machine for folk who want a machine that may do a little bit of every part and do it nicely. 

Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version: Specs and options

• Mannequin quantity: 83L00009US
• CPU: Intel Core Extremely 9 285H
• Reminiscence: 32GB LPDDR5x-8400
• Graphics/GPU: Nvidia RTX 5050 8GB (100-watt TGP)
• Show: 16-inch 2.8K OLED, 120Hz, DisplayHDR True Black 1000, Contact
• Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD
• Webcam: 5MP + IR
• Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 with 65-100W Energy Supply and DisplayPort 2.1, 2x USB-A 5Gbps, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x SDcard reader, 1x 3.5mm combo audio
• Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
• Biometrics: Home windows Good day fingerprint, facial recognition
• Battery capability: 84 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 14.28 x 9.99 x 0.75 inches
• Weight: 4.52 kilos
• MSRP: $1,949 as-tested ($1,869 base)

On the time of testing, the Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version was obtainable in just some configurations. All of them shared the identical Intel Core Extremely 9 285H CPU, 32GB of reminiscence, and 1TB of storage. The kind of show and GPU have been the one completely different factors.

Lenovo gives the choice between a 2880×1800 OLED show paired with an RTX 5050 for $1,999 and a 3200×2000 Tandem OLED paired with an RTX 5060 for $2,299, although on the time of writing, these costs have been discounted to $1,899 and $1,949 respectively. Greatest Purchase additionally had the previous configuration obtainable for $1,949. 

Along with its preconfigured fashions, Lenovo provides a customized configuration software. This begins at $1,869 for a similar configuration as the bottom mannequin above. However you may improve to 64GB of reminiscence, an RTX 5070, and the three.2K Tandem OLED show for $560 extra. Or you may persist with the bottom specs and simply improve to the Tandem OLED for $150 further. 

Lenovo’s full technical specs for the product recommend fairly a number of extra configurations to come back, together with contact and non-touch show choices and an Intel Core Extremely 7 255H.

Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version: Design and construct high quality

IDG / Mark Knapp

The Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version is easy and stylish, however somewhat bland because of this. Lenovo has executed a pleasant job rounding corners in all places for a smoother feel and look, although the perimeters of the keyboard deck may nonetheless be somewhat extra rounded for consolation. That stated, it’s nonetheless an enormous grey slab, and nothing about it being an “Aura Version” provides it something greater than an aura of plainness. 

The development is nice. Nearly in all places you look — other than the keycaps — is easy aluminum or glass, together with the show and its bezels. There’s some flex right here and there, however it’s very slight. The show hinge strikes easily, and is straightforward to open with one hand because of the burden of the bottom and somewhat lip on the high of the display for this objective and to offer extra space to the webcam and IR sensor. The hinge does wiggle for a second or two after transferring the show or shifting the laptop computer round, however it holds agency whereas I’m typing. 

The bottom sits on three rubber toes, an extended one on the again and two small ones on the entrance. These are taller than is typical on productiveness laptops, and this helps create an additional giant channel beneath the laptop computer for airflow into the massive grille beneath. Most of this grille is stuffed in, with sections at both facet truly serving as intakes for the 2 followers. 

Lenovo has squeezed in six audio system in whole with two tweeters and 4 woofers. You’ll discover audio system on both facet of the keyboard and on the perimeters beneath the laptop computer. 

Ports are all packed moderately shut collectively on both facet of the laptop computer, together with a devoted energy plug. The fitting edge additionally features a privateness shutter swap that deactivates the digicam — good to see and simpler to keep away from by accident swiping each time I open the laptop computer, although rather less reassuring than a shutter that truly covers up the digicam sensor.

The Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version’s energy button can also be on the proper fringe of the laptop computer, the place it’s somewhat too straightforward to by accident press any time I shift the laptop computer round on a desk or desk. 

With all of the Lenovo has jammed into this 16-inch laptop computer, it’s little shock that it’s over 4 kilos, however at simply 4.52 kilos, it’s not unreasonably heavy. The laptop computer has a tapered design, seeing it sit at about 0.7 inches thick close to the entrance and 0.75 inches thick close to the again, although the rubber toes add virtually 0.2 inches to that. At 14.28 inches extensive and 9.99 inches lengthy, it’s nonetheless pretty modest in dimension for a 16-inch laptop computer.

Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version: Keyboard, trackpad

IDG / Mark Knapp

The Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version has a fairly good keyboard on it. It’s somewhat bland to have a look at with its drab grey keycaps, however that doesn’t damage its usability. Due to the slight dish to every keycap, good stabilization, and a brief, poppy journey, I used to be capable of rapidly stand up to a 118-word-per-minute typing pace with 98 % accuracy in Monkeytype.

Consolation whereas typing is a matter although. The laptop computer’s depth makes the keyboard fairly a attain up the keyboard deck even for me (I’m 6’3”), and this leaves my wrists urgent into the entrance lip of the laptop computer, which isn’t very snug. It can also take some adjusting, because the keyboard is off-center to make room for a full quantity pad, albeit with keys barely narrower than commonplace. 

The keyboard has vibrant backlighting that may even be seen within the daytime with ambient lighting. It successfully illuminates the keycap legends. It has two ranges, and a 3rd choice lets it activate robotically. It’s a bit too aggressive, although, turning on even in a room a lot vibrant for seeing the keys. 

The trackpad right here is substantial. It’s each extensive and tall, offering an enormous floor to mouse round on and carry out multi-finger gestures. Its glass floor can also be splendidly easy. It has a shallow journey to carry out bodily clicks with a pleasant mushy really feel.

Just like the keyboard, it’s off-center, shifted to the left barely to be centered underneath the keyboard alphanumerics. For left-handed customers, this can be best. However for righties, it won’t be. I usually discover this alignment has me largely utilizing the proper facet of the trackpad, so after I go for a bodily click on, it finally ends up being a proper click on as a substitute of the left click on. When you faucet to click on, it gained’t be an issue although.

Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version: Show, audio

IDG / Mark Knapp

The Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version has a completely glorious show, and this configuration of the system has the lower-end show choice. The upper-tier’s tandem OLED show ought to solely enhance on its high quality. The one high quality to knock is that the display is shiny, which leaves it topic to glare when set to low brightness ranges. Past that, it’s sensible.

It’s completely sharp for a show its dimension, and its variable refresh charge retains visuals easy at as much as 120Hz whereas additionally offering power financial savings by dropping as little as 30Hz. The show provides 100% protection of the DCI-P3 shade house and gives an inexpensive diploma of accuracy, hitting a median dE1976 of 0.95 and a max of two.4 — a little bit of calibration would possible have it prepared for skilled shade work. In SDR, the show was capable of attain a peak brightness of 486.1 nits for a full white display, and with its OLED panel, it may obtain good blacks for infinite distinction.

Turning on HDR, the show’s capabilities leap up even increased. I measured the fullscreen white peak brightness at 606 nits, and when displaying a ten % window of white, it achieved 1040 nits. The show is even a responsive touchscreen. 

With its set of two tweeters and 4 woofers, the Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version places out spectacular sound for a laptop computer. Most spectacular is the clear, low-end it gives, giving musical bass strains a pleasant heft. In the meantime, the higher registers get a clear presentation, albeit somewhat bit missing in brilliance. There’s even some stunning stereo imaging.

When listening to music with the laptop computer at a cushty distance for typing, I used to be caught off guard by how sounds truly appeared to be coming from my sides and never simply from the laptop computer proper in entrance of me. At full quantity, the audio system can distort somewhat, however they sound moderately loud even at 50 % quantity. 

Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

IDG / Mark Knapp

The webcam on the Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version is superb. It may exhibit somewhat noise within the video, however in any other case has a really sharp picture with pure lighting that appears nice. Although Lenovo doesn’t have a bodily shutter to cowl the lens, it does present a {hardware} swap on the facet of the laptop computer to disable the digicam. The webcam additionally gives Home windows Good day facial recognition, which has labored rapidly all through my testing. You gained’t discover fingerprint scanning although.

The mics aren’t fairly as spectacular. On one hand, they decide up my voice clearly with none bizarre compression artifacts. However alternatively, they’re not doing a lot to eradicate background noise, selecting up issues like a close-by fan and my palms clapping — noises I’ve seen some laptops fully eradicate whereas nonetheless selecting up my voice nicely. 

Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version: Connectivity

IDG / Mark Knapp

The Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version gives respectable connectivity, each wired and wi-fi. You’ll discover two USB-C ports on the left edge providing Thunderbolt 4/USB4 capabilities and as much as 100W energy supply to cost the laptop computer in case you overlook the usual charger (a 170W unit with Lenovo’s charging plug). The ports additionally assist DisplayPort 2.1, however you may depend on the HDMI 2.1 port for video output as nicely. The left facet is rounded out by a 3.5mm audio jack.

On the proper facet, you’ll discover a pair of 5Gbps USB-A ports and a full-size SD card reader. It will have been good to see 10Gbps ports or a minimum of to get the USB-C ports break up between the 2 sides. 

For wi-fi connections, the Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version provides Wi-Fi 7, and it’s confirmed each quick and dependable in my testing, by no means exhibiting indicators of lag or being gradual to re-establish a connection when booting up the machine. Bluetooth 5.4 can also be supported, and it has labored persistently whereas listening to audio on Bluetooth headphones.

Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version: Efficiency

The Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version is constructed like many different productiveness laptops within the 16-inch class. This sees it face off towards fashions just like the Acer Swift 16 AI, the HP OmniBook X Flip 16, the Dell Inspiron 16 Plus, and the Dell 16 Plus, which all provided as-tested costs a whole bunch of {dollars} beneath the Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version.

However, even because the Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version competes on dimension and weight with these different methods (save for the notably skinny and light-weight Acer Swift 16 AI), it goes somewhat heavier in efficiency with a extra strong CPU choice and a discrete GPU, an inclusion solely the Dell Inspiron 16 Plus made at its as-tested worth.

The Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version provides glorious efficiency because of its mixture of a high-end CPU within the Core Extremely 9 285H — a 16-core beast — with loads of reminiscence, quick storage, and its discrete GPU. The RTX 5050 inside provides it a powerful edge in content material creation, the place it outpaced all of those different methods, together with the RTX 4060-powered Dell Inspiron 16 Plus. 

Cinebench helps us see simply how a lot of an edge Lenovo’s alternative of CPU provides the Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version. In Cinebench R23, the Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version merely obliterates the efficiency provided by the Intel Core Extremely 7 256V and Intel Core Extremely 7 258V, greater than doubling their outcomes. It even cruises forward of the Dell Inspiron 16 Plus.

It is a degree of efficiency that may put the Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version in league with heavy-duty gaming laptops, just like the Lenovo Legion 5i 15IRX10 operating on an Intel Core i7-14700HX. The CPU’s single-core efficiency can also be distinctive, giving it all of the efficiency it must really feel responsive and energy via heavy workloads. 

That efficiency is showcased nicely in our Handbrake encoding take a look at. That is successfully an extension of our CPU take a look at, because it duties the system with an extended multi-core workload encoding a big video file. This not solely requires a robust CPU to carry out nicely but additionally strong cooling to stop warmth from build up and slowing the system down because the take a look at stretches on.

Right here, we see the Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version do an important job, protecting its encoding time at underneath 11 minutes. That’s not solely nicely beneath the encoding instances of those different machines, a few of which nearly ran for half-hour, however it even slips beneath the encoding time of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370-powered Razer Blade 16 (2025). 

Although the Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version might need already efficiently set itself other than its competitors on CPU efficiency alone, its discrete GPU helps take it to a different degree nonetheless. Intel Arc graphics work wonders for light-weight productiveness machines, however even lower-tier discrete GPUs present a world of distinction. That’s true of the RTX 4060 within the Dell Inspiron 16 Plus and much more so for the RTX 5050 within the Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version.

That discrete GPU soared forward of the competitors in 3DMark’s Time Spy benchmark, a moderately demanding graphical take a look at. Regardless of its thinner design and largely quiet operation, the Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version truly managed to supply efficiency that strains up with many RTX 4060-powered gaming laptops.  

Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version: Battery life

With as a lot efficiency because the Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version was comfortable to place down, it’s unsurprising that it falls a bit behind its rivals the place battery life is worried. The Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version nonetheless managed a commendable runtime of virtually 14 hours, however a lot of the different machines pushed nearer to 17 or 18 hours, besides the Dell 16 Plus, which additionally had a small 63Wh battery. 

Whereas that’s not as spectacular as these different machines, it’s not a nasty exhibiting, notably for a machine with a discrete GPU and higher-power CPU. It’s putting a pleasant stability with efficiency that borders on gaming laptop computer whereas sustaining battery life extra in keeping with productiveness machines. Its offline video playback efficiency additionally carried over nicely into real-world use, the place I used to be simply capable of get via a full workday on battery energy (albeit with out tapping into the dGPU). 

Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version: Conclusion

The Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version is a superb machine. It comes at a worth, however the premium isn’t so unreasonable when factoring in all that it brings to the desk. Not solely do you get distinctive efficiency from the internals, however you get them in a well-built bundle with loads of extras to get enthusiastic about. The audio system and show mix for an important leisure expertise. The chassis is elegant and feels strong. And even with such high-power {hardware}, the Yoga Professional 9i 16 Gen 10 Aura Version is comfortable to run on battery energy for a complete workday. When you want a machine that largely excels in each respect, you’ve simply discovered it.