Lenovo reveals holiday laptop lineup

Lenovo is introducing a number of new products including the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i laptop with cover, the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 convertible laptop, and the Lenovo Legion Slim 7i gaming laptop.

They offer the next-gen Intel Core processors (coming soon) combined with graphics based on the Intel Xe architecture.

The Yoga 9i also comes in a larger 15-inch option with up to 10th Gen Intel Core i9 HK-Series mobile processor enhanced by up to NVIDIA GTX 1650 Ti with Max-Q Design.

The 15-inch Yoga 9i includes up to 16GB DDR4 memory and up to 2TB PCIe SSD storage, as well as discrete graphics.

The Yoga 9i Slim and convertible  

Leather coverings

For those inclined, on the new 14-inch Yoga Slim 9i laptop and optional on the 14-inch Yoga 9i convertible laptop is a black leather cover bonded with an aerospace-grade, aluminium chassis.

Each is inspected and tested to withstand wear and tear under several conditions, including UV light exposure and tension, up to 3 kg of pulling force is applied to test durability.

The Yoga 9i convertible is also offered in all-metal and multiple colours, including warm Mica on the 14-inch and Slate Grey on the 15-inch model.

The 14-inch Yoga Slim 9i is 13.9mm thick and weighs 1.26kg.

Display and sound

It offers up to 4K touchscreen IPS VESA DisplayHDR 400 (3840 x 2160) and up to 90% DCI-P3 colour spectrum and 500 nits of brightness, optimised by Dolby Vision.

All of these consumer Yoga laptops include Dolby Vision for picture quality and sound powered by Dolby Atmos Speaker System, delivered through dual front-facing speakers on the Yoga Slim 9i laptop, or a Rotating Sound Bar on the Yoga 9i.

Design changes include a larger sound tunnel and optimised speaker placements in the convertible's hinge.

The Yoga Slim 9i model with UHD display also offers a 3D Curved-edge Display as a premium option.

Touchscreen is standard on the Yoga Slim 9i and Yoga 9i 2-in-1 convertibles. The 14-inch Yoga 9i weighs 1.37 kg and the 15.6-inch panel option, 2 kg. The display tones are adjustable using Eye Care Mode via Lenovo Vantage.

These new Yoga laptops are also capable of auto-upscaling video content quality to 4K from 1080p through use of machine learning in Windows Media Player and web browsers, known as Super Resolution 2.0.

Thermals

The devices have thermal venting holes on the underside of the keyboard, which lowers the device temperature by an average of two degrees Celsius over the previous generation. The hidden heat vent behind the Yoga 9i's rotating hinge has increased in size, while the fan blades are slimmer.

Interface

Both convertibles come with Windows Ink and a garaged active pen that recharges inside the PC. The new elastomer nib on the Yoga 9i's digital pen replicates a smoother tactile feel when writing.

The 14-inch models offer an edge-to-edge Glass Palm Rest and the Smart Sensor Touchpad provides vibrations when pressed to recreate the feeling of a click.

The shift to haptic feedback allows for an increase to the touchpad's clickable active surface area by nearly half, and it is coated with a fingerprint-resistant finish.

Security

The new Ultrasonic Fingerprint Reader is more accurate and liquid-resistant, working with damp or freshly sanitised fingers.

The Lenovo laptops power on when the lid is opened and new laptop keyboards come with soft-landing dome-design keypads. The Yoga Slim 9i also comes with a Smart Sense Keyboard that auto-adjusts your keyboard's white backlighting based on ambient light conditions.

The Yoga 9i includes a built-in webcam privacy shutter – an electrical shutter switch on the side to cut power to the Yoga Slim 9i's built-in infrared (IR).

The IR camera and Windows Hello work with Lenovo Smart Assist to enable a more secure hands-free facial recognition login, shoulder-surfing Privacy Alerts and automatic screen-locking when you walk away, due to attention-sensing software from Glance by Mirametrix.

The laptop will sound an alarm if moved without permission.

Alexa

Alexa capability is included and works when the PC is locked to set reminders, control your smart home, play music and either a skip song or up the volume without having to switch out of the application you are using.

The Alexa Announcement feature allows the broadcast of short voice messages to Alexa-enabled devices.

Battery

The Yoga Slim 9i includes a dual charging allows faster charging and better performance without overheating and straining the system.

This feature along with increased battery capacity, up from 52WHr to 63.5WHr, means reduced fan noise and a longer battery life of up to 20 hours with up to 4 hours of local video playback after charging in 15 minutes.

Three full-functional Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports placed on either side of the Yoga Slim 9i allow super-fast transfer speeds.

The 14-inch Yoga 9i convertible includes Bluetooth 5.1 and Intel Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) and two Thunderbolt 4 ports with up to 18 hours of battery life and Rapid Charge Express.

Charge fast with Rapid Charge Boost on the 15-inch Yoga 9i convertible and get up to 13 total hours of battery life.

Lenovo's Q-Control's AI-powered Intelligent Cooling is built-in to optimise battery life and thermals according to needs.

Performance modes such as Battery Saving Mode for quiet activities and Extreme Performance Mode for heavy-duty tasks are also available.

Legion Slim 7i for gaming

Lenovo Legion Slim 7i is, at this time, the world's lightest GeForce RTX gaming laptop available in a 15-inch model, with up to 10th Gen Intel Core i9 HK-series mobile processor.

Available in Slate Grey hue and made from aerospace-grade aluminium.

Graphics

With up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 with Max-Q Design GPUs for real-time ray tracing, Max-Q-configured laptops include features to increase performance and power optimisation like Advanced Optimus technology, which lets you manage system graphics by switching back and forth from integrated (for light workloads) and discrete graphics to extend battery life for max frame rates when gaming on models with Full HD panel option.

Max-Q Dynamic Boost technology automatically enables real-time GPU and CPU power balancing, allowing your system to dynamically shift power from the CPU to the GPU during heavy-duty activities like gaming.

By intelligently assessing your system's power demand on a frame-by-frame basis, a power shift only happens when it's needed, resulting in higher frame rates and smoother gaming for up to a 10% performance boost.

Other NVIDIA supported features on the Lenovo Legion Slim 7i with up to GeForce RTX GPUs include enhanced DLSS 2.0 (Deep Learning Super Sampling) technology, which uses AI to boost frame rates by up to two-times faster than the original while retaining a sharper image with half the pixels when ray tracing is enabled.

Hardware and software

17.9mm thick and weighing 1.86 kg means more mobility aided by a 71WHr battery for up to 7.75 hours of battery life and Rapid Charge Pro.

With machine-drilled holes applied above the keyboard, the redesigned air intake system is 31% larger on the Lenovo Legion Slim 7i to better manage heat dissipated during heavy gameplay with up to 115% more airflow going to the CPU and GPU than in previous generations.

An increased number of exhaust fan blades and a smarter 5-point sensor array that monitors the system to stay ahead of increased power demands keeps cooling fan noise levels down.

The immersive sound of Dolby Atmos Speaker System with Sound Radar by Dolby is set inside the laptop's acoustics chamber to reduce rattling.

A biometric fingerprint reader is built into the power button and it also includes the built-in Privacy Shutter on the top-placed webcam.

Choose up to 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (RAID 0) of storage, up to 32GB 3200 MHz DDR4 of memory, and multiple 15.6-inch screen options, including up to 4K IPS VESA DisplayHDR 400 with 100% Adobe RGB, a refresh rate of 60Hz, and 600 nits of brightness.

For eSports enthusiasts, the laptop offers 144 frames per second (FPS) at 144Hz for less lag on a Full HD IPS display with 100% sRGB colour gamut.

The displays offer an 85.6% screen viewing ratio and support Dolby Vision.

The Legion Slim 7i comes with a full-sized TrueStrike keyboard with second transition switches, 100% anti-ghosting, a dedicated number pad, full-sized arrow keys and a large glass trackpad and optional iCUE RGB individual key illumination.

It also includes Intel Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+)14, two Thunderbolt ports, and Bluetooth 5.

The Lenovo Vantage for Gaming software allows for customisability, and customers can get access to technical gaming advice from customer care team members when they opt for a Lenovo Legion Ultimate Support white-glove service package, included at no cost for the first year.

Pricing and Availability

• Yoga Slim 9i 14-inch laptop local pricing and availability not yet released.
• 14-inch Yoga 9i convertible laptop will start at NZ$3,999 / AU$3,199 for the leather-covered model is available from December 2020.
• 15-inch Legion Slim 7i local pricing and availability not yet released.