Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 Review: Best of Both Worlds?

Lenovo’s Yoga laptop lineup has included a 2-in-1 option for a couple of years now. Now, the company has brought the new Intel Core Ultra H-series processors to the Yoga 7i 2-in-1 variant, along with OLED displays and improved battery life. The new Yoga 7i 2-in-1 can also be called an AI laptop as it comes with a dedicated Copilot key.

After using the Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 for more than a week, here’s what I think of the convertible laptop. While I’m not a fan of convertibles, be it laptops or cars, the Yoga 7i could be an option for those looking to get the best of both worlds – a laptop and a tablet.

Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 price in India

Starting with the price, the Yoga 7i 2-in-1 is not too expensive, nor is it cheap. It starts at Rs. 1,01,990 for the variant with the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H CPU, a 14-inch OLED display with WUXGA resolution, and 16GB RAM. This is the variant that was sent to us for review.

The laptop has rounded edges that make it comfortable to hold

There’s also a variant with the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU, 14-inch OLED WUXGA display, and 16GB RAM priced at 1,19,990. Finally, you can get the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H option with a 2.8K OLED display and 32GB RAM for Rs. 1,29,990. All variants come with integrated Intel Arc graphics. The laptop has two colour options – Tidal Teal and Storm Grey. In the box, the Yoga 7i 2-in-1 also comes with the Lenovo Digital Pen and a 65W charger. We received the Tidal Teal variant.

Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 Review: Design and display

Let’s talk about design. The Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 features an all-aluminium design with curved edges and rounded corners. There are no sharp edges anywhere on the laptop. The design language is also very minimal, with the lid carrying a small Lenovo logo and the Yoga branding. As this is a 2-in-1 laptop, I must talk about the 360-degree hinge. Lenovo says that they’ve reduced the hinge size, making it easier to open the lid with one hand. I found that to be true, but that’s also thanks to the reverse notch at the top for the web camera, IR sensor, and microphone. The hinge feels super durable, and I don’t think it should cause any issues in the long run. You also get a slight lift with the hinge when using the laptop in regular mode, and it also helps in better cooling.

You get plenty of connectivity options on the Yoga 7i 2-in-1, but the Power button is in an odd place

Moving over to the sides, the laptop has all the necessary ports that you’ll need. The power button on the laptop is placed on the right side edge alongside the microSD card slot and a USB Type-A (USB 3.2) port. The power button placement is not ideal, as I found myself pressing the button by mistake and locking the laptop when simply trying to lift it using the right edge. You’ll find an HDMI 2.1 port on the left edge, dual Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C ports, and a combo headphone port. The rear houses the exhaust vents.

The bottom of the laptop has two large grilles for cooling and rubber feet. The panel is removable and is made from 50 percent recycled aluminium. The laptop weighs 1.49kg and is 16.64mm thin at its thinnest. It is also rated to withstand 21 MIL-STD 810H durability tests, but I wouldn’t suggest dropping the laptop to find out. I did not find any flex on the lid or the back cover; everything is built solid.

In tent mode, the speakers face away from the user

Opening the lid reveals a keyboard and a large trackpad. The laptop has two speakers with grilles placed on either side of the keyboard. You get a 14-inch OLED display with slim bezels on all sides, 1920 x 1200 pixels resolution, 60Hz, and a 16:10 aspect ratio. The display is glossy but offers 400 nits of brightness with 600 nits of peak HDR brightness. It’s fine indoors but not usable outdoors due to the glossy panel. The blacks are deep, and the colours are vibrant. It offers great viewing angles and barely any colour shift. It’s an excellent panel for watching content, photo editing, and even drawing. When talking about drawing, the display supports multi-touch, and you also get a Lenovo Digital Pen 2 to use as a stylus. The display is also Dolby Vision HDR certified and covers 100 percent DCI-P3 colour space. There’s also a 2.8K PureSight OLED variant with a 120Hz refresh rate.

In tablet mode, the touch input is excellent, and you can use multi-touch gestures supported by Windows 11, but I mostly used the Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 in laptop mode. As a tablet, the Yoga 7i was a bit bulky for my taste, and I did not enjoy using it while walking around the house. You can use it in tent mode, but then the speakers are facing the wrong way.

Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 Review: Keyboard, Speakers, Touchpad, and Camera

The Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 has an excellent keyboard, and it’s kind of obvious that Lenovo also makes ThinkPad laptops, which are known for their keyboards. Typing on the 2-in-1 was a joy as the keyboard had enough key travel with good tactile feedback. The keys also have good spacing between them, so there’s no cramped feeling here. The laptop also has a dedicated Copilot key placed before the left arrow key. You can toggle the Copilot chatbot with just a press of the button. The keyboard is also backlit with two levels of brightness and an adaptive mode that can automatically dim or brighten the backlight based on the environment.

The Yoga 7i 2-in-1 offers a good typing experience

Lenovo has given two speakers on the laptop. The speakers are placed on either side of the keyboard and are, therefore, top-firing. They’re not super loud, but the quality is good. There’s no cracking, and you also get Dolby Atmos support. However, the placement is somewhat flawed, as the speakers move to the back when you’re using the laptop in tablet mode or tent mode. You’ll probably need to use headphones if you’re in a loud environment.

Below the keyboard, you get a large touchpad that supports multi-touch gestures on Windows 11. The clicks are good, and the surface is smooth. When in tablet mode, the touchpad and keyboard are also disabled automatically.

In tablet mode, the laptop is considerably thick and not easy to hold

Moving on to the web camera, the Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 has a full-HD camera and comes with a privacy shutter. The video quality is good, and you also get support for AI features such as Windows Studio effects and smart gestures. The notch housing the web camera also gets an IR blaster with support for facial login via Windows Hello.

Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 Review: Specifications and software

Alright, let’s talk about specifications. The 2-in-1 laptop is well equipped and comes with either the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H or the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU. The chipset is paired with the integrated Intel Arc graphics. You can configure the laptop with up to 32GB LPDDR5X-7467 RAM and up to 1TB NVMe storage. Both of these are soldered, so no, you can’t upgrade RAM or storage.

In terms of connectivity, the Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 offers Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

The 360-degree hinge on the laptop seems durable

The laptop runs Windows 11 Home out-of-the-box and comes bundled with Office Home and Student 2021. There’s no special software here, but you get Copilot support with a dedicated key. It also features Lenovo AI Engine+, Windows Studio Effects, Smart Noise Cancellation, and a few other handy features. You also get the Lenovo Vantage software that lets you fine-tune the system as per your preferences. There’s Super Resolution, Dolby Atmos sound profiles, various modes tailored for different activities, three power modes, and features such as Flip to Boot that lets you turn on the laptop as soon as you flip open the lid, similar to an Apple MacBook.

Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 Review: Performance

Coming to the performance, the laptop is excellent for daily usage, content consumption, and some creative work. During my time using the Yoga 7i 2-in-1, I never ran into any major issues. 

You get excellent battery life from the laptop with regular usage

Multitasking on the laptop is also great, especially in tablet mode. The thermal management is also good, with the inbuilt cooling system doing a great job of keeping the heat to a minimum. However, there were a couple of times when the laptop would randomly run hot and turn on the fan without running any programs, but that’s probably a Windows 11 bug. Overall, the laptop offers very good performance.

Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 Review: Battery life

The battery life on the Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 is really good. Lenovo has packed a 71Whr battery inside. The laptop consistently delivered a day’s worth of usage with browsing, working with multiple tabs on Chrome, watching YouTube videos, streaming on Netflix, and some light photo editing. This was the case in both regular laptop and tablet modes, with tablet mode actually offering longer battery life.

The laptop comes with a manual privacy shutter for the web camera

The laptop comes with a 65W charger in the box that offers fast charging support. It takes about 1.5 hours to fully charge the laptop, and you get about 80 percent battery with just a 30-minute charge.

Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 Review: Verdict

As I mentioned in the beginning, I’m not a big fan of 2-in-1 laptops, but if you’re looking for a powerful laptop that can also be used as a tablet, the Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 is a good choice. Even the base variant, priced at Rs. 1,01,990, is a good option, and you’ll get excellent performance and long-lasting battery from the laptop. The OLED display is great for content consumption and creative work, but you can pay more and get the 2.8K OLED panel with 120Hz refresh for an even better experience. The only drawbacks are the speakers and the inability to upgrade storage. Overall, though, the Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 is an easy-to-recommend 2-in-1 laptop.