Lenovo Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 Assessment: Huge Display screen 2-in-1 Laptop computer With a Small Worth

7.8/ 10
SCORE

Lenovo Yoga 7 16 Gen 9

Professionals

• Inflexible, all-aluminum enclosure
• Aggressive efficiency for the value
• Prolonged battery life

Cons

• Fuzzy textual content on 16-inch, 2K show
• Weak audio output
• Considerably unwieldy in pill mode

The Lenovo Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 continues a pattern of midpriced, AMD-powered two-in-one laptops we have seen this yr. I simply reviewed the smaller Yoga 7 14 Gen 9 and, earlier than that, the Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 7445 and the HP Envy x360 16. The least costly of this group, the Lenovo Yoga 7 16 Gen 9, includes a Ryzen 5 8640HS processor to the others’ higher-end Ryzen 7 8840HS CPU and half the RAM at solely 8GB. Nevertheless, between this Ryzen 5/8GB config and its Ryzen 7/16GB rivals, the distinction in efficiency is not as nice as you may suppose.

Plus, if you wish to outfit the Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 with a Ryzen 7 8840HS and 16GB of RAM, you may for $100 extra. What you may’t improve, sadly, is the system’s 1,920×1,200-pixel IPS show. The decision is ok for normal dwelling use of searching the online, enjoying informal pill video games and watching YouTube and Netflix, however textual content seems fuzzy, and pictures seem a bit pixelated when you’re seated shut. 

A 16-inch two-in-one laptop computer wants a better decision if it is your on a regular basis workhorse. With its 2.8K OLED show, the HP Envy x360 16 is a more sensible choice as your main laptop computer, however it prices just a few hundred greater than the Yoga 7 16 Gen 9. At $800 — and I’ve seen it on sale at Greatest Purchase for as little as $550 — the Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 is healthier suited as a cheap secondary system for the house or in case you simply do not spend numerous time in entrance of a pc and desire a large display while you do.

Our Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 take a look at system is a set configuration (mannequin 83DM0004US) that sells for $800 at Best Buy and might drop to $550. It includes a 16-inch, 1,920×1,200-pixel IPS show powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 8640HS, 8GB of RAM and an built-in AMD Radeon 760M GPU. For storage, it provides a 512GB SSD. There’s additionally a model for $900 (model 83DM0003US) at Greatest Purchase with a Ryzen 7 8840HS, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. The improved processor and double the reminiscence and storage capability are well worth the added $100. 

There are additionally two Intel-based fashions obtainable at Greatest Purchase: a Core Ultra 5 model for $900 and a Core Ultra 7 unit for $1,050. And every might be discovered for a whole bunch much less when Greatest Purchase’s revolving reductions land on them.

There isn’t any AMD model of the Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 obtainable within the UK or Australia, however you will discover Intel Core Extremely fashions beginning at £1,060 in the UK and AU$2,129 in Australia. 

Lenovo Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 efficiency

The AMD fashions of the Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 are based mostly on the chipmaker’s Hawk Point Ryzen 8040 series launched on the finish of final yr. So, the Ryzen 5 8640HS in our take a look at system is a reasonably current launch, however it’s not a member of AMD’s newest Strix Point Ryzen AI series of cellular CPUs. However simply because AMD labels this newest technology as “Ryzen AI” doesn’t suggest the earlier Ryzen 8040 sequence chips are devoid of AI processing means. The TOPS depend is larger with Strix Level, however Hawk Level CPUs have NPUs able to 16 TOPS and a platform whole of 39 TOPS. (See our TOPS explainer for extra details about this metric for measuring AI efficiency.)

It falls in need of the 45 TOPS minimal to be labeled as a Copilot Plus PC, however it does supply a number of the similar AI options you will discover on a Copilot Plus PC. With the webcam, for instance, you get background results that blur your background and computerized framing that zooms and pans to maintain you focused within the fame. You miss out, nevertheless, on the portrait mild and artistic filter results that you simply get with a Copilot Plus PC.

Different AI options included on the Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 embrace the Picture Creator software within the Paint and Pictures apps that allow you to generate photographs utilizing textual content prompts. And there is a Stay Captions function that gives real-time captions and English translations of audio enjoying on the laptop computer.

When it comes to utility efficiency, the Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 was capable of dangle near pricier two-in-one fashions based mostly on a Ryzen 7 8840HS and the far more costly HP Spectre x360 16 that has an Intel Core Extremely chip. It was really higher than the Spectre x360 16 on PCMark 10 and the single-core Geekbench 6 take a look at. It fell again on the multicore Geekbench 6 take a look at as a result of its Ryzen 5 8640HS has fewer bodily cores and processing threads than the Spectre’s Extremely Core 7 155H chip and the Ryzen 7 8840HS processor within the different fashions within the charts beneath.

The Ryzen 5 8640HS has six cores and 12 threads, and the Ryzen 7 8840HS has eight cores and 16 threads. Extra cores and threads result in superior multicore efficiency.

The identical holds true with the Ryzen 5’s built-in GPU in contrast with that of the Ryzen 7. The Radeon 760M chip built-in into the Ryzen 5 options eight graphics cores to the 12 cores you get with Radeon 780M graphics on a Ryzen 7. There’s additionally a slight distinction within the graphics frequency of the 2 GPUs, however the distinction in cores has a larger impact on efficiency. Neither goes to show a laptop computer right into a gaming machine, however you may see that the Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 was a step behind the Ryzen 7-based fashions with Radeon 780M graphics on our 3DMark Time Spy benchmark, with the Intel-based Spectre x360 16 and its built-in Intel Arc graphics main the best way.

The Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 ran for almost 11 hours on our on-line streaming battery drain take a look at, which is an effective consequence for such a large-screen laptop computer. The show is a reasonably low-resolution IPS show, which helps; high-res OLED shows are inclined to devour larger battery assets.

Huge show, small sound

The Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 is solely a bigger model of the Yoga 7 14 Gen 9 I simply reviewed. Each function a relatively easy brushed aluminum look and a inflexible, all-metal design. The 16-inch model finds room for a devoted quantity pad and places the speaker grill above the keyboard as a substitute of on both facet. Sadly, Lenovo did not outfit the 16-inch mannequin with quad audio system, which might have helped enhance the audio output. Many occasions, bigger laptops function quad audio system since they’ve the room to incorporate two additional audio system, however the Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 sadly includes a fundamental pair of two-watt stereo audio system that produce sometimes tinny laptop computer sound. 

Along with protecting the audio system the identical on the 16-inch mannequin because the 14-inch, Lenovo additionally retains the show decision the identical. The 1,920×1,200-pixel decision is enough for a 14-inch show, however it’s not fairly sufficient on a 16-inch panel. If you’re contemplating the Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 as your on a regular basis laptop and can spend lengthy stretches studying textual content on its display, you will need one thing else: textual content and the sides of photographs look barely fuzzy on it. Issues are a lot crisper on the two,880×1,800-pixel show of the HP Envy x360 16, for instance, which additionally has the added benefit of being an OLED with superior distinction to that of the Yoga 7 16 Gen 9’s IPS LCD. 

Nonetheless, it is not the worst IPS panel. It is rated for a modest 300 nits, and I measured a peak brightness of 379 nits with a Spyder X Elite colorimeter. It is positively vibrant sufficient to make use of in even the brightest indoor environments. Nevertheless, its coloration efficiency was poor. It coated solely 64% of sRGB, 49% of AdobeRGB and 50% of P3 coloration areas.

The Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 weighs 4.4 kilos, which is common for its measurement. The Envy x360 16 is lighter at 3.9 kilos, and the Spectre x360 16 weighs roughly the identical at 4.3 kilos. In contrast with the 4.8-pound Apple MacBook Professional 16, it is appreciably lighter.

Like all 16-inch two-in-one laptop computer, the Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 is awkward to function in pill mode. The hinge is agency sufficient to assist the big show, however the sheer measurement of the show itself makes folding it round into pill mode cumbersome. Utilizing such a big show in pill mode just isn’t as simple as working a thinner, smaller, and lighter iPad. That stated, utilizing it in tent mode for a presentation or with an exterior keyboard and mouse or in show mode for binge-watching a present makes the convertible design worthwhile. 

Is the Lenovo Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 a very good laptop computer?

Sure, the Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 is an effective alternative in case you are purchasing for a two-in-one laptop computer and don’t desire to spend so much on it. It provides aggressive efficiency and lengthy battery life, however it’s higher as a secondary laptop computer that you will use for leisure — watching reveals and flicks, searching the online and enjoying informal pill video games — than a main laptop as a result of its show decision is a notch beneath the place it must be for a 16-inch display. On this case, the HP Envy x360 16 is well worth the added cash for its higher-resolution OLED show.