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Creators, engineers, and other professionals the world over rely on powerful 16-inch laptops to keep them working smoothly, even while staying mobile. The Dell XPS 16 (now the Dell 16 Premium), the Apple MacBook Pro 16, the Razer Blade 16 — these are all great choices, but there’s another excellent alternative on the block.
This is the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 (Gen 10) Aura Edition… which is a ridiculously long name for an incredibly capable laptop with a practical design, potent performance, and an impressive set of features that make it well-suited to almost any task.
It’s also well priced compared to the aforementioned competition, making it one of the easiest to recommend. While other laptops often focus on sleek and minimalist designs (often at the expense of features or practicality), the Yoga Pro 9i doesn’t cut any corners — or ports.
This review was made possible thanks to a review sample provided by Lenovo. Lenovo had no input nor saw the contents of this review prior to publication.
My Yoga Pro 9i 16 (Gen 10) review
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Design ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
It’s a familiar two-tier Lenovo design with a rounded base and squared-off lid, creating a unique profile entirely constructed of high-quality aluminum. The Yoga Pro 9i isn’t the most refined high-end laptop I’ve held in my hand and doesn’t feature the slimmest display bezel, but it absolutely looks and feels like a premium product.
You can immediately tell the Yoga Pro 9i is a truly premium laptop, even if it’s not the most futuristic design.
At around 17.9mm thick and 1.93kg heavy, there are certainly beefier 16-inch workstations, but the Yoga Pro 9i’s design does make it seem chunkier than it actually is.
At least you get a ton of ports. There’s the 170W DC power port, an HDMI 2.1 port, two full-featured Thunderbolt 4 ports with Power Delivery and DisplayPort functions, a 3.5mm audio jack, two USB Type-A (5GBps) ports, a side-mounted power button, a webcam privacy shutter, and even a full-sized SD card slot. The only things missing are an Ethernet port (Lenovo would’ve had to make this laptop a fair bit thicker for that) and a Kensington Nano Security Slot, which may actually disappoint some professional users.
Display ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
For an extra $150, though, you can upgrade to a Tandem OLED display with a higher 3.2K resolution (up from 2.8K), even greater color accuracy (especially in the AdobeRGB gamut), twice the display brightness at up to 1,000 nits (compared to 500 nits, and that’s not even with HDR enabled), and greater efficiency to boot. Sadly, Lenovo didn’t send me that configuration to test, so I can’t tell you just how much better that panel is.
The entry-level screen is still fantastic, though. It’s bright, vibrant, and responsive whether I was working, editing photos, gaming, or watching videos. If the Tandem OLED display is even better, it’ll be one of the best panels you’ll find on a laptop right now.
Performance ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
The Yoga Pro 9i is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 9 285H, a 16-core CPU with fantastic overall performance and solid efficiency. That’s backed by up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 (8GB) GPU, but Lenovo sent me the entry-level configuration with an RTX 5050 inside — and it seriously impressed me.
This laptop is a strong performer in general, backed by Intel Evo guarantees for responsiveness and bolstered by excellent thermal management. The Yoga Pro 9i never got too warm, never suffered from abnormal throttling, and kept quiet enough even under load.
The Yoga Pro 9i was practically guaranteed to deliver great performance, but it still managed to surprise me.
As I mentioned, though, it’s the RTX 5050 that surprised me. Lenovo actually offers a GPU overclocking option, and when enabled the Yoga Pro 9i’s RTX 5050 performed well beyond the level I expected, coming within a stone’s throw of the far more expensive Dell 16 Premium’s RTX 5070 without becoming thermally restrained.
I was able to play Forza Horizon 5 with Extreme settings without any issues, either, never dipping below a stable 60 FPS.
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Battery life ⭐⭐⭐½
With an 84Whr battery stashed away inside, the Yoga Pro 9i certainly has plenty of juice… but it’s not enough to translate to true all-day battery life. In my testing, the Yoga Pro 9i can deliver around 5 hours of real-time usage — slightly better than the Dell 16 Premium and its larger 99Whr battery, but nothing too impressive.
You can use up to 100W USB Type-C chargers whenever you’re in a pinch, at least. Performance when off the charger is throttled, but is still absolutely what I’d consider “flagship” level — especially the graphical oomph.
This laptop can’t claim to boast the greatest endurance, but it’s no worse than much of the competition.
Keyboard & touchpad ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I’ve historically been a huge fan of Lenovo’s keyboards, and that still mostly holds true with the Yoga Pro 9i. The layout, key travel, and consistency are all top-notch, and the keyboard doesn’t feel too cramped despite having a compact tenkey number pad off to one side (a feature some will love, and others will hate).
The touchpad is spacious and responsive with Microsoft Precision drivers, so I have little to complain about there… but I do wish Lenovo would finally embrace haptic touchpads on its premium consumer laptops.
Software & AI ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
It should come as no surprise that the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i runs Windows 11, and it does so without issue. Drivers are stable and Lenovo hasn’t injected an absurd amount of bloatware onto the device.
Lenovo didn’t pour every feature imaginable into the Yoga Pro 9i, it just focused on delivering a capable, high-quality laptop.
You also get some extra features courtesy of Lenovo’s “Aura Edition” branding, such as multi-device syncing for photos and files, “smart” performance and settings profiles, and Lenovo’s “AI Now” companion, but the Yoga Pro 9i is not a Copilot+ PC thanks to the weaker NPU of its processor, so it doesn’t boast all the latest and greatest artificial intelligence features in Windows.
That won’t make a difference to most people, but it’s worth noting this laptop technically isn’t on the cutting edge for software.
Everything else ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
The display isn’t the only reason the Yoga Pro 9i is a monster for entertainment, as it also packs a capable six-speaker system (dual 2W tweeters and quad 2W woofers) with Dolby Atmos support.
I won’t go as far as claiming these are the best-sounding speakers in a laptop I’ve heard, but the Yoga Pro 9i does sound full, loud, and clear. You also get a quad microphone array flanking the great 5MP front-facing camera, which is supported by an IR sensor for Windows Hello facial recognition.
I never had any issues with the Wi-Fi 7 or Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity, either. The Yoga Pro 9i doesn’t rock any additional features like Human Presence Detection (HPD) or ambient light sensors, or a fingerprint reader, but the basics are covered and they’re covered well.
Yoga Pro 9i (Gen 10) review: My final thoughts
✅You should buy this if …
- You need a powerful, feature-packed 16-inch laptop for work and creation.
- You also want that laptop to be good for PC gaming, too.
- You want a laptop with a top-notch OLED display and speaker system.
❌You should not buy this if …
- You actually care about Windows 11’s Copilot+ PC-exclusive features.
- You need a laptop with consistent, easy all-day battery life.
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 (Gen 10) Aura Edition may have a slightly ridiculous name, but it’s hands-down one of the greatest laptops in the category of “powerful and premium 16-inch workstations.”
While Apple commits to minimalism and Dell pushes even more aggressively in that direction, Lenovo is delivering an equally capable laptop packed with features and ports — all while undercutting the competition on price. It’s a shockingly practical laptop for productivity, creation, entertainment, and gaming.
While I do wish the battery could withstand a full day’s worth of work without compromise, that doesn’t stop this from being one of the best Windows laptops I’ve tested this year. You can customize your own Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 (Gen 10) Aura Edition from $1,869.99 at Lenovo.com, or pull the trigger on the configuration I most recommend for $2,149.99 at Lenovo.com, which upgrades you to that sweet Tandem OLED display and a more powerful RTX 5060 GPU.
Lenovo
Yoga Pro 9i 16 (Gen 10) Aura Edition
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i may not be the sleekest or flashiest 16-inch productivity powerhouse, but it can absolutely claim to be the most practical. This feature-packed laptop is packed with performance and ports, and the pricing feels just right for such a capable machine.
