Lenovo Yoga Book 9i

Although it's getting a bit repetitive, it's actually worth starting a review of Lenovo's Yoga Book 9i by criticising the fact that very, very little has happened to the portable form factor since... well, forever. Keyboard at the bottom, screen on top, hinge in the centre. Sure, we see some challenges to this framework via foldable screen technology, but it's really not often that we see manufacturers really play with this user interface paradigm.

But the Book 9i does, so perhaps it's worth spending the start of this review explaining exactly what this really... well, is. Okay, as you open your Book 9i, there's no keyboard attached to the bottom half of the machine. Instead, there are two 13.3" 2880x1800 OLED panels, both of which support touch. In the box, you get a small package consisting of a foldable stand and a Bluetooth keyboard that can either rest on the lower part of the bottom screen, which incidentally activates widgets on the top part, a bit like Asus' ZenBook Pro Duo machines, and if you move the keyboard up, the lower part becomes a simulated trackpad. If you want to avoid using the Bluetooth keyboard altogether, by touching the bottom screen with all eight fingers, you can activate a haptic touch keyboard, which can easily work for a single email or two.

Remember that stand I mentioned before? It can be folded so that the entire machine can be placed with the hinge in between vertically, or where the screens are "on top of each other" with a horizontal hinge. Then you can use the keyboard on the table to create something similar to a desktop set-up.

Okay, doesn't that sound crazy? How versatile is that? With the keyboard resting on the bottom screen, it's a slightly awkward but still efficient 13.3" laptop that weighs just 1.3kg, and if you have the desk space, it can offer you 26" of space overall, more than an iMac. You also get the stand, keyboard, mouse and pen included in all versions of the Yoga Book 9i, and it all folds up to take up little more space than a 14" MacBook Pro with a slim mouse - these are crazy times we live in.

Innovative, yes, no doubt, but does it work in the real world and can you rely on the machine to perform real work tasks? Surprisingly? Yes, totally. Sure, it's more assembly work to set up your laptop on the folded stand, and sure, the haptic keyboard isn't comfortable to type on for long periods of time, but just think of how much more space you get in a relatively portable package. You can easily carry the Yoga Book 9i in a simple shoulder bag - when else would you be able to carry 26 inches of screen space in a shoulder bag?

There are internal compromises, though. It's only an Intel Core i7-1355U you get here, as well as 16GB DDR5 RAM and 512GB of space, and there are only three Thunderbolt ports. But on the other hand, the U processor means you can squeeze a good six to eight hours of use out of a charge, which is pretty crazy when it consists of two fairly large OLED displays.

The hardware is inspired to say the least, so it's a particular shame that Lenovo can't fix the flaws Microsoft hasn't fixed in Windows 11 yet, such as technical glitches, sudden rotation of screen orientation and much, much more. There's also a disturbing amount of bloatware here, such as the most aggressive McAfee advertising software I've ever seen.

But even with that in mind, it's extremely easy to recommend the Yoga Book 9i, even at the current price of just under £2,300. No, it's probably not ideal for small, fast-paced tasks. But if you really need a portable, efficient workstation, there's no better solution than this.