I just switched to a 2-in-1 laptop with real aura — here's how the Lenovo Yoga 9i Aura Edition gave my workflow a glow up

Lenovo has been aura farming with its latest laptops. Did I feel the cringe typing that sentence? Yes, but in my defence, just look at the Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition. It’s a beauty!

The build quality exudes a premium nature, while staying thin and lightweight and looking delicious in that navy blue finish. The OLED display is simply mesmerizing (and on a 360-degree hinge for all your binge watching needs). And those top tier Lenovo ergonomics are fully intact, as the company continues to produce the best laptop keyboards you can get.

Throw in am Intel Core Ultra 200-series (Lunar Lake) processor for decent performance and mightily impressive battery life, and you’ve got a system that can keep up with your needs all day long.

That’s not to say it's for everyone, though. With that Lunar Lake chip, performance does take a bit of a backseat in place of a focus on power efficiency (the GPU is a different story, but more on that later).

On top of that, the AI gimmicks are back and should be turned off, and at $1,549/£1,599, it’s definitely on the pricier side — to the point you could get something with more power for less money.

But the focus of this 2-in-1 fits the bill for most folks, and it definitely nails that as one of the best laptops you can buy right now.

Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? This is a premium 2-in-1 notebook.
• Who is it for? The 9i is gunning for those who are looking for both form and function — an upmarket system for productivity and casual play.
• What does it cost? You can pick one up for $1,549/£1,599.
• What do we like? This is one helluva looker with a gorgeously premium build quality and a great aesthetic — made even better with that amazing OLED touchscreen panel. Throw in decent performance and power efficiency from that Lunar Lake chip, along with a great-feeling keyboard and touchpad, and this is a lovely little 2-in-1.
• What don’t we like? $1,549 is a tall order when you take into account the configuration you get for this price (you can get more horsepower for your money elsewhere), and since its an Aura Edition, be ready to turn off AI features.

Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition: Specs

Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition: The ups

There’s a lot to love here, and I found that out first hand by ditching my daily driver and using the Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition for two weeks.

A visual stunner

There’s no better way to say this — this is a gorgeous laptop. The CNC-milled aluminum body with chromed, rounded edges has a real stand-out premium aesthetic to it that feels both utilitarian and unmistakably sleek in nature too.

Topping it off is a phenomenal dark blue finish that I just can’t get over. Granted, those edges may be a fingerprint magnet, and you don’t get the eye-catching angularity of the HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14. But in a sea of MacBooks and other laptops trying to look like MacBooks, this is an elegant standout.

OLED has real aura

And those good looks just keep on going with that tasty 14-inch 2.8K OLED touchscreen on a 360-degree hinge. Touch responsiveness is near-instantaneous with no latency, and pen support ensures you can get creative with it too.

But let’s be honest, most of you are looking at this and positively salivating at the flash flood of color and HDR depth that comes with an OLED display. And I don’t judge you — I spent long enough with this 2-in-1 to form a parasocial relationship with it.

Be it tucking into Stranger Things Season 5 and really feeling the atmospheric color and darker tones melt off the screen, or heading into the bright and colorful surroundings of Forza Horizon 5, or looking to rely on color accuracy in Photoshop, this screen truly keeps up with all of it.

Not forgetting the essentials

I can wax lyrical about the design and display, but let’s get into the fundamentals here. The Intel Core Ultra 7 258V is enough for most of your productivity needs, and even some prosumer tasks too.

And as you already know, the integrated graphics on this system are truly impressive. And a few driver updates later, you can comfortably play several AAA titles at lower settings, and get a solid 60 FPS out of the deal.

But Lunar Lake’s real superpower comes in its battery life — managing to slow sip that 75Wh cell and give you all-day usage. Outside of our lab testing below, I was able to comfortably get through an 8-hour workday of many Chrome tabs and Spotify playing in the background with around 30% remaining.

Then comes those “just good laptop” things. For me, personally, Lenovo sits atop the pile as the company with the best laptop keyboards right now, and the team’s delivered again with an impressively tactile board alongside a responsive, snappy touchpad.

And for those who find themselves in a lot of Google Meets (same), that 5MP webcam has impressive detail and definition, while also coming armed with IR for Windows Hello capabilities.

Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition: The downs

But it’s not all a fine walk in the park. The Yoga 9i Aura Edition does fall down in two areas — one can be easily turned off, and the other is…well, you better have some deep pockets.

Pricey for what you get

That attention to design must’ve jacked up the price quite a bit, because there’s a bit of a disconnect between the internal spec sheet and the price of the Yoga 9i Aura Edition.

I mean at $1,549, that’s M5 MacBook Pro money. Of course, one is a 2-in-1 and the other is just a straightforward laptop. But when you put what you get for the money into that context, you can see just how much more additional performance and power efficiency you can get for your money.

Granted, this isn’t as bad as the asking price of other premium 2-in-1s like the HP Omnibook Ultra Flip 14, but it’s still on the higher side.

Chill out on the AI!

Let me be clear — a couple of the gimmicks are cool. Being able to tap my phone on the side of my laptop to drag and drop photos from it is awesome, if a little weird in practice.

By this, I don’t just mean the Copilot+ features (of which I used officially once then never used again), but rather the Smart Modes Lenovo’s packed in here. These are AI-driven options that are supposed to adapt the 9i to what you need — be it “Shield Mode” for better privacy, “Collaboration Mode” that improves the webcam’s lighting and microphone, or “Eco Mode” to (yep, you guessed it) increase the battery life.

But…I’m pretty sure the laptop is supposed to just do all this anyway. And given it does (for example, the webcam brightens up automatically anyway even if you don’t have Collaboration Mode on), this just feels unnecessary.

Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition: Verdict

And that’s the story of the aura-farming 2-in-1, which just so happens to be one of the best 2-in-1 laptops that most of you can buy right now — provided you’re OK with its lofty cost.

This is a gorgeous premium laptop with great ergonomics, a stunning display and decent power under the hood. If form and function matter to you, this is a solid way to go.