Lenovo’s IdeaPad Slim 9i will feature Intel’s next-gen Tiger Lake CPU and Xe graphics rolled into a luxurious, leather-wrapped, lightweight laptop with three Thunderbolt 4.0 ports.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 9i features a 14-inch 1080p screen with HDR400, WiFi 6, an electronics privacy shutter, a Windows Hello camera, and an ultrasonic finger print reader that works better with wet fingers.
But the star of the show is Intel’s new Tiger Lake CPU. You can read more about it here, but the 10nm, 11th-gen CPU is expected to take the fight to AMD with higher clock speeds and vastly improved Xe graphics.
Laptops aren’t just about the CPU though. They’re also about the design, screen, keyboard, and more. Premium laptops demand premium feel, and nothing says premium more than leather, so Lenovo bonded leather to the frame of the IdeaPad Slim 9i. In a configuration sold only in mainland China, Lenovo will offer “3D Countour Glass” that curves at at the bezel. Mainland Chinese buyers will get the curved glass, but not the ultrasonic finger print reader which will work with wet fingers.
Lenovo
Nothing says luxury like leather.
Another luxury touch is an all-glass palm rest that includes the trackpad as well. Since the trackpad doesn’t click like a conventional hinged trackpad, Lenovo includes a “Smart Sensor Trackpad” that vibrates to simulate a click. It’s somewhat similar to Apple’s trackpad design that uses haptics to compensate for lack of physical movement, but it doesn’t include Apple’s terrible depth feature.
Lenovo
You’ll get three Thunderbolt 4.0 ports on the IDeaPad Slim 9.
The laptop will come with up to 16GB of LPDDR4X and up to 2TB of storage. It will weigh 2.64 lbs. and is about 13.9mm thick, Lenovo said. Battery life is rated at 20 hours. The laptop is expected to be on sale by this November starting at $1,599.
New Lenovo Yoga laptops, too
If you want more flexibility than the conventional clamshell design that the IdeaPad Slim 9i offers, Lenovo is also rolling out two updated Yoga laptops: the Lenovo Yoga 9i with 14-inch display, and the Yoga 9i with 15-inch display.
Lenovo
Lenovo’s Yoga 9i will feature Intel’s Tiger Lake and Xe graphics in a convertible form factor.
The Lenovo Yoga 9i with a 14-inch display will also come with Intel’s next-generation Tiger Lake CPU and Xe graphics, along with up to 16GB of LPDDR4X and 1TB of storage. Screen options go up to a 4K UHD screen with 500 nits of brightness.
The 14-inch Yoga 9i starts at $1,399 for the metal version. Lenovo is also offering a leather version starting at $1,699. Both are expected to ship in November. Battery life is expected to be 18 hours.
The leather-wrapped version will also come with the edge-to-edge glass palm rest and haptic trackpad as the IdeaPad 9i.
LenovoThe bigger version also gets more cores and a faster GPU. The 15.6-inch Lenovo Yoga 9i will feature up to an 8-core Intel Core i9 CPU and up to Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1650 Ti discrete graphics. It tops out at 16GB of DDR4 memory and 2TB of storage. Battery life of the Yoga 9i with a 15.6-inch display is expected to be 13 hours.
This bigger, beefed-up model of the Yoga 9i is expected to ship in October, with prices starting at $1,799.