Lenovo unveiled an amazing new laptop at CES 2023. The Yoga Book 9i features two 13-inch OLED displays that can be stacked for maximum productivity.
Let’s not forget one thing about the Consumer Electronic Show: it’s still a show that should send us dreams. Without going as far as the sound and light shows of a Tony Stark in Marvel productions, manufacturers often take advantage of the show to unveil products that seek to upset their categories. CES 2023 is no exception.
So yes: this is far from the first time that we will see laptops arriving on the market seeking to integrate two screens, in one way or another. Microsoft had the ambition with the Surface Neo, which it has since abandoned. Asus has more or less taken up the idea with its Zenbook 17 Fold OLED, but its use is made a bit strange by the integration of the first generations of foldable panels. To put it more simply: it has a somewhat prototype aspect, even if there is no doubt that the concept has a future.
The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i with dual OLED displays
This future, the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i presented at CES 2023 seems to be ready for it. Let’s start with the most common: we are entitled to an Intel i7 U processor of the third generation mobile from Intel, 16 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and a 512 GB PCIe Gen 4 SSD. The base of the laptops of 2023. The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i still prides itself on integrating three Thunderbolt 4 portswhich is not nothing.
But the real interest of this machine is that it integrates two 13-inch OLED panels at 16:10 ratio supporting 2.8K definition at 60Hz, both of which cover 100% of the DCI-P3 space and are Dolby Vision HDR compatible. They also promise an honest maximum brightness of 400 cd/m².
Two screens, yes, connected by a hinge that allows them to take all kinds of positions. Like the Surface Neo fire, you can simply use the lower screen like a conventional computer, with a virtual keyboard or a remote keyboard to place on the screen to find an experience similar to ordinary ultrabooks. But you also have the possibility of placing this device on a base provided for this purpose which will allow you to use the configuration as a classic computer with two superimposed screens. Or even vertically.
A future productivity champion? In any case, we must admit that this is one of the rare laptops putting forward such a promise which seems to really fulfill it. Especially since despite these two screens, it weighs only 1.38kg and measures only 15.95mmwhich still puts it in a very portable category.
Two aspects remain to be tested, however. First of all, autonomy: with a single 80Wh batteryit is hard to believe that the device holds the 10 hours of autonomy announced by the manufacturer as a video player with both screens on. And then, experience: if Lenovo announces that it has worked with Microsoft to optimize the use of Windows 11 for this product, he who was already ready for it for his Surface Neo, the OS is not particularly known for its flexibility and adaptability.
Still, the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i makes us terribly curious. Also, we can’t wait to be able to test it by its release in July 2023. Its starting price in France will be 2299 euros.
