Lenovo Slim Pro 9i review (14-inch model)

17 Comments

  1. Muataz

    September 6, 2023 at 10:34 pm

    Does windows dark mode with HDR enabled can lower the screen power consumption. As with HDR mode the FLAD will start working and with dark mode may help lower the consumption

    • Derek Sullivan

      September 7, 2023 at 12:32 am

      Dark mode might help battery but I doubt it's significant. It's only going to save on the backlighting and only in the areas where the screen is dark. Probably talking savings in tenths of watts here. As far as HDR goes, HDR kill battery life. Many laptops turn HDR off on battery because of it.

  2. Ido Ben Dor

    September 7, 2023 at 7:19 pm

    I bought the 16 inch 4060 mini led variant

    Just died to me.
    Screen is dead

    • Derek Sullivan

      September 7, 2023 at 8:11 pm

      Yeah the 16" version has lousy reviews on Lenovo's own website. Mostly because of screen and battery issues. Hopefully it's isolated to only that model.

  3. Hendrik

    September 7, 2023 at 8:31 pm

    Hi Derek,

    very helpful review – thank you!

    Can you by chance say anything about Lightroom Denoise Performance with the RTX 4050, if possible in comparison to a Macbook Pro with M1 Pro/M2 Pro. Since this is one of the things I do quite frequently, but I can't find any good comparisons on the Internet, I wanted to ask.

    Very specific, I know but maybe I'm lucky :)

    • Derek Sullivan

      September 7, 2023 at 8:40 pm

      Sorry, it's sent back already though and I don't have that software anyways. I can't imagine it being a problem though. Up until a few months ago my wife was using Adobe cc with a Gtx 3050 Ti and had no problems whatsoever. The 4050 is way more powerful in comparison and has "Studio" drivers which are designed for the sorfware you are using. Can't comment on differences with Macbook though since I've not used one in some time now.

  4. Duncan

    September 8, 2023 at 6:59 am

    G'day Derek,

    Great review – thanks so much!

    Just to confirm, the 165Hz screen doesn't have any VRR does it, like GSync or FreeSync? It's an awfully high refresh rate for a mid-tier GPU to keep up with.

  5. john

    September 8, 2023 at 10:04 am

    HEY DEREK,

    1-I HOPE YOU REVIEW ZENBOOK PRO 14 OLED TOO.TNX
    2-DO YOU HAVE FLOW X16?Have you ever had a problem with your laptop? hinge,failure rate,…
    and what about the battery life in real world not lab test(flow x 16)?

    • Derek Sullivan

      September 12, 2023 at 4:28 pm

      No plans on me reviewing the Zenbook Pro 14. Andrei might since he gets more of the Asus laptops than I do. I only review the ones I own personally.

      I do have the Flow x16 with 3070Ti, yes. No problems with the hinge though and my battery life in real world has been just average. You have to make a conscious effort to save battery life, like turning on battery saver modes, turning down the refresh and turning off zone backlighting. I can typically get 4-5 hours of light work when I do all that. Heavier stuff can cut that in half depending how severe it is. Hope this helps.

  6. wck

    September 9, 2023 at 11:01 pm

    It is CNC unibody aluminum,not stamped aluminum. psref.com is wrong!

    • Derek Sullivan

      September 12, 2023 at 4:25 pm

      You are correct. Thanks for pointing that out. I also let Lenovo know so hopefully they update their spec sheet.

  7. Altandmain

    September 10, 2023 at 10:29 pm

    The 16 inch version of the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i seems to be quite similar.

    Poor battery life, mini LED, and the main difference is that it has a 10 key number pad and a higher TDP.

    One flaw is that Lenovo only included a 75 Whr battery rather than a 100 Whr battery on the 16 inch version, which would be able to give the laptop a 33% longer battery life.

    Another option is to get last year's Slim 9i Pro. It had a 14” 4K (3840 x 2400) Touch OLED, which was gorgeous too. It might save a bit of money since last year's models tend to be discounted.

    • Richard

      October 19, 2023 at 6:31 pm

      I have this laptop (bought for ~1400 last summer in a rare lenovo sale) and love it. I don't think last year's Slim 9i (no pro) is a good alternative because of the lack of discrete graphics. I do think (because I've owned both with my wife now using the AMD) the 2022 Slim 7 pro X and Slim 7i pro X are great (lower priced) alternative. They shed 1/3 lb, losing the mini-led for a 3k touch 400 nit 120hz. It goes back a generation to Geforce 3050. The Slim 7 pro x goes Amd (6900) losing thunderbolt while the Slim 7i pro x goes back a year in intel (12700). Today's prices (~$700 refurb) make it a deal among deals.

  8. Bob Marley

    September 15, 2023 at 2:43 pm

    hi, great review. any thoughts about yoga pro 7 or ideapad 5 pro both 8 gen? It would be great to see review on them. They both have models with relatively new cpu ryzen 7 8740hs(zen4), 32 ram, similar screens. And it would be especially interesting to those models being reviewed, maybe even in format of comparison (kill two birds with one stone:)

  9. James

    October 22, 2023 at 7:55 am

    Hi Derek,
    Thank you for this nice review. I’ve been considering purchasing the 16” version of this Lenovo slim pro 9i, but I’m reluctant due to the poor reviews out there im regards to the display, battery, and overheating/loud fan issues. It’s a shame, because otherwise the specs are perfect for me. Any chance you might get your hands on that 16” model and do a review?

    • Derek Sullivan

      October 22, 2023 at 2:30 pm

      I haven't heard of it being available to review but I can look into it. Safe to say that the user reviews are legit though. Looks pretty bad if there's that many complaints so close to launch. Hopefully it's something they can fix…

      • James

        October 22, 2023 at 2:44 pm

        Thank you for your reply Derek, and for the service you provide here.

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