Lenovo Yoga 900 Review: A Convertible Laptop with Solid Hinge

Lenovo Yoga 900: At First Glance

There’s a lot of competition among laptop manufacturers for the position of who makes the thinnest laptops. Hence, there are a good number of thin laptops out there, but they mostly skimp in other areas.

Lenovo has designed a respectable number of thin laptops, one of which is the Lenovo Yoga 900. The Lenovo Yoga 900 is not only thin, but it is also a convertible that you can use in multiple ways.

It is also an efficient laptop that has a starting price of $1,399.99 as of April 2022, when I wrote this review. This super-slim premium convertible has some innovations that easily make it a good choice to spend your money on.

If you are curious about these innovations, read through the remaining sections of this review to find out.

Lenovo Yoga 900: Design, Dimension, and Weight

The Lenovo Yoga 900 is a definition of sleekness. As for build material, Lenovo made use of magnesium for its lid and bottom.

Meanwhile, the deck and palm rest are made of new faux-leather plastic. The base and bottom of the laptop both have smooth matte surfaces.

Overall, the chassis of the Lenovo Yoga 900 is rigid, and it has good resistance to depressions and twists. On the lid of the laptop, you will find a Lenovo logo on the left edge.

The white logo blends nicely with the silver color of the aluminum lid. When you open the laptop’s lid, its 13.3-inch screen is probably the first thing you will notice.

However, the bezels surrounding the display are not particularly thin. As a matter of fact, a 1MP 720p HD camera is incorporated into the top bezel for the purpose of video chats.

Now, let us discuss the display quality of the Lenovo Yoga 900. Impressively, the laptop comes with a (3200 x 1800 pixels) resolution display.

This resolution is not 4K, but its quality is quite close. Thankfully, the QHD resolution does excellently in showing supersharp movies and photos no matter the mode of the laptop.

Speaking of modes, because this laptop is a convertible, it can be used in different modes. The first and most common one is the laptop mode.

Secondly, you can use it as a tablet by folding the display all the way back. The tablet mode leaves the touchpad and keyboard exposed on the backside though they are deactivated once the screen folds backward.

Also, you can fold the screen back about 180 degrees to put the laptop in presentation mode. The presentation mode is sometimes called a tent or kiosk mode.

In the presentation mode, you have the display directly in front of you while the keyboard acts as a stand. Finally, there is a flat mode here; you tilt the display back and it lays flat on a table.

As said earlier, the display allows you to enjoy a crispy view in any of the modes mentioned above. Not only that, but the Lenovo Yoga 900 also features an IPS panel.

IPS panel means In-Plane-Switching panel, and it is a technology that makes the display maintain clarity when viewed from any angle. Furthermore, the display of the Lenovo Yoga 900 has an aspect ratio of 16:9.

For clarity, this is the ratio of an image’s width on the display to its height. The laptop’s 16:9 aspect ratio ensures that the display content occupies every available screen space which gives a cinematic view.

Moving on to screen brightness, this laptop has a maximum brightness of 300 nits which I find rather poor. This is because the display does not get bright enough when used under the sun.

However, Lenovo includes something called “display paper” in the display setting menu. With this display setting, the laptop uses its webcam to detect ambient light and modify the color temperature and brightness for optimal reading.

Another thing to consider before deciding to use this laptop outdoors is that the Lenovo Yoga 900’s display has a glossy coating. Therefore, it catches a lot of light reflection that makes the laptop unsuitable for use under the sun.

For touch abilities, the display of the Lenovo Yoga 900 is touch-enabled, as with every other convertible laptop. The touchscreen is particularly useful in usage modes where the keyboard is out of reach or disabled such as tablet mode.

The touch-sensitive display makes it possible to make inputs by tapping and sliding your fingers on the display. Thankfully, the touchscreen responds to touch gestures, like “tap to click” and “pinch to zoom” swiftly.

Proceeding to the laptop’s hinges, here Lenovo made an interesting innovation. The Lenovo Yoga 900’s hinges are called “watchband” hinges.

The watchband hinge is an attractive metal that is designed like metallic wristwatches. The hinge does a good job of fusing the laptop’s screen and keyboard sections together.

Not only that, but it also keeps the laptop stable in any usage mode.

Furthermore, Lenovo includes what it calls an “auto-lock hinge technology”, which is supposed to make the lid easy to open with just one hand. However, unless you really deep your fingers into the tiny crack space between the lid and the deck, this trick may not work.

At this point, let us discuss the keyboard and the touchpad of the Lenovo Yoga 900. Like many other Lenovo laptops, the Yoga 900 also has the company’s u-shaped keys.

Not only that, but the keys also have two levels of backlighting. Unlike other 13-inch laptops, the Lenovo Yoga 900’s keyboard has decent key spacing, so typing requires no adjustment.

However, the right Shift key is frustratingly half-size, and the function keys, which are above the number row, are slim. Speaking of the function keys, they have dedicated buttons for controlling brightness and audio.

Also, the F4 keys double as a “close window” button. Below the keyboard, you will find the laptop’s buttonless touchpad, which has a smooth surface.

Thankfully, tracking with the touchpad is quite responsive, and clicking is quiet.

Now, let us discuss the audio performance of the Lenovo Yoga 900. The Yoga 900 features two stereo JBL speakers that have a Dolby DS 10.0 Home Theater Certification.

This certification implies that the sound produced meets the acceptable standard for home theatres. However, I found the sound produced by the speakers lacking in bass.

Also, because the speakers are down-firing, when you place the laptop on a surface, the sound changes from airy to sometimes harsh. The change in sound depends on the surface the laptop is resting on.

Having talked about the speakers, next up are the ports available on the Yoga 900. For a slim laptop, the Yoga 900 does not have much to offer in this aspect.

On the right side, there is a USB 3.0 port, a Lenovo OneKey, a rotation lock, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

Meanwhile, on the left, there is a USB 3.0, a USB 2.0, an AC charger, a USB 3.1 Type-C, and an SD reader. Unfortunately, there is no dedicated video-out connector.

However, you can use a display port adapter to connect to an external monitor. For wireless connectivity, the Lenovo Yoga 900 uses Bluetooth 4.0 and Wireless LAN 802.11ac.

As a conclusion of the Lenovo Yoga 900’s design, let us look at its weight and dimension. It has a weight of 1300 g, which means that this laptop is a very light ultrabook.

However, it is not the lightest 13-inch laptop out there. As a matter of fact, another 13-inch laptop – the Acer Switch 5 – weighs lighter than the Lenovo Yoga 900.

Specifically, the Acer Switch 5 weighs 1,270 g.

Coming to dimension, the Lenovo Yoga 900 measures 324 x 225 x 14.9 mm (W x D x H), making it very portable too. Comparatively, the Acer Swift 5 measures 292.9 x 201.8 x 15.9 mm (W x D x H).

Hence, it is also more portable than the Lenovo Yoga 900.

In conclusion, I am impressed by the display, hinge, and weight of the Lenovo Yoga 900. Therefore, I rate it nine out of ten in this section of the review.

Lenovo Yoga 900: Processor (CPU) Performance

For processing tasks, the Lenovo Yoga 900 is available in many processor configurations. However, the highest processor configuration is the Intel Core i7-6560U processor and that is what I will be discussing in this section.

The Intel Core i7-6560U is a dual-core processor. As a dual-core processor, it has two processing cores that can independently handle tasks.

Additionally, this processor has a base frequency of 2.20 GHz and a boost frequency of 3.20 GHz. Also, it has 2 MB of cache memory.

My test model, which is equipped with the Intel Core i7-6560U, is good enough for basic computing tasks like web surfing and word processing. Not only that, but it is also capable of performing heavy computing tasks.

With that being said, I will now discuss the Cinebench R15 benchmark test result of the Lenovo Yoga 900. For your information, Cinebench R15 is a benchmark test that measures the processing ability of a computer.

The test result can be a single-core score which shows the performance of a single processor core. The test result can also be a multi-core score which shows the performance of all the processor cores.

Consequently, a higher score shows a better performance of the computer’s CPU on the Cinebench R15 benchmark test. From the test result, the Lenovo Yoga 900 scored 87 points in the single-core test.

Meanwhile, in the multi-core test, it scored 287 points. I consider the single-core score of the Lenovo Yoga 900 too low for a laptop with an Intel i7-6560U processor.

Comparatively, the Dell Latitude E7250, which uses a dual-core Intel Core i7-5600U processor, scored 114 points in the single-core test.

However, the Lenovo Yoga 900 had a higher multi-core score than the Dell Latitude E7250. Specifically, the Dell Latitude E7250 scored 264 points in the multi-core test.

Putting the Lenovo Yoga 900’s processor performance into consideration, I will be rating it eight out of ten in this review section.

Lenovo Yoga 900: Memory (RAM) Performance

The Lenovo Yoga 900 has a single onboard memory which means that the RAM cannot be removed or upgraded. However, this laptop is available in two memory options.

There are some models of the laptop with an LPDDR3L 1600 MHz RAM and other models with an LPDDR3L 1866 MHz RAM.

Basically, both RAM options are DDR3, but they have different frequencies. Hence, the RAM option with the highest frequency has the tendency to deliver a better performance.

For memory capacity, whichever RAM option you decide to buy, you can get it in either 8 GB or 16 GB. There is no higher memory size available in the market, and as I said earlier, the memory is not user upgradeable too.

Therefore, it is important to buy a model of this laptop with a memory capacity that will be sufficient for your needs. For performance evaluation, I will focus on a model of this laptop with 1866 MHz RAM, which comes in 8 GB.

Thankfully, with 8 GB memory, the Yoga 900 should be competent in handling decent multitasking.

Talking about multitasking, this laptop can open a lot of applications concurrently. For instance, the laptop can have about 20 chrome browser tabs at once.

In addition to the opened browser tabs, you can also have Spotify, Paint Tool,  and Google Docs running at the same time without causing the laptop to slow down. To further confirm the laptop’s memory performance, I will share its benchmark test result. 

Speaking of benchmark tests, I will share the PCMark 7 test result. In case you don’t know, PCMark7 is a test tool that determines the memory performance of a computer.

Moreover, a high score on this benchmark test signifies a better performance. Delving into the test result, the Lenovo Legion scored 5478 points.

This score beats that of the Dell Latitude E7250, which scored 4662 points on the same test.

Finally, having considered all I have discussed in this section, I will rate the Lenovo Yoga 900 a seven out of ten for memory options and performance.

Lenovo Yoga 900: Storage Options and Performance

Coming to storage, the Lenovo Yoga 900 has an M.2 PCIe SSD storage drive which has a maximum size of 1 TB.

With 1 TB of storage space, users of the Lenovo Yoga 900 will have a decent amount of space to store their applications and files. To add to that, the laptop also comes with a 4-in-one card reader for external storage extension.

With the 4-in-one card reader, you will be able to save more files or transfer files into the laptop. Moving to storage performance, the laptop is decently speedy in transferring files.

However, for a more specific performance evaluation, I will share the result of this laptop in a Crystaldiskmark benchmark test. For clarity, the Crystaldiskmark is a test tool that measures the write and read speed of a computer.

Meanwhile, the higher the read or write speed from the Crystaldiskmark benchmark test, the better the performance. In case you’re wondering, the read speed of a computer means how fast it opens files.

Meanwhile, write speed is how fast it saves files. From the benchmark test, Lenovo Yoga 900 had a read speed of 513.9 MBps and a write speed of 459.5 MBps.

In comparison, it delivers a better read and write speed than the Dell Latitude E7250. To be specific, the Dell Latitude E7250 had a read and write speed of 509 MBps and 244 MBps, respectively.

In conclusion, the Lenovo Yoga 900 has sufficient storage space with a provision for external storage expansion. It also has a good storage speed that made it compete well with one of its competitors I compared it with.

Hence, I will rate the Lenovo Yoga 900 an eight for its storage performance.

Lenovo Yoga 900: Graphics Card Performance

The GPU that is featured in the Lenovo Yoga 900 is an Intel Iris Graphics 540. This graphic card functions at a base and boosted GPU frequency of 300 MHz and 10500 MHz, respectively.

The Intel Iris Graphics 540 is an integrated graphics card which implies that it is embedded in the CPU.

Hence, the graphics card doesn’t have a dedicated VRAM. Therefore, it has to share the laptop’s 8 GB memory with the CPU in order to execute graphics tasks.

The lack of a dedicated GPU means that the Lenovo Yoga 900 will struggle to play high-end games and perform graphics-intensive tasks. This is because integrated graphics cards are designed to smoothly handle only low graphics demanding tasks.

However, it can still play games at medium and low settings. For instance, it can play StarCraft II at 58.5 fps on medium settings. It can also play Metal Gear Solid V at 43.3 fps on low settings.

To further examine the graphics performance of this laptop, I will proceed to include its score from the 3DMark11 benchmark test. If you are wondering what a 3DMark11 benchmark test is, it is used for evaluating the performance of a computer’s GPU.

In this benchmark test, a higher score translates to a better graphics performance of the computer.

According to the benchmark test result, Lenovo Yoga 900 scored 1,535 points. In comparison, the Lenovo Ideapad Miix 720 did not get that much.

Specifically, the Lenovo Ideapad Miix 720 scored 1,416 points on the same test.

In conclusion, the Lenovo Yoga 900 is sufficient for performing less graphics-demanding tasks like playing light games. Therefore, I will rate the laptop a seven out of ten in this GPU review section.

Lenovo Yoga 900: Battery Life Performance

In the aspect of battery, a non-removable 4-cell, 66 WHr Li-Polymer battery powers the Lenovo Yoga 900. Lenovo has said that the laptop’s battery can last up to 10 hours and 30 minutes.

However, to verify Lenovo’s claim, I will share with you the performance of the laptop in a battery test. Meanwhile, you should understand that the battery life of a computer depends on its usage.

Therefore, in different battery usage, the laptop will have different battery life. Speaking of usage, the test that I am going to talk about here is a WiFi web surfing test that involves setting the screen brightness to 150 nits.

In the test, the laptop lasted for 6 hours and 43 minutes.

In comparison, the Dell XPS 13 9310 beats the Lenovo Yoga 900 in the battery test. To be precise, the Dell XPS 13 9310 offered an impressive battery life of up to 11 hours and 10 minutes in the same test.

Although the Yoga 900’s battery life isn’t mind-blowing, it can still get you through some hours of work or to watch two movies.

Nevertheless, I will advise that you keep the screen brightness at a minimum to make the battery last longer.

Putting the Lenovo Yoga 900’s battery life into consideration, I rate it eight out of ten in this battery review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Overall, the Lenovo Yoga 900 is arguably one of the best and thinnest convertible ultraportables you can buy. It makes the list of the best convertible laptops I have reviewed.

The laptop also has two watchband hinges that are very stylish and solid and easily allow you to convert the Lenovo Yoga 900 into different modes. Also, the laptop’s display is very vivid, and it offers vibrant colors.

However, you have to understand that the laptop is not made for gaming. Hence, it does not feature a high-end GPU, but its integrated graphics card can be used to play light games regardless.

Additionally, the Lenovo Yoga 900’s battery life is not mind-blowing but enough to last you through some hours of the day’s work. In conclusion, I recommend the Lenovo Yoga 900 for business professionals who desire to buy a unique convertible laptop.

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