Lenovo’s dual-screen Yoga Book 9i has surprised a skeptical reviewer with its capabilities. The device, which features two 13.3-inch OLED screens with a hinge in the middle and a detachable keyboard, has impressed with its ability to address concerns about navigating the device.
Users can touch the screen, use the included stylus, or pull up a virtual touchpad on the screen to navigate. The virtual touchpad even has haptic buttons for physical feedback and can be resized and moved as desired.
Lenovo Yoga Book 9i
Lenovo has done the necessary software engineering to address the navigational concerns that consumers might have with the device.
Screen
The Yoga Book 9i, which is a laptop-sized successor to Microsoft’s Surface Neo and features two 13.3-inch OLED screens with a hinge in the middle and a detachable keyboard, does not have a visible touchpad.
Touchpad
However, users can touch the screen, use the included stylus, or pull up a virtual touchpad on the screen to navigate. The virtual touchpad even has haptic buttons for physical feedback and can be resized and moved as desired.
It might take some getting used to using a touchpad on a screen, but overall the device has potential for those seeking to increase their productivity and multitasking capabilities.
We were pleased to find that there are a variety of ways to navigate Lenovo’s dual-screen Yoga Book 9i. The device allows users to
- touch the screen
- use the included stylus
- pull up a virtual touchpad on the screen
Haptic Buttons
The virtual touchpad even has haptic buttons for physical feedback and can be resized and moved as desired. It may take some time to get used to using a touchpad on a screen, but overall the device has potential for increasing productivity and multitasking capabilities.
Fold
In addition, the Yoga Book 9i can be folded at a 90-degree angle and used like a regular 13-inch laptop. This feature is also found on single-screen foldable devices, but the Yoga Book 9i’s dual screens ensure that the screen size is not compromised when using the device in this way.
Folding Lenovo’s dual-screen Yoga Book 9i into clamshell mode reduces the number of available screens from two to one, but the size change is not as drastic as it is on other foldable devices.
The device features a standard 13.3-inch laptop screen with the same aspect ratio as when it is unfolded. When the Yoga Book 9i is folded, a virtual keyboard and touchpad automatically appear in the expected locations.
- The virtual touchpad is haptic and the on-screen keyboard is one of the most comfortable and clicky ones we have ever used.
- The physical keyboard can also be placed on top of the virtual one, with the touchpad remaining in place.
- These navigational solutions are workable alternatives to the traditional touchpad and address a problem that OEMs have struggled with on dual-screen laptops.
Lenovo has added various gestures to optimize interactions for the dual-screen form factor on its Yoga Book 9i, which feels like it could be a special version of Windows 11. The device offers numerous ways to move windows and applications around and it takes just a few seconds to master them.
Flick
One useful feature is the “flick,” which allows users to press and hold on any app or browser tab and then flick it to the other screen. The Yoga Book 9i also has a snap layout feature customized for the device, which is more useful in the Yoga Book’s form factor than on standard Windows laptops.
Waterfall Mode
The “waterfall mode” can be accessed by using a five-finger tap on a tab or window and expanding it to fill both screens.
Clamshell Mode
In clamshell mode, tugging the keyboard down with eight fingers pulls up a control panel with quick access to weather forecasts, CPU usage and performance statistics, Outlook, and other applications.
