HP Spectre x360 13.5 vs. Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 7 comparison

The Spectre x360 13.5 has a 5MP webcam with the usual low-light and brightness tools, along with a feature that keeps the user’s face centered in the video frame. The Yoga 9i Gen 7 has a 1080p webcam with similar capabilities. Both laptops feature infrared cameras for Windows 11 Hello passwordless login support, along with fingerprint readers. You can turn off the webcam on both 2-in-1s for privacy.

Lenovo packed in several Smart Assist utilities that further enhance privacy and security. Zero Touch Lock puts the Yoga 9i Gen 7 to sleep when the user steps away, and Zero Touch Login wakes it up and logs in when the user returns. The features worked well and are a genuine convenience.

Both laptops provide excellent videoconferencing quality, and the Yoga 9i Gen 7 offers more privacy and security features.

One area of divergence is in the choice of CPU. HP went with the 15-watt 10-core/12-thread Intel Core i5-1235U and faster-clocked Core i7-1255U. That CPU promises better battery life while giving up some performance. Lenovo went with the 28-watt 12-core/16-thread Core i5-1240P and faster Core i7-1260P, along with the 14-core/20-thread Core i7-1280P.

According to our benchmarks, the Yoga 9i Gen 7 was the faster laptop by a fair margin. The biggest difference was in Geekbench 5, but the Lenovo was also faster in our Handbrake test that encodes a 420MB video as H.265 and in Cinebench R23. Both 2-in-1s performed well in the PCMark 10 Complete benchmark, although again, the Yoga 9i was faster.

Technically speaking, this is a win for the Yoga 9i Gen 7. In real-world use, the difference likely wouldn’t be obvious to the demanding productivity users toward which both 2-in-1s are aimed. Neither are designed to handle creative tasks, and the Lenovo wasn’t that much faster in the two benchmarks most indicative of that kind of performance. This was particularly true when both laptops were running in their respective performance modes.

We reviewed the Spectre x360 13.5 with its 13.-5-inch 3:2 3K2K OLED display and the Yoga 9i Gen 7 with its 14-inch 16:10 WQHD+ panel. In terms of their overall quality, both were excellent, with the HP having slightly wider and more accurate colors and the Lenovo being a bit brighter. HP also offers a WQXGA+ (1920 x 1280) IPS display and a privacy screen option at the same resolution, while Lenovo offers a WQXGA (1920 x 1200) IPS display and a UHD+ (3840 x 2400) OLED panel.

The meaningful difference was in the Spectre x360 13.5’s taller 3:2 aspect ratio and higher resolution. While 16:10 is a nice jump over old-school 16:9 displays, 3:2 is preferable, showing off even more vertical content and working best in tablet mode by closely matching a physical sheet of paper. Both 2-in-1s have excellent displays, but the Spectre x360 13.5 wins out.

The Yoga 9i Gen 7 incorporates Lenovo’s Soundbar into its hinge, which houses two tweeters and two woofers to produce tons of volume and some genuine bass. The setup did produce some distortion, however. The Spectre x360 13.5 uses a more conventional system, with four downward-firing speakers that also produced enough volume but was lacking in bass.

Thanks to its smaller display, the Spectre x360 13.5 is slightly less wide and deep than the Yoga 9i Gen 7. The latter is thinner, however, at 0.6 inches version 0.67 inches, while being slightly heavier at 3.09 pounds versus 3.01 pounds. Each 2-in-1 is easy enough to slide into a backpack and carry around.

Although it has less battery capacity, the Spectre x360 13.5 still managed to last about an hour longer in both our web browsing and video battery tests. The HP lasted almost two and a half hours longer in the PCMark Applications battery test, the best indication of productivity longevity.

Both 2-in-1s will last for a full day’s work, but the Spectre x360 13.5 will hold out for longer. The difference is roughly equal to the performance delta, demonstrating that HP did a respectable job of balancing the efficiency and performance of its chosen CPU.

There’s no doubt that both the Spectre x360 13.5 and the Yoga 9i Gen 7 are outstanding laptops and the best convertible 2-in-1s available. Each has its advantages, such as the Yoga’s higher performance and the Spectre’s longer battery life. Both are extremely well-built, attractive, and offer spectacular displays.

In the end, it comes down to the little things, like the Spectre x360 13.5’s much better keyboard and higher webcam resolution. We’ll give the HP the win, but it’s by a very thin margin.

Editors’ Recommendations