Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i Drops to $1,699: Core Ultra 9, RTX 5060, and a Stunning Tandem OLED for $500 Less

High-end laptops with serious internals don't have to cost a fortune. Best Buy is currently selling the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 G10 Aura Edition with an Intel Core Ultra 9 285H processor, 32GB of soldered DDR5 RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 graphics card for $1,699. That's a straight $500 discount from the official $2,199 MSRP, bringing this 16-inch multimedia machine well below the $2,000 threshold where most premium laptops sit.

The headline here isn't just the price cut. It's what you get for that money. Lenovo packed this configuration with a tandem OLED display running at 3200 x 2000 pixels with a 120Hz refresh rate and a claimed peak HDR brightness of 1,600 nits. In a market where most sub-$2,000 laptops ship with IPS panels or basic OLED screens, that's a meaningful spec advantage for anyone doing color-sensitive creative work or simply wants a gorgeous panel for media consumption.

The rest of the hardware rounds out the package. You get a 1TB NVMe SSD, WiFi 7 connectivity, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI 2.1, and an SD card reader. The chassis is aluminum, and the speakers are tuned well enough to avoid the tinny sound that plagues many thin multimedia laptops.

What the Review Team Found

Notebookcheck tested two variants of the Yoga Pro 9i 16 G10 Aura Edition: one with the RTX 5060 and another with the RTX 5070. Both shared the same Intel Core Ultra 9 285H processor and the tandem OLED display, so the GPU is the primary differentiator between the two.

The RTX 5060 model, which is the one on sale here, performed well across the board in multimedia and productivity workloads. Colors on the tandem OLED panel are accurate out of the box, and the 1,600-nit peak brightness means HDR content looks genuinely impressive rather than washed out. The aluminum build feels solid without being excessively heavy, and the keyboard and trackpad are both above average for this class of machine.

There are trade-offs. The OLED panel uses PWM dimming, which may bother users sensitive to screen flickering. The 32GB of RAM is soldered to the motherboard, so you cannot upgrade it after purchase. And in performance mode, the cooling system pushes the fans hard, making the laptop noticeably loud under sustained loads. None of these are dealbreakers for the intended audience, but they are worth understanding before you buy.

How It Stacks Up

At $1,699, the Yoga Pro 9i sits in an interesting position. Most 16-inch laptops with comparable specs, Intel Core Ultra 9 processors, discrete RTX 50-series GPUs, and high-resolution OLED displays, tend to land closer to $2,000 or above. Lenovo's own ThinkPad P16 Gen 3, which targets workstation users, costs significantly more for similar or even lower GPU tiers.

The closest competition comes from other multimedia-focused machines like the ASUS Zenbook Pro 16X and the Dell XPS 16, but neither matches the tandem OLED brightness or the combination of a Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5060 at this price point. The Yoga Pro 9i's display technology gives it a genuine edge for creative professionals who need accurate colors and high peak brightness without stepping up to a $2,500+ workstation.

For buyers who need more GPU power, the RTX 5070 variant of the same laptop exists, but it commands a higher price. The RTX 5060 configuration on sale here hits a practical sweet spot: fast enough for video editing, 3D rendering, and moderately demanding creative work, without the premium that the top-tier GPU commands.

Who Should Buy This

This deal makes sense for multimedia creators, photographers, and video editors who want a capable 16-inch laptop with a top-tier display but cannot justify the cost of a dedicated workstation. The tandem OLED panel alone is worth a premium at this tier, and pairing it with a Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5060 at $1,699 is a strong value proposition.

Buyers who prioritize quiet operation or need user-upgradeable RAM should look elsewhere. The soldered memory means you are locked into 32GB for the life of the machine, and the fan noise under load is real. If your workflow involves sustained rendering sessions, the acoustic profile may become a factor.

The $1,699 price is available at Best Buy with free store pickup where stock permits. Given the $500 discount from MSRP, this configuration is likely to move quickly at retailers.

For full benchmark results and detailed testing notes, check out the Notebookcheck review of the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 G10 Aura Edition and the hands-on comparison between the RTX 5060 and RTX 5070 variants.