Lenovo's Pro 9n is the first RTX Spark laptop that I've been able to sit down and use as I normally would at work and at home, following several brief stints with the new class of PCs at Computex and IFA.
Have some questions about the Lenovo Pro 9n not addressed in this early hands-on? Drop them in the comments section below, and I'll do my best to address them in my full review.
Lenovo is aiming its 15.3-inch Pro 9n directly at creators handling demanding 3D rendering and video editing tasks. Its 2.5K OLED display with Pantone color validation, its four Dolby Atmos speakers, its pen-enabled haptic touchpad, and its newfound RTX performance all play into this direction.
Of course, thanks to NVIDIA's RTX Spark chip, it's also suited for local AI workflows, software development, and gaming.
I received the new RTX Spark-powered Lenovo Pro 9n laptop a couple of days ahead of the review embargo. I've been using it steadily since then to get some early first impressions before I start harassing it with benchmarking software. Here's what I've learned so far.
This hands-on was made possible by a review sample provided by Lenovo. The company had no input on the content of this article, nor did it see the article before it was published.
Lenovo's Pro 9n 15" is the company's non-convertible RTX Spark option, arriving with a host of premium features aimed at creators.
Lenovo Pro 9n: What's in the box?
The Yoga 9n laptop comes packaged — in a fully recyclable box — with a fairly compact 140W USB-C power adapter.
I haven't actually had to use it yet at the time of writing this portion, as all the downloads and puttering around I've done so far on the PC have only sapped the battery to about 35%. I talk about battery life, good and bad, in more detail below.
Lenovo also bundles the Yoga Pen (Gen 2) with each laptop. It's designed to work with the new pen-enabled haptic touchpad (which Lenovo calls a Force Pad), giving users plenty of space to sketch, draw, design, and write.
Lenovo Pro 9n early impressions — 3 things I already love
Lenovo's Pro 9n already has several features that stand out to me after a couple of days of use. I've rounded them up here to give you an idea of what we're working with.
I've also included some of the more concerning things I've noticed, which you'll definitely want to check out if you're thinking about buying this laptop.
Let's start with the good stuff.
Battery life seems solid ... most of the time
Battery life falls into both categories: What I like and what I'm worried about.
First impressions are very good. As mentioned, the laptop is sitting at about 35% after a day of downloads and tinkering around. That's with the PC adjusting its own power profile depending on the task at hand.
If you aren't hammering the hardware and are instead browsing the web, streaming video, answering email, etc., I'm confident that the laptop will deliver awesome battery life for day-to-day tasks.
I explain the flipside to the battery segment below.
Inking on the haptic touchpad
The Pro 9n's display accepts touch input, but it does not work with the Yoga Pen (Gen 2). Instead, the Pro 9n's new haptic touchpad measuring about 3.74 x 5.9 inches (95mm x 150mm) is pen-enabled.
As someone who rarely uses an active pen on any laptop that's not at least a convertible (allowing me to rotate the display around for tablet mode), I love this change.
The oversized touchpad provides plenty of space to work, and the feel and sound of the pen nib on the surface come out natural. The pen has 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity thanks to AES 3.0, far more than I'm used to.
Lining up the touchpad area and the on-screen canvas takes a bit of guesswork, but I'll try it in more apps between now and my full review.
Display quality is outstanding
The Yoga 9n's 15.3-inch display uses a "PureSight Pro" OLED panel with X-Rite Pantone calibration, ensuring it's ready for specialized design work requiring accurate color reproduction.
It might be the slim bezels, or it might be the 2560x1600 resolution; in any case, it feels a lot larger than 15.3 inches.
Lenovo wanted to deliver a screen for creators, and it certainly seems like it achieved its goal.
I haven't tested it with a colorimeter yet, but Lenovo says the screen can hit 1,100 nits peak brightness with HDR enabled. I'd wager that's about right, because this thing gets very bright and I've had only minor issues with glare.
It's super smooth too, thanks to a 165Hz variable refresh rate that can automatically lower or raise depending on what you're doing. Lenovo wanted to deliver a screen for creators, and it certainly seems like it achieved its goal.
Lenovo Pro 9n early impressions — 3 things I like less
Admittedly, these three aspects I like less could turn out to be nothingburgers once I've spent more time with the PC. In any case, here they are, including more information about battery life.
A rather plain design
The Lenovo Pro 9n's design is not exactly inspiring.
This isn't just an issue I have with Lenovo's RTX Spark PC; it's largely the same across the entire product catalog, including ASUS, Dell, HP, MSI, and Surface. I imagine second-gen devices will receive a bit more flair, especially as brands branch out into more focused approaches.
The laptop is super sleek and not nearly as heavy as I was expecting.
In Lenovo's case, with such an emphasis on modern creators, the plain design doesn't quite sit right. Let me know in the comments section below if you disagree with me or have more to add on the subject.
I will say that the laptop is super sleek and not nearly as heavy as I was expecting. It only weighs about 3.6 pounds (1.6kg), and it's well balanced. Port selection is also quite good, with dual Thunderbolt 4, dual USB-A, HDMI 2.1, SD card reader, and 3.5mm audio jack.
Will it overheat?
The first few hours with the Lenovo Pro 9n involved some noticeably hot surfaces, but that seems to have abated now that it's all set up and finished downloading/installing updates.
Playing games causes heat to rise, especially when the AC adapter is plugged in, and it will be interesting to monitor actual temperatures and whether or not the dual-fan system can keep up with sustained heavy loads.
Battery life ... again
As noted, battery life seems great when you aren't pushing the system with anything too demanding.
I need a lot more time with the laptop to get a better idea of how efficient it can be, and I am concerned about how long the battery will last when the PC is under heavy load, for AI work or for gaming.
I gave The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt Remastered a brief play last night, and what I saw was not exactly inspiring. I was getting about 10 minutes of gaming from each 10% of battery, with NVIDIA's Multi Frame Generation turned on and off.
Final thoughts on the Lenovo Pro 9n before a full review
Lenovo's Pro 9n has a lot to unpack, and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of what this new class of PC can do. First impressions are generally positive, although, as noted, there are some concerns about battery life and heat.
Do you have any questions that need answering regarding the Lenovo Pro 9n or the RTX Spark platform in general? Drop them in the comments section below, and I'll do my best to address them in my full review.
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