For everyday tasks, the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" is a cost-effective choice with a touchscreen, but it falls short in performance and display quality compared to the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i. The Yoga Pro 9i, while pricier, offers a significant upgrade in performance with its Intel Core Ultra 7 processor and Nvidia RTX 4050 graphics, making it suitable for more demanding tasks like gaming and machine learning. It also boasts a high-resolution Mini LED display with superior color accuracy and brightness, which is ideal for creative work. The Yoga Pro 9i is also more portable despite its larger screen, thanks to its slimmer design. If you value performance, display quality, and portability, and are willing to invest in a premium experience, the Yoga Pro 9i is the clear choice. However, if your needs are limited to basic tasks and you're on a budget, the IdeaPad 3 15" will serve you adequately. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15"
The Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" has no clear advantages over the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i.
Advantages of the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Best in class overall display quality
Good overall build quality
Good battery life
Very good speakers
Good keyboard
Key differences
General Use
6.2/10
8.1/10
1366 x 768
RESOLUTION
3200 x 2000
TN
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
220.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
400.0 nits
5.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
9.0 Hours
6.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
7.5/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.3/10
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i is very good for general use, while the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" is only fair.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Gaming and AI
5.8/10
7.7/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.3/10
1366 x 768
RESOLUTION
3200 x 2000
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
9.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i is good for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" is poor.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
5.8/10
8.7/10
4.2/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.8/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.3/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i is very good for engineering and design, while the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" is poor.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Content Creation
6.3/10
8.3/10
4.2/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.8/10
1366 x 768
RESOLUTION
3200 x 2000
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
TN
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i is very good for content creation, while the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
6.3/10
8.1/10
4.2/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.8/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1366 x 768
RESOLUTION
3200 x 2000
6.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i is very good for software development, while the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Screen Quality
5.2/10
9.8/10
15.6in
SIZE
16.0in
1366 x 768
RESOLUTION
3200 x 2000
TN
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
220.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
400.0 nits
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i has a better screen than the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
5.0 Hours
9.0 Hours
The Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" has 5 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i has 9 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Build Quality
6.5/10
7.4/10
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i has good build quality, while the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" has only fair build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$360
$1,450
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" has a price of $360 and the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i costs $1,450.
"The Lenovo IdeaPad 3 is an enduring office notebook with a powerful Ryzen APU. Lenovo's office all-rounder easily handles office and internet applications as well as modest games - the Ryzen 5 5625U APU and 16 GB of RAM make this possible. The CPU and GPU can work at consistently high clock rates. The emission values are okay, but the noise emissions should be lower under medium to full load. The relatively light notebook (approx. 1.6 kg) achieves practical battery runtimes of about 10 to 11 hours."
Get a great deal on the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" or the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
132,495
Recommendations made
28,708
Consumer hours saved
About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.