Gaming on a dual-screen laptop? I tried it with Lenovo’s new Yoga Book 9i for 2025 — Here’s what happened

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Last week, I received the newly updated Lenovo Yoga Book 9i 14 (Generation 10), unveiled at CES, for a test drive. Over the past few days, I’ve been enjoying exploring its features, even dabbling in gaming.

As a devoted enthusiast, diving into my personal exploration of the Yoga Book 9i Gen 10, I shared initial insights about its design, screen, and key elements. Later on, I shifted gears towards immersing myself in the captivating world of PC gaming.

Lenovo’s latest dual-screen laptop doesn’t cater specifically to gamers. Instead, it emphasizes a less intense, user-friendly experience compared to the ASUS Zenbook Duo (2025) – another laptop I’ve reviewed, which has a stronger focus on gaming.

The ASUS laptop with its dual screens and comparable hardware performance offers a practical design, making it an ideal choice for time-strapped professionals who frequently require multi-tasking capabilities on the go.

Lenovo’s distinctive soundbar placed between the screens, featuring a sleek design with curved corners (a common trait in Lenovo’s contemporary Yoga series), and equipped with dual OLED displays, make it an ideal choice for enjoying films, music, and computer gaming.

I was wondering if you’ve ever tried using the Yoga Book 9i like a regular laptop with just one active screen during gaming. However, what about its performance in dual-screen mode? Does it function effectively in such a setup? I decided to investigate this question.

A quick look at the Yoga Book 9i’s ‘Arrow Lake’ integrated graphics

Previously, I noted that the Yoga Book doesn’t cater to gaming, yet the built-in Intel Arc 140T graphics within the “Arrow Lake” Core Ultra 7 255H processor has piqued my interest.

This model employs the Intel Xeon+ architecture, boasts eight cores, and can reach a maximum frequency of 2.25 GHz. Additionally, it offers ray tracing capabilities.

Among the system’s 16GB of overall memory, 8GB is set aside for shared usage with the built-in graphics. The remaining 128MB operates independently as dedicated RAM.

In the Core Ultra 9 285H CPU review, my coworker Zachary Boddy found that this chip holds its ground against top-tier gaming handheld devices.

Indeed, those particular tests were carried out using an MSI laptop equipped with a more robust cooling system. It’s worth noting that the Yoga Book 9i lacks visible vents for cooling. Instead, it uses subtle vents concealed beneath the soundbar-style hinge.

What’s gaming like on a dual-screen laptop?

I had no concerns whatsoever that the laptop could handle playing some of my preferred, lighter-weight games such as Balatro, Vampire Survivors, and Rimworld smoothly.

I was, however, interested to see what I could do with these titles regarding dual-screen play.

As a researcher, I envisioned that extending specific games spanning dual screens concurrently could be remarkably effective, particularly for those games that are effortlessly managed through touch or an active pen input.

Here’s where I ran into my first snag.

Instead of providing an option like NVIDIA’s “Surround” or AMD’s “Eyefinity,” which enables users to merge several monitors into a single workspace, commonly preferred by racing and aviation simulation fans, Intel’s Arc graphics software lacks this particular feature.

After considering the possibility that Lenovo might have claimed the settings option for themselves, I looked into both the Vantage and UserCenter apps, but found nothing. The most helpful Intel support page I located pertained to monitor extensions, but it didn’t provide a solution.

I ended up using an outdated approach – moving game windows between my two screens, crossing my fingers they’d stay in place – but it surprisingly worked well for me.

Initially, I chose Balatro because I believed it would be less affected by the significant space between the screens.

Although it was divided right down the center, I happily invested around an hour assembling hand models and gathering Joker cards. The supplied pen functioned smoothly during the process.

The two-panel window neatly locked into the edges, revealing the taskbar and window header even though I wasn’t aware of them after I began playing my game.

Next, I gave Rimworld and Vampire Survivors a shot using both screens simultaneously.

Regrettably, the screen division is excessively wide for these games to function efficiently. Rimworld, with its more leisurely pace, came close to working, but Vampire Survivors and its fast-paced action were simply not feasible.

With Lenovo’s adaptive performance mode enabled and both screens set around 350 nits brightness, I spent thirty minutes enjoying Vampire Survivors, simultaneously streaming a podcast on the secondary screen.

In about a half hour of playing games, the battery level decreased by around 10%. Given that the computer was operating at maximum capacity with two screens active and the CPU/GPU working hard, it’s quite acceptable. This translates to around five hours of gaming time before needing to recharge the battery.

During a half-hour gaming session, I found temperatures around 38 degrees Celsius at the exhaust vent, while the hottest spot on the lower panel reached approximately 35 degrees Celsius.

The thermal system works efficiently as long as the laptop isn’t charging. However, when it is plugged in, the battery charges rapidly, leading to increased heat generation, which could potentially cause issues. I’ll provide further details in my comprehensive review.

Regarding the background noise from the system, I couldn’t hear the fan above the sound of the game and podcast. I had to bring my ear close to verify if it was still operating.

How does the Yoga Book 9i perform with more demanding games?

In simpler terms, the Intel Arc 140T integrated graphics perform quite well with less demanding games, which is generally known information.

After enjoying the gaming experiences on both single and dual screens with Balatro, Vampire Survivors, and Rimworld, I decided to test the capabilities of my Yoga Book 9 by downloading highly rated games like DOOM: The Dark Ages and Forza Horizon 5, which are known for their heavy GPU and CPU demands.

Regrettably, during my exploration with DOOM, I encountered an issue that prevented me from advancing beyond the loading screen for the main menu. This recurring glitch resulted in the game crashing every time I attempted to load it up.

In its finely tuned state, Forza Horizon 5 offered a different kind of tale. It managed to run flawlessly at a FHD+ resolution, typically achieving around 48 frames per second according to the built-in benchmark.

Fans are louder when running a game like Forza, but they’re never screaming.

With the settings set high, including ray tracing at medium level, and XeSS quality mode enabled, the game appears astonishingly beautiful on the OLED screen.

After modifying certain graphic settings and optimizing XeSS, I managed to boost the frame rates beyond 60, yet I didn’t observe a substantial enhancement in image quality. Given that the screens support a 120Hz refresh rate, there’s ample opportunity for further increasing the frame rates.

Fans are louder when running a game like Forza, but they’re never screaming.

Remember that the Yoga Book 9i features a Wi-Fi 7 wireless standard perfect for game streaming. This means that if your preferred games aren’t compatible with the laptop, you can still enjoy them through services like Xbox Cloud Gaming or GeForce Now.

Have you tried gaming on a dual-screen laptop?

On my upcoming exploration with the Yoga Book 9i 14″ (Gen 10), I’ll be putting it through rigorous testing for a comprehensive review. However, I’m appreciative of the additional moments I spent to experience how a dual-screen laptop caters to gaming.

I really appreciate the two-screen setup on Balatro, and it’s amazing how this slim laptop delivers an exceptional Forza Horizon 5 gaming experience. Multi-tasking, like listening to podcasts while gaming, is a breeze too.

Interested in your thoughts regarding playing games on a two-display laptop setup. Have you ever given it a shot? Could you provide some valuable insights or advice to enhance my gaming experience with this configuration? Additionally, any suggestions you might have for aspects I should focus on during a comprehensive review testing would be greatly appreciated.

Be sure to let me know in the comments section below!

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2025-05-31 16:10