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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

I can't recall the last time I took a road trip or flight without my trusty Steam Deck in tow. It's just too convenient to slip into my backpack alongside a thin and light work laptop that doesn't stand out in professional settings.

That trend ends this weekend.

I have a 10-hour round trip to contend with, and after playing around with Lenovo's Pro 9n laptop powered by NVIDIA's new RTX Spark chip this past week, I'm ready to make it earn its accolades.

Can it really be my one-stop device for AAA gaming AND for work, just like what was advertised countless times in the lead-up to launch? Here's what it needs to prove to me.

What the RTX Spark platform needs to prove on a 10-hour trip

There are several key points that I want to confirm, and a 10-hour road trip seems like the perfect testing ground as I work on a full review of the Lenovo Pro 9n.

There are some areas where I do expect the RTX Spark platform to fall short, which I've also noted below.

Is ray tracing worth turning on when I'm not near an AC adapter?

One of the RTX Spark platform's biggest selling points is its Blackwell-class RTX GPU supporting all of NVIDIA's latest upscaling and frame-gen goodies.

I already gave The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt Remastered a try with ray tracing and multi-frame generation turned on, and although it looked glorious on the 15.3-inch OLED display, it sapped battery by about 10% every 10 minutes.

That doesn't bode well for efficiency, but I'm curious to see if I can dial it in by lowering settings like resolution or refresh rate. I really want ray tracing to be a worthwhile option without AC power.

Can I replace two devices with one?

Is having everything contained within the same PC actually simpler? Long-time gaming laptop users will probably say yes. Heck, I'd lean towards an affirmative if I wasn't testing it out myself this weekend.

But there are two sides to this question.

On one hand, it's nice to have a dedicated gaming device that I can put away when it's time to focus on work. On the other hand, I'll have a lot more room in my bag without an extra charger and an encased gaming handheld. A standard controller is much easier to slip into my bag.

The Pro 9n will have to handle any work I throw its way and be ready to switch to gaming on the fly, all while balancing heat and battery life.

Can the battery survive a real travel day?

The Steam Deck, and any gaming handheld for that matter, can be extremely efficient or inefficient depending on the game you're playing. The same ultimately goes for RTX Spark laptops.

Considering I plan to split time evenly between work — involving writing, hotspot web browsing, photo editing, etc. — and gaming, I'm hoping that one or the other doesn't leave me out to dry.

I do have the ability to plug in if required, and that will be another test of how much heat is created in a cramped cabin as the battery recharges.

Where I expect my RTX Spark laptop to fall short

Gaming handhelds are ergonomic, comfortable, and don't produce a lot of heat. A lot of that goes out the window when using a 15.3-inch laptop.

Sure, I'll have an ergonomic gamepad in hand part of the time, but I'll need to keep the laptop on my lap while gaming. Will it get too hot to handle? Will I feel too cramped in my seat? In those cases, I'll no doubt be wishing for my Steam Deck.

What I need from you

My testing results from this weekend will inevitably end up in my full Lenovo Pro 9n review that I'm already working on, and act as the most compelling evidence as to why I did (or didn't) give up my Steam Deck for an RTX laptop.

I'm more than open to other suggestions on how to test the gaming/work balance on the RTX Spark platform. I urge you to drop your most pressing questions in the comments section below, and I'll do my best to address them.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.