Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook review: Affordable, functional and ultra-portable Review

Lenovo’s IdeaPad Duet usually takes the 2-in-one solution to the Chromebook: the display part can be utilized as a standalone pill, or you can attach the keyboard and kickstand, and sort absent. Working Chrome OS and with assistance for Android applications, this diminutive 10-inch multi-modal gadget, whose starting off selling price is just £279.ninety nine (inc. VAT) in the UK, or $249.ninety nine in the US, looks like excellent price. Let’s locate out how it styles up. 

There are a few IdeaPad Duet Chromebook versions available on Lenovo’s Uk web-site. All are powered by a MediaTek P60T processor with an built-in ARM Mali-G72 GPU and operate on Chrome OS. Also common throughout the board is 4GB of RAM, 802.11ac wi-fi, Bluetooth 4.2, a 10.one-inch one,920-by-one,two hundred IPS display with 400 nits brightness, a 7000mAh battery and a pair of cameras (2MP front, 8MP back again). 

My entry-level £279.ninety nine overview unit had 64GB of inside storage, of which 18.8GB was utilized out of the box, leaving 45.2GB for applications and information. The mid-variety £269.ninety nine model doubles the storage to 128GB, whilst the best-stop £319.ninety nine model provides a stylus. 

The 10.one-inch display sits in quite substantial bezels, so the pill is a minor more substantial than you may well be expecting. Still, it really is by no means unwieldy at 239.8mm large by 159.8mm deep by 7.35mm thick and 450g. With the keyboard and kickstand, the proportions and weight are 244.87mm x 169.31mm x 18.2mm, and 920g. 

That weight isn’t considerably beneath the extremely lightest of laptops, but it is unfair to make that comparison, so I won’t give any laptop computer illustrations right here. What is noteworthy is that the entire kit is modest ample to stow absent in the tiniest of backpacks it even dropped neatly into the best pocket of a rucksack I use routinely. 

The pill is created of plastic instead than metallic, and may well be prone to drops — although, that stated, it felt sturdy ample in the hand. It is nicely created with a mid-blue part at the best lending a exclusive appearance.  

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There is just a one USB-C port on the pill, and which is utilized for charging as properly as for attaching a wired headset. Lenovo bundles a USB-C adapter for a three.5mm headset jack, which is a great contact.  

The kickstand, which attaches to the back again via extremely strong magnets, feels stable. It won’t keep the pill upright in portrait method, however – it really is strictly for use in landscape orientation. This two-piece kickstand-primarily based style and design means the IdeaPad Duet Chromebook is only acceptable for desk-primarily based do the job with the keyboard attached. Contrary to a clamshell laptop computer, it really is around unachievable to do the job sitting down on an armchair or lounging on a sofa. 

The kickstand has a nicely tactile cloth back again, and feels challenging ample to provide very good safety for the gadget when it really is sitting down in a drawer or on a desk, and probably even in transit – so prolonged as those people magnets keep. 

The keyboard also attaches to the pill utilizing magnets, and has pogo-pins for information sharing. The magnets are strong ample less than ordinary circumstances, but slippage in transit is a likely stress. On equilibrium, I would want to use a sleeve when travelling. 

The 10.one-inch IPS touchscreen delivers 400 nits of brightness and handles 70{d11068cee6a5c14bc1230e191cd2ec553067ecb641ed9b4e647acef6cc316fdd} of the NTSC color gamut. This, along with a pair of stereo speakers, tends to make video clip catchup a beautifully feasible use scenario. Utilizing both of those Chrome OS and Android applications was a pleasurable ample practical experience, and everyone with an Android handset will right away feel at ease with the use of gesture controls to get about. The few shortcut keys for app regulate on the keyboard’s best row also enrich usability. 

The display is on the modest side for lots of efficiency tasks, however. There isn’t ample house for really serious spreadsheet do the job, and it really is unachievable to have two files open up side by side — in viewability phrases at any rate. If you just have to have 1 doing work window you need to get by Ok, until you happen to be doing work with a commented doc, in which scenario the genuine writing region is distinctly cramped.   

The keyboard will be tough for lots of persons since it really is packed into an region just 244mm large. With the exception of the arrow keys, the house bar and best row, the keys have Lenovo’s attribute pot-bellied style and design. The QWERTY and number keys are reasonably sized, but the punctuation keys on the ideal are instead slim. If the keyboard dimension isn’t a challenge, then typing is a rewarding practical experience many thanks to the bouncy and responsive keys.  

The touchpad is extremely modest and looks like it will be cramped in use, but it really is in fact substantial ample to acquire the cursor throughout the display in 1 sweep. Still, for lots of may perhaps desire to prod at the touchscreen.  

The MediaTek P60T processor with 4GB of RAM is not created to deal with significant workloads. I found doing work into world wide web applications, viewing video clip and browsing world wide web webpages all beautifully fine. But even flicking a YouTube stream into comprehensive-display method requires a wait around whilst the command is executed. Simple efficiency tasks need to be fine, but this is not the Chromebook for you if anything additional demanding is required. 

Battery existence is fair. In 1 regular session with a modest pop-out streaming window sitting down alongside a world wide web app the battery went from one hundred{d11068cee6a5c14bc1230e191cd2ec553067ecb641ed9b4e647acef6cc316fdd} to 71{d11068cee6a5c14bc1230e191cd2ec553067ecb641ed9b4e647acef6cc316fdd} in a few hours. Which is really a great deal in line with Lenovo’s declare of 10 hours for the IdeaPad Duet Chromebook. 

Conclusions 

Lenovo’s IdeaPad Duet Chromebook is neat, transportable, and practical. The keyboard is rewarding to use supplied your hands are modest ample, and battery existence is very good. The cloth kickstand shields the pill nicely. 

The processor will complain if you attempt to do additional than just the fundamentals, and it really is sensible to opt for the mid-variety gadget, since for just a modest uplift in expense you get a great deal additional storage (128GB vs . 64GB). All round, this is a stable minor 2-in-one Chromebook that does double responsibility as a standalone pill. Thinking about the keyboard and kickstand are bundled, it delivers extremely very good price for revenue.

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