The microphone sounds loud and clear with only a slight amount of background static, and the webcam video quality is great. However, the touchpad doesn’t track well, and the keyboard feels claustrophobic. Additionally, there are no 3.5mm headphone jacks and only two USB-C connections. Web browsing and text formatting are basic chores that its Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC (System on a Chip) can accomplish, but it isn’t the best choice for demanding workloads like photo or video editing.

Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5: Specifications

  • Qualcomm Snapdragon SC7180 SoC
  • 4GB of memory
  • 64GB of storage
  • Android 8.1 Oreo

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 review: Design

Last year, Microsoft’s Surface products popularized fabric-based designs, but the Lenovo Chromebook Duet and the Asus Chromebook Detachable CM3 took that appearance to a more accessible price point. The Duet 5, despite having a keyboard and a back cover made of magnetic cloth, doesn’t quite pull off the aesthetic as well. ..

The Chromebook Duet or Detachable CM3, which was a large part of their appeal to us, is not available in the dark “Abyss Blue” color. Despite having a stippled surface that reminds me more of denim, the Duet 5 fabric is still considerably more comfortable to wear than cold aluminum. Putting aside aesthetics, the keyboard and cover do a remarkable job of converting this Chrome OS tablet into a fantastic laptop.

The Duet 5 is a 2-in-1 laptop that has a hinge on the back cover that allows it to be set up at any angle. It also has a secure grip, making it easy to hold in your lap. We were impressed with how well this setup performed, even when we were typing in a seated position.

Audio

The Duet 5 has four 1W speakers—two on each side—that provide stereo sound. Given the size restrictions, it won’t blow you away, but if you have realistic expectations, it’s a good experience. 5 Seconds of Summer’s “2011” filled our 12′ x 18′ testing room without distorting when we listened to it. Having said that, these speakers barely produce any bass response. ..

Some bass-heavy songs suffer as a result, even while the instrumentation and lyrics sound sharp. It’s great to listen to ambient music or watch films, but for more intensive activities, you should have some cordless headphones. Additionally, you will learn our article on the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 review. ..

Keyboard and touchpad

The IdeaPad Duet 5’s keyboard attachment is a great solution for those who have problems with the HP Chromebook x2 11 keyboard. Its keys are firmer and more consistent, which makes typing easier and more efficient. However, compared to other laptop keyboards, its keys are still softer and shallower.

We think that future upgrades for the HP Chromebook x2 11 should include a lighted key with a clickier feel. The clickpad on the HP Chromebook x2 11 is a little bit smaller (10.5 x 6.2 vs. 11 x 6 cm). We don’t like how spongy and loud the feedback is. Drag-and-drop operations are made more challenging than necessary because it is easy to push down on the clickpad surface without the system detecting a click.

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 review: Graphics

The Duet 5 is a budget Chromebook that falls short in comparison to more expensive options. Its Snapdragon CPU is outperforming the MediaTek ARM chip, but it’s not as powerful as the Core i3 in the Flex 5 Chromebook. This budget Chromebook is good for opening a dozen tabs in a browser or running a single 1080p video or Android game, but it’s not powerful enough for multitasking on a serious level.

Android 8.0 Oreo includes two new tests that focus on the CPU and GPU. Geekbench from Primate Labs simulates real-world applications like PDF rendering, speech recognition, and machine learning using all available cores and threads, whereas GFXBench 5.0 stresses-tests both low-level tasks like texturing and high-level, game-like image rendering that tests graphics and compute shaders. While GFXBench counts frames per second, Geekbench provides a numerical score (fps). ..

Display

The IdeaPad Duet 5’s OLED display is a great example of how more lively and attractive OLED screens are than IPS displays. The display was more than bright enough for all of our working conditions, and the colours were pleasing and natural. The contrast was strong with deep, inky blacks.

We found the display to be too small and not sufficiently clear for writing, especially in portrait mode where the 16:9 aspect ratio made text appear compressed and less useful. Additionally, the Full HD resolution was only passably good, which was disappointing given that many 13.3-inch laptops and tablets are still being produced with this resolution. ..

For $500, the Acer Chromebook 15 is a great value. Its display is colorful and contrasty, and will be appealing to most consumers. All but the most discerning pixel-peepers and those who take notes with a pen will be pleased with it. ..

Heat

The motherboard is positioned at the top edge of the machine, as is evident from the temperature maps. Hotspots on the front and rear can reach temperatures of up to 35 and 42 degrees Celsius, respectively. These are not dissimilar to the readings we took with the HP Chromebook x2 11. You can read our article on Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 review for more information. ..

Performance

The Duet 5 has a stronger processing power than the model we looked at last year thanks to that combination of specifications. The Duet 5 scored 1677 on Geekbench 5, a benchmarking application that measures performance using mathematical puzzles. Other Chromebooks are comparable in terms of their processing power, but the Duet 5 is significantly ahead of other Android smartphones. ..

We found that the Toshiba Chromebook was more than adequate for our needs. It ran Chrome OS apps with ease and had no trouble playing back HD videos from either storage or YouTube. The majority of Android apps can also operate on it, albeit some only function in portrait mode since they don’t like the altered screen resolution. Popular programmes are also missing from Chrome OS: Office 365 on Chrome OS no longer receives support from Microsoft, which encourages users to use the online versions.

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 review: Battery life

The IdeaPad Duet 5 has a 1080p screen and a low-power Snapdragon CPU, which is good because 4K resolution is what the majority of OLED laptops use. The HP Chromebook x2 11 has a lower-resolution screen and a higher-power CPU, so it lasts less time. ..

We were pleasantly surprised by the performance of the IdeaPad Duet 5. It outperformed the Chromebook x2 11 by scoring 15.5 hours in our web browsing test, which cycles through a number of well-known and taxing websites. With its 27 watt-hour battery and MediaTek Helio P60T ARM processor, the 10.1-inch Lenovo IdeaPad Duet lasted almost 13 hours. The IdeaPad Duet 5 was one of the longest-lasting devices we’ve tested, lasting a remarkable 21.75 hours in our video test that plays a local 1080p movie trailer. It outperformed the IdeaPad Duet’s 12.5 hours and the Chromebook x2 11’s 11 hours. ..

Configuration options

The higher-end model, which costs $549, has an IPS display, integrated graphics, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of eMMC storage (3200 x 1800 pixels). ..

Our review tablet is the $499 model, which has the same display but more modern hardware, including an 8GB RAM and 128GB eMMC storage unit and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 processor. The Storm Grey color is the color of the lower-end model; Abyss Blue is the color of the higher-end model only. The snap-on keyboard and cloth back cover of the tablet share the same hue as its metal body.

Conclusion

The Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5 is a great device for media consumption. It is relatively portable, and its battery can play video for well over seven hours at a time. It has an OLED panel that exhibits a clear image with deep, inky blacks, making it an excellent option for watching in a dark environment.

The speakers in this product are loud, but they have an artificial sound. You’ll need to use wireless headphones or a third-party adaptor to make them work, and also because there’s no 3.5mm headphone jack or USB-C audio adaptor in the box, you’ll need to be careful about using them in noisy environments.