Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 review: $300 well spent

Costly, top-of-the-line laptops are enjoyable to evaluate in their very own proper. However it’s funds laptops the place the rubber hits the street — and the place most individuals are procuring.

Chromebooks are a great place to look on this regard, and the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 has all the time been one in all our favourite gadgets to advocate on that listing. $300 for a compact, highly effective, and surprisingly well-built 2-in-1.

My evaluate unit got here with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 CPU and a ten.9-inch 2K (2,000 x 1,200) show, and it’s the one configuration offered right here within the states. Regardless of the uncomfortably small keyboard, Lenovo continues to impress by how a lot they’re capable of squeeze into a tool this low-cost.

Design

The Chromebook Duet 3 has been up to date from the earlier era, with probably the most vital change being a rise in display screen measurement from 10.1 inches to 10.9 inches. That leads to the brand new model being barely bigger, about half an inch wider and 1 / 4 of an inch taller. The bezels stay the identical measurement, which is extreme for a contemporary machine.

The Chromebook Duet 3 has elevated barely in thickness to 0.31 inches from 0.29 inches, and it weighs 1.14 kilos, up from 0.9 kilos. Probably the most direct competitor, HP’s Chromebook x2 11, is barely narrower however half an inch taller, at 0.3 inches thick and 1.23 kilos. The bottom Apple iPad with a ten.2-inch show is narrower and taller however thinner at 0.29 inches and lighter at 1.07 kilos, and the Microsoft Floor Go 3 with a ten.5-inch show can be narrower and taller whereas being thicker at 0.33 inches and heavier at 1.2 kilos.

The pill is constructed of a mixture of aluminum alongside the sides and plastic on the again cowl. I discovered it to be as well-built as different comparably priced tablets, with no bending or flexing. This doesn’t really feel like a $300 pill, which is saying so much.

Aesthetically, the Chromebook Duet 3 is an easy slate design with two coloration selections. My evaluate unit was the Storm Gray, which was darkish gray alongside the underside three-quarters of the sides and the again cowl and a lighter gray alongside the highest. There’s additionally a Misty Blue choice. At the moment’s tablets are very related, with none of Lenovo’s competitors standing out by way of appear and feel.

The included cloth-covered folio rear kickstand cowl and removable keyboard is a two-part unit, which is much less handy than one-piece designs. Nevertheless, the again cowl attaches solidly through magnets and doesn’t really feel prefer it’s prone to come off by accident, and the kickstand works in addition to the built-in model on the Microsoft Floor Go 3 with a variety of angles. Mixed, the folio provides 0.95 kilos to the pill’s complete weight, bringing it as much as 2.09 kilos.

Ports

You get two USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 ports and a pogo pin connector for the keyboard, and that’s it. There’s no audio jack, which is disappointing, nor an SD card reader, which isn’t stunning.

Wi-fi connectivity is supplied by Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1, a limitation of the Qualcomm chipset.

Efficiency

One other change from the earlier era is a swap from a MediaTek Helio P60T CPU to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2, an 8-core ARM CPU working at as much as 2.4GHz. That gives a small bump in pace with a extra up-to-date ARM processor. There’s 4GB of RAM and 64GB of eMMC storage, each of that are sufficient for a easy Chrome OS expertise due to the working system’s inherent efficiencies.

Throughout my testing, I discovered the Chromebook Duet 3 to be fast sufficient for the sorts of duties for which a Chromebook is usually used. I might open fairly a couple of Chrome tabs and run some Android apps within the background earlier than I observed any slowdown. Definitely, I might inform that the Chromebook Duet 3 was slower than laptops geared up with Intel Core CPUs, however for the cash, the 2-in-1 was greater than enough.

Objectively, the Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 wasn’t quick at working the Geekbench 5 benchmark, equaling the identical CPU within the HP Chromebook x2 11 however falling behind the Intel Chromebooks and the Acer Chromebook Spin 513 with a more moderen MediaTek Kompanio 1380 CPU. It hit 45 within the Speedometer 2.0 benchmark, once more the identical because the HP and slower than the remainder of our comparability group.

You’ll be challenged in working probably the most intense Android video games. For instance, Asphalt 9 suffered some stuttering throughout gameplay. You’ll possible wish to restrict your self to extra informal titles.

Show and audio

The 11-inch IPS show is available in at a decision of two,000 x 1,200, labeled as 2K, and with a really uncommon 15:9 side ratio. That’s a bit taller than 16:9, however simply barely so. The show is sharp sufficient you can’t see any pixels until you search for them, and I discovered it to be shiny and colourful throughout my testing. Lenovo guarantees 400 nits of brightness, and I consider the show comes shut.

I can’t apply my colorimeter to the show as a result of it’s not supported in Chrome OS. Subjectively, although, along with being shiny and colourful, the distinction is pretty deep with true blacks and textual content that pops on a white background.

The closest competitor is the HP Chromebook x2 11, which has a extra conventional 3:2 show at 2,160 x 1,440. That makes the HP’s show sharper and even taller, however I might characterize the general high quality as related.

Two side-firing audio system supplied audio that was clear and shiny however didn’t get very loud. Mids and highs had been properly executed, however there was zero bass. The sound high quality is enough for system sounds and watching YouTube movies by your self, however pull out a pair of Bluetooth headphones for bingeing Netflix and listening to your tunes.

Keyboard, touchpad, and webcam

The keyboard is a special story. Whereas it’s well-built and water resistant, it’s additionally fairly cramped, with small keycaps and considerably much less key spacing than the standard laptop computer keyboard. The switches aren’t very easy, with enough journey however a unfastened feeling and a bottoming motion that lacks confidence.

It took me fairly a while to get used to the keyboard, and I by no means did really feel snug typing on it. The HP Chromebook x2 11’s keyboard was simply as disappointing, whereas the Microsoft Floor Go 3’s model was significantly better. The very best factor concerning the Chromebook Duet 3’s folio attachment is that it’s included within the $300 value.

The touchpad is small however snug to make use of, with a easy floor and dependable assist of the total vary of Chrome OS multitouch gestures. The buttons present a stable and quiet click on. The show is touch-enabled, in fact, and helps Lenovo’s USI energetic pen. I didn’t obtain the pen with my evaluate unit and couldn’t take a look at inking.

The front-facing digital camera is a full 5MP, that means it could actually present a higher-resolution video picture than many laptops costing tons of (or hundreds) extra. It’s an incredible choice for hybrid employees who need a extremely transportable machine for videoconferencing.

Battery life

The Chromebook Duet 3 has simply 29 watt-hours of battery capability, which doesn’t sound like so much, however it’s powering a small show and an energy-efficient ARM CPU. The HP Chromebook x2 11’s battery is barely bigger at 32 watt-hours, whereas the Microsoft Floor Go 3’s battery is barely smaller at 28 watt-hours.

However, the Chromebook Duet 3 demonstrated distinctive battery life. It made it to 11.5 hours in our internet shopping take a look at that cycles via a sequence of standard and complicated web sites, lower than the Chromebook x2 11 however nonetheless a powerful exhibiting. In our video take a look at that loops a neighborhood Full HD Avengers trailer, the Chromebook Duet 3 hit 16 hours, a surprisingly glorious consequence.

Battery life is an actual energy of the Chromebook Duet 3, and it beats out all its equally priced competitors. This funds laptop computer will run for a full day of labor and into the night.

Our take

The Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 is a implausible worth at $300, significantly provided that the folio kickstand and removable keyboard are included. And it’s not simply concerning the value — this little Chrome OS pill can deal with a stunning vary of duties, falling wanting solely probably the most demanding productiveness and inventive workflows.

You’ll spend tons of of {dollars} extra for the same setup that gained’t achieve you a lot extra performance. The Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 is the most effective funds Chrome OS pill (a bit) cash should buy.

Are there any alternate options?

The closest Chrome OS pill is the HP Chromebook x2 11. It’s about twice as costly and affords related efficiency however much less battery life. It, too, contains its kickstand and keyboard add-ons, and its show is barely sharper.

In the event you’re on the lookout for a Home windows 11 pill, then the Microsoft Floor Go 3 is an choice. It’ll additionally value you more cash, particularly if you add on the removable keyboard, however you’ll get a built-in kickstand and a significantly better typing expertise.

Lastly, the Apple iPad is a stable various. It begins at about the identical value however doesn’t embody the keyboard. Nevertheless, you’ll get higher efficiency and extra apps, making the iPad a powerful competitor.

How lengthy will it final?

The Chromebook Duet 3 is constructed effectively sufficient to final for years of service, and its parts will hold the streamlined Chrome OS working effectively for simply as lengthy. And the one-year guarantee is greater than acceptable at this value.

Must you purchase it?

Sure. At $300, the Chromebook Duet 3 makes an incredible secondary laptop for demanding customers and an incredible starter pill for everybody else.

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