What it’s good to know
- The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid is a mix Home windows 11 laptop computer and Android 13 pill.
- You possibly can swap between the 2 modes with a button press, with every OS utilizing its personal {hardware}.
- The Android pill has a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 CPU, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage.
- The Home windows laptop computer has an Intel Core Extremely 7 Processor, 32GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and discrete graphics.
With CES tech, you by no means know whether or not a cool-sounding prototype will work in the actual world. With Lenovo’s new 2-in-1 Home windows 11 laptop computer and Android 13 pill hybrid, I had the prospect to place it by its paces at a non-public occasion final month. One obvious situation apart, it appeared to completely reside as much as its potential, and I actually need one for myself.
The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid has the shape issue of a Floor Professional or Lenovo’s personal Chromebook Duet, with a removable pill magnetized to the keyboard. The distinction is that it is not one system with completely different docked and undocked software program. It is really two units in a single: an Intel laptop computer and a 14-inch Snapdragon pill.
Why would somebody purchase a hybrid Home windows/ Android laptop computer as a substitute of each individually? The Lenovo engineers I spoke to urged that it is tailored for frequent fliers who dislike having to pack each a laptop computer and pill (or having to depart one behind).
Plus, after all, there’s the advantage of getting each a high-quality laptop computer and a large pill for $1,999, when shopping for each individually would possibly find yourself costing rather more.
You possibly can see within the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid specs pill under how every half of this hybrid features fully by itself. Each the “Hybrid Station” (aka the laptop computer) and Hybrid Pill have their very own CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, audio system, and battery. And in each circumstances, the {hardware} is fairly darn sturdy.
| Specs | Home windows laptop computer | Android pill |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core Extremely 7 Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 |
| OS | Home windows 11 | Android 13 |
| Reminiscence | 32GB LPDDR5x | 12GB LPDDR5x |
| Storage | 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD | 256GB UFS 3.1 |
| Graphics | Intel Arc GPU | Qualcomm Adreno 730 |
| Show | 14-inch 2.8K OLED contact, DCI-P3 100% | Similar |
| Audio | 2x 2W Harman Kardon audio system | 4x 1W super-linear audio system |
| Battery | 75Whr | 38Whr |
| Safety | Fingerprint reader; Kensington Nano lock | Digital camera (Face Unlock), digicam shutter |
| Connectivity | 2 x USB-C (Thunderbolt 4), 3.5mm jack, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 | 1 x USB-C, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 |
| Dimensions | 313.5 x 234.5 x 9.4mm; 970g/ 2.14lb. | 313.5 x 224 x 6.6mm; 785g/ 1.73lb. |
On the Android aspect, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 falls between the Gen 2 discovered within the Galaxy Tab S9 Extremely and Gen 1 discovered within the Galaxy Tab S8 Extremely. A former flagship chip with 12GB of RAM to again it, it is now a few generations behind however nonetheless greater than sturdy sufficient for many pill software program. For something extra superior, properly, that is what the Intel aspect is for!
In comparison with the greatest Android tablets, you get a 14-inch, high-res show, Android 13 software program with multitasking tips, and a very good attachable keyboard. Some specs just like the 1W audio system aren’t flagship-level — they match the dimensions of Lenovo’s $400 Tab P11 Professional Gen 2 — however in most respects, you could have little to complain about.
The $1,199 Tab S9 Extremely and $349 keyboard cowl add as much as $1,548 complete; you’d save $450 in comparison with the ThinkBook Plus and get higher efficiency and software program assist, plus an S Pen. However put it one other manner: if you need a large productiveness pill, would you spend an additional $500 to make use of Home windows 11 as a substitute of Samsung DeX, and get a much better Home windows-style keyboard as a substitute of Samsung’s mediocre keyboard? I believe loads of individuals would say sure.
Really, my solely actual grievance is that the ThinkBook in pill mode weighs 1.7 kilos, barely heavier than the Tab S9 Extremely. Identical to that pill, the Gen 5 Hybrid is not one thing you are going to need to maintain for lengthy. I can image watching it in mattress whereas it rests on my abdomen or lap, however in any other case, that is going to want a flat floor and one thing to prop it up.
The Lenovo workforce did showcase an official “Common Easel Stand,” seen within the first photograph above, which you’ll be able to fold right into a journey bag after which unfold out to prop up the ThinkBook. However in a case of refreshing truthfully, the Lenovo reps admitted they don’t seem to be the largest followers of how huge the easel is. They even claimed a TSA agent thought it seemed like a weapon, making it an adjunct you in all probability will not usher in your carry-on.
Since you possibly can’t put a removable pill in a guide cowl keyboard with out interfering with the magnet mechanism, I am undecided there’s one other good method to preserve it propped. It is one thing to remember.
As for the Home windows aspect of issues, I am going to flip to my more-informed colleagues at Home windows Central as a substitute. Introduced in December 2023, the Intel Core Extremely 7 has six efficiency cores, eight effectivity cores, and two low-power effectivity cores. In response to WC’s Daniel Rubino, this CPU places a significant emphasis on robust battery life, a cool-running processor, and a sturdy NPU for AI positive aspects.
A number of well-known laptop computer lineups will use the Intel Core Extremely 7 of their 2024 fashions, just like the Dell XPS 14 and Acer’s Swift sequence. So on this case, you are getting a correctly cutting-edge processor, which is able to in all probability matter greater than a current-gen Snapdragon for critical productiveness customers.
Backed by 32GB of reminiscence, the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid ought to supply some actual energy. Plus, it gives an Intel Arc GPU; Lenovo does not specify what mannequin, and its reps appeared to counsel that its graphics won’t compete with high-end Home windows-only laptops. However I am nonetheless joyful that it’ll supply discrete graphics, not built-in.
Lenovo’s reps instructed me that its ThinkBook Plus lineup is all about experimentation. The ThinkBook Gen 4 had an e-ink show on the again, seen if you closed the principle OLED show; the Gen 3 had a phone-sized touchscreen constructed into the laptop computer’s backside half, proper subsequent to the touchpad and keyboard. They have been enjoyable and weird ideas, ones that nobody actually requested for.
I do not assume anybody requested for a Home windows/Android hybrid laptop computer, however the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid experiment seems like a extra critical choice this time round, one that buyers will discover intriguing. And I am impressed by the execution.
Say you are working in Home windows and need to swap to Android. There is a devoted swap button on the keyboard; press it, and after a brief stylized animation, you are proper into inventory Android 13 view, with a totally separate set of apps and instruments.
It is about as seamless as you can hope for, with minimal lag in my testing. You even know that the Home windows aspect is ready in stasis, able to wake again up with one other button press. You additionally swap to or from Android robotically in the event you yank the show away from the keyboard or reattach it.
I did not get lengthy with the ThinkBook Plus, however I discovered the efficiency reliably quick for both working system, and I liked the OLED show. I would say you need to await a full assessment to make certain, since it is a distinctive and untested function. However you could have each purpose to be optimistic.
When you do not care in any respect about Home windows, or about Android, then the 2-in-1 ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid is not for you. However in the event you’re the form of individual that desires flagship-quality specs for each, the ThinkBook Plus skirts the road and will theoretically prevent cash and desk area within the course of.
Lenovo says will probably be obtainable in Q2 2024 — between April and June — with “an anticipated beginning value of $1,999.” The Lenovo reps initially instructed me a decrease quantity, which makes me marvel in the event that they realized they’d a winner on their arms and will cost extra money for it.
Regardless, I might commerce my present Dell laptop computer for this funky hybrid in a second, for its versatility and the prospect to entry Android on my desk with a correctly tactile keyboard — and no have to preserve a number of units charged directly.