But this year, there are two Chrome OS tablets that aim a little higher, with nicer features, better specs, and correspondingly higher price tags. Like a lot of other Chromebooks, many Chrome OS tablets are inexpensive, such as last year’s excellent Lenovo Chromebook Duet. Most support stylus input (using the USI standard, common across many modern Chromebooks) some even come with one in the box.
They often come with a keyboard and case that includes a built-in kickstand. These tablet models run Google’s Chrome OS software but mimic the hardware of Microsoft’s Surface Pro or Apple’s iPad. You may also find a couple tablet-first options, with thinner, lighter designs and detachable keyboards. So unless you're really looking to directly compare the Duet 5 Chromebook against the Asus Chromebook Flip C536, Google Pixelbook, or the Acer Chromebook Spin 713, you're not likely to see any performance lag – though it will still be there.If you go looking for a new Chromebook, you’ll find a lot of traditional clamshell laptop designs and some convertible models with 360-degree hinges. Still, the Snapdragon 7c Gen2 is lagging in terms of benchmarks vis a vis other Chromebooks, but it still felt reasonable snappy when we were actually using it. That's just better than twice as fast as last year's Duet Chromebook. The Snapdragon 7c Gen2 finished the Kraken JavaScript benchmark in 1,845ms, compared to the MediaTek P60T's time of 3,940ms. The Snapdragon 7c Gen2 is still a huge improvement over the MediaTek P60T. The display isn't the only thing that got an upgrade this year, with the Duet 5 Chromebook stepping up to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen2 processor from the MediaTek P60T chip in last year's Duet Chromebook.īoth of these are high-efficiency ARM-based chips, so neither is going to pack the same kind of raw performance as an Intel Core i3 processor, which some of the beefier Chromebooks feature. Here is how the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook performed in our suite of benchmark tests:īattery Life (TechRadar movie test): 16 hours 20 minutes UK pricing aside, the increased price of the Duet 5 Chromebook isn't unexpected given its larger size and improve hardware. We'll update this review if we hear back from the company. We're hoping that this is only a temporary issue, and we've reached out to Lenovo for some context for the extraordinary price differential in the UK. Unfortunately, the UK is in for a tough time as Duet 5 Chromebook starts at an eye-popping £899 (opens in new tab). This year's Duet 5 Chromebook is more expensive, starting at $429 ($499 as tested) (opens in new tab), and AU$799 in Australia (opens in new tab). Starting at $279 / £279 / AU$424, the smaller Duet Chromebook was a fantastic value for the price. Speaking of costs, one of the best things about last year's Duet Chromebook was its price. The magnetized backplate on Duet 5 Chromebook also has a small cutaway for a Lenovo Active Pen stylus to clip to the back, but the stylus isn't bundled with the device by default, and even when it is included it will cost extra. The other accessibility criticism we had of last year's Duet Chromebook – that the magnetic kickstand could be a pain to extend at times – still remains.Ī pullable tab or lanyard here could easily fix this deficiency, but it looks like we might have to wait until next year for a better design here (or, you can pick up Microsoft's Surface Adaptive Kit, which will work with any device, not just the Microsoft Surface Pro 8). Our fingers encountering enough friction to give us some uneven swiping and gesturing, but it's not bad enough that you can't get used to it and adjust the amount of pressure you're applying appropriately. The keys on the Duet 5 Chromebook keyboard aren't backlit, like its predecessor, and the keyboard itself is still pretty flimsy, also like its predecessor. This is in contrast to last year's 10.1-inch, 16:10 ratio model, which was a better tablet than a laptop, owing to the cramped keyboard. At this size and with a 16:9 screen ratio, though, this is much more of a laptop that can operate as a tablet, as it is a bit unwieldy.
0 kommentar(er)
