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The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook is one of the best ChromeOS tablets today

You can grab one of the best ChromeOS tablets for 26% off

We haven’t seen any new models in a while but if you’re looking for one of the best ChromeOS tablets, this gem from late 2021 is on sale. It’s the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook, normally priced at $499, available this week right here for $369.

When I reviewed the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook, I actually felt it was better as a Chromebook than a tablet. This device is all screen and comes with an attachable keyboard. Using it with the keyboard kept me productive, either at a desk or sitting with the Duet 5 on my lap. The 13.3-inch 1920 x 1080 OLED touch display with up to 400 nits of brightness is easy on my eyes. In fact, this screen is fantastic for content consumption, with vivid colors and fantastic contrast.

Lenovo Duet 5 Chromebook display makes this one of the best ChromeOS tablets
The Lenovo Duet 5 performs solidly with a Snapdragon 7c Gen 2

That’s where the tablet use case comes in and this is one of the best ChromeOS tablets for that scenario. My only gripe is that this is a large tablet with a widescreen aspect ratio. That’s similar to what you see on many laptops. And it works well on laptops because you use those with the display in a horizontal position.

If you want to use the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook as a portrait tablet, it’s a bit unwieldy. Or at least for me and my small hands it is. It’s just a very tall tablet to manage at that point.

Lenovo Duet 5 Chromebook is one of the best ChromeOS tablets as long as you stay mostly in landscape mode

If you’re reading eBooks or taking digital notes with an optional USI stylus, then this tall portrait design will work for you. I just had a difficult time using this ChromeOS Tablet for anything else in portrait mode.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook runs on a second generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c chipset. This is an ARM chip, like the kind used in most phones and tablets these days. Performance wise, it’s adequate for typical, mainstream usage, as I noted in my review:

if you’re in the market for high-end performance, this isn’t the device for you. It’s fine for browsing with a dozen or so tabs, using web services, and running a few Android apps. Put another way: I could get my work done on the Duet 5 with no problem; it just takes a little longer than I’m used to from time to time.

Chipset aside, Lenovo stuffed 8 GB of memory and 128 GB of eMMC storage inside this ChromeOS tablet. There’s also a pair of USB Type-C ports, one on each side, and usable but not great cameras (5 MP for video calls and 8 MP for other photos). I do appreciate the webcam above the display in landscape mode, suggesting this is more laptop than tablet.

Overall, this is an excellent ChromeOS tablet that can double as a Chromebook. And although it’s not a recently released model, it will get ChromeOS automatic updates through June 2029. Sure, I wish that was longer too, but for $369 with a large OLED display and 11 – 12 hours of battery life? I think it’s a good deal.

Lenovo Duet 5 Chromebook keyboard
Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook keyboard


author avatar
Kevin C. Tofel

3 thoughts on “You can grab one of the best ChromeOS tablets for 26% off

  1. I have one of these. I like it a lot better than the HP 11 x2 which has the same basic specs (Snapdragon 7c gen 2, 8 GB RAM). But the HP’s screen was too small and the detachable keyboard too flimsy – and too small – so I returned it. This device’s 13.3″ screen is WAY better. The detachable keyboard is much more stable and just barely big enough.

    Thanks to Google being dumb and disallowing smartphone chips a few years back, no ARM Chromebooks are good enough for productivity beyond light word and data processing using Google Docs or LibreOffice, or maybe very light Python/Javascript stuff. Something like a Snapdragon 8c Gen 3 or MediaTek 9200 on a Chromebook would beat a 10th gen Intel Core i5 in multicore and graphics performance. So let’s face it: ARM Chromebooks are for consumption purposes plus the browsing/email/light work stuff and casual gaming. In other words, replacements for inexpensive Android tablets and the entry level iPad. And there is absolutely no tablet – whether Android or iOS – on the market with anything close to a 13″ screen that costs less than $1000. So long as you use the browser for streaming video – I believe that Google has hobbled Android streaming apps to 480p? – it is great.

    The good news: it actually is now possible to make x86 ChromeOS tablets. The latest low power AMD and especially Intel chips have TDPs similar to iPads. Of course, actually getting a company to make one is another issue.

  2. “When I reviewed the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook, I actually felt it was better as a Chromebook than a tablet.”

    Tablets and desktops have different best-use cases. (🍎 to 🍊) Could it be that Android and iOS tablets also offer a “better” productivity experience in a desktop mode as long as the hardware and apps enable keyboard input and mouse navigation? Would the conclusion be the same if the experience comparison was restricted to only apps for video consumption, mobility, accessibility, and childhood education?

    1. For me, neither Android nor iOS tablets off a better productivity experience. I have a 12.9-inch iPad Pro with Apple’s keyboard / trackpad attachment. But iOS doesn’t have a desktop class browser and has some funky issues due to being a touch-first interface. At least for the type of productivity tasks that I do.

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