Lenovo – IdeaPad Duet Chromebook – 10.1” (1920×1200) Touch 2-in-1 Tablet – MediaTek P60T – 4G RAM – 128G eMCP4x – with Keyboard – Ice Blue + Iron Gray

With so many Chromebooks in this price range feeling overwhelmingly cheap and low quality, not only is the Duet a breath of fresh air but a steal as well. I purchased this little guy as a bit of a ‘sidegrade’ from my aging Chromebook Plus, and since then I haven’t looked back! Even my 2020 iPad Pro is collecting dust!
So far, performance has been excellent when you keep in mind what this little tablet is. The ARM processor in the Lenovo scores roughly double that of the previously mentioned Chromebook on synthetic benchmarks, and so far I’ve experienced minimal issues or hiccups (for you phone geeks out there, the processor falls in somewhere in-between the admittedly ancient Snapdragon 810 and 835). It zips through everyday tasks such as word processing and web browsing with ease using 4-5 tabs, though video playback through the browser can make it sweat a little with some minor hitches. If you’re looking for something to do heavy lifting or lots of multitasking, I’d look elsewhere.
Build quality for the price is absolutely nuts as well. The tablet and keyboard sections of the device feel great, and I feel they punch decently above their price class. Especially the tablet, which I find to be very pretty and premium feeling! To note, people with larger hands may find the keyboard a bit uncomfortable and cramped, but those with glove size M and below should be totally fine.
However, the back kickstand and the plastic trackpad feel a bit on the flimsy side (though I wouldn’t exactly use the word cheap). But at the end of the day, what are you really going to complain about? It’s less than 300 bucks and didn’t “need” to be bundled! I’m just happy the extra accessories were included at this almost suspiciously low price.
Android apps also work like a dream for the most part. Most basic apps such as Youtube, Gmail, VLC, Minecraft, ect. seem to work just fine without any trouble. But if you really like to tinker, it is very easy to unlock Developer Mode to mess with 3rd party apps such as Youtube Vanced, which work wonderfully. The only issues I encountered were the Netflix and Hulu apps streaming only in standard definition (non-HD) quality, which is super lame but is a Chrome OS issue not specific to this machine. The Disney Plus app works a treat though, and either way non-HD playback issues can be resolved simply by using the internet browser instead of an app.
Screen and speaker quality are also definitely great for the price. Many people have bashed the speaker quality online, but I actually find them fairly decent with better-than-average mid and high notes. Admittedly, bass and lower frequency reproduction is completely non-existent, but I feel like this could be helped if Google implemented an in-OS volume equalizer. Come on Google!
The built in screen is a high-resolution, full-HD, IPS panel. Which is again, slightly unexpected at this price point. Viewing angles are excellent, though my model in particular seems to have some very slight color and brightness uniformity issues. This seems to be more of my trained eye than anything else, as no other people have noticed any difference on my unit. Just figured I’d mention for you picky folks out there, but I’m chalking this one up ultimately as a non-issue and more to do with the screen technology itself. Especially since I’ve seen much more egregious cases of this on $1000+ devices. Also: if you plan on transporting this with the keyboard attached… Be absolutely sure to buy a screen protector, as my tempered glass shield has already accumulated quite a collection of fine scratches after less than a month of use!
Hey, if you’re still here thanks for reading! At the end of the day, I couldn’t recommend this tablet/ 2-in-1 enough for anybody looking to spend less than 400 bucks on a Chromebook. It runs cool, silent, and very quick as long as you don’t throw too many things at it. I can see myself using this as a workshop companion for years to come… Or at least until Lenovo or another manufacturer makes a worthy successor!

I purchased two of the Lenovo Duet Chromebooks (to replace two aging ASUS Flip C100P Chromebooks)–one for each of our school age boys. While the ASUS provided a great starter Chromebook experience to introduce our boys to a blend of web and android apps, it was starting to noticeably age and programs were not working as well anymore. When I heard about the Duet earlier this year, I immediately started to follow the news and preordered two from BB at the end of April. After all the wait and hype, I was not disappointed. For my kids, this is by far the best value for the money and gives them everything they need for virtual school and beyond. Prior to having the Duet, our boys would use a mix of their Chromebooks and Amazon Fire Tablets for school/apps/media consumption. Now with the Duet, they are no longer interested in their Amazon Fire Tablets and use their Chromebooks for all school/apps/media consumption. The screen quality as well as the included keyboard and kickstand make this a great device for them and relatively easy to use. As a parent, having controls that are easy to set up and maintain over what they can access on the web through supervising their accounts with Google Family Link makes the experience of a Chromebook highly preferable to either pure Android/Apple devices (and I own and use both). In addition to the Lenovo Duet Chromebook, we purchased two of the HP USI Rechargeable Styluses (directly from HP as they are not yet available through BB) to augment their Duets. I’ll also briefly mention that access for a line-in audio only through the one USB-C port does not hinder our ability to use the devices as our boys use reasonably priced Bluetooth Headphones (EasySM brand from Amazon) which pair and stay connected without any problems. The combination of the Duet, the USI Stylus, and Bluetooth Headphones is an amazing blend that all work well together. So glad that we found the Lenovo Duet Chromebook and I would highly recommend it for those looking for both a great value and high quality Chromebook for their kids!