Dual-screen laptops speak to you, but ZenBooks are too expensive or not suitable? Lenovo intends to remedy this.
It has been a few years since certain manufacturers and integrators try, with more or less success; Asus, for example, has offered absolutely sumptuous devices with its ZenBook Duo, while others have missed their mark across the board, such as HP with its Omen X 2S. Today, Lenovo is taking the bandwagon with a surprising proposition, but perhaps more interesting than it seems.
The ThinkBook Plus Gen 3 is a large laptop computer equipped with a fairly generous IPS panel with its 17.3 inch and its unusual screen ratio in 21:10, which gives him a resolution of 3072 x1440. The set will run at 120 Hz and will be able to offer 400 nits of brightness.
But the real star is fine the secondary screen integrated into the body of the device. And as you probably suspected when you noticed the screen format, the integrator did not imitate Asus’ approach. Unlike the ZenBook, where the second 4: 1 screen was integrated above the keyboard, Lenovo placed it to the right of the keyboard; there is therefore a sort of 8-inch mini-LCD tablet, tactile and with stylus support.
An extra mini-tablet next to the keyboard
An idea that might seem far-fetched, but which seems to work surprisingly well on the renderings offered by Lenovo. On paper, it could be a new quite interesting approach to multitasking. Its interest is quite obvious in terms of gross productivity; this screen seems perfect to accommodate a calculator. The size and tactile nature of this secondary display also seems to make it a ideal ally for note taking.
We can also imagine placing a chat or videoconference window. It could also allow you to browse a database, or just keep some important information in front of you. Best of all, the device even has a “Smartphone Mirroring”Which allows you to interact with your smartphone via the second panel! Rather clever and very good seen from Lenovo.
Artists could also find their account there; this screen could serve as mini graphics tablet, thanks to that stylus support and its size equivalent to a half-Wacom Intuos S. We can also imagine docking a library of tools or shortcuts there as it is possible to do in applications like Photoshop.
From Alder Lake, but no dedicated graphics card
As for the technical specifications, we already know that this funny beast will be equipped with a processor 12th Generation Intel Core. The exact models, on the other hand, have yet to be announced. Anyway, the device will also be entitled to 32 GB of LPDDR5 … but not to a dedicated graphics card. Unfortunately, it will be necessary to be satisfied with the Iris Xe platform.
A little curious knowing that Lenovo also seemed to be targeting the artists with this product. But in the absence of a dedicated GPU, you’ll likely have to be content with reasonably light creative tasks. The good news is that the new Alder Lake CPUs are immensely more proficient than their elders at handling these solo tasks, without the complicity of a graphics card. In addition, one can hardly blame this concession to the constructor; after all, this unusual chassis is already well filled and could quickly have turned into a huge thermal puzzle.
The device will be entitled to a 69 Wh battery. Storage will be provided by a 1 TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD. In terms of connectivity, this ThinkBook will have a full-size HDMI port, two USB-A sockets, a USB-C socket, a Thunderbolt 4 socket, a 3.5mm jack, and Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1 standards. Port standards, on the other hand, have not been specified.
And there is one last pleasant surprise at the price level, since this device will be launched at a price of … $ 1399, or approximately € 1,236 ! A fairly attractive price, and significantly lower than that of a ZenBook Duo of equivalent size. We will therefore be impatiently awaiting the first feedback when it comes out next May; Lenovo may well offer the first device with a really interesting dual-screen concept and not entirely copied from the idea of the ZenBook Duo.
