CES 2022: Lenovo’s new dual screen laptop, genius or twinsanity?
Dual screen laptops are all the rage right now, but Lenovo is doing something different – is it hot or extremely not?
Dual screen laptops have become something of a trend over the past couple of years. But most look largely the same, a small screen shoved between the keyboard and the primary display. But not Lenovo's. It wants the industry to hold its beer when it comes to the design of its ThinkBook Plus Gen 3 laptop.
In fact, the second screen on this monster takes up a huge chunk of keyboard real estate. So if you're someone who hates the amount of room a number pad takes up, you may want to avert your eyes.
The second screen looks like a tablet that has been baked into the right-hand side of the chassis. It takes up a good third of that sucker, so you can't miss it.
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 3 specs
To be fair, you can't really miss, well, anything when it comes to this laptop. The primary screen is a 17.3-inch beast with a unique 21:10 aspect ratio, meaning you have to be a large laptop lover to consider it. Or perhaps be really committed to the bit.
But if you don't mind lugging such a hefty lad around, you will be rewarded with a borderline offensive amount of screen real estate, which is awesome if you need that amount of multi-tasking functionality. And that's before you even get to the second screen.
Speaking of which, it comes in at 8 inches and has an 800 x 1280 resolution. It also has touch screen functionality and comes with a stylus that snaps into the chassis. You don't have to buy it separately, which is a nice change compared to competitors like Microsoft and Apple.
When it comes to specs, they're respectable enough. The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 3 is rolling with a 12th Gen Intel Core processor (so, the same as most other non-AMD laptops announced at CES), up to 32GB RAM and up to 1TB storage. It also has an FHD infrared camera with a privacy shutter, which is great for all of us working from home again for the 17th time in 2 years.
But is it any good?
The real question is whether this form factor would actually work well. Thanks to the foul beast that is Omicron, I couldn't head to CES 2022 to check it out for myself. But I gotta say, I kinda dig the concept.
It seems like a great way to take notes while using the primary screen, it even syncs with OneNote. It's also a potentially good solution for photo editing. However, you're going to run into a roadblock with both of these tasks if you're left-handed.
Alternatively, you can use it for secondary or background stuff like music and video streaming and social media apps.
At first glance I was concerned about the keyboard reduction, but considering this is a 17-inch laptop it might not be an issue, especially if you're used to 13- and 15-inch daily drivers.
I also think that popping the second screen to the side of the machine is probably a better solution than nestling it above the keyboard, like ASUS does with its Duo laptops. I say this because it forces the keyboard forward, which can be awkward to type on. It also removes the in-built wrist rest, which is a literal pain for those of us who use our laptops 20 hours a day.
Of course, this take is all theoretical for yours truly. The only things I can be sure of is that the laptop looks much cooler than its name suggests.
But as someone who has found herself deeply bored by the generic form factor of laptops lately, it's nice to be excited about something again.
And yes, Lenovo and every other laptop manufacturer should take that statement as a challenge. Show me what you got.
If you're interested in more hot laptops that were announced at CES 2022, we have a handy round-up for you right here.
