Since its initial reveal in 2020, the Lenovo Chromebook Duet has set the standard for Chromebook tablets. Now, four years later, the third iteration, the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 11, has been launched with a similar design but several significant enhancements.
Design Updates
The Lenovo Chromebook Duet 11 features a flat display encased in bezels, yet it includes design modifications that distinguish it from earlier models. Notably, Lenovo has replaced the raised circular rear camera with a new rectangular camera island. Additionally, the dual-color design of previous versions has been updated. This new model showcases a floating horizontal bar that is a lighter shade than the tablet itself, stretching from one side to the other without reaching the edges. The bar is inscribed with the word 'Chromebook' and a stylus icon, and the Lenovo logo has shifted from the top left to the center, appearing in a larger typeface.
Specifications and Features
The Chromebook Duet 11 retains speaker grilles on the sides and USB-C ports, but it now includes a 3.5 mm audio jack on the left side, a feature absent in earlier generations. Lenovo will provide a keyboard cover and a versatile kickstand case that can be adjusted for both landscape and portrait modes.
In terms of specifications, the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 11 boasts a 10.95-inch WUXGA touch display with a brightness of 400 nits and Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It does not feature an OLED display like the Chromebook Duet 5 (currently $379 on Amazon), as Lenovo would have highlighted. The device is powered by the MediaTek Kompanio 838 chipset, which replaces the Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 used in the Chromebook Duet 3.
Performance and Battery Life
Introduced at Computex 2024, the Kompanio 838 (MT8188) is a 6nm octa-core chipset that includes two Cortex-A78 CPU cores. This chipset also features a dedicated NPU (NPU 650) for AI capabilities, supports dual 4K displays, and has Wi-Fi 6E connectivity. It can be configured with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, although the Chromebook Duet 11 does not include a microSD card slot for additional storage options.
Camera specifications remain unchanged, with a 5MP front-facing camera and an 8MP rear camera. Nevertheless, improved picture quality may result from the new ISP integrated into the Kompanio 838. While Lenovo hasn't specified the battery capacity, they claim that users can expect up to 12 hours of battery life.
The Chromebook Duet 11 supports both touch and stylus input (USI 2.0), but customers will need to buy a USI 2.0 stylus separately if they do not already own one. Lenovo has also announced that the well-known note-taking application, Goodnotes, has been optimized for use on this device, as well as other Chromebooks that support stylus input.
Pricing and Availability
When the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 11 is released, it will retail for €399 in Europe and $339.99 in the U.S. There is also an educational variant named the Lenovo Chromebook Duet EDU G2, which comes with a TPU case that has a spill-resistant keyboard and a slot for the Lenovo USI Pen 2, priced at $319. Unfortunately, Lenovo has not provided any information regarding a successor to the larger Chromebook Duet 5.
