News Lenovo combined a Windows laptop and Android tablet into one epic device — and I've tested it

[AC News]

Lenovo gave Android Central an hour to test its ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid, a detachable laptop/tablet with both Windows 11 and Android 13. And while it's not perfect, it's not nearly as gimmicky as you might think.

Lenovo combined a Windows laptop and Android tablet into one epic device — and I've tested it : Read more

 

[taynjack]

Now this is something I could definitely see myself buying to replace my aging HP Elite x2 tablet. I've considered getting an android tablet as well as a new computer. To think I could get both for roughly the same price as another Elite x2, well I'm excited to see this in the flesh.

 

[taynjack]

After thinking about this laptop the last couple days I'm only more excited to see it!

"Plus, of course, there's the benefit of getting both a high-quality laptop and a massive tablet for $1,999, when buying both separately might end up costing much more."
I hope they keep this perspective rather than, "Well, this has both so it's more convenient so we're going to charge more for it than buying both separately."

I was surprised to see that it uses a separate battery, separate speakers and even separate hard drive, but then I realized that the Windows hardware is in the keyboard dock while the Android hardware is in the tablet. Curious how integrated these are when they are docked? Do all the speakers work when docked? Can you access files on the intel hard drive from the android side when docked? It would seem weird to have to transfer your windows files to the android hard drive if you were looking to switch systems. I guess OneDrive could solve this issue easily. It appears they can share the keyboard so there must be some overlap in the hardware to talk to both systems. I love my detachable, but the keyboard has left much to be desired, and the screen gets almost too hot to touch when I'm drawing digitally while simultaneously charging the device. I wonder how much of the Surface Book tech they integrated into this device?

The specs seem quite robust for that $2,000 price point. 32gb ram. Core 7 ultra. 1tb hard drive. Discrete (although probably weak) graphics. I've never spent more than $2000 on any computer, even building an i9 beast workstation. But this seems like a great deal at that price that I would consider, but please don't tell Lenovo or they'll claim inflation or something ridiculous and jack up the price.

 

[CajunMoses]

Yeah, this dumaflache sounds like it might be a fantastic idea. Everyone will want one.... NOT.

 

[Windroid 2483]

That's similar to my setup: I have both Windows and Android installed onto my tablet-laptop hybrid (a Surface Go). That gives me a Windows laptop, and Android tablet, all in one unit.

However, this ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid is two computers (one in the keyboard, and one in the monitor). That means Android and Windoes can be running at the same time. My Surface Go is just a single computer, so booting up Windows means shurting down Android (and vice-versa).