Lenovo Reveals Several 2-In-1 Chromebook Heavy Hitters For 2022 With Stylus Support
At MWC 2022, Lenovo is announcing a galore of new devices, including laptops for budget and gaming needs, 2-in-1's, and an Android tablet. Among these new devices, the company has introduced three new Chromebooks. These Chromebook offerings from Lenovo include the 14-inch IdeaPad Flex 5i, the 15-inch IdeaPad Flex 3i, and 11-inch IdeaPad Duet 3.
As their name suggests, the IdeaPad Flex Chromebooks feature 360° hinges that allow them to be used as standard laptops, in tent mode, or folded all the way backward to be used as a tablet. The IdeaPad Duet 3, on the other hand, features a detachable keyboard and comes with a kickstand for easy resting on flat surfaces. The combination makes the IdeaPad Duet 3 more versatile and maneuverable than the bigger Flex 3i and 5i notebooks.
All three of the new IdeaPad Chromebooks get support for a stylus for easy note-taking or illustrations.
IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook
Starting with the IdeaPad Flex 5i, the 2-in-1 Chromebook is equipped with a 14-inch Full HD touchscreen. Lenovo endorses the display has a brightness of 400-nits — which is equivalent to the brightness of an M1 MacBook Air — and supports 100% of the sRGB color space. The display also comes in a 16:10 aspect ratio for slightly more vertical space than conventional laptops, which feature 16:9 displays.
The IdeaPad Flex 5i runs on 12th Gen Intel Core processors, with a choice among Core i5-1235U, Core i3-1215U, and Intel Pentium 8505. This is paired with either 4G or 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and storage options ranging from 64GB (eMMC) to 512GB (SSD). The Flex 5i Chromebook also supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.0.
Lenovo claims a battery life of up to 10 hours on the IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook.
Looking at the requirements of remote work, Lenovo has placed a 1080p webcam on the IdeaPad Flex 5i. The laptop also features dual front-facing speakers tuned by MaxxAudio for immersive sound output. In addition to these features, the IdeaPad Flex 5i has variants that come with optional features such as a fingerprint scanner, a physical shutter for the webcam, and a backlit keyboard.
The 14-inch Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i will be available starting June 2022 at a starting price of $499.99. It will be offered in Storm Grey and Stone Blue color variants.
IdeaPad Flex 3i Chromebook
The IdeaPad Flex 3i Chromebook arrives with a larger 15.6-inch Full HD touchscreen with 300-nits brightness. Owing to its size, the Flex 3i features a bigger keyboard with a numpad and a larger touchpad for more convenience.
Lenovo has powered the IdeaPad Flex 3i Chromebook with Intel Pentium Silver N4500 or N6000 CPUs with up to 8GB of RAM on offer. The Chromebook also gets storage options ranging from 32GB to 128GB. It supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 for fast data transmissions.
Like the processor and the storage options, the camera on the IdeaPad Flex 3i has also been downgraded to 720p, but it offers one extra USB Type-A port and an HDMI port over the Flex 5i.
The lesser powerful processor and a bigger yet dimmer display lead to similar claims of 10-hour-long battery backup by the Flex 3i.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3i Chromebook will be available from May 2022, starting at $399.99. Lenovo will offer Abyss Blue and Arctic Grey color options for the Chromebook.
IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook
The IdeaPad Duet 3 is the smallest and the most wieldy Chromebook from the entire lot. It comes in a tablet format and sports an 11-inch display with 2K resolution. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 chipset and comes with the option between 4GB and 8GB of RAM. Buyers will get to choose storage options from 64GB to 256GB.
The detachable keyboard comes in the form of a folio case that has pry-proof and water-resistant keys. The keyboard gets disabled automatically when it is folded backward to avoid accidental key presses.
The Duet 3 features dual stereo speakers. It comes with two USB Type-C ports and supports Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1 as the connectivity options. Additionally, Lenovo claims a battery life of 12 hours for the Duet 3.
Owing to its tablet roots, the IdeaPad Duet 3 features two cameras — one 5MP camera on the front and another 8MP on the back.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook will be available in Storm Grey and Misty Blue colors from May 2022 for a starting price of $399.99.