Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid assessment: Nice thought! However…

At CES 2024, Lenovo stunned us tech journalists with a model new machine we weren’t anticipating: a Home windows laptop computer that’s additionally an Android pill. The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid (sure, it’s a ridiculous title) was spectacular at first look, not simply to us but in addition to you: our hands-on video with the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid we filmed in Las Vegas is full of excited feedback from viewers speaking about how a lot they might like to get one.

There have been additionally feedback from people who remembered that units like this had been out there a few years in the past. Some dual-booted Home windows and Android, just like the ViewSonic ViewPad 10, whereas others had devoted {hardware} for each working programs. Lenovo itself made one within the early 2010s: the Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid. It’s attention-grabbing that the corporate ought to strive now, in 2024, to carry that concept again. The query then turns into, was that a good suggestion?

Properly, it took some time, however Lenovo quietly made the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid out there on the market on the finish of August. The corporate kindly despatched me one to assessment, and I got down to discover out simply how helpful an Android/Home windows hybrid machine actually is. The TL;DR is that the thought is sound, however the execution is the place Lenovo must focus its efforts on the subsequent strive.

Bear in mind the Microsoft Floor E-book? It was a short-lived hybrid laptop computer with a detachable show (Microsoft has since moved on to a extra easy design, as seen within the Seventh-gen Floor Laptop computer). It allowed customers to have the consolation of a clamshell Home windows laptop computer once they wanted it and a Home windows pill once they wanted one thing extra cellular. The ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid is mainly the identical factor, besides if you detach the display, you don’t proceed utilizing Home windows 11: you leap into Android 14.

Lenovo calls the 2 halves of the laptop computer the Hybrid Station (the keyboard, the place Home windows lives) and the Hybrid Tab (the display, the place Android lives). Every half is its personal separate factor: apart from the show, cameras, keyboard, and trackpad, nothing is shared between them. Meaning the Android pill has its personal processor (a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1), RAM, battery, Wi-Fi module, and many others., whereas the Home windows machine additionally has its personal processor (an Intel Core Extremely 7 155H), RAM, battery, and many others.

However, if you join the 2, you’ve a system that works collectively to provide the better of each worlds. When hooked up, with the contact of a button (proper subsequent to the F12 key), you’ll be able to swap forwards and backwards between the 2 working programs. You possibly can even window Android, plug in an exterior monitor, after which have each Android and Home windows working concurrently on two screens. Since every system runs natively on devoted {hardware}, there are not any efficiency hits for doing this: you possibly can play Genshin Affect at full tilt on one display and render a video in Adobe Premiere Professional on the opposite display and face no points (in addition to warmth!).

Clearly, cramming all these things collectively into one 14-inch laptop computer isn’t any small feat, so some sacrifices wanted to be made. For instance, there are solely 4 ports on the whole system: two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports (one on both aspect of the Hybrid Station), a combo mic/audio jack on the left aspect of the Station, after which a single USB-C port on the Hybrid Tab that lives on the hinge close to the place the 2 halves join (that is additionally the place the pill’s energy button lives).

Talking of the hinge, eradicating the Hybrid Tab doesn’t require any button presses or twisting. You actually simply yank it off the Hybrid Station. This takes some getting used to, as you actually want to tug it off. It took me some time to get it down as a result of I felt like I used to be going to interrupt it. The factor is a tank, although, so there’s nothing to fret about there.

Along with the mixed system and a 100W wall charger, you additionally get a powered stylus and a foolish little metallic easel within the retail field. The stylus is ok — it’s a stylus that does stylus issues on both working system. The easel is a bizarre alternative, however I suppose it’s good to have if you wish to prop the Hybrid Tab someplace. I’m simply unsure it wanted to be fabricated from metallic and include the machine.

I’ll be trustworthy: the geek in me completely loves this factor. The concept of having the ability to use whichever working system is greatest for the duty without having to hold round two completely different units is just genius. Actually, there’s a lot right here that Lenovo nailed out of the park.

First, the specs listed here are top-notch. The Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 within the Hybrid Tab is a number of years outdated however nonetheless a beast. Not many tablets have landed with this processor, however our benchmarks present it being very near a Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely when it comes to sustained CPU and GPU efficiency, which is attention-grabbing as a result of the S23 Extremely has the technically superior Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. This result’s primarily because of the dimension and development of the pill — the Hybrid Tab is just higher at holding cool, so it may be fairly near the real-world output of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

Likewise, the Intel Core Extremely 7 155H within the Hybrid Station isn’t any slouch, both. It may possibly deal with all of your productiveness wants with ease and might even do high-level duties like video and picture modifying. The Intel Arc iGPU will even will let you play most AAA video games, assuming you’re OK with turning the standard settings approach down.

The true spotlight of the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid, although, is its 2.8K OLED touchscreen show. It’s merely attractive, no matter whether or not you’re utilizing Android or Home windows (or each). It’s not good — it solely has a 60Hz refresh price, which is a bit disappointing, and the bezels are very thick — however I discovered it an absolute pleasure to make use of.

I’ve already advised you about how straightforward it’s to swap between Home windows and Android with the contact of a button, however Lenovo has additionally integrated some attention-grabbing software program instruments that additional join the 2 programs. All these instruments stay within the Hybrid Heart program, which comes pre-installed on the Home windows aspect. One characteristic right here is Hybrid Folder, which lets you share recordsdata between Android and Home windows by merely dragging and dropping them. Something you add to this particular folder is shared throughout each the pill and the keyboard, which is nice. One other instrument means that you can obtain any images you’re taking with the pill mechanically. If you join the 2 halves, your images are immediately synced to the Home windows Photos folder.

This being a Lenovo laptop computer, it additionally has the model’s iconic digicam shutter that bodily disconnects the front-facing 1080p webcam, stopping individuals from needing to place a chunk of tape there. This works on each Android and Home windows!

Lastly, battery life is fairly nice. There’s a ten,000mAh battery within the Hybrid Tab — a little bit smaller than what we’d usually see in a pill of this dimension, however nonetheless good. In the meantime, the Hybrid Station has a 75Wh battery, which is fairly normal for a 14-inch laptop computer. These two batteries mixed will let you prolong your system’s battery life by quite a bit when in comparison with a traditional laptop computer or pill. For instance, you possibly can use the Android pill till it runs down to just about zero, join it to the station, and carry on working with one other full tank of gasoline.

Sadly, whereas I clearly have quite a lot of nice issues to say concerning the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid, there are simply as many issues about it that didn’t work out so properly for me.

Though Lenovo had tried to do one thing like this earlier than with the beforehand talked about IdeaPad U1 Hybrid, the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid may be very clearly a first-gen product. As I stated, it took quite a lot of engineering prowess to make two issues turn out to be one, and which means all of the refined experiences you count on with a traditional laptop computer aren’t essentially going to hold over.

Nowhere is that this extra apparent than within the weight of the system. When the 2 halves are hooked up, the total system weighs almost 4 kilos. That’s not outrageous or something, however 14-inch laptops with comparable specs — say, the ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3405) — weigh greater than a pound much less. Granted, there must be a battery within the show (one thing a traditional laptop computer wouldn’t want), and the hinge mechanism undoubtedly provides some heft. Nonetheless, Lenovo has loads of room to trim off some ounces if it makes a second-gen model of this.

Talking of the batteries, whereas battery life is nice, charging up the batteries isn’t as easy because it could possibly be. In my earlier instance, I stated you possibly can run down the Hybrid Tab to just about zero after which connect it to the Hybrid Station and carry on working. Whereas that is true, when you do run out of juice, there’s no approach to decide on the way you cost every half once they’re hooked up. In different phrases, the charger goes to replenish every system at an equal ratio, which you may not need. For instance, you would possibly need to cost the Tab first after which cost the Station when that’s full — however you’ll be able to’t. This could possibly be solved with software program, perhaps, however it doesn’t at present exist. The one option to remedy this challenge is to maintain the 2 halves separated and cost them individually, which might require two cables and, if you wish to hold working, the usage of an exterior show for the Home windows aspect.

There are different software program points like this. For instance, everytime you reattach the show to the Station, you at all times leap again to Home windows. You is perhaps OK with this, however it’s unusual Lenovo doesn’t will let you management the default habits there. Equally, if you detach the show, Home windows mechanically locks. This might be very inconvenient in the event you had the total package hooked up to an exterior monitor and used it for a Zoom name. When you detach the display on this situation, your pc locks, messing up your name.

There’s additionally no continuity between the 2 working programs. If I go to a espresso store, I would like to attach each programs to Wi-Fi, which is annoying. There’s additionally no process continuation. In different phrases, if I’m drafting an e-mail in Outlook on Home windows, I can’t then proceed that e-mail once I swap over to Outlook on Android, regardless that they’re basically the identical app. This isn’t technically Lenovo’s drawback, however it might have been nice to see extra funding in software program continuity.

Exterior of software program, the {hardware} wants some refining, too. I already advised you ways tough it’s to take the show off, however on high of this, because of the weight of the Hybrid Tab, opening the laptop computer with one hand is mainly unimaginable, and even opening it with two is difficult. Additionally, Lenovo made the weird determination to incorporate a dual-camera system on the again of the Hybrid Tab. Actually, who wants a dual-camera system on the again of a laptop computer? Yeah, I suppose there is perhaps restricted conditions the place you’d desire a rear digicam for if you’re utilizing it as a pill, however the system isn’t designed to be taken out on a visit to snap images. Ultimately, all this does is add to the system’s general weight and enhance its price.

And that brings me to the ultimate piece of the puzzle: wowzers, is that this factor costly.

I hope you’re prepared for this: the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid has an inventory worth of over $3,500. That’s some huge cash. Like, lots of cash. To place that into context, you possibly can simply get a 14-inch Home windows laptop computer with comparable specs for round $1,500 after which get a high-end Android pill for $1,000 or much less. Meaning you’re paying a $1,000 premium for the comfort of getting these two units merge into one.

This turns into much more tough to abdomen if you perceive that lots of the cool issues the system can do will be replicated with two separate units. For instance, Fast Share (which is constructed into Android and will be put in on Home windows) makes it lifeless easy to wirelessly share recordsdata between your Android pill and your Home windows laptop computer. Duet software program can will let you use your laptop computer’s keyboard and trackpad to manage an Android pill, too. When you purchase a pill that’s made by the identical producer as your laptop computer — say, a Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Plus ($999.99 at Samsung) and a Galaxy E-book 4 ($899.99 at Samsung) — you’ll be able to even use the pill as a wi-fi second display in your laptop computer. Sure, you’d want to hold round two units, however you’d save properly over $1,000.

To its credit score, Lenovo has already put the system on sale a number of occasions — it’d even be on sale proper now when you’re studying this. However asking $3,500 for a first-gen product you’ll be able to simply replicate with a lot cheaper gear is a non-starter.

That each one being stated, I nonetheless love this machine. The concept of it’s terrific — Lenovo simply must refine it. It must be lighter, cheaper, and the tough design edges — like how difficult it’s to get the show off — have to be sanded down. Moreover, higher software program integration between the 2 working programs is required.

I applaud Lenovo for stepping out on a limb and attempting one thing completely different. I actually hope there’s a second technology of the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid. Nonetheless, I’m involved that this mannequin gained’t promote properly due to its worth, and Lenovo will erroneously conclude that individuals don’t need an Android/Home windows hybrid. Right here I’m, Lenovo: I would like this concept to work. I simply don’t assume this specific product is value it. Please give us one other strive!