Windows 2-in-1s have I’ve been doing the tablet-laptop hybrid for a while, but the tablet part of that equation always seems missing. While iPads and Android tablets have been perfecting the experience for over a decade and boast vast ecosystems of tablet-optimized apps, Windows is still something of an ugly duckling.
But what would happen if you combined a Windows laptop with a full Android tablet? That’s the idea behind the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus (Gen. 5)and it is an interesting beast.
The closest analogue to the ThinkBook Plus (Gen 5) is Microsoft’s now-defunct Surface Book line, but without the need to split the shared hardware between the screen and the base. Instead, the ThinkBook includes all of the laptop’s internal components in the keyboard base and the tablet hardware separately in the display. What you get is a laptop that can instantly (well, nearly Instantly) switch between Windows and Android with the press of a button, or operate separately when you remove the screen.
Photography: Daniel Thorp-Lancaster
The hardware is not far behind either. My review unit, Lenovo, has an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 1 terabyte solid-state drive for storage. The tablet part of the machine includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset (Android’s flagship processor coming in 2022), 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. Those are pretty solid specs on both ends of the equation and help the ThinkBook Plus (Gen 5) feel snappy with both Windows and Android.
As you’d expect from a $3,500 machine, the build quality of this ThinkBook Plus is exceptional, with an all-metal chassis that looks like it could survive being run over by a pickup truck (please). No do that). It features a 14-inch OLED touchscreen with 2,880 x 1,800 pixel resolution that looks as good as you can find on a premium laptop. Combined with a set of robust speakers tuned by Harman Kardon, you’ll have a great overall multimedia experience.
Photography: Daniel Thorp-Lancaster