Answering the demand for powerful, portable, and affordable devices, Lenovo has announced three new Chromebooks in their IdeaPad Flex and Duet lines at MWC 2022 — the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook, Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3i Chromebook, and Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook is the more powerful device, featuring a 12th Gen Intel Core processor. We’re also looking at a 14″ FHD IPS display with a 16:10 aspect ratio capable of up to 400 nits of brightness — it’s good to see that the tech in Chromebooks is slowly but surely getting better. They often enough show up in classrooms, so the little upgrades here and there will be nice for teachers and students alike. It’ll also work with a stylus, in case it ends up in art class.
In case it ends up at boring old work, there are plenty of more enterprise-relevant features, too, like a 1080p webcam and a fingerprint scanner. Everyone will be able to appreciate the dual forward-firing speakers, with sound processing from MaxxAudio.
As a Flex device, it does have a 360-degree hinge, which comes with a neat ergonomic feature — when using the device as a laptop, it folds out to lift the keyboard up a little, making for a more comfortable position for your wrists.
The IdeaPad Flex 3i Chromebook is actually the larger of the two at 15.6″, but takes a significant step down in power, with an Intel Pentium Silver N6000 processor. Most other features are the same, including the FHD IPS display, but with the addition of a larger trackpad and a numpad thanks to the larger form factor.
If you’re looking to maximize portability, there’s the IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook, an 11″ tablet with a 2k display running on a Qualcomm processor. It’s much thinner at 7.9 mm, and comes with a detachable keyboard. There are rear and front cameras, 5 MP and 8 MP respectively.
Being a mobile-focused device, they keyboard is ready for a little more action than usual — it has anti-pry and water-resistant keys. It can also be used with a stylus that can be carried in the folio case, so of the three, this will probably excel the most at being a mobile sketchpad for artists who want to do some rough sketching in the field before doing the heavier work using a more powerful device.
All three devices should be out by late spring — the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook will start at $500, while the IdeaPad Flex 3i Chromebook will start at $400. The IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook will also start at $400.