Lenovo IdeaPad Windows Duet 5i Review

When Lenovo's IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook and IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook came across our test bench in recent years, we were impressed by their affordable and versatile 2-in-1 laptop designs. Now Lenovo has brought the same concept to Microsoft's operating system with the IdeaPad Windows Duet 5i ($789.99; as low as $529.99 on sale), a fully functional Windows 11 portable with a keyboard included that undercuts premium models like the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 and the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1. Its modest storage and Core i3 processor are the only real knocks, but with no obvious design flaws, steady performance, and good pricing, it earns our Editors' Choice award for the budget category. If you're a Windows user who likes the tablet-plus-keyboard concept, and you don't need tons of power, the IdeaPad Duet 5i is a first-class value.

A Straightforward 2-in-1 Design

Lenovo's design is pretty simple, but that's not a bad thing. Considering its price, the tablet feels well-made and looks good; the blue color is pleasant, and the chassis feels sturdy. It's definitely a step above cheaper devices and not too far from the panache of the Surface Pro and XPS 13 2-in-1, each of which starts at $999. The Duet 5i isn't quite as sleek, but it's still extremely slim and portable at 0.35 by 11.22 by 7.36 inches (HWD) and 2.53 pounds.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

Of course, the main attraction is the convertibility between tablet and laptop operations. Like the Surface Pro, the IdeaPad has a kickstand built into the back plus a detachable keyboard, which I prefer over 2-in-1's whose kickstands are built into the keyboard because the latter are often a little finicky to set up and flimsier than a built-in stand. Once you prop the Lenovo tablet with the kickstand, it's perfectly stable.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

Speaking of the detachable keyboard, Lenovo does the right thing by including it in the box. Microsoft has always followed the bad example of Apple's iPad by charging extra for its Surface keyboards, as Dell does for base models of the XPS 13 2-in-1, so the Duet 5i's price advantage is even bigger than it looks at first glance.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

It also functions well. The exterior is fabric, which feels nice as you carry the tablet with the keyboard folded over the display. The plastic keyboard deck feels a little cheaper than the Surface keyboard's, but the Lenovo keyboard isn't as thin. The Surface keyboard can be a touch flimsy, especially if you're using it on your lap rather than at a desk.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

Lenovo's included keyboard attaches magnetically to the bottom edge of the tablet, fitting easily and securely into place. The typing experience is mostly comfortable; the key feedback is nothing special, but neither does it feel mushy or cheap.

There's no way to tilt the keyboard for a more comfortable typing angle (the Surface Pro, for example, lets you attach the keyboard at a slight incline), but that's a relatively minor complaint. All things considered, Lenovo's is a surprisingly hardy and intuitive design for a product that costs less than many similar detachables.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

Sharp Screen, Simple Connectivity

All-important for a tablet or 2-in-1, the Duet 5i's screen meets and maybe even exceeds expectations. The touch screen measures 12.3 inches diagonally and provides a pleasantly sharp resolution of 2,560 by 1,600 pixels. Its brightness won't blow you away, but it's perfectly acceptable, with vivid colors.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

Finally, we come to the connectivity. As with most tablets, your physical port options are fairly limited: There are just two USB Type-C connections on the chassis, one of which is meant for the AC adapter, leaving you just a single usable port if you're plugged in. Neither of the USB-C ports has Thunderbolt 3 or 4 functionality, no surprise in an under-$1,000 laptop. Both are on the IdeaPad's left flank, while the right side holds a headphone jack along with a power button and volume rocker.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

Testing the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5i: A Surprisingly Snappy Core i3

Lenovo's Duet 5i physical design passes our judgment with flying colors, but what about the components? Our test model, sold by Best Buy and the only configuration on Lenovo's site, comes with a 12th Generation Intel processor, though it's a relatively low-powered Core i3-1215U (two Performance cores, four Efficient cores, eight threads). The U suffix denotes its battery-saving 15-watt power draw. The Core i3 CPU is a factor in Lenovo's ability to undercut its rivals' prices (the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 has a 12th Gen Core i5) but is adequate for everyday apps. No one's going to run AutoCAD or Adobe Premiere on a 12.3-inch tablet.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

Joining the CPU are 8GB of memory and a 128GB solid-state drive, which also contributes to the cost savings compared to higher capacities. Without other configurations, you can either work with this or shop elsewhere; 8GB of RAM is serviceable for most use cases, though the storage might be tight depending on what you plan to keep on the device. At least on paper, however, the IdeaPad is a good entry-level 2-in-1 for basic productivity.

To see what the Duet 5i is capable of in real-world benchmarks, we're matching it against some competing tablets seen in the table below. We've already mentioned the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 and Microsoft Surface Pro 9, but we should note that we reviewed the latter's ARM-based SQ3 configuration, which brings its own set of compatibility issues (you'll see it missing from some test results) and performance downsides compared to Intel models.

To round out the charts, we're including the older Surface Pro 8 in a high-end Intel Core i7 configuration and the Asus VivoBook Slate T3300, which combines a deluxe OLED display with a very low-end Pentium Silver CPU.

Productivity Tests

Our most important benchmark is UL's PCMark 10, which simulates a variety of real-world productivity and content-creation workflows to measure overall performance for office-centric tasks such as word processing, spreadsheet work, web browsing, and videoconferencing. We also run PCMark 10's Full System Drive test to assess the response time and throughput of a laptop's boot drive.

Three other benchmarks focus on the CPU, using all available cores and threads, to rate a PC's suitability for processor-intensive workloads. Maxon's Cinebench R23 uses that company's Cinema 4D engine to render a complex scene, while Primate Labs' Geekbench 5.4 Pro simulates popular apps ranging from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine learning. Finally, we use the open-source video transcoder HandBrake 1.4 to convert a 12-minute video clip from 4K to 1080p resolution (lower times are better).

Our final productivity test is workstation maker Puget Systems' PugetBench for Photoshop, which uses the Creative Cloud version 22 of Adobe's famous image editor to rate a PC's performance for content creation and multimedia applications. It's an automated extension that executes a variety of general and GPU-accelerated Photoshop tasks ranging from opening, rotating, resizing, and saving an image to applying masks, gradient fills, and filters.

For the most part, the IdeaPad defies its performance expectations, delivering surprising punch despite its humble Core i3 chip. It clears the 4,000-point line in PCMark 10, which we consider a sign of excellent productivity for apps like the Microsoft 365 suite or Google Workspace, and proves reliable for everyday needs and moderately demanding office work.

Don't be fooled by this tablet's seemingly competitive Handbrake score: With an Intel Core i3 CPU, this 2-in-1 is not intended for video encoding or other intense work tasks. Keep it to a usual suite of office tasks, and you should be fine.

Graphics Tests

We tested the tablets' graphics capabilities with two DirectX 12 gaming simulations from UL's 3DMark. Night Raid is more modest, suitable for portables with integrated graphics, while Time Spy is more demanding, and best for gaming rigs with discrete GPUs.

What was that about not running AutoCAD? None of these tablets are visual powerhouses or suitable for demanding games; their integrated graphics are strictly for casual solitaire games or video streaming. However, you could stand to stream games to the IdeaPad Duet Windows 5i though a cloud-based gaming service, but that would be the extent of it.

Battery and Display Tests

We test laptops' battery life by playing a locally stored 720p video file with display brightness at 50% and audio volume at 100% until the system quits. We make sure the battery is fully charged before the test, with Wi-Fi and keyboard backlighting turned off.

To evaluate laptop displays, we use a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and its Windows software to measure the screen's color saturation—what percentage of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 color gamuts or palettes the display can show—and its 50% and peak brightness in nits (candelas per square meter).

This Lenovo's battery life doesn't set any records, but it's enough to get you through a day of office work. It falls far short of the SQ3-powered Surface Pro 9, whose battery life is the main reason you'd put up with its software compatibility concessions. While we'd be happier if the Duet 5i lasted a few hours longer, it's no cause for complaint.

We said that the IdeaPad's screen looks plenty bright, and in fact, it proves to be the brightest in our measurements; you won't complain about a dim display in virtually any lighting conditions here. The display's color coverage is also impressive, beating even the latest Surface Pro—though you're not likely to use the device in a professional prepress scenario where color matching is important.

Verdict: A Well-Priced Detachable Option

All told, the Windows version of Lenovo's IdeaPad Duet 5i hits all of its marks and holds superior value compared to popular competitors. Microsoft's Surface Pro is the pace-setter in this category, with Dell's XPS 13 2-in-1 following its lead. The Lenovo doesn't have quite the premium feel those detachables do, and its 128GB of storage and Core i3 processor might cramp your style (the storage especially). But its build quality is impressive, and its performance is a pleasant surprise for its price and what it includes. These reasonable concessions help keep the cost down, and they are not enough to keep it from earning our Editors' Choice for this tier. If you want a Windows tablet for grab-and-go productivity and entertainment, it fills a nifty niche between cheaper and more deluxe 2-in-1 laptops.