I like cheap laptops. More specifically, I like good cheap laptops… but those can be hard to find. For every hundred dollars that is cut from the price of a laptop, its features, design and performance usually take a hit. But when I find one that rises above the level of a Black Friday rip-off, that’s something to be happy about.
If you need a budget laptop that looks decent, has a decent keyboard, is small enough to take anywhere and flexible enough to serve as a tablet for streaming video, then check out the Lenovo Duet Chromebook. It’s not particularly fast and the touchpad isn’t great, but it’s still one of the best computers you can buy for under $400. Just keep in mind that it makes a better secondary or travel laptop than a primary device – which is something I’d say about almost any 11-inch laptop.
Currently selling for $379, it’s an 11-inch ChromeOS tablet with a keyboard cover and stand. This means it can work as a standalone touchscreen tablet or as a clamshell laptop. In this way, it’s kind of like a cheaper Microsoft Surface 2-in-1. The version tested here has 64 GB of eMMC memory, but the model in stores now has 128 GB, which is a plus.
Microsoft already makes a budget Surface, the latest version of which is called Surface Go 3. It costs $400 and runs Windows instead of ChromeOS and has an Intel processor instead of the Snapdragon 7c here. But the biggest practical difference for me is that the Lenovo Duet includes its damn good keyboard cover in the box, while Microsoft forces you to buy its keyboard cover for an extra $100 to $129, depending on the color. When shopping at this end of the budget fund, a 25% premium to get the keyboard (which is a must) makes a big difference.
As a Chromebook, the Duet is less capable than a Windows device in some ways, but since modern Chromebooks can run almost any Android app, the use cases where it would make a real difference to you continue to narrow. And straight up, a sub-$500 PC running ChromeOS will generally feel faster and more responsive than a similarly priced Windows PC because of the lighter operating system.
Read more: How to buy a budget laptop in 2022
Keyboard and stand
I’ve always said that the keyboard cover design and build quality are the best things about the Surface line, and the same goes for the Lenovo Duet. Lenovo’s keyboard is just as solid, not flimsy as some other clip-on keyboards, and its small keys have excellent depth and a satisfying click feel. The tiny touchpad, by contrast, is the single most annoying thing about this system—it’s usable, but it doesn’t feel as accurate or responsive as I’d like.
Here’s a quick trackpad tip for ChromeOS. If you want to get a more familiar Windows-like feel, go to the system settings located in Settings > Device > Touchpad and make sure that touch to click and touch to drag are enabled.
For occasional long-form typing, I could get by with this keyboard cover. But for serious editing that required navigating the entire document with the touchpad, it wasn’t fun. But honestly, that’s asking a lot from such a cheap device.
Unlike the Surface line, which has an excellent built-in stand, the stand here is a separate part of the back cover that snaps onto the back of the system with a magnet and matches the aesthetic of the keyboard cover. You can take it off for a really clean look, but I don’t know why you bother.
Decent display
The display is another strong point, with a resolution of 2000×1200 and an 11-inch (actually 10.9-inch) screen. Lenovo also makes a larger 13-inch Duet with an even better OLED display that often sells for under $500 and is worth a look if you need something bigger. The IPS touchscreen here was more than acceptable for video streaming and productivity, with a maximum brightness of 400 nits.
Because it’s so small and light, at less than 1.2 pounds with just the screen (or just over 2 pounds with the keyboard and back cover), it’s great for one-handed holding in landscape mode for extended reading sessions.
Performance and battery life
As a performer… well, it’s not on the speed side, even among the latest Chromebooks. I definitely felt it when I clicked on a dozen or more open tabs in the Chrome browser. It was middle of the pack in benchmarks.
Running Android apps should be fine though, as the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor here is similar to what you might find in some phones. From the Google Play Store, I tried several recent Android games with decent graphics, including Diablo Immortal. The free-to-play action RPG played well, but was limited to lower graphics settings in the game, including 30fps versus 60fps.
I also tried cloud gaming through Xbox Cloud Gaming. For this I played through the Chrome browser. If you have a stable internet connection, this can be a very satisfying alternative to downloaded games, and cloud gaming is only going to become more mainstream. In this particular case, I had trouble getting my Bluetooth controller recognized by the Xbox cloud gaming app, so I connected my controller via USB-C.
You still sometimes run into compatibility issues with Chromebooks. While most apps and cloud services here worked as expected, I couldn’t get Adobe’s Photoshop cloud beta to run, instead getting an incompatible browser message.
And while I like the Duet in general, there are a few other things that might be a deal breaker for you. The keyboard cover is on, but the stylus is not. Any USI pen will do, and there’s a rubber holder that snaps into the back cover if you decide to get the official Lenovo version, which is $35.
You only have two USB-C ports for charging, which can be limiting (but it’s also the same as the MacBook Air). And potentially most importantly, there’s no headphone/audio jack.
If these flaws aren’t fatal, the Lenovo Duet 3 is a great second laptop or travel laptop. I’d be hard-pressed to use it as an all-day, everyday device – but if I was only willing to spend $400 on a laptop, I’d also be hard-pressed to come up with an overall better option.
System specifications
Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 |
ChromeOS; 2.55 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2; 4 GB of RAM; 64GB eMMC SSD |
---|---|
Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 |
ChromeOS; 3GHz Intel Core i3-1115G4; 8 GB of RAM; 128 GB PCIe SSD |
HP Chromebook x2 11 |
ChromeOS; 2.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c; 8 GB of RAM; 64GB eMMC |
Asus Chromebook Detachable CM3 |
ChromeOS; 2GHz MediaTek 8183; 4 GB of RAM; 128GB eMMC SSD |
Acer Chromebook 714 |
ChromeOS; 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-1235U; 8 GB of RAM; 256GB SSD |
The review process for laptops, desktops, tablets, and other PC-like devices consists of two parts: performance testing under controlled conditions in CNET’s labs, and extensive hands-on use by our expert reviewers. This includes evaluating the device’s aesthetics, ergonomics, and features. The final review verdict is a combination of these objective and subjective judgments.
The list of benchmark software we use changes over time as the devices we test evolve. The most important benchmarks we currently run on every compatible PC include: Primate Labs Geekbench 5, Cinebench R23, PCMark 10 and 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra. ChromeOS systems run browser-based benchmarks such as Jetstream and Google Octane.
A more detailed description of each benchmark and how we use it can be found on our How We Test PCs page.