Dell shows off a foldable tablet and a dual screen laptop at CES

Dell is showing off several new concept devices at CES 2020. We already wrote about its Nintendo Switch-esque Concept UFO, but now let’s talk about Dell’s Concept Duet and Ori.

The Concept Duet is very similar to Microsoft’s upcoming Surface Neo, only the former is still just a concept product and not necessarily something we can expect to come to market. The device looks a lot like a Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 on the outside, but on the inside the keyboard and touchpad have been replaced with a second screen. Both displays are the same size and resolution, sporting 13.4-inch FHD.

Dell showed off a variety of different multitasking abilities to us, such as video conferencing on the main display while taking notes on the other (with an included stylus.) It also demonstrated the idea of using it as an ebook with each panel displaying a different page. While the Concept Duet has some unique use cases, a laptop just isn’t a laptop without a keyboard. Thankfully there’s a keyboard accessory that can be placed on top of the lower touchscreen. The accessory only takes up half of the space on the second display, with the rest of the space acting as touchpad — check out the picture on the left.

The Concept Duet is a bit heavier than your average laptop, but not massively so. I found it pretty impressive and could see some use cases for the Duet, though I do wonder if I’d use the second display features enough to really need something like this.

The Concept Ori is obviously the more exciting of the two concepts, simply because foldables are a hot topic right now. The foldable 13-inch QHD+ tablet looks great and folds in half to look like sort of a book. There is a noticeable crease but I didn’t find it too distracting to look at.

Dell showed off a few different use cases for the Ori, similar to the Duet — such as using it as an ebook and for other multi-tasking functions. Unfortunately, it didn’t say anything about specs. There also doesn’t seem to be some kind of keyboard attachment just yet, making the design a little less practical than Lenovo’s upcoming foldable. Of course a keyboard accessory is probably a given for the Ori, if it ever becomes more than just a concept.

At least for now, Dell isn’t talking about software or even if it plans to ever bring either device to market. That said, Windows 10X is coming down the road and is designed for devices just like this. While the designs of Duet and Ori might change, it’s pretty likely Dell will eventually bring something commercial that utilizes some of the tech shown in the concepts.