Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission. Learn more.
Windows laptop or Android tablet: Why choose when this Lenovo hybrid exists?
- Lenovo has revealed the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid tablet/PC.
- It’s an Android tablet that turns into a Windows 11 PC when attached to a laptop dock.
- The device isn’t cheap, with a recommended price of $1,999.
We’ve seen two-in-one tablet/laptop hybrids for a while now, allowing you to detach the screen from the keyboard base to use it as a tablet. Now, Lenovo has launched a hybrid device with a difference at CES 2024.
Lenovo peeled the curtain back on the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid, and its party trick isn’t just that it’s a tablet with a laptop base/dock. The 14-inch OLED tablet actually runs Android (albeit Android 13), while the laptop base runs Windows 11. That means you’ve got an Android tablet when you’re on the go, and a full-fledged Windows laptop when you dock it.
In a cool touch, the tablet is actually running a Snapdragon chipset (albeit 2022’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1), complete with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Meanwhile, the laptop base runs an Intel Core 7 Ultra chip (with Intel Arc graphics), 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.
This means you’re getting the best of both worlds when you need it. You’ve got the power-sipping Arm chip running native Android apps when you’re in tablet mode and a beefy x64 Intel chip natively running traditional Windows rather than Windows on Arm in laptop mode. You can also stream Android apps when in laptop mode, although it’s not clear whether you can access Windows apps when in tablet mode.
What do you think of the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid?
In another neat move, the Windows dock isn’t useless when you remove the tablet. Lenovo says you can connect the dock to an external monitor to use it as a Windows PC too.
Other notable tablet features include a 14-inch 2.8K OLED screen, a 13MP+5MP rear camera pairing, one USB-C port, four one-watt speakers, and a 38Wh battery. Meanwhile, the laptop station gets two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a fingerprint scanner, a headphone jack, two two-watt speakers, and a 75Wh battery.
ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid pricing and availability
Can’t wait to get your hands on the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid? It’ll be out in Q2 2024 at a recommended price of $1,999. That’s not cheap at all, but we can’t say we’re surprised given the fact that you’re effectively getting a Windows PC and Android tablet in one package.
