Sayonara, MacBook Air: The Lenovo Chromebook Duet (Gen 9) is my new travel companion

To this point, I’ve been a pretty loyal laptop guy. No matter my needs, I’ve reached for my spacious 15-inch MacBook Air with its M2 chip, knowing that it had me covered. And it’s true — I haven’t encountered a spot where Apple’s light, thin laptop has struggled. The only problem is that it can be a pain to travel with, as the sizable footprint takes all of the flexibility out of my backpack. So, with a few fall trips lined up, I thought I’d try something more portable: A Chromebook. I left my trusty MacBook at home in favor of Lenovo’s new Chromebook Duet Gen 9 (seriously, we’re on the ninth version of this little two-in-one), and I’ve found my new travel companion.

Since its beginning, Lenovo’s Chromebook Duet has been about saving space. I remember our review of the first version praising the two-in-one for its compact footprint and weight of 2.03 lbs. When I prefer to travel with no more than a backpack and a carry-on, that sounds like exactly what I’m looking for.

Thankfully, the Chromebook Duet hasn’t changed much in the generations since its debut. Yes, it’s grown a bit — stretching from a 10.1-inch display to an even 11 inches and picking up a few ounces — but Lenovo has largely balanced it by shrinking the bezels over time. They’re still slightly thicker than what you’d find on one of Apple’s top-end iPads, but it means they’re comfortable enough to hold without accidentally smudging the display. Besides, I’d rather have access to two USB-C ports, a headphone jack, and a physical camera privacy switch on the Duet than razor-thin bezels on one of Apple’s tablets. The Chromebook Duet is a little thicker than most of its rival tablets to make space for those ports, but it’s hardly what you’d call thick.

In fact, most of the bulk comes when you attach the folding kickstand, removable keyboard, and Lenovo’s second-generation Digital Pen — all of which come with the Chromebook Duet. Sure, it might add a little clutter when you’re trying to carry light, especially if the Digital Pen falls off its magnetic housing, but the included accessories go a long way in protecting the Chromebook Duet, too. Unlike an iPad or an Android tablet like the Galaxy Tab, where you’d have to buy some additional screen protection, you can have the Chromebook Duet unboxed, set up, and shoved in your backpack just minutes before you head to the airport.

Then, once you’re through security and at your gate with an hour to spare — yes, I’m one of those — you can pop the Chromebook Duet out of your backpack and set it up just about anywhere. Its kickstand only sticks about four inches off the back edge, while the keyboard is stiff enough to hang over your lap if needed. I might have preferred a slightly more flexible kickstand like Apple’s Magic Keyboard, but I won’t complain too much when the stand is included. Maybe it’s not always comfortable, but I’ve made the Chromebook Duet work on everything from an airplane tray table to a small Amsterdam cafe (not a coffee shop) with space to spare.

On top of it all, Lenovo has even upgraded the durability of its Chromebook Duet. Early models came with a half-and-half construction, pairing a little bit of aluminum with a good amount of plastic, but this one is all metal (and glass). Its all-over aluminum frame comes in a matte Luna Grey finish, which is pretty close to fingerprint-proof and makes the two-in-one feel significantly more premium than its $360 price tag would have suggested. Maybe I’m just used to the mostly plastic Chromebooks I’ve used since grade school, but Lenovo’s careful use of metal makes this one feel much more like a tool than a toy.

There is, however, one problem with Lenovo’s penchant for portability — the Chromebook Duet’s keyboard and trackpad aren’t great. The keys are good enough in that they travel well, so you won’t feel like you missed a stroke, but they’re fairly cramped to fit the 11-inch footprint. I’ve noticed I have to keep my hands fairly upright to reach everything while typing, which isn’t all that comfortable when I’m trying to get work done. Worse, the trackpad is no larger than a credit card, making it very hard to use. Thankfully, you can make up for it with a combination of the Digital Pen and the touchscreen itself, but I didn’t love reaching back and forth or trying to type with a stylus in one hand.

Granted, if I only really cared about portability, I could probably get by with an iPad or a Samsung Galaxy Tab just as well. However, the way that Google has elevated the best Chromebooks in recent years has sold me on the Duet. Although it introduced a larger, better-equipped lineup of devices called Chromebook Plus to bring Gemini to laptops, many of those features have since trickled out to the smaller, more affordable Chromebook lineup — where I think they shine brightest.

See, I’m the type of user who, if I have the space to do something comfortably, will do it myself. I turn to my 15-inch MacBook whenever I’m researching a trip, tackling holiday shopping, or simply trying to get work done because I can stretch more than one window across Apple’s sharp display. With an 11-inch 2-in-1, however, it’s not quite as comfortable to do so. Sure, I could make it work, but each window quickly shrinks to the size of a Pixel 9 Pro, which hardly feels like the best use of space.

But now, with Gemini (and a few other Chromebook Plus-first features) on the Duet, I’m a little more comfortable giving up control. I’m on my way to Philadelphia to run the marathon with a few friends this weekend, and as the closest thing we have to being a local, I wanted to make sure they see most of the sights and get their hands on a cheesesteak. I haven’t been back to Philly in a few years, so I figured I’d have to do some research before we set off. So, I sat down and opened Gemini on the Chromebook Duet to run it through a gauntlet of questions. I peppered it with major events in the city, interesting museums within walking distance of where we’re staying, and reliable cheesesteak joints near those museums.

For the most part, Gemini handled everything I needed with ease. It plotted a few museums and galleries in Google Maps, let me know where the marathon expo would be so that we could pick up our race numbers, and then gave a few recommendations on where to eat — pretty much everything I asked for. Unfortunately, Google hasn’t brought Gemini Live to its Chromebooks yet, so I did have to type out all of my requests by hand, but that made it easier to keep researching while I was sitting in a loud coffee shop.

Google also has some work to do as far as bringing Help Me Read and Help Me Write to more of its Chromebook lineup, as both remain limited to the premium Chromebook Plus series right now. You’ll have to grab one of the larger, more powerful models for things like Live Translate and the updated Recorder app, but access to Gemini is still a good start. On the bright side, all Chromebooks now support the Welcome Recap, which allows you to re-open everything you were previously working on so you can jump back in, which is especially helpful as I keep referencing the same few Philly-focused sites ahead of race day.

Google would probably point to any number of things as the reason to grab a Chromebook as your travel companion. It would probably point to the monthly software updates, the quick start-up times, and maybe even the fact that Chromebooks work so closely with the Android phone in your pocket. Those are solid reasons to grab a Chromebook for life on the go, but I’d point to a different one: The battery life is great. I don’t have to worry about stepping away from my desk for a long day with the Chromebook Duet because the lightweight Chrome OS (at least until it becomes Android) means it pretty much goes all day.

Of course, part of the secret to the Duet’s battery longevity might be that it’s equipped like a budget device, but I don’t mind. When I review an affordable Android phone, I’m usually full of praise for the way it’s able to stretch its battery further thanks to a processor that sips power rather than chugging it, and this tablet is kind of the same way. Lenovo packed its ninth-generation two-in-one with a 29WHr cell to keep MediaTek’s Kompanio 838 firing away, and fire away it does.

I, unfortunately, forgot my European charging adapters while in Amsterdam (rookie mistake, I know), which meant that I could only charge my Chromebook Duet while in my hotel room, where I had a USB-C port. Most times, that would make me nervous — my old Surface Laptop 3 never would have stood a chance, and my MacBook Air would be hit or miss — but I wasn’t so worried about the Duet. I could simply fill it up in the morning — or overnight — slot it in my backpack and head out for a day of exploring. I noticed a little passive battery drain while the Duet hunted for an open Wi-Fi connection, but it was never enough to make me sweat. Even now, I can flip down the keyboard cover and see that it has 76% battery remaining, which the Duet says works out to about nine and a half hours of usage.

No battery is unbeatable, though, so the Chromebook Duet will die on you — eventually. When it does, you can use the included power adapter (which tops out at 30W) to get back on your feet or reach for something a little faster if you have it. I mostly used Google’s 45W Power Charger while stateside simply because I could carry one setup for my Pixel 9 Pro XL, laptop, and other accessories I grabbed for the day.

Honestly, I’m surprised I like Lenovo’s Chromebook Duet (Gen 9) as much as I do. When I grabbed it for travel, I figured that it would be little more than a slight upgrade over trying to research on my phone while at least saving a little space in place of my MacBook Air. If nothing else, it would be good enough to use as a YouTube-powered white noise machine while I tried to beat jet lag over the course of a few days. As it turns out, I wasn’t giving the 11-inch two-in-one nearly enough credit.

At its heart, it’s still a light, fast Chrome OS-powered machine with a battery life that lasts all day. The 11-inch display is just large enough to jump through the basics, keeping up with email and a few light work tasks while abroad, but not so much so that you feel like you’re lugging a workstation around. Mix in support for Gemini and a Welcome Recap that makes it easy to pick up where I leave off, and the Duet feels like just the right balance of productivity and convenience.

That said, this is still a relatively basic Chromebook. The base configuration comes with just 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, and MediaTek’s Kompanio 838 certainly won’t set the world on fire. There’s no optional LTE version, either, so you’ll always be on the hunt for a Wi-Fi password. It could certainly handle a few Android-based games and a little bit of photo editing in Lightroom Mobile (since Google hasn’t added Magic Editor to base Chromebooks just yet), but it won’t be an option if you want your Steam library on the go or have eyes on chopping together complicated YouTube projects.

If that’s what you’re after, you’ll probably be better suited by one of the Chromebook Plus models I’ve mentioned. Samsung’s Galaxy Chromebook Plus ($699.99 at Samsung) is about as close to a full-powered laptop as you can get, pairing a beautiful 15.6-inch OLED screen with the lightest, thinnest chassis of any Chromebook Plus. It’s also one of the first to pick up the brand-new Quick Insert button, which works almost like a Help Me Read and Help Me Write hotkey — exactly what you want if you’re going to use Gemini to its fullest extent.

Acer’s Chromebook Plus 516 GE ($599.99 at Amazon) might be worth a shot, too, especially if you want a gaming machine. At 16 inches, it has the largest display in the Chromebook Plus family, and it’s paired with a powerful Intel Core i5 processor and a gaming-ready four-zone RGB keyboard. Of course, as a gaming machine, the 516 GE is a little bit bigger and heavier than most other Chromebook Plus models, but space for additional cooling fans had to come from somewhere, right?

But, power isn’t why I started toting the Chromebook Duet around with me. I grabbed it for the convenience of a larger display while traveling and the flexibility of a laptop that pairs seamlessly with the phone in my pocket. And, if that’s what you’re after, then the starting price of under $400 is more than worth it.