I’ve seen several PC makers try to squeeze a second display into laptops over the years at CES. But Asus and Lenovo are the only companies still experimenting with the idea and, for the most part, are succeeding. Asus is at CES 2022 with its latest dual-screen ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 gaming laptop, which puts a secondary 14-inch touchscreen beneath its main 16-inch display, giving it a bigger display (or at least something close to it). ) gives the look. Lenovo, however, has taken a different route with its latest ThinkBook Plus Gen 3.
With the first two generations of the ThinkBook Plus, Lenovo put an E Ink display on the lid of the 13-inch laptop. The external display lets you read, take notes, receive notifications and view your work calendar without opening the laptop. It’s a great idea but also limited. Apart from being a laptop with dual displays, the third-gen model seen at CES 2022 is nothing like its predecessors.
For starters, it’s an ultrawide 17.3-inch laptop with a 21:10 aspect ratio and 3,072×1,440 resolution at 120Hz and 100% P3 color gamut, which can be interesting if it’s a gaming laptop. Is. But it’s not, it’s made to work. The second display, an 8-inch color pen-enabled touchscreen with 800×1,280-pixel resolution, is embedded in the laptop deck to the right of the keyboard and touchpad. It’s like you set an 8-inch tablet on your laptop’s keyboard and it just keeps on and doesn’t let go.
For creatives, the second display can be used to view tools or image libraries, or to make quick sketches or edit with the included pen. It can be used to waterfall a document from the main display so you can work with less scrolling (though Asus’ design would work much better for this scenario). It can be used as a calculator because the second screen takes up space where the keyboard’s number pad will sit.
Lenovo also suggests using it with Microsoft’s Your Phone app to mirror your phone on the display and access your phone’s photos and files directly on the laptop, along with mobile notifications. You can even use it as a launchpad for your most used apps.
However, apart from dual displays, laptops aren’t too uncommon. It will be powered by 12th-generation Intel Core H-series processors and feature up to 32GB of LPDDR5 memory and an up-to-1TB PCIe NVMe Gen 4 solid-state drive. It has the security features found on Lenovo business laptops in addition to a fingerprint reader in the power button and an IR camera for facial recognition and a full-HD webcam with a privacy shutter.
The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 3 will be available in May for $1,399 (about £1,040 or AU$1,940), which sounds reasonable for what you’re getting.
Motorola has announced its new high-end phone for 2022: the $1,000 Motorola Edge Plus. It has a 6.7-inch screen with sharper selfies and ultrawide cameras than most phones, including the iPhone 13 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. But Motorola compromises in other areas, most notably in terms of the lack of a telephoto lens in the camera.
The Edge Plus, which first launched in China as the Edge X30, will be available unlocked through retailers like Amazon, Motorola’s website, and Best Buy. Motorola hasn’t shared specific US launch times yet, but has said that the phone will also be available via Verizon, Boost Mobile, and Republic Wireless in the coming months. The unlocked version will be available at a $100 discount at launch.