With Lenovo’s implementation, you get a color-matched fabric cover on the exterior that feels like twill.

The keyboard, like the Type Cover on the Surface Pro, feels solid. Lenovo claimed that the battery inside the keyboard portion can last for 28.3 hours of continuous typing with no backlight enabled. This more ergonomic experience helps reduce neck strain and improves the ergonomics of using this tablet. My neck is definitely grateful to Lenovo for this implementation, as I can use a tablet stand when I am doing work at a coffee shop and type on the same keyboard instead of having to tote around a secondary Bluetooth keyboard. This nifty trick makes the folio keyboard far more useful, and I didn’t realize how much I would love this feature until I actually used it. I had hoped that with a less premium processor, Lenovo could have figured out a fan-less base model – after all, Apple’s now discontinued 12-inch MacBook was fanless as is the entire iPad lineup. The Duet uses fans for active cooling – even on our lower-end Core i3 configuration – though at about 35 to 40 dBa at ear level, the fans are quieter than most laptops we’ve tested. There are vents located on the top edge of the tablet in landscape orientation and also on the sides concealed just beneath the speaker cutouts. Magnets on the Duet’s screen will also help keep the keyboard attached to the screen when closed, which makes the entire package easier to travel with. Like the Surface, the keyboard will magnetically adhere to the slate when connected. POGO pins on the bottom and some cutouts help to connect the keyboard to the Duet.

And since Lenovo didn’t put its own take on Microsoft’s proprietary magnetic connection, the downside is you don’t have the convenience of a magnetic connector for charging the Duet. And as there is no Surface Connect port on the Duet, you’ll either need to rely on USB-C for your docking needs if you want a single-cable connection to connect power, peripherals, and display to Lenovo’s slate.

Lenovo duet windows