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Leaks suggest Lenovo will soon release an Android 2-in-1 laptop

Justin Pot
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Lenovo is getting into the Android 2-in-1 market, if recent leaks mean anything.

The tablet, Lenovo YB1-X90L, hasn’t been officially announced, but photos and specs leaked today. Lilputing is reporting that a listing on the site of the Ghanian National Commuincations Authority (that country’s equivilant to the Federal Communications Comission here in the USA) revealed the laptop’s existence to the world.

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Pictures show an upcoming Lenovo Yoga laptop that sports a full keyboard, an Intel Atom Cherry Trail processor, a 10-inch full HD display, and a rotating hinge for tablet mode. These sound like the specifications of an affordable Windows 2-in-1, not an Android device. Yet it apparently runs the mobile OS.

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Ghana National Communications Authority
Ghana National Communications Authority

Rumors of an Android-powered Lenovoa Yoga device date back to 2013, but this is the most concrete evidence yet of one actually existing.

With a reported 2GB of memory and 32GB of storage, this isn’t going to be a powerhouse PC. But whereas Windows 10 may struggle with such specs, Android 5.1 should run admirably. The upcoming Yoga device supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. Cellular data is reportedly optional, and there’s a front and rear camera.

But does anyone want to use Android on a laptop?

Android apps often aren’t optimized for larger tablet screens, something we most recently re-learned while reviewing the Google Pixel C. Multi-tasking isn’t really possible, as apps take up the entire screen.

This isn’t to say that Android would be unusable on a laptop: just that it’s not designed for it. Sure, the app ecosystem is more robust than that of ChromeOS, but most apps, and the operating system itself, is built with smaller screens in mind. Google has to make a lot of tweaks before the Android experience can be a great one on a laptop.

Then again, rumors seem to suggest the Lenovo disagrees, and Android is nothing if not adaptable. Maybe this device, and Android laptops more generally, will find a niche. It’s going to be fun to see how this all ends up.

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