This Lenovo laptop has a controversial feature no other notebook offers

(Image credit: lenovo)

The Lenovo ThinkBook 15 Gen 2 i (note the i) looks relatively unimpressive from the outside but this new laptop has pioneered a new way of consuming multimedia-content on the move.

In what is one of the most unique features we've seen for a while, the device offers branded integrated wireless earbuds that can be stored inside the laptop, delivering what Lenovo calls a completely new audio experience.

These ThinkBook earbuds will charge automatically when stored in a dedicated drawer (where they are charged) and connect to the laptop audio system instantly (via Bluetooth) when taken out. Muting and unmuting yourself during calls requires merely a double tap on the earbuds.

Shackled to your buds

These aural peripheral devices are also equipped with dual microphones and environmental noise cancellation to, “make online meetings more effective than ever before”, Lenovo says.

If that wasn’t clear enough, this business laptop targets WFHomers, small and medium businesses as well as ROBO (remote office/branch office) environments.

There’s even a dedicated button to reach Lenovo support faster; pressing it will automatically send device details such as the serial number of the laptop. Sadly, there’s no Zero Touch login, a security feature that locks and unlocks your device depending on your face and physical presence.

Confusingly, there’s the ThinkBook 15 Gen 2 i, the ThinkBook 15 Gen 2 AMD, the ThinkBook 15p i; only the first one, which features an Intel 11th generation processor, will come with the earbuds. Expect it to go on sale from October 2020 starting at $569. Note that the ThinkPad E15 Gen 2 i will also get these groovy earbuds.

Desire Athow
Managing Editor, TechRadar Pro

Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled in website builders and web hosting when DHTML and frames were in vogue and started narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium.