Topton L10: A Dual-Screen Laptop Novelty or Necessity?

In the realm of powerful laptops catering to diverse user needs, some stand out by addressing specific niches. The landscape includes robust gaming laptops maximizing portability with sheer processing might, while select “convertibles” straddle the laptop-tablet divide, serving as digital canvases for artists and designers. Enter Topton’s latest creation, a laptop that ventures into the unique by featuring a 7-inch tablet beside the keyboard instead of incorporating touch and pen input directly into the primary screen. An intriguing proposition, yet one fraught with caveats, making it fall short, even for its intended audience.

Crafted by designer Topton, this unconventional laptop design isn’t entirely novel. Lenovo showcased a similar concept with the ThinkBook Plus Gen 3 at CES 2022, presenting it as the ultimate tool for power multitaskers. However, the execution left much to be desired, and the hefty $2,000 price tag made it a risky venture for all but the most adventurous users.

Topton seeks to address some of these concerns with the Topton L10, a 15.6-inch laptop embracing the same dual-screen setup. The keyboard is shifted to the left to make room for a 7-inch touchscreen display acting as a secondary monitor, compatible with a stylus, though details about its pressure sensitivity akin to established brands like Wacom remain unclear. Notably, the Topton L10 differs significantly from the Lenovo original in terms of specifications. Sporting an Intel Celeron N5095, one of the less powerful offerings in the chipmaker’s lineup, and with just 16GB of memory, it barely meets the minimum requirements for today’s creative software, limiting multitasking capabilities. Moreover, both screens feature lower resolutions, rendering it suboptimal for art and design tasks. While the laptop boasts unexpected features like RGB backlit keyboard, stereo speakers, and a fingerprint scanner at its price point, it falls short with last-gen Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2, curbing its overall potential.

Speaking of the price, the Topton L10 starts at $329 for a 128GB SSD drive, a notably low storage capacity for a Windows 11 machine in today’s computing landscape. While the initial price may seem tempting, the overall package positions this dual-screen laptop as a novelty that fails to meet the lofty expectations it sets up.