PC makers continue to search for ways to squeeze more screen real estate into laptops.

Lenovo has released a few different notebooks that do this by replacing the keyboard with either a second screen or a single flexible display. Asus has a few models with a second screen that replaces the touchpad or which spans the space above the keyboard.

Now Compal is showing off two new concepts that make dual-screen laptops look even more versatile.

The Compal Envision Duo is a dual-screen laptop with two 15.6 inch displays. Open it up and it looks like a notebook that’s missing its keyboard, because there’s a touchscreen display where you’d normally find it.

In this mode, you can view multiple applications at the same time or use the lower screen as a control surface for your applications. This could come in handy if you’re creating or editing art, videos, or other media.

But you can also lift the top display to pull the second screen upward to what looks like a 45 degree angle. A stand will hold both screens in place, while a keyboard and touchpad are revealed when the screens slide upward.

Among other things, this also puts the top display closer to eye level, which means you don’t have to hunch or look down while using the laptop.

Compal’s Envision Pro is a little different, in that the lower display seems to be about half the height of the upper screen. This means there’s room for an always-available keyboard and touchpad below the second display.

There’s also a level that allows you to raise the screens though, giving the lower screen a tilt and putting the upper display closer to eye level.

The Envision Pro also has a detachable keyboard that can be used wirelessly if you’d like to position the keyboard a little further away from the displays for use as a sort of portable desktop.

Compal is a original design manufacturer (ODM) that doesn’t sell products under its own name, but the company does develop its own designs from time to time and I found these two new concepts at the IF Design Awards website.

It’s unlikely the company will sell them under its own name anytime soon, but it’s possible a third-party company could contract with Compal to sell laptops based on these designs in the future.

But I wouldn’t hold my breath. The Envision Duo and Envision Pro designs are new, but they’re reminiscent of last year’s Compal Gemini gaming laptop concept and Intel’s Honeycomb Glacier concept from 2019. To the best of my knowledge, no company has released any laptops based on those designs yet.

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