HP Chromebook x360 14c premium Chrome OS notebook is oddly affordable
HP has announced two new Chrome OS notebooks, with the HP Chromebook x360 14c targeting the premium market while the HP Chromebook 11a plays at the value end. On sale this month, the Chromebook x360 14c will be HP's fanciest consumer Chromebook so far, the company says, complete with style and detailing from its x360 Windows notebooks.
HP Chromebook x360 14c
That means a slimline casing with a metal keyboard deck and cover, together with slender bezels for an 88-percent screen-to-body ratio. The display is a 14-inch Full HD IPS touchscreen with Gorilla Glass NBT.
Inside, there'll either be an Intel Pentium Gold 6405U, a Core i3-10110U, or a Core i5 processor, paired with up to 8GB of memory. Storage is up to 128GB of eMMC, and there are Intel UHD Graphics and Bang & Olufsen dual speaker audio. Connectivity includes WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0, together with two SuperSpeed USB-C, a SuperSpeed USB Type-A, and a headphone/microphone combo jack.
HP also squeezes in a fingerprint reader and an HD webcam with a privacy switch. There's also a microSD reader. The 60.9 Wh li-ion battery goes from flat to 90-percent charged with the included 45W USB-C adapter in around 90 minutes. HP says the battery should last for up to 13.5 hours.
Even with that, it's 17.95mm thick and weighs around 3.5 pounds. A USI Pen for note-taking and digital art will be sold separately.
Despite the build quality and design, this isn't an expensive notebook in the grand scheme of things. HP says the Chromebook x360 14c will start from $499 when it goes on sale later this month. It'll be offered both direct from HP and as a Best Buy version, with specifications differing between the two.
HP Chromebook 11a
Even cheaper still, the Chromebook 11a plays at the value end of the market. It'll launch this month from $219, HP says, and tips the scales at 2.99 pounds.
The Chromebook 11a has an 11.6-inch HD display – with a touchscreen an option – and uses Intel's Celeron N3350 processor with 4GB of memory. There's 32GB of eMMC storage, and Intel HD Graphics 500. No WiFi 6 here, but you do get 802.11ac (2x) and Bluetooth 4.2.
There's an HD webcam above the display, and an HDMI port for hooking up an external screen. Other ports include two SuperSpeed USB-C, two SuperSpeed USB Type-A, microSD, and a headphone/microphone combo. The 47Wh li-ion battery should be good for up to 13 hours of battery life, HP says.
