Amazingly, the bottom configuration has 12 GB of RAM. That’s not fairly as a lot because the 16 GB you get in some Snapdragon X-powered Home windows laptops just like the forthcoming HP Omnibook 5 16—however for ChromeOS, it’s greater than sufficient. In the meantime, the bottom configuration comes with 128 GB of storage, and the upgraded mannequin has a 256-GB strong state drive.
Efficiency is strong. Speedometer is a benchmark that checks efficiency within the browser, which is essential for ChromeOS because it’s all constructed across the Chrome browser. The Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 was round thrice quicker than the Celeron N4500, as examined within the Asus Chromebook CX15, and round half the velocity of the Apple M4 in a MacBook Air. I additionally examined a few heavier Android video games like Diablo: Immortal and PUBG Cellular, which performed effectively with settings maxed out. That’s not stunning, nevertheless it exhibits that this chip can deal with virtually something you throw at it. Like most ARM-powered laptops, the Chromebook Plus 14 is simply as quick on battery as it’s whereas plugged in.
Google and Lenovo are additionally touting the AI capabilities of this system, because the MediaTek chip is able to 50 trillion operations per second (TOPS), a regular met by almost all of its Home windows and Mac opponents. Due to that, the Chromebook Plus 14 has just a few unique on-device AI options you received’t discover in different Chromebooks. One of the helpful is Sensible Grouping, which might determine the varied apps and tabs you’ve gotten open and group them intelligently into separate desktops. It’s fairly helpful. Much less fascinating to me is Fast Insert, which supplies you unnecessarily easy accessibility to AI-generated photographs. Past that, it additionally has the collection of AI options that include all Chromebook Plus laptops, such because the useful Proceed The place I Left Off.
The effectivity of the Kompanio Extremely 910 shines shiny in battery life checks, too. It has a 60-watt-hour battery, leading to some spectacular runtime. Lenovo and Google declare it’s the longest-lasting Chromebook ever, and it’s the most effective I’ve examined, lasting 16 hours in a video playback check. It may not final so long as the MacBook Air M4 or laptops just like the Asus Zenbook S 16, powered by Intel’s newest Core Extremely Sequence 2 chips, nevertheless it’s within the ballpark. That’s essential as a result of earlier than the current surge in ARM-powered laptops (like the fashionable MacBooks), Chromebooks have been identified for battery life. That was largely on account of how light-weight ChromeOS was to run. It’s good to see Chromebooks are again within the working.
Worth The place It Counts
{Photograph}: Luke Larsen
The Chromebook Plus 14 has one different trick up its sleeve. Not like the janky audio system featured in almost each Chromebook, this Lenovo has a quad-speaker setup and is the primary to make use of Dolby Atmos. These are surprisingly good audio system—virtually nearly as good because the 13-inch MacBook Air’s audio, offering a well-rounded sound that even options hints of bass. They’re the most effective audio system on a laptop computer of this worth.
Lots of my factors have been couched within the context of the worth, and there’s a purpose for that. At $650 for the bottom configuration or $100 extra to up the RAM and storage (and add the touchscreen), the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 is hitting a worth that Home windows laptops have struggled to handle. There are contenders, however the Chromebook Plus 14 makes a case for Chromebooks at this worth, providing a number of options and general construct high quality that you just received’t discover in opponents. Should you’re prepared to embrace ChromeOS, that is merely the most effective the ecosystem has to supply.
