Are the New Chromebooks Worth Buying?
They all have one thing in common
It’s no secret that Chrome OS tablets up to this point haven’t been in the same league as other tablets. But, recent releases by Lenovo, Acer, and HP have changed the narrative for good. And so far it seems to be working out well for these companies. They all have one thing in common: the latest specially-made-for-Chromebooks MediaTek processors.
Let’s take the case of the underrated Spin 311 Chromebook by Acer. It was announced as a MediaTek Helio P60T device (also features in the Lenovo Chromebook Duet) which is impressive as it’s a powerful processor available at a low price, something that MediaTek does beautifully. The octa-core processor boasts of enough processing power to last you all day.
The hardware of this Chromebook looks classy and comes in three modes: stand, tent, and tablet. Weighing a mere 1.05kg, the tablet is quite light and very portable. Acer has a good reputation for manufacturing well-built but affordable devices and this one is no different. It’s low-cost but high performing. Even the HP Chromebook 11A has those typical Chromebook features at a cheaper price. With full Android support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, USB type-A&C ports, 720p webcam, multi-gesture trackpad, and most importantly storage extension, it is a steal at Rs. 20,000.
My favourite on this list, and by far the most economical and powerful tablet is the latest Lenovo Chromebook Duet, priced at Rs. 27,999. For the price you pay, the return value is none like I’ve ever seen. What Lenovo has put together at this price point is kind of insane, honestly. When you pick this thing up there’s nothing about it that feels cheap or budget in any way, shape, or form. It’s got metal on the outside and glass all across the front.
Where Lenovo killed it honestly is in the screen department with its 1080p+ screen, so it’s actually 1920x1200 which gives it a 16x10 aspect ratio and that helps it to be a little bit taller and a little more squarish. Budget devices usually have terrible screens and that is not the case here. It has a single USB Type-C port and the new speakers are a great improvement over the previous models. The MediaTek P60 T processor along with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage comes into play here and is pretty good. It’s a fun tablet experience especially because the processor makes it smooth and lag-free and dare I say, iPad-esque.
One benefit of the MediaTek Chromebooks apart from their lightweight and portability is their insanely long battery lives. You can last up to 10–12 hours and depending on your usage even 16–17 hours. This is mainly due to the ARM architecture that’s inside because they are very easy on the battery and while you may lose a tad bit of performance because of that, you’re gaining a ton of battery performance. Another benefit to the ARM architecture that’s running in here is the fact that Android games and apps run really really well because ultimately, Android apps are written for ARM processors.
So, at this point, it’s pretty clear to see these new-age Chromebooks are a far cry from those previous models and have turned into well-built, sleek tablets that are fun to use. Whether you’re casually browsing on your couch, getting your tasks done, getting your kids to use it, it’s gonna perform well.
