Lenovo guarantees 17 hours of battery life on its new Chromebook Plus 14

For years now, most Chromebooks have run some number of Intel or AMD processor. The occasional gadget used a MediaTek chip, however they had been typically underpowered and low cost units that had been onerous to advocate. ARM-based processors have labored tremendously nicely for Apple on the Mac, they usually’re being utilized in an increasing number of Home windows PCs as nicely. Now, Lenovo (makers of my favorite Chromebook) and Google are giving ARM an actual shot with the $649 Chromebook Plus 14.

The businesses say the MediaTek Kompanio Extremely 910 chip and its AI NPU can deal with as much as 50 TOPS — however extra intriguing to me, Lenovo can be promising as much as 17 hours of battery life. I’ll imagine that declare after I see it; mediocre at finest battery life has plagued almost each Chromebook I’ve used lately. However switching to ARM may enhance on what Intel-powered Chromebooks have delivered, each when it comes to battery life and total efficiency.

Time for the nitty-gritty specs. Lenovo’s Chromebook Plus 14 is, as you’d anticipate, a 14-inch laptop computer that appears fairly just like a silver MacBook Professional. It’s actually extra trendy and glossy than Lenovo’s extra utilitarian (and awkwardly-named) IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus. It weighs solely 2.58 kilos (a few pound lower than the Flex 5i) and is simply over .62 inches thick. Along with the Kompanio Extremely 910 chip, Lenovo is together with both 12GB or 16GB of RAM and as much as 256GB of storage. Lenovo isn’t skimping on the display screen, both. The 14-inch OLED panel might be outfitted with a touchscreen and has a 1,920 x 1,200 decision. The decision is comparatively modest, however completely in step with what you’d anticipate for the worth.

There are just a few different good touches all through. Lenovo’s newest is the primary Chromebook with Dolby Atmos sound through a quad-speaker system that features two downward-firing woofers. Audio high quality on laptops has elevated considerably lately, so I’m wanting ahead to listening to what Lenovo can ship. The 5-megapixel webcam has a a lot larger decision than most different Chromebooks, and there’s additionally a fingerprint reader for safe logins.

All advised, this Chromebook is on the costlier aspect in comparison with many different choices. However while you evaluate its specs and design with different Chromebooks on this worth vary, Lenovo’s newest comes out wanting fairly good. After all, we’ll want to ensure the MediaTek chip is highly effective sufficient and likewise see what battery life is like, however Lenovo’s monitor file is robust sufficient that I’m wanting ahead to seeing if now we have a brand new king of the Chromebooks.

New AI options

Provided that Google is relentlessly centered on including AI options all over the place you flip, it’s no shock that there are a handful of latest AI methods right here. First are two which can be at the moment unique to Lenovo’s Chromebook Plus 14: Sensible Grouping and AI picture enhancing within the Chromebook’s Gallery app. Google has been teasing Sensible Grouping for some time now; it’ll take a look at your open tabs and paperwork and ask if you wish to arrange them right into a separate digital desk. And the Gallery app now has some AI-powered enhancing options like eradicating backgrounds or turning your photos into stickers.

Past these are a bunch of AI options which can be coming to all Chromebook Plus laptops, lots of which is able to really feel acquainted for those who’ve paid consideration to what Google has launched to different platforms in latest months. For instance, now you can long-press the launcher and choose an space of the display screen to run a search. As common, the default instance is procuring — see a pair of sneakers you need, spotlight it and let Google discover them for you. The mixing does look good, although, with a pop-over window displaying you outcomes so that you don’t have to go away the app you’re utilizing.

Equally, Textual content Seize analyzes textual content in a picture and suggests issues like calendar appointments based mostly on what it reads. Or highlighting a picture of a recipe can pull the entire objects you want for it right into a Google Docs listing.

The Fast Insert key, which was first launched final 12 months on Samsung’s Galaxy Chromebook Plus, can now be used to generate and insert AI photos into wherever your textual content cursor is pointing — it’s not simply restricted to Google apps. Lastly, Google’s “assist me learn” instrument has a brand new “simplify” choice that may take complicated language (assume scientific explanations) and put it in plain language to make it simpler to grasp.

Anybody shopping for a Chromebook Plus this 12 months will get a strong perk that Google first launched final 12 months: a full 12 months of the Google One AI Professional plan, which incorporates 2TB of Google Drive storage and entry to extra superior Gemini options (you’ll be able to find all the exact details here). Provided that this can be a $20 monthly plan, it’s a strong further worth — on the very least for the storage, for those who’re not all that serious about Gemini.

As for Lenovo’s new {hardware}, I’m wanting ahead to attempting it quickly to see if the ARM structure can ship the large battery life and efficiency enhancements that the corporate is promising. However if you wish to throw down your money now, Lenovo’s Chromebook Plus 14 is on the market at Finest Purchase and on Lenovo’s site to order as of immediately. (Word that, at the least for now, solely the costlier model of the Chromebook Plus 14, with a touchscreen at 16GB of RAM, is on the market at Finest Purchase.)