Google just unveiled what it calls ‘the most advanced Chromebook Plus yet’, and I had the chance to spend some time with it ahead of the big release.
While previous models have used Intel’s Core i3 and i5 processors, the new Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 uses the MediaTek Kompanio Ultra processor that offers up to 50 TOPS of performance.
The 14-inch 2K OLED display can be had with a touchscreen or not, while there’s a 5-megapixel camera for video calls. The quad-firing speakers are tuned for Dolby Atmos, and the battery life is rated for up to 17 hours. That’s supported by a 60Wh battery and a 65W USB-C charger.
The Chromebook weighs just 1.17 kg (2.58 lbs), and there’s either 12 or 16GB of RAM to choose from. The port selection is good too, with USB-C, 1x USB-A and a 3.5mm audio jack. There’s Bluetooth 5.4 and Wi-Fi 7 for connectivity.
The Chromebook Plus 14 comes with exclusive AI features that won’t make their way to other Chromebooks. Smart Grouping looks the cleverest of the new features, and this helps you organise your tabs and documents into dedicated workspaces.
There’s also an improved Gallery app for editing your images, and unlike other Chromebook models this is done on-device rather than sending the data off to the cloud.
All Chromebook Plus models will also gain new AI features like “Select to search with Lens” and Text capture, which lets you grab text from images and put it to use.
Early Impressions of the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14
I had the chance to get some hands-on time with Lenovo’s latest Chromebook at a Google event ahead of the launch, and it made a good first impression.
The standout feature is the display. Rarely do you get an OLED display of this quality at a price like this, and it helps make this laptop more of a content-consumption device. Fire up a movie on the OLED panel and it looks great, with punchy colours and deep blacks.
Design-wise, it’s a standard Lenovo machine without anything standout – this isn’t the second-coming of the gorgeous Pixelbook Go from a few years ago, and it really made me wish Google still had a hand in the hardware here.
I’ll have to properly test the performance of the machine – and the claimed 17 hours of battery life – before properly judging them, however with Google’s lofty claims, there’s every chance this could be the nippiest Chromebook Plus model on the market.
The Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 is available to buy from select retailers, including Lenovo.com, in the coming weeks. It’ll cost from $649/$599 for the base model, rising to $749/£699 for the touch model with the extra RAM.
