Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash
Summary Review
Pros
-Very Affordable
-Large sharp 1080p display
-Very good and comfortable keyboard
-Nice exterior finish that is resistant to smudge and scratch
-Good battery performance.
Cons
-The performance of this laptop almost cancels out all its good side
-on heavy workloads it runs hot
-Feels very plastic
The Hp Chromebook 14 offers something that no Chromebook in 2019 at its price point offers and that is a 14-inch display that is sharp. This review is going to be for the Intel model of the Chromebook as it is a significant upgrade over the AMD model. The Hp Chromebook 14 comes with a 1080p display and an okay battery.
Specifications
CPU- Intel Celeron
GPU- Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q with 8GB of GDDR6
RAM- 4 GB Dual Channel memory
STORAGE- 32 GB flash storage
DISPLAY- 14-inch with 60Hz refresh rate @ 1080P
With an Intel Celeron CPU and 4GB of RAM the Chromebook is powerful enough to carry out simple tasks like typing, watching a movie, and of course browsing with chrome browser, but not with too much tabs open.
On Geekbench 4, the overall performance score was 2,733 and if this number does not mean anything to you, just know that the Chromebook C523NA scored 4,698 which is almost double what Hp is offering.
Design
The design of the HP Chromebook is probably the best feature apart from the very affordable price of course. The design is attractive with its fresh white color finish. The top of the lid is covered in a rough texture while the glossy Hp logo is embossed in the center. The keys are white, as well as, the display bezels. This laptop is bound to get dirty over time but at least it is different from all the silver chassis common on the market right now.
The major downside is that the chassis is made of plastic but what did you expect from a budget Chromebook.
Display
The 1080p display that comes with the HP Chromebook 14 actually makes it perfect for watching movies. The colors might not be the best out there but it isn’t bad either. The brightness could have been better but at least it is better than most of the 1366 X 768 panels out in the market. The black is hard to make out because of how dimly lit the display is but overall the color representation is acceptable for a laptop of this price.
Keyboard and touchpad
This is probably the best feature of this Chromebook. The keyboard on this laptop is comfortable to use and it is well-spaced; apart from the undersized arrow keys, the other keys are large and comfortable to use. The keys feel bouncy and could reduce your average typing speed but not by much.
The touchpad is quite responsive to swiping and as well as, gesture controls. Overall the touchpad and keyboard on this Chrome book are quite good.
Battery life
On a battery test, the battery lasted 9 hours and 18 minutes with continuous web surfing with Wi-Fi and full brightness.
