Another MediaTek MT8196-powered Chromebook emerges

Last week, we talked a bit about the new Chromebook in development called ‘Hylia’ that is in the ‘Rauru’ family and powered by the (likely) powerful MediaTek MT8196. This device is not only set to house the most powerful ARM processor we’ve yet seen in a Chromebook to this point, but it should also show up in a tablet form factor.

While there’s little we can learn just yet about ‘Hylia’ apart from its likely status as a Chromebook tablet, another ‘Rauru’-based device is also in the works that looks to perhaps take a more-standard clamshell or convertible route: ‘Navi’. These names should ring a bell if you are a fan of the Zelda series of games by Nintendo, and I’m very excited to know that there are at least two devices based on the development board (‘Rauru’) for this upcoming MediaTek SoC.

With boards like ‘Geralt’ that gave us ‘Ciri’ (the new Lenovo Chromebook Duet 11″), we’ve only seen a singular device emerge from that work. With MediaTek boards, this has happened in the past and I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case with this very capable, very powerful new MT8196 processor on the way.

And even though ‘Navi’ makes two devices now in development, I’m still hoping for a few more. Consider the number of Chromebooks that emerge from a board like ‘Nissa’ (Intel N100 and N200 devices) or ‘Brya’ (12th/13th-gen Intel devices) and you get a better idea of why I’m hopeful that we could perhaps see four or five MT8196 devices before it’s all said and done.

As for what we know so far on ‘Navi’, the details are a bit scarce. There’s far more development already done on this one, so as I dig in a bit, I’m sure I can find a few things. Like I’ve done with other boards before, I thought this new ‘Navi’ device was actually something else. Now that I’ve properly connected the dots, I’ll be snooping around to see what else I can uncover regarding ‘Navi’ and what we should expect.

For now, just know that we have another higher-end MediaTek MT8196 device on the way, and that alone is pretty exciting. If history serves, this new SoC will be both powerful and light on battery. If it ends up in a tablet, that’s awesome. If not, I’d definitely love to see something like the Acer Chromebook Spin 513 get a sequel, giving us a thin, light convertible with plenty of power and battery life to last all day long. Stay tuned.