Support our independent tech coverage. Chrome Unboxed is written by real people, for real people—not search algorithms. Join Chrome Unboxed Plus for just $2 a month to get an ad-free experience, access to our private Discord, and more. Learn more about membership here.
START FREE TRIAL (MONTHLY)START FREE TRIAL (ANNUAL)
Last month, Google announced a new hardware kit from ASUS for use with the company’s Meet video conferencing platform. The bundle includes some seriously robust A/V hardware from Huddly and Logitech paired with a freshly designed ASUS Chromebox now branded “Google Meet Compute System.” It is simply a repurposed Core i7 Kaby Lake Chromebox with fresh skin and a puny 4GB of RAM. ASUS did opt for 128GB of storage. So, there’s that. Anyway, in Google’s announcement, they mentioned that CTL had partnered with Logitech to bring its own Google Meet Hardware Kit to market. This week, the Oregon-based company has listed the new bundles and they’re as premium as they come.
CTL opted not to reskin its Chromebox but instead, turned the Core i7 box into an absolute monster by adding 32GB of RAM. I mean, seriously. If you’re going to have a Core i7 Chromebox, you should be able to use it for more than just video conferencing. With 32GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, the CTL Chromebox can be an all-in-one workstation for even the most power-hungry user. Like ASUS, CTL is offering three bundles to cater to any size room. However, CTL is offering ultra-premium medium/large room setups with the Logitech Rally and Rally Plus mic/speaker/camera packages.
The entry-level, small room setup includes the beasty CTL Chromebox, Logitech Meetup camera with pan/tilt and 5X zoom, Logitech Tap touchscreen controller, and all required hardware. CTL’s starter kit comes in a bit higher than the one ASUS if offering but it does come with an arguably better camera and speakers. Plus, you get the touch display for controlling your Meet Hardware kit while the ASUS comes with a handheld remote.
- Logitech MeetUp
- Logitech Tap
- Logitech Strong USB 10m (32.8 ft)
- PC / Chromebox Mount
- Google-approved CTL CBx1-7H Core i7 Chromebox with Chrome OS
- MeetUp Mounting Kit
- Documentation
The medium and large room bundles upgrade the camera to the Logitech Rally that features up to 15x HD zoom and a list of smart enhancements to improve audio and video quality for meetings. The medium kit comes with the Core i7 Chromebox, 1 x mic pod and 1 x pill-shaped speaker, Logitech Tap touch controller, and necessary hardware. The large room kit adds a second mic and speaker and CTL is covering the hardware with a 2-year warranty. All three bundles are available for pre-order today and will ship in the next 5-9 business days. The price isn’t cheap but you pay for what you get and having premium meeting hardware in your conference room isn’t a place you want to skimp. The small room kit is priced at $2,800 with the medium and large bundles coming in at $4,150 and $4,900 respectively. Find all three at the link below.
