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)
Some interesting news came across my desk this afternoon and, to be honest, though it isn’t entirely accurate, it was welcome and pretty cool to see. We wanted to weigh in quickly as this type of thing can get out of hand pretty rapidly. There are some accurate and interesting things to look at, and a couple conclusions that don’t hold water.
First, The Corrections
While it is accurate to say that a device called ‘Google Soraka’ has been benchmarked in GFXBench, we need to take a step back and consider a few things before rushing to wrong conclusions.
First and foremost, lots of Chromebooks get benchmarked and have Google in their name. These devices are not Pixels or Google-made Chromebooks. Take a look at this result from my Samsung Chromebook Pro.
See that up there? That says Google Samsung Chromebook Pro. I think we are all very aware at this point that the Samsung Chromebook Pro is not made by Google, is not a Pixel, and other than being a Chromebook, is not branded in any way to be from the search giant.
Now, lets look at some other results on GFXBench, shall we? Look at some of the names on this list.
Two devices that stand out are ‘Reef’ and ‘R11’, both being devices/boards – like the Samsung Chromebook Pro – that are in production and are clearly not made by Google. There are more where that came from, but I think the point is clear.
There is no evidence that ‘Soraka’ is #madebyGoogle. As much as I’d like that to be the case and think that, alongside ‘Eve’, we might see another Google device unveiled in the upcoming Google-branded Chromebook excitement, I simply don’t think that is the case. I know, it’s a bummer. We have to keep this stuff straight, though.
There is good news, still.
The Benchmark Is Real
The good part of all this is someone, somewhere is benchmarking ‘Soraka’ and we are getting to see some details about the device. Here’s what we learn from the test:
- Android 7.1.1
- Smaller device (GFX tests the window size, but other Chromebooks are close to their actual size. The largest size shown here is 8.8 inches. Maybe a 10″ device?)
- Quad Core 2.6GHz m3 Kaby Lake (m3-7Y30)
- Intel HD 615 GPU
- 4GB/8GB RAM
- 32GB/64GB Storage
- Rear Facing Camera
- Flash
Some of this is new info. The size of the device, the specific processor, RAM options, storage options and a flash are all things we didn’t know ‘Soraka’ had for sure. We’d guess we are getting close to seeing this one break cover before the holidays for sure, if not sooner.
It’s been a bit quiet in the new device realm lately, so I am really excited to see this stuff start surfacing. Fall is here, and new Chromebooks are coming. Who’s excited?!??
Source: The Android Soul
