HP Chromebook 14a 2025: unboxing Amazon’s affordable exclusive [VIDEO]

HP just sent over their latest entry-level device, and it’s an interesting one for a couple of reasons. First, it’s an Amazon exclusive, and second, it comes in at a budget-friendly $389.99 starting price point. This is the new HP Chromebook 14a, and on paper, it has some decent specs for the money, including the trusty, tested Intel N100 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage.

But as is often the case with more affordable Chromebooks, the real story is in the user experience. After getting it out of the box, I found a device with some surprisingly solid parts and one pretty significant drawback.

The good stuff I didn’t expect

Let’s start with the positives, because there are quite a few. HP consistently does a fantastic job with keyboards, and even on this more affordable model, that holds true. The keyboard has a great feel with excellent clickiness that is genuinely enjoyable to type on. The trackpad is equally impressive; it’s a good size, has a solid click mechanism, and the surface is smooth and responsive. For a budget device, getting the keyboard and trackpad this right is a huge win.

The surprises continue with the upward-firing speakers. They don’t get super loud, but they do have some decent low-end, making them perfectly serviceable for video calls or watching YouTube without sounding tinny. And while the 720p webcam won’t win any awards, I was impressed by its dynamic range and sharpness; it’s definitely better than I would have expected at this price.

Even the all-plastic build has a thoughtful, unique texture—almost like the cardboard of a coffee cup sleeve—that is both grippy and resists fingerprints well.

The one big catch: that screen

Now for the part that gives me pause. In getting the device set up, it became abundantly clear that this is a 1366×768 TN panel, not the IPS screen we always hope for. If you’ve followed us for any amount of time, you know I don’t have a lot of love for panels like this.

To be fair, of the TN panels I’ve seen, this one isn’t the absolute worst. It gets decently bright at 250 nits, and the aggressive anti-glare, matte finish helps a bit. But the classic TN panel issues are still here: the vertical viewing angles are poor, causing colors to wash out if you’re not looking at it head-on, and the 1366×768 resolution is really pushing the limits for pixel density on a 14-inch screen.

It all comes down to the sale price

So, where does that leave us? The HP Chromebook 14a is a very mixed bag. It nails the parts you touch and interact with—the keyboard and trackpad are excellent—and has surprisingly good speakers and a decent camera. But all of that is paired with a screen that is, frankly, a major compromise.

At its full retail price of $389.99, I’d have a hard time telling you to run out and buy it, as there are other Chromebooks with far better screens that frequently go on sale in that same price range.

However, a device like this, sold exclusively at Amazon, feels destined to see some aggressive sales. I would fully expect this Chromebook to get a significant price cut for an event like Prime Day that is coming very soon. If this device drops by $50 or even $100, the value proposition changes dramatically. For under $300, a Chromebook with this great of a keyboard, trackpad, and speaker setup becomes a very compelling option, even with that screen.