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HP has continued to make a splash with new iterations of the company’s popular Chromebook x360 14 and this year’s Tiger Lake model is no exception. Despite the popularity of the premium convertible Chromebook, HP never release a clamshell variant featuring Intel Core CPUs unless you count the Pro c640 but that device was aimed squarely at the Enterprise market. That particular device, like the x360 14c, saw a refresh for 2021 with the addition of Intel’s 11th Gen Tiger Lake CPUs. While anyone is welcome to purchase the c640 from HP, it’s going to cost you over $600 to get specs comparable to the more versatile x360 14c.
Thankfully, our good friend George E. keeps an eye out for new devices at many of the retailers that carry premium Chromebooks. Today, he discovered a new device from HP that brings the 14″ clamshell form-factor to the retail space. There are currently two models available. One is listed on HP’s website and carries the same 11th Gen Core i3, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage as the x360 14c.
While the Core i3 model will be more than powerful enough for most users, the Core i5 version offers up some significant upgrades that might make it worth the $70 price bump. The first, obviously, is the Tiger Lake Core i5 CPU. The G7 graphics are significantly more powerful than the lesser GPU on the i3 and the extra power will come in handy down the road when Steam gaming becomes a reality on Chrome OS. The additional upgrades include twice the storage at 256GB and the addition of a properly placed fingerprint sensor that makes logging into your device a breeze.
According to HP’s listing, the new HP Chromebook 14 features an aluminum lid and keyboard deck which should make it feel just as premium as the x360 14c. Sadly, it features the same 250 nit panel as the x360 and that’s a shame. After three years of nearly perfect flagships, HP really needs to up the screen game for its premium Chromebooks. Personally, I’d steer buyers to the HP Chromebook x360 14c for the simple fact that it is a convertible. However, I personally don’t use my device in tablet mode very often and I understand that there are many that do not care about having a 2-in-1 device. For you, this Chromebook is a solid purchase. The Core i3 model is retailing for $579 at HP while the beefier Core i5 can be found at Costco for $649. If you don’t have a Costco membership, you can still pick it up but you’ll have to pay a 5% surcharge. Find them both below.
HP Chromebook 14 Core i5 at CostcoHP Chromebook 14 Core i3 at HP
