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In the world of Chromebooks, sometimes the most interesting hardware releases happen without a press release or a flashy launch event. If you’ve been around Chrome Unboxed for any amount of time, you’ve likely come across content we’ve made over the years about the affordable and surprisingly great-to-use Lenovo Slim 3 Chromebook. It has always delivered a solid balance between affordability and daily performance, and it seems the time for a proper update is upon us.
Just a day after I stumbled across the new ASUS CM32 Detachable Chromebook hitting retail shelves, I also found a brand new generation of the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook quietly available at Best Buy, packing the exact same upgraded silicon.
Upgraded internals and screen
One of the big upgrades with this refresh is what Lenovo has tucked under the hood. This new model ditches the older Kompanio 520 in favor of the much newer, more capable MediaTek Kompanio 540 processor.
Lenovo didn’t cut corners on the supporting hardware, either. The Kompanio 540 is paired with a very respectable 8GB of fast LPDDR5x RAM and 128GB of UFS storage, which should provide noticeably faster read/write speeds and much snappier boot times compared to older eMMC drives.
A solid screen and an early deal
While the processor gets a bump, the chassis retains the highly portable frame I liked in the previous iteration. Weighing in at just 2.99 pounds and featuring an estimated 18 hours of battery life (alongside updated Wi-Fi 6E connectivity), this slim Chromebook could be a great fit for those constantly on the go.
For the display, Lenovo equipped this Slim 3 with a 400 nit 14-inch WUXGA (1920×1200) IPS touchscreen, delivering crisp 2K resolution in a 16:10 aspect ratio that is perfect for scrolling web pages and getting work done. It also features upward-firing MaxxAudio-tuned speakers to round out the media experience.
If you are looking for a highly portable, highly capable daily driver, you might be looking at your next Chromebook. The new Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook carries a standard MSRP of $499, but Best Buy has instantly rolled it into their 4th of July promotional event. You can pick up this brand-new configuration right now for just $399, making it a fantastic mid-range value in the Chromebook space right now.
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