Testing Lenovo’s tiny Chromebox Micro to see if it supports a touchscreen

In a world where Chromebooks have matured and gotten really good over the last few years, something like the Lenovo Chromebox Micro has been a breath of fresh air. This little powerhouse is about the size of a smartphone, yet it packs a full desktop ChromeOS experience, which has my wheels turning on all the possibilities and unique use cases for this pocket-sized Chromebox.

After our last post and podcast episode about the Micro, I got several emails from readers explaining why they were excited about this device! I loved hearing about all the creative ways you want to use this thing. From boat instrument consoles to replacing old Chromebits on digital signs, there was so much variety. But, a lot of you asked about touchscreen support. We assumed it would work since ChromeOS supports touchscreens through USB-C. So I dug out a portable touchscreen monitor, and voila! It works flawlessly!

Small form factor, big possibilities

Let’s recap for those who missed the first Micro hype: this thing is compact, weighing in around a pound, and can easily fit in your pocket. Under the hood, it has an Intel Celeron N4500 CPU, 8GB RAM, and 32GB storage. Plus, the fanless, ventless design means it’s tough enough for round-the-clock duty in stores, offices, and wherever you need a reliable ChromeOS setup.

Now, here’s the fun part: the Chromebox Micro could be the perfect brain for an interactive touchscreen experience. Teachers could use this Chromebox and a touch display to build engaging lessons, and businesses could easily create interactive customer kiosks – the options are exciting. And if you have a display that supports pen input, that should theoretically work, as well, although we haven’t been able to test this. But this could be a great way to create a simple digital whiteboard.

Feeling the urge to get your hands on this compact Chromebox? Well, unfortunately, availability has been a little scarce (on the consumer side at least.) B&H has a listing that includes options with and without a Chrome Management Console for $239 and $389 respectively but it looks like inventory is back-ordered. There’s also a listing over at CDW but it is showing “Item Backordered” as well. I’m sure it is more readily available through Enterprise/EDU channels but for now, consumer channels are lacking. I’ll certainly keep my eyes peeled and will let you all know if I come across any additional listings.