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A cheap notebook with Chrome OS is the HP Chromebook 14. Its small size and light weight make it portable, and its battery provides more than sixteen hours of light work. You must be cautious with it, though, as it doesn’t feel particularly well-built. The keyboard feels comfortable to type on, and the touchpad is reasonably big and snappy. The speakers on our unit sound excellent, but they don’t get very loud, and the TN panel looks washed out and doesn’t get bright enough to beat glare. It can perform mild workloads like web surfing and video playback but not heavy ones like AAA gaming or video editing because it only has an integrated graphics and low-power Intel Celeron CPU.
Last but not least, due to Chrome OS restrictions, you cannot install any x86 software. Our HP Chromebook 14 sports a 720p TN display, an Intel Celeron N4000 processor, an integrated Intel UHD Graphics 400 GPU, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage. Memory, the GPU, and the CPU cannot be configured. There are three different display options; we advise choosing the one with an IPS 1080p screen. There is a model with 64GB of storage space if you require more room to install more apps and store things locally. also, you can learn our article on HP Chromebook 14 review.
Design
HP’s original Chromebook wasn’t the nicest, and that’s a fair criticism. Black, inexpensive, and often uninspiring HP has therefore abandoned the professional design for something louder and more boisterous with the Chromebook 14. The Peach Coral, Ocean Turquoise, or Snow-White versions of the Chromebook 14 are available, just like the one we had the pleasure of using. It is different from the original but in a good way and represents a much-needed change.
We haven’t seen anything like the dimpled base and velvety matte white lid on previous Chromebooks. It’s comfortable to hold and gives the under-£300 laptop a much more opulent feel than its plastic construction would suggest. Although it doesn’t employ the same pricey materials as Apple’s laptops, the chassis is unmistakably MacBook inspired when you open it up, from the button-less chrome touchpad to the square chiclet keys.
It appears nicer from the outside than it does from the inside, but there is more room around the keyboard and a bigger palm rest. It is slightly heavier (1.85kg) than HP’s original Chromebook (1.8kg) and 1mm slimmer (21mm) than the Pavilion. Even if it doesn’t seem like much, carrying it in a bag makes the extra weight more apparent. We alternated between the two, and the extra weight is apparent. There are undoubtedly better Chromebook solutions available for portability.
Keyboard and touchpad
We have high standards for keyboards, so we were pleasantly impressed by the Chromebook 14’s typing experience. The keyboard has clicky keys and a lot of key travel, so it feels responsive. The keyboard doesn’t feel mushy at all under usual use, although it does slightly flex when we hit it hard. Our complaint is that there isn’t a separate Caps Lock key; instead, a Search key is used instead, which must be used while holding down the alt key. Although it’s not a significant deal, it makes it harder to hurriedly tweet in all caps.
The trackpad is also quite good. There is lots of room to move about in this wide, open area. There is no need to hunt for the left- and right-click buttons because the entire touchpad functions as a button. The button itself clicks into place with a nice sound, but the closer you get to the keyboard, the firmer it becomes. You’ll feel perfectly at home using the Chromebook 14 if you’re used to the trackpad on, for example, a MacBook Air. also, you can check our article on HP Chromebook 14 review.
HP Chromebook 14 review: Display
The Chromebook 14 has a 14-inch LED backlit HD display with a resolution of 1,366 x 768, which is the same as that of the 13-inch Toshiba Chromebook and the 11-inch Acer Chromebook C720. Sadly, that means that we now have another Chromebook with a subpar display. On an 11-inch screen, it’s a little more tolerable, but on a 14-inch screen, it’s really not that great. Additionally, the Chromebook 14 has a TN display, which is notorious for having poor viewing angles and glare.
You may occasionally find yourself shifting the screen’s angle to lessen reflection. The screen appears a touch washed out and lacks the bold, vibrant colors that would make it a really enjoyable place to view videos. When compared to the HP Pavilion, there are some obvious improvements in terms of color accuracy and clarity. When the brightness is sitting around 50%, the 200 nits of brightness aren’t doing much good, and for the best working environment, you’ll need brightness levels close to maximum. Overall, Chromebook displays remain the most disappointing feature, especially given how much better tablet screens are getting.
Audio
The Chromebook 14 proudly displays a Bang & Olufsen logo next to the solitary top-firing speaker strip on its keyboard island, just like its more expensive Pavilion and Spectre relatives. However, the noise coming from the drivers inside simply does not do that venerable Danish moniker justice. Popular songs sound perfectly flat throughout all frequencies, like The Weeknd’s Starboy. At maximum level, lows in particular end up sounding muddled. Even in videos with simply vocals, there is noticeable distortion, thus the speaker strip is best used for message notifications.
Although we didn’t really have high hopes for the speakers on the HP Chromebook 14, they actually perform admirably, much like the Toshiba Chromebook. As with other other laptops from the company, there is no Beats Audio. However, the only touch of bass is there to help give the powerful and generally well-defined sound a little boost. You will be able to hear the full impact of your audio thanks to the forward-facing speakers. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by what the speakers have to offer if you want to make use of the 60-day free trial to Google Play Music.
HP Chromebook 14 review: Performance
Because Chrome OS is so lean, navigation around the OS is quick and responsive because there is minimal bloatware or background software to slow down performance. A 1.4GHz dual-core Intel Celeron 2995U processor powers the HP Chromebook 14. Because it is more than competent of executing Chrome OS’ essential functions, this has been a popular choice for Chromebooks. It might have trouble with a laptop that runs Windows, but Chrome OS has far more modest requirements.
We evaluated the HP Chromebook 14’s browser speed using the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark tool instead of our customary benchmarks made for Windows PCs, and we were able to achieve a very remarkable result of 355.0ms. This demonstrates that the Chromebook renders pages quickly, making it easy to scroll through even webpages with plenty of images. It was satisfying to find that the Chromebook 14 performed online browsing well given how important it is to a Chromebook’s attractiveness. Only 16GB of SSD-based internal storage are available. You get 100GB of Google Drive storage for the first two years since Google would much rather you save your stuff on the cloud, ideally using Google Drive.
If you don’t have internet access, this is still not the best storage situation, but the Chromebook 14 does feature enough USB ports to connect an external USB flash drive: there are two USB3 connectors and one USB2 port. There is an HDMI port for connecting an external display, and a headset jack is also there. Finally, an SD card can be used to boost storage, which is a fantastic idea given how inexpensively available large capacity SD cards are. Chrome OS is an operating system that is constantly changing, which is one of its amazing features.
Battery life
The Chromebook 14 stands out above the competition in this particular area without a doubt. The review device continuously lost 7–10 percent of its charge every hour during our standard tests, where the screen is set to 70 percent brightness, Wi-Fi + Bluetooth are turned on, and a USB mouse is connected. In one of these tests, there were almost twenty tabs open, one of which had USB headphones connected and was quietly playing internet radio.
Three hours later, the charge dropped from 100% to 74%. In almost an hour and a half, the battery was fully charged. In conclusion, the Chromebook 14 is excellent for someone who needs to work constantly for roughly 8 or 9 hours away from a power outlet. you can read our article on HP Chromebook 14 review.
HP Chromebook 14 review: Heat
We watched a 15-minute full-screen YouTube trailer after which only the underside of the Chromebook 14 reached alarming temperatures. The bottom panel exceeded our 95-degree comfort criterion, reaching a maximum temperature of 108 degrees Fahrenheit. The rest of the laptop, including the Centre of the keyboard (83 degrees) and the touchpad (77 degrees), remained much below that threshold.
Configuration options
Given the features and reliable performance of the Chromebook 14, you might decide to switch. This computer is so affordable that it can easily handle all of your basic computing requirements, such as getting you online, reading your email, managing a few straightforward activities, and binge-watching Netflix.
A gadget that offers far more value than just its low price is created by the combination of a terrific keyboard, a fantastic trackpad, and a magnificent 14-inch screen. Such a laptop has a number of clear disadvantages. Both difficult gameplay and demanding video editing are not supported. The HP Chromebook 14 is a great choice if your computing demands are simpler, especially given that one only cost $199 (about £230, AU$500).
Conclusion
The HP Chromebook 14 works well for academic purposes. It is a little laptop that is simple to transport and has a long battery life. It doesn’t feel particularly well-built, so you have to be careful with it. The touchpad is acceptable, and the keyboard is comfortable to type on. You may purchase a variant with a 1080p IPS display, which will look considerably crisper than our unit’s low-resolution TN panel.
Unfortunately, because the screen doesn’t become extremely bright, glare is a concern in well-lit areas. Web browsing and video playback are modest workloads that the Intel Celeron CPU and integrated graphics can handle, but 3D creation requires more power.