Details of two unannounced Chromebooks have hit the Internet, one of which will be offered by Lenovo and the other by HP. Both will reportedly sport Intel “Braswell” processors, and 11.6-inch displays, with support for touch-based input. The Lenovo model is even showing up on CDW’s website as of this article, costing a mere $274, packing 32GB of onboard eMMC storage and 4GB of memory.
The updated Lenovo N22 Chromebook was unearthed on Friday by Brent Sullivan over on Google Plus. Lenovo’s original N22 Chromebook lineup actually launched back in March for school students, one of which was the 80SF model packing an Intel Celeron N3050 processor clocked at 1.6GHz, an 11.6-inch screen with a 1,366 x 768 resolution, 4GB of memory, 16GB of internal storage, and Wireless AC connectivity. It’s powered by a battery promising up to 10 hours of up-time on a single charge.
The new report regarding the N22 Chromebook refresh is scarce in details, merely stating that the unannounced model will include an IPS screen with touch-based input. That said, it seems that the refresh will merely focus on updating the viewing experience and providing more storage thanks to a bigger drive, while the 4GB of RAM and Intel Celeron 3050 processor remain untouched. The Lenovo N22 is slated to support the Google Play Store later this year.
As for HP’s unannounced Chromebook, the device appeared in an official HP document (pdf). The HP Chromebook 11 G4 launched six months ago, but the document reveals an unannounced G5 model sporting an Intel Celeron N3060 processor clocked at 1.60GHz (2.48GHz Turbo) with 2GB or 4GB of RAM. Internal storage options are 16GB or 32GB.
The document shows that the G5 model has an 11.6-inch screen with 1,366 x 768 resolution. The touch-based version seems to be protected by Gorilla Glass, while the non-touch model goes without. Other features include HDMI v1.4 output, two USB 3.1 ports, a microSD card slot, Wireless AC and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity, two built-in speakers, an HD TrueVision HD 720p webcam, dual array digital microphones, a full-size textured island-style keyboard in Ash Gray, and a two-cell 43.7 watt-hour battery.
Finally, HP’s new Chromebook will measure just 0.72-inches thin, which isn’t too shabby for a student-focused solution. The touch-based model will weigh 2.61 pounds while the non-touch model will weigh a slightly lighter 2.51 pounds. The battery life is unknown at this point, and based on the document, HP is in fact still aiming at school students with the Chromebook 11 G5 line, as the laptop is expected to last throughout the school day.
We have no idea when Lenovo and HP will launch their new Chromebooks, but we expect they’ll arrive just before the start of the new school year this August. Unfortunately, the Lenovo N22 Chromebook listing on CDW doesn’t provide an availability date, but it definitely offers some insight as to how much touch-based Chromebooks with an 11.6-inch screen will cost when they finally hit the market.
