New Chromebooks with rubber edges might not sound all that exciting, but these types of devices for education remain extremely important. Unfortunately, we don’t see many new devices in this category to fill our list of the best Chromebooks, meaning schools are often still using budget Chromebooks from many years prior. To help fill that hole, HP has announced a new series of Chromebooks with education in mind — the HP Fortis G1i Chromebook and Notebook PCs.
In all, there are five new laptops in this series. The HP Fortis G1i 14-inch Chromebook, HP Fortis G1i 11-inch Chromebook, and the HP Fortis Flip G1i 11-inch Chromebook and Notebook PC are the three more premium of the devices. They come with Intel N150 and N250 processors, up to 16GB of RAM, and up to 128GB of UFS storage.
The HP Fortis Flip G1i 11-inch comes with a 360-degree hinge and touchscreen to be used in tent or presentation modes.
Meanwhile, the HP Fortis G1m 11-inch Chromebook and HP Fortis Flip G1m 11-inch Chromebook are the two smaller and even more affordable designs. There are powered by a MediaTek Kompanio 520 Arm processor, but only max out at 8GB of RAM and 64GB of eMMC storage.
Lastly, there’s also a Windows 11 version, which HP calls the HP Fortis G1i Notebook PC. It’s identical to the 11-inch Chromebook, except that it runs Windows instead of Chrome OS.
HP emphasizes the long-lasting battery life and fast charging, saying that “with long-lasting battery life and fast charging (90% in 90 minutes), students can get through the school day without frequent charging, so they stay productive and never miss a beat.”
In addition to the “co-molded” rubber edges, they also have a “spill-resistant keyboard” and meets the MIL-STD spec. They’re also quite thick laptops. The 14-inch model is 0.87 inches thick, while the 11-inch model is 0.82 inches thick.
The trackpad looks nice and big, and there are tons of ports, including two USB-A, USB-C, HDMI, and a headphone jack.
HP didn’t highlight the displays on these devices, and I can guess why. The 11-inch model only has a 1366 x 768 resolution screen, as does the base model of the 14-inch — although that one can be configured up to a 1080p screen. The best Chromebooks that we recommend come with 1080p screens, even in smaller devices.
Importantly, HP has not yet released pricing on these new devices. The Fortis G1i is expected to launch in January 2025, and HP says pricing will be announced when closer to availability. The HP Fortis G1m, meanwhile, will be available at HP.com later this month.
