Toshiba’s Chromebook 2s are now more versatile than ever before, thanks to a refresh which sees them fitted with Broadwell CPUs from Intel’s recently released line up. This gives buyers a choice of Celeron and Core i3 chips, depending on their power needs and financial situation. Regardless though, everyone gets 4GB of memory.
Obviously this laptop isn’t a performance powerhouse, but compared with the last generation Celeron chip, a bump to a Core i3 would be certainly noticeable and should make this generation’s Chromebook 2 that bit quicker at performing certain tasks.
Display wise, the Chromebook 2 comes with a 13.3-inch, 1080P IPS panel, though as TechReport points out this is bundled inside a 12 inch notebook chassis. This is combined with a scissor switch, LED backlit keyboard, though it is limited to just the one color.
As well as being quite compact, this Chromebook is also light, weighing in at just 2.95 lbs. It also has a large 3,860mAH battery, which should give up to nine hours of battery life, depending on the tasks you perform.
Connectivity wise, the Chromebook 2 has a single USB 3.0 port and another USB 2.0 port, as well as an HDMI out, headphone and microphone jack and an SD card reader. Wirelessly it can connect to your local internet over dual-band 802.11.ac Wi-Fi or to more close range devices over Bluetooth 4.0.
For those that like to have video conferences or chats with friends and loved ones, there’s also a built in HD webcam and a dual microphone array, so you don’t necessarily need to put a headset on every time you want to talk to someone. We’re also told that the front-facing speakers are tuned by Skullcandy, as per Anandtech.
Pricing for the Chromebook 2 starts at $330 for the Celeron version, or $430 for the i3 iteration.
