HP Chromebook Plus x360 test: it should change our minds about cheap laptops

The Chromebook Plus series has proven to be an excellent range for the HP brand. I can say this with some credibility because I have tested several models of this range over the past few months.

All these laptops offer excellent hardware performance as well as a range of features ensuring a good user experience. However, many of these devices have some curious flaws, and the same can be said about this new 2-in-1 notebook, the HP Chromebook Plus x360.

The three takeaways from the HP Chromebook Plus x360 computer

The HP Chromebook Plus x360 is a new version of the s model;
last year and it includes more features
powerful and a larger screen.
This laptop keeps everything that used to
the excellence of the old version, such as the comfortable keyboard, the
robustness and the high degree of flexibility, since the device can
turn into a tablet.
However, the new device has the same problem as the old model, namely a not bright enough screen.

From a design point of view, the computer is almost identical to the other x360 models from HP. The biggest difference is in the size of the screen, my test machine having a smaller 14-inch touch screen. There is, however, a 15.6-inch version. Nevertheless, there is enough space under the hood to integrate a robust 12th generation Intel Core i3 processor.

This power gain allows the laptop to handle more difficult tasks and run many more programs while remaining as efficient as before, which earned it the title of Chromebook Plus.

A high-performance working machine

Combine the performance of the Chromebook Plus x360 with its inherently flexible nature and you have a high-performance work machine. The ability to flip the screen and turn the device into a tablet is a particularly useful feature, since the Plus-labeled computers are among the first Chromebooks to support Photoshop on the web (you even get a free three-month trial version with purchase).

So imagine, if you want, that you write in laptop mode, then that you easily switch to tablet mode to draw or edit. This is a completely integrated way of working that Chromebook users have never really had before. Now, they no longer have to deprive themselves of Adobe’s flagship software.

I have to talk about the keyboard, because it is by far my favorite thing on this HP Chromebook Plus x360 (I am a sucker for beautiful keyboards in fact).

Very responsive keyboard

Each fingerboard is made of a soft matte material and responds perfectly well to the touch. I don’t know if HP has done anything special in the construction of this laptop. Other machines, such as Acer’s Chromebook Plus CX34, have a keyboard with a short typing stroke but this does not seem to be the case here. The responsiveness could be due to the robust aluminum frame.

Cesar Padlock/ZDNET

As for the construction of the device, aluminum makes it possible to obtain an excellent build quality. Just hold this laptop in your hand to realize that it can withstand shocks or occasional drops.

I noticed that the bottom plate is made of a completely different material. It’s not plastic, but it looks like it. This change of material did not prevent me from positively appreciating the Chromebook Plus x360. However, I find this strange choice to change the material of this part.

8 hours of autonomy

As for the battery life, the laptop is doing quite well. I evaluated it by having it display a YouTube video stream with a brightness of 50% and a resolution of 720p.

The computer lasted for a little over eight hours before shutting down completely, which is a good amount of time in my opinion. Honestly, I expected a shorter autonomy, of the order of six hours. I thought that HP would not have improved, adjusted the battery capacity to adapt it to the improvement of the hardware, but I was wrong.

Although I appreciated the performance of the Chromebook Plus x360, it’s time to point out its weak points. First of all, the screen. It is mediocre, especially for a 2-in-1 laptop.

Even when set to maximum, the screen remains dull

This is a screen with a resolution of 1080p with a low level of brightness. Even when set to maximum, the screen remains dull. I was frankly amazed.

It is one of the few Chromebooks that has access to Photoshop and it does not have the ability to produce accurate colors on the screen… Illustrators and publishers are likely to make more mistakes than usual.

Cesar Padlock/ZDNET

As for the webcam, I noticed that its video feed was not very good. Although it has a definition of 1080p similar to that of the other Chromebook Plus models that I have already tested, the video quality is grainier and the colors duller.

In addition, you only have 256 GB of storage, which, to be honest, is more than enough for a device that works mainly on the Internet and the cloud. You can always supplement the internal storage with a Google One subscription, which offers up to 2 TB of storage. In addition, all Chromebook Plus models are equipped with a function that allows offline access to your Google Drive files.