Lenovo Chromebook C340 (11.6") review: This pretty laptop is practically perfect for the price

Lenovo knocked it out of the affordable ballpark last year with the Lenovo Chromebook C330, a glittering white Chromebook that I've used and abused for the last ten months, for launch day blitzes and lazy day binges and everything in between. And from the moment I first saw its sequel teased before its IFA debut, I know I had to get my hands on one.

The Lenovo Chromebook C340 11.6" (C340-11) is a practical upgrade but still a shiny standout among the boring blacks of the budget Chromebook space. Support life is doubled over the previous model, and so are the USB ports and available colors. There's even a chance of a configuration with 8GB of RAM, something we've only really seen on $500+ mid-range and premium Chromebooks so far, and something I'd very much love to have in a Chromebook when I'm video-conferencing or watching Critical Role while banging out case roundups.

While there are certainly more powerful Chromebooks out there with bigger, shinier screens, those are double the C340's price. I firmly believe the best Chromebook is one that the average Joe would actually pay for. With the Lenovo Chromebook C340-11, we have found an excellent Chromebook for everyone, and it comes in pink.

Lenovo Chromebook C340 (11.6") Price and release date

The Lenovo Chromebook C340-11 came out in October 2019, and it's been one of the most popular Chromebooks ever since, so much so that it's been hard for retailers to keep it in stock even before the pandemic came around and caused a run on Chromebooks amid a new surge of working from home and distance learning. This has led to the C340-11 being one of the hardest Chromebooks to come by amid the pandemic — and to resellers absolutely jacking up the price.

This is just indecent price gouging, and it's not limited to Amazon. Walmart, Newegg, eBay, and other marketplaces have been rife with $400-$600 listings, and you absolutely shouldn't buy it at those prices. The 32GB C340-11 is worth $320 maximum. The 64GB C340-11 is worth $350 at the most. Part of why only reseller listings are available right now is that the C340-11's production was temporarily halted and then shifted to a new manufacturing site because of trade sanctions against one of the manufacturing companies Lenovo, Dell and HP use to build their laptops.

This is the best compact Chromebook on the market when you can buy it, but wait for supply to catch back up. If you need a Chromebook on the small side right this second, buy the Lenovo Flex 5 instead, because that's more worthy of a $500 price tag.

Not like, love

Lenovo Chromebook C340 (11.6") What I love

Rather than sticking with the shiny but dirt-showing Blizzard White of the C330, Lenovo opted for two colors on the C340-11: Platinum Grey and Sand Pink. The pink is far easier to get ahold of — it's the only one being sold on Amazon — and while I might have preferred a nice lavender or sky blue, Sand Pink is a nice shade that doesn't stray too close to Mary Kay pink and is light enough that it doesn't look gaudy. It looks good indoors and great outdoors, with the aluminum lid shiny and cool while the rest of the housing is a color-matched plastic that's easier to hold and less prone to scratches.

Opening up that aluminum lid reveals an identical 11.6-inch screen to last year's model — and every other 11.6-inch Chromebook I've seen this year — and a color-matched trackpad with a grey keyboard. Those wide bezels around the screen are great for readjusting the screen angle or flipping over to Stand mode for a bit of Solitaire time. At 2.6 pounds, this Chromebook is still easy to carry around all day or in your hand: I walked half of Disney's Animal Kingdom with the C340-11 in my hand and it was easy to grip without tiring out my hand or arm.

Whether using it in Tablet mode, Stand mode or regular old laptop mode, Chrome OS smoothly moves along on the C340-11. I can have up to 16 tabs before the 4GB RAM on my review unit starts reloading them, and using Android apps like Disney+, Microsoft Solitaire Collection, and Fanfiction.net have worked for me on the Lenovo as well as they have on my Pixel 4. The spec sheet for the C340-11 mentions an 8GB option for memory, but those models aren't available for purchase yet.

Source: Ara Wagoner / Android Central

Battery life is just as impressive here as it was on the C330 despite the battery being a tiny bit smaller. I get 9-12 hours most days at my usual lower brightness levels, but even on bright afternoons, my battery still lasted until dinnertime. I'm so happy that there's USB-C ports on both sides of the C340-11 since it means I can plug in the charger on either side, though it is odd that the charging indicator is on the side opposite the power button's built-in LED.

One of the bigger blemishes on the Lenovo C330 last year was that it only launched with a few years of support — a blemish which was later fixed with an end-of-life — but this year's model is in it for the long haul, slated to receive Chrome OS updates until June 2026. That means that if you buy the C340-11 for your spunky seventh grade daughter, it should last until she graduates high school.

Lenovo Chromebook C340 (11.6") What could still improve

Source: Ara Wagoner / Android Central

A $300 laptop is bound to have compromises, but the ones Lenovo made with the C340-11 are all fairly reasonable. While the lid is aluminum, the rest of the laptop is plastic, which I'm honestly okay with since the plastic is less prone to noticeable scratches and dents than metal is.

The only real regret I have with this laptop is that while these cheap 1366x768 touchscreen panels made sense back in 2016, can we really not boost it up to 1080p in 2019? This display is fine — easy enough to read, you can use it outdoors in the shade but not full sunlight, and easy to tap away at Microsoft Solitaire — but a higher resolution would allow for the Chromebook to look better at more zoom and font sizes. Not to mention 1080p would make for better viewing when using your Chromebook to watch YouTube, Netflix, and Disney+.

Otherwise, though, I don't really have any complaints with the Lenovo Chromebook C340. Like the C330, it's a run-and-gun Chromebook that you can trust to endure through long days of frantic launch day blogging — I mean, homework — and through long nights re-watching every single episode of Phineas and Ferb — I mean, homework!!

Should you buy the Lenovo Chromebook C340 (11.6") Definitely

Source: Ara Wagoner / Android Central

For a Chromebook that will receive Chrome OS updates until June 2026, it's hard to do better than the Lenovo Chromebook C340, especially from a value perspective. This a compact touchscreen 2-in-1 can handle just about any Android app your throw at it, juggle multiple windows and tabs as you multitask, and has the phenomenal battery life we've come to expect from Lenovo's Chromebooks.

This is a wonderful Chromebook for kids, a refined-looking Chromebook for the workplace, and since it comes in Sand Pink, it's also a Chromebook that lets you show some personality and pizzazz among a sea of grey and black laptops that dominate today's market.

4.5 out of 5

If there was any reason to not buy a C340 right now, it would only be to wait until models with 8GB start showing up, but we have no clue how long that's going to take. For now, grab yourself the 4GB/64GB model in Sand Pink or that more neutral Platinum Grey.