What you need to know
- HP has unveiled the latest additions to its Chromebook portfolio: the HP Chromebase 21.5-inch All-in-One and the HP Chromebook x2 11.
- The x2 11 is a Chrome OS tablet with a 400-nit, 2K touchscreen, a fingerprint sensor in the power button, and 11 hours of battery life thanks to the Snapdragon 7c.
- The new Chromebase can rotate 90 degrees to be used in vertical mode, sports two USB-C and USB-A ports in the base alongside B&O speakers, and is powered by an 11th Gen Intel Core i3.
- Launching alongside these two products is a Works With Chromebook-certified USB-C monitor to double your screens and your fun.
Two new Chrome OS devices join the ever-growing HP lineup today. While they have very different purposes and abilities, both are designed around device-sharing with the family and the ever-flexible workflows we've been adapting to over the last 18 months of chaos and insanity. I'm excited for both of these devices for widely different reasons — I openly cheered when I saw the HP Chromebase in our briefing — and I'm confident at least one of these will be making its way into many homes over the coming months. Meet the HP Chromebook x2 11 and the HP Chromebase 21.5-inch.
Wait, what's a Chromebase? You'd be forgiven for thinking that Chrome OS only comes on Chromebooks; there still aren't many good Chromeboxes, the Chromebit has come and gone, and the only recent Chromebases — that's the name for Chrome OS all-in-one computers — have all been designed and sold directly to businesses. However, HP is ending that streak today with the new HP Chromebase 21.5-inch All-in-One, a family-oriented desktop computer with a large, rotating touchscreen for tapping through games or recipes, either a Pentium or 11th Gen Intel Core i3 for powering through homework or work-work, and integrated speakers in the base so you can jam to some lo-fi while your sort through a mountain of emails.
This Chromebase could work very well for someone wanting a low-maintenance family computer or a hard-to-break computer for an aging grandparent who will appreciate the large screen when having video calls with the grandkids. At first glance, the $600 starting price might seem high, but between the touchscreen, the rotating display, and getting Chrome OS upgrades until at least June 2029, that price seems more than reasonable.
Slightly less reasonable is the $600 starting point for the HP Chromebook x2 11, especially when compared to the $250 Lenovo Chromebook Duet and the $389 ASUS Chromebook Detachable CM3. However, there's more here than meets the eye. While I'll be the first to admit I'm disappointed to see the Snapdragon 7c inside this 11-inch tablet, considering this is aimed more at content consumption and casual computing, the processor should do fine. That 11-inch screen is usable outside thanks to its 400-nit brightness, and the 2K resolution means videos, webcomics, and any other content should look crisp, clean, and completely beautiful.
Because this is an 11-inch tablet rather than 10-10.5 tablets we've seen so far, the detachable keyboard for the x2 11 features the normal, full-size key layout rather than the more cramped keyboards like the Duet and CM3. This will be a gamechanger for those who loved the idea of the Chrome tablet experience but couldn't stand the cramped keyboards they came with. Rounding out the premium build of this premium-priced tablet is a clean aluminum unibody design with two USB-C ports (rather than just the one on the Duet) and a fingerprint sensor in the power button. The detachable keyboard and kickstand will come in two colors: a lovely Night Teal and Shade Gray. The original Chromebook X2 spent quite a while on our Best Chromebooks roundup, and I'm quite interested to see if its successor of reclaiming its spot.
Both products go on sale this month at Best Buy — and of course HP's website — at a starting price of $600. HP will offer an HP Chromebook X2 bundle with a USI stylus later this fall, which will magnetically hold to the x2 and charge wirelessly. In the meantime, there are great USI sytluses to use already.
