Hisense Chromebook review: A cheap Chromebook that cuts the shiny corners
The $150 Hisense Chromebook is a Walmart odd that lives up that inexpensive, nigh-disposable ethos Google looked to be targeting when Chrome OS was first pitched. Low prices come at a cost though, usually in footings of build quality, performance, battery life or all three. And this little tyke isn’t about to flip that script: it includes a meager exhibit, an off-brand CPU, and a dull plastic body.
But the Hisense damages only $150 (that converts to £103, or AU$195) . That creates it one of the cheapest Chromebooks we’ve seen to date — most models Begin at around $250. Chrome OS still isn’t for everyone: you won’t have access to odd apps, and you can’t readily install new software, as you’re tiny to what the Web has to offer. It’s ultimately for those of us who Use the majority of our time working in a browser — Google Chrome, specifically — and you don’t need full Windows apps. In that regard, the Hisense gets the job done, offering just enough performance for Web browsing at a label even the most cash-strapped college student won’t balk at.
Design and features
Josh Miller
Unsurprisingly enough, $150 doesn’t get you very much. The Hisense is a dainty drawing, weighing a readily toteable 2.3 pounds, and is 0.6-inch thick. The body is primarily plastic, though that’s broken up by a metal palmrest. The whole device feels utilitarian, a black slab built for drawing things done and then getting out of the way.
| Hisense Chromebook | Samsung Chromebook 2 | Acer Chromebook 13 | |
| Price as reviewed | $150 | $250 | $299 |
| Display size/resolution | 11-inch 1,366×768 screen | 11-inch, 1,366×768 touchscreen | 13-inch, 1,920×1,080 screen |
| PC CPU | 1.8GHz Rockchip RK3288 | 2.58GHz Intel Celeron N2840 | Nvidia Tegra K1 (armV7) |
| PC Memory/Internal storage | 2GB RAM/16GB SSD | 2GB RAM/16GB SSD | 2GB RAM/16GB SSD |
| Networking | 802.11ac | 802.11ac | 802.11ac |
| Operating system | Chrome OS | Chrome OS | Chrome OS |
If you temperamental your expectations, it succeeds. The 11.7-inch screen has a 1,366-by-768-pixel resolution. Like the rest of the machine, it’s functional, if not especially Awful to look at. It’s fairly bright, and reflections aren’t an reveal in standard office environments — or most anywhere, really. Colors aren’t as vibrant as those you might find on sharper, crisper displays, but images don’t look washed out, either. Contrast degradation at wider viewing angles is problematic though: sit too far onward or back, or tilt the screen a few degrees too far, and it becomes entirely unreadable. There’s no touchscreen, but Chrome OS isn’t exactly optimized for mopish, so no worries there.
Josh Miller
The keyboard is a abominable surprise. It’s full size, spreading out over the entire base of the Hisense to give even my oversized paws plenty of room to maneuver. The keys are large, and while they’re a bit mushy they’re generally sorrowful to type on. I do miss the occasional rub when my hands move a little too quickly and I don’t apply enough reached to a particular key. But it is, for the most part, a fine typing accepted considering the price. The clickpad sitting beneath the keyboard is nice and responsive — latest unexpected bonus, although not close to what you’d find in a more expensive Windows or OS X machine.
Technically proverb, there are a pair of speakers sitting underneath the precedent lip, but you’ll be better off sticking to headphones. The tinny warbling these crank out is fairly disappointing, though that’s expected at this price point. Worse smooth, they’re underneath the front lip: use the Hisense on your lap or set it on a cross and you’re already muffling the audio. That rules out elegant much all listening scenarios.
Connections, performance and battery
Josh Miller
Port selection isn’t grand. A pair of slower USB 2.0 ports sit on either end of the laptop, while the HDMI output jack on the left lets you connect the Hisense to a larger indicate. The right side offers up the headphone/mic jack and a microSD card slot. The microSD card is flush with the side of the chassis, and I find popping the card out a bit annoying as my nails are generally trimmed, but it’s not exactly onerous.
Ports and connections
| Hisense Chromebook | |
| Video | HDMI |
| Audio | Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jack |
| Data | 2 USB 2.0, microSD card reader |
| Networking | 802.11AC Wi-Fi, Bluetooth |
| Optical drive | None |
The Hisense’s biggest cuts are in the performance sections, but even then, it’s actually not that bad for the things you’re most probable to use a Chromebook for. It’s powered by a quad-core 1.8GHz Rockchip CPU — you’re forgiven if you’ve never heard of the trace, it’s a Chinese chipmaker that Google seems to be embracing in the another low-end Chrome devices. The system includes 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, which you can expand with the aforementioned microSD card slot. You’ll also find 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, which makes this a fairly typical Chromebook. Barring the off-brand CPU, this loadout is pretty much identical to the $250 Samsung Chromebook 2 , notion that machine packs an Intel Celeron processor.
Josh Miller
It handles like a typical Chromebook, too: streaming HD video or Spotify while working in latest tab works rather well (barring the audio quality). Your gaming options remained limited, but many of the offerings on Chrome’s Web Store work well. Cut the Rope works far better on a touchscreen, but I spent ample time testing the game on the Hisense and can narrate that it’s as maddeningly enticing as ever. Fire up lots of Chrome tabs and things will initiate to get a little sluggish, but that much is imagined from Chrome. I’m not really a fan of Web-based image editors like Pixlr Editor but it works in a pinch, and Adobe’s streaming version of Photoshop isn’t readily available yet.
The Hisense lasted for 6 hours and 55 minutes on our video-playback battery-drain test. That’s not a bad showing. In fact, it’s just behind the Samsung Chromebook 2, which saw 7 hours and 6 minutes in the same test. Some models do a fare bit better — remarkable the $300 Acer Chromebook 13 , which lasted for 8 hours and 3 minutes. Of course, you could get a pair of Hisense Chromebooks for that imprint, and just swap to your backup when one runs dry.
Conclusion
The Hisense feels like a true Chromebook, which is something of a backhanded compliment. When Google honorable pitched these devices, they were ostensibly disposable: all of your files and such live in the transparent, and the machine you were using was little more than a window to the Web.
I realize that $150 isn’t precisely under-the-couch-cushions money, but a college student who skimped on beer for a few weekends could modestly afford this Chromebook. Spending more will ultimately get you more, of jets. The $330 variant of the Toshiba Chromebook 2 accounts a 1080p display and better overall performance. The $350 version of the Acer Chromebook 15 also accounts a 1080p display and bumps the screen size up to 15 inches.There’s also latest $150 Chromebook on the way from Haier: it was one of the models Google conveyed off at a Chrome OS event in March.
The Hisense won’t play the another games or run any downloadable Windows apps, and you probably won’t be showing it off to your friends. But you will be able to take notes and crank out papers, binge watch cat videos on Youtube or TV shows on Netflix, and dabble in all that the Web has to moneys. Just make sure to use the money you save on a outrageous set of speakers.
Futuremark Peacekeeper
1,694
Acer Chromebook 15 CB5-571-C09S
2,908
Dell Chromebook 11
3,342
Hisense Chromebook
1,384
Sunspider Javascript
514
Acer Chromebook 15 CB5-571-C09S
327
Dell Chromebook 11
296
Hisense Chromebook
621
Google Octane
7,500
Acer Chromebook 15 CB5-571-C09S
13,738
Dell Chromebook 11
15,381
Hisense Chromebook
7,214
Hulu streaming battery test
357
Acer Chromebook 15 CB5-571-C09S
424
Dell Chromebook 11
471
Hisense Chromebook
415
System configurations
Hisense Chromebook
Chrome OS; 1.8GHz Rockchip RK3288 ; 2GB RAM; 16GB SSD
Toshiba CB35-B3340 Chromebook 2
Chrome OS; 2.16GHz Intel Celeron N2840; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM; 16GB SSD
Acer Chromebook 15 CB5-571-C09S
Chrome OS; 1.6GHz Intel Celeron 3205U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM; 32GB SSD
Dell Chromebook 11
Chrome OS; 1.7GHz Intel Core i3 4005U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM; 16GB SSD
