HP Chromebook 14 Review: A Chromebook with Great Battery

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HP Chromebook 14: At First Glance

The HP Chromebook 14 was created to meet the needs of students and small business owners.

The HP Chromebook 14 has two editions. The Intel processor edition was created as an upgrade to the low-performing AMD processor edition.

HP Chromebook 14 offers a starting price of $199 (at the time I published this article in August 2021).

With such a starting price, you might be thinking the features of the HP Chromebook are too good to be true. Well, read on to find out!

HP Chromebook 14: Design, Dimension, and Weight

As a low-budget laptop, I was not expecting anything more than a plastic chassis. However, HP exceeded my expectation with the quality of plastic on this Chromebook.

The HP Chromebook 14 is a solid all-plastic chassis laptop. Just by its look and feel, you can tell how durable this Chromebook is.

The lid of this device has a rough finishing texture. This rough texture gives the laptop a rugged and durable feel.

In addition to its durability, the hinges of the HP Chromebook 14 are strong. You will need both hands to open this Chromebook.

In terms of color, HP Chromebook 14 comes in three color variants. There’s the Snow White, Chalkboard Gray, and Dark Blue.

Meanwhile, the design of this Chromebook will only impress you depending on the color variant you purchase.

As a matter of fact, I am reviewing the Chalkboard Gray variant of the Chromebook, which is a design I find rather boring. If you really want something aesthetic, the snow-white or dark blue variant should be your choice.

On opening the lid of HP Chromebook 14, you will see a power button at the top-right edge of the keyboard.

This Chromebook comes with a 14-inch IPS anti-glare LED non-touchscreen display. Fortunately, HP Chromebook 14 offers an optional touchscreen but it costs slightly more.

In terms of resolution, the HP Chromebook 14 features HD (1366 x 768) or FHD (1920 x 1080). The Chromebook’s display is dim when compared with its competitors.

It features 220 nits of brightness. In case you are wondering what nits is all about, it is a standard measurement of luminance used to describe the source of light as it relates to a device’s display brightness.

A higher nits rating means a brighter display.

Comparatively, the HP Chromebook 14 panel does not get as bright as the Acer Chromebook 514 which is at 258 nits. ASUS Chromebook C523NA also beats HP’s Chromebook with display brightness at 231 nits

Still, on the display, the HP Chromebook 14 also uses pulse-width modulation (PWM) to regulate its brightness. Simply put, PWM automatically adjusts the brightness of the display.

One benefit of PWM is that it helps protect the eyes from strain or headaches caused by, otherwise a display that would have been too bright or too dull.

Unfortunately, the display of HP Chromebook 14 is difficult to read outdoors because of its low maximum brightness. Despite the matte finish of this display, it doesn’t produce good color quality.

As a matter of fact, the HP Chromebook 14 is not ideal for outdoor use.

In terms of physical design, this Chromebook can be pushed all the way back to lay flat. This is however not a convertible Chromebook like the Acer Chromebook Spin 13 or the HP Chromebook x360.

Furthermore, I find it impressive that the HP Chromebook 14 features an IPS display. Displays without IPS can be hard to see if you’re not positioned directly in front of the display.

In terms of benefits, IPS (in-plane switching) is great for better color depth, more accurate color reproduction, and a wider viewing angle.

Particularly, this makes everything look so much better than a display without IPS. It also means you should not come across any problems if you look at your display from another angle.

Moving on to dimensions and weight, this Chromebook has a dimension of 337 x 226 x 18.3 mm and weighs 1540 g. It is a fairly light laptop at 1540 g and convenient if you intend to carry it around.

Comparatively, HP Chromebook 14 is quite close to the Acer Chromebook 514’s weight. The Acer product has a dimension of 322 x 231 x 17.8 mm and weighs 1501 g.

On the other hand, ASUS Chromebook C523NA weighs more with 1723 g and a dimension of 358 x 248 x 15.2 mm.

Apparently, HP Chromebook 14 offers a lighter laptop than its pricier competitors.

Still on its design features, on the lid of the Chromebook, you will see a colorful chrome logo engraved at the top left corner of the laptop – followed by the “Chrome” text logo just below it.

More importantly, this Chrome logo is on every Chromebook which indicates that the laptop runs on Chrome OS.

To emphasize, Chromebooks are not like typical laptops. They use an operating system created by Google called Chrome OS.

This means that Chromebooks do not have Windows OS or macOS. As such, Chromebooks do not support Windows or macOS applications.

Be that as it may, you can install Android apps and apps from Google Chrome Web Store.

Moving on, the touchpad of the HP Chromebook 14 has a reasonable size with gesture controls.

Impressively, this Chromebook also has an Island-style keyboard like the Apple MacBook. The keyboard is also backlit.

Specifically, the keyboard of this Chromebook has key travel of 1.2 millimeters. More explicitly, key travel refers to the distance the keys on a laptop go down on a press before bouncing back.

Also, the key travel of this laptop and smooth texture makes it an ideal device for students and administrative tasks.

Furthermore, this HP Chromebook 14 keyboard is spill-resistant. This is a keyboard type that does not absorb accidental liquid spills.

Ideally, the spill-resistant keyboard gives users enough time to save their data and shut down the laptop in the event of an accidental spill. This is because there is a layer beneath the keyboard holder to cover areas that would otherwise be exposed to the effect of the spill.

Additionally, the dual HD speaker of the Chromebook is located above the keyboard layout, between the lower end of the bezel and the keyboard.

Also, the HP Chromebook 14 features an HD webcam at the top area of the bezel. The quality of the webcam is good for online meetings and presentations.

When it comes to ports, this Chromebook has a good number of them. Ports on the right include; 1 USB Type C, 1 USB Type-A, a MicroSD slot, and a headphone jack.

While on the left, there’s the nano security lock slot, a USB Type C and USB Type-A.

Notably, the USB Type C port is a full-service port. This means that it serves as the charging port for this laptop and is also used for connecting the Chromebook to external displays such as a monitor.

Overall, the design, display, and weight of the HP Chromebook are impressive for the price tag. Therefore, I will be rating it a nine out of ten.

HP Chromebook 14: Processor (CPU) Performance

The HP Chromebook 14 offers a choice of either a dual-core Intel Celeron N3350 processor or a quad-core Celeron N3450 processor.

It is worth noting that for this review, I used the dual-core Intel Celeron N3350.

Intel Celeron N3350 has a base frequency of 1.10 GHz and a maximum frequency of 2.40 GHz. This dual-core Intel Celeron processor also features a 2 MB cache.

In contrast, there’s the quad-core Intel Celeron processor N3450 with a base frequency of 1.10 GHz. It performs at a maximum frequency of 2.70 GHz and features a 2 MB cache.

To know the processor’s performance, I conducted a Geekbench 5 benchmark test. This test assesses a computer’s performance.

Just like the Cinebench R20, Geekbench 5 measures the laptop’s power. It tests the CPU and tells you how your computer can perform at its peak.

In that case, the result of the Geekbench test for the HP Chromebook 14 was 2733. This is a lot more impressive than the previous AMD processor version of the HP Chromebook 14 which scored 1283 in the same test.

However, slightly pricier Chromebooks like the ASUS Chromebook C523 scored 4698.

Interestingly, the HP Chromebook 14 has a noiseless fan. The fan does not produce any noise while the processor is running tasks.

Apparently, this dual-core processor will perform well for most Chromebook users. However, if you want more power for more multitasking, the quad-core would do better.

Finally, for a device with such a price tag, I wasn’t expecting much.

The HP Chromebook 14 provides a moderate CPU performance, especially more than the AMD processor version. For that reason, I will be rating it an eight.

HP Chromebook 14: Memory (RAM) Performance

In terms of memory, the HP Chromebook 14 features a standard memory size of 4 GB. The memory type is LDDR4-2400 SDRAM.

Furthermore, it supports a maximum of 8 GB and has only one memory slot. This means that when you want to expand the memory, you can’t add a new RAM to the device – you’ll have to replace the initial 4 GB RAM for 8 GB.

Additionally, you may not need to expand because the 4 GB RAM on this device is more than enough for your day-to-day tasks.

More precisely, the HP Chromebook 14 does not have a problem with performing tasks such as word processing, web surfing, and video streaming.

To test the RAM performance of the HP Chromebook 14, I conducted a multitasking test. For this test, I loaded ten web pages on Google Chrome.

One of these web pages was streaming a video at 1080p resolution. Photos and ads took a few seconds longer to come up.

While that was going on, I opened a second browser where I had two spreadsheet documents I was working on.

Also, some of these web pages took a few more seconds to load but that wasn’t such a hassle. At the end of the day, the HP Chromebook proved that it can handle multitasking moderately.

At the end of the day, HP Chromebook 14 performs well for multitasking if you limit your activities to less rigorous tasks. Based on this, I believe that this Chromebook deserves a 9 for memory performance.

HP Chromebook 14: Storage Options & Performance

This HP’s 14-inch Chromebook features both primary and secondary storage.

More precisely, the primary storage is a 64 GB eMMC flash memory storage type. The eMMC storage type is not replaceable because they are usually soldered to a computer’s motherboard.

This is the type of storage used in most Chromebooks. The fact that you cannot replace eMMC may be convenient but this explains why Chromebooks are much more affordable than standard Windows PCs.

In like manner, this is the same storage type used for low-budget laptops, smartphones, and tablets.

In addition to the eMMC storage, the HP Chromebook 14 offers a microSD card for expanding your storage.

Meanwhile, the secondary storage is Google drive cloud storage. This cloud storage offers you up to 100 GB which is free for two years.

In comparison, the Acer Chromebook 514 and Samsung Chromebook Plus V2 offer the same storage option for a higher price tag.

Apparently, this storage is the most appropriate for a Chromebook. The HP Chromebook 14 offers a reasonable storage size that is enough for day-to-day tasks.

Significantly, the availability of the Google cloud storage means you don’t need to actually save your files on the Chromebook’s eMMC storage. Instead of having files on the Chromebook’s storage, you can access them on google drive.

This also explains why the internal storage is just 64 GB. By design, you are expected to store and access your files from Google Drive.

Furthermore, HP’s price for a standard quality is a commendable effort. I will be rating the storage option a nine.

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HP Chromebook 14: Graphics Card Performance

HP did not go the extra mile in terms of Graphics and that is understandable for a $199 non-gaming laptop.

The HP Chromebook 14 features an Intel HD Graphics 500. This Intel HD Graphics 500 is a low-end integrated graphics card that is barely enough for modern games.

As an integrated graphics card, the Intel HD Graphics 500 does not have its own memory. Instead, this graphic card and the CPU share the same system memory.

The implication of having an integrated graphics card is its limited support for gaming. More precisely, when compared to a dedicated GPU, the integrated GPU is not very good at handling graphics-intensive applications and games.

In terms of GPU speed, this integrated graphics card features a base frequency of 200 MHz and a boost frequency of 700 MHz.

To assess the performance of the graphics card, I performed a graphics test on the HP Chromebook 14 using 3DMark.

The 3DMark is a benchmark test application that is used in testing the gaming performance of a laptop.

At the end of this test, HP Chromebook 14 scored 379. Comparatively, the Acer Chromebook 514 had a score of 448 on the same test.

Apparently, the score difference between the cheaper HP Chromebook 14 and the pricier Acer Chromebook 514 gives HP’s Chromebook a fair performance for its price.

Still on its gaming performance, I carried out a gaming test to see how HP Chromebook 14 performs in real-life gaming.

For this test, I played the manhattan game which played at 20 fps. Aztec Ruins (high tier) is another game I played on this Chromebook.

The Aztec Ruins (high tier) played at 6.3 fps on a medium setting and 3.6 fps at a high setting.

Finally, I will rate the GPU performance of this Chromebook a seven. This is because it did fairly well for a low-end integrated GPU among its competitor.

HP Chromebook 14: Battery Life & Performance

The HP Chromebook 14 is powered by a 2-cell, 47.36 Wh Li-ion battery.

According to HP, this battery should last for ten hours. To verify HP’s claim, I conducted a video playback test.

At the start of the test, the Chromebook was fully charged at 100%. To get the most out of it, I set the laptop’s volume at 100% and the screen brightness at 50%.

Then, I began Season 1 Episode 1 of the Korean series “Kingdom” on Netflix over Wi-Fi.

At the end of the test, the Chromebook gave up at an impressive 9 hours and 18 minutes. Based on my test, the HP Chromebook 14 lasts an hour longer than what was advertised.

Comparatively, the HP Chromebook 14 battery outperforms Lenovo V130-14IGM which lasted 7 hours. The ASUS Chromebook C523NA also didn’t match up with its 6 hours battery life on the same test.

Meanwhile, the least of them all is Acer Aspire 1 A114-31 that lasted 3 hours on the same test.

Ideally, if you use the HP Chromebook for only low-performance tasks, you will get a longer battery life than 9 hours.

Owing to this battery test result, I will be rating the battery performance a nine. This is because I find the HP Chromebook battery quite impressive for such a low-budget device.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

In summary, the HP Chromebook 14 is a great Chromebook laptop for a starting price of $199.

With my above review on what HP Chromebook 14 has to offer, this laptop is ideal for students, and small business owners.

To help you decide whether a Chromebook will work for you start by looking at what you typically use a laptop for.

Following that, if you mostly use the internet, word processing, spreadsheet entry, presentations, and social media management, then this Chromebook work. However, if you perform graphics-intensive tasks like working on photoshop, a Chromebook may not be your best option.

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