Google's Chromebook Plus Program Targets Premium Laptop Space

News
By Anton Shilov
published

Better specs, plus more AI integration, starting at $399

Google
(Image credit: Google)

Although Google itself has released expensive Chromebooks with premium hardware, and some of its partners (like Samsung and Dell) have followed suit, Chromebooks still have a reputation for being cheap, unpretentious machines with mediocre performance and capabilities. To change that, Google is launching its Chromebook Plus initiative, designed to help PC makers to build premium Chromebooks with enhanced performance and features.

Chromebook Plus models are designed to offer superior performance and therefore are powered by at least a 12th Gen Intel Core i3 or AMD Ryzen 3 7000 CPUs,
and a minimum of 8 GB RAM and 128GB of storage. In addition, these laptops will come with at least a Full HD IPS display. Despite the spec requirements, these machines will not be prohibitively expensive, starting at $399.

To further enrich the user experience, the Chromebook Plus models emphasize high-quality video calling, which is why these models are furnished with a 1080p+ camera and advanced AI capabilities to enhance call quality. The webcams should be able to adjust lighting, cancel background noise, and blur backgrounds in just a few taps, irrespective of the video conferencing app used, be it Google Meet, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams, and these features are integrated directly into the Chrome OS.

In addition, Chromebook Plus laptops should feature AI capabilities for various apps. The Magic Eraser feature in Google Photos, powered by AI, facilitates more powerful photo editing, whereas the laptop’s high-capacity storage drive with FileSync allows offline access to more Google Drive files (which are automatically downloaded). Also, Chromebook Plus devices will come with a free three-month subscription to Adobe Photoshop on the web and Adobe Express Premium. 

The Chromebook Plus laptops are not just about current offerings; they have more features lined up for 2024. Users can expect enhancements such as AI-driven writing assistance, personalized AI-generated wallpapers, and AI-generated backgrounds for video calls. These features aim to personalize user experience, making tasks like drafting content and customization more user-friendly and enjoyable.

Chromebook Plus laptops will be offered at major retailers like Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart, and Target. Some existing Chromebooks are also expected to receive an OS update, acquiring the software features that come with Chromebook Plus devices. Chromebook Plus machines will be available from Acer, Asus, HP, and Lenovo, starting October 8 in the U.S. and October 9 in Europe. 

Anton Shilov
Anton Shilov
Freelance News Writer

Anton Shilov is a Freelance News Writer at Tom’s Hardware US. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

14 Comments Comment from the forums
  • PEnns
    "....and a minimum of 8 GB RAM and 128GB of storage"

    That should tell us how serious those suckers are!!

    Those dumb boxes can't even play one of the most widespread video formats on the planet! They're nothing but wannabe, crippled laptops meant for the most inane tasks, like browsing, writing a Google Cloud document and nothing else. Yeah, they boot up in 10 seconds, yay, because there NOTHING to boot up! And their life expectancy? 2 years.

    Say what you want about Windows, but Window-based laptops run circles around those nasty, dumb machines, for about the same price point.
    Reply
  • helper800
    PEnns said:
    "....and a minimum of 8 GB RAM and 128GB of storage"

    That should tell us how serious those suckers are!!

    Those dumb boxes can't even play one of the most widespread video formats on the planet! They're nothing but wannabe, crippled laptops meant for the most inane tasks, like browsing, writing a Google Cloud document and nothing else. Yeah, they boot up in 10 seconds, yay, because there NOTHING to boot up! And their life expectancy? 2 years.

    Say what you want about Windows, but Window-based laptops run circles around those nasty, dumb machines, for about the same price point.
    In my opinion this is a bad take. Chromebooks are the everyday persons boiled down use case. I would say the vast majority of people who use laptops use them for simple basic tasks such as web browsing, word processing, slides, emails, and otherwise. Chromebooks also last significantly longer than you believe. Google has promised 10 years of support for chromebooks, much longer than most OSs. I work at a school district and you would not believe how long these chromebooks last with all these kids using them every single day for years on end. In fact, we have to surplus 90% of our old chromebooks because they still work 5+ years later and just don't die.
    Reply
  • Giroro
    If you're looking to spend $400+, then you should get a real laptop.
    The chromebook OS is impressive by netbook standards, but the software support outside of running a web browser is essentially "none".
    Chrome OS doesn't have a native app store. It's the Android Google Play store with a couple dozen or so native Chrome OS apps buried under 10-million emulated android apps which absolutely will not work with a mouse/keyboard, and often won't even work with a chromebook's landscape aspect ratio - and that's if they even launch in the first place.
    There also is very few games made for chromebook (it didn't even have a real version of minecraft until a few months ago) - which is fascinating considering it's massive install base. More kids have chromebooks right now than Nintendo DS ever had at it's peak (and even the worst chromebook is a lot more powerful than that). I don't know why game companies seem to be ignoring the platform.
    So you're back to "I hope this android game will launch and let me technically navigate a menu without having to plug an $80 gamepad into this $80 laptop"

    Most importantly, there's no tools to filter or search the Play Store for native apps, or even by the features of your chromebook. So if you don't have a touch screen, good luck finding apps that you can interact with. Side-loading Linux apps is possible, but also a broken-driver terminal nightmare.

    Chromebooks are neat toys and kindof fun sometimes. They run a web browser way better than you would expect out of terrible hardware. Really my only complaint with the web experience (and native apps when you can actually find one) isn't because I'm running a 1.6GHz dual core celeron from 2013, it's that 4GB of RAM is only good for like, 6 tabs of modern websites before it runs out.
    Still, it doesn't make any sense to spend more than $150 on one. I don't think this weird Chromebook Plus branding is going to make overpriced chromebooks worthwhile, unless it eventually comes with a complete ground-up redo of the software library and a native app store.
    Maybe the bad hardware was stopping them from improving the software library, and maybe Chromebook plus is going to be a baseline new platform to improve things in the future. But I'll believe it when I see it.
    Right now it feels more like "Give us 3x more money for the same basic limited user experience, with a slightly better screen".
    Reply
  • helper800
    Giroro said:
    If you're looking to spend $400+, then you should get a real laptop.
    The chromebook OS is impressive by netbook standards, but the software support outside of running a web browser is essentially "none".
    Chrome OS doesn't have a native app store. It's the Android Google Play store with a couple dozen or so native Chrome OS apps buried under 10-million emulated android apps which absolutely will not work with a mouse/keyboard, and often won't even work with a chromebook's landscape aspect ratio - and that's if they even launch in the first place.
    There also is very few games made for chromebook (it didn't even have a real version of minecraft until a few months ago) - which is fascinating considering it's massive install base. More kids have chromebooks right now than Nintendo DS ever had at it's peak (and even the worst chromebook is a lot more powerful than that). I don't know why game companies seem to be ignoring the platform.
    So you're back to "I hope this android game will launch and let me technically navigate a menu without having to plug an $80 gamepad into this $80 laptop"

    Most importantly, there's no tools to filter or search the Play Store for native apps, or even by the features of your chromebook. So if you don't have a touch screen, good luck finding apps that you can interact with. Side-loading Linux apps is possible, but also a broken-driver terminal nightmare.

    Chromebooks are neat toys and kindof fun sometimes. They run a web browser way better than you would expect out of terrible hardware. Really my only complaint with the web experience (and native apps when you can actually find one) isn't that I'm running from running a 1.6GHz dual core celeron from 2013, it's that 4GB of RAM is only good for like, 6 tabs of modern websites before it runs out.
    Still, it doesn't make any sense to spend more than $150 on one. I don't think this weird Chromebook Plus branding is going to make overpriced chromebooks worthwhile, unless it eventually comes with a complete ground-up redo of the software library and a native app store.
    Maybe the bad hardware was stopping them from improving the software library, and maybe Chromebook plus is going to be a baseline new platform to improve things in the future. But I'll believe it when I see it.
    Right now it feels more like "Give us 3x more money for the same basic limited user experience, with a slightly better screen".
    This is a very good criticism of chromebooks and their OS. Hopefully since a program like this is coming out that means there is going to be more serious attention to native apps and effort put into phone app ports.
    Reply
  • usertests
    They should have mandated dedicated AI hardware, e.g. minimum of Meteor Lake or Phoenix. Bad move by Google.

    PEnns said:
    Those dumb boxes can't even play one of the most widespread video formats on the planet! They're nothing but wannabe, crippled laptops meant for the most inane tasks, like browsing, writing a Google Cloud document and nothing else. Yeah, they boot up in 10 seconds, yay, because there NOTHING to boot up! And their life expectancy? 2 years.
    Wrong on a lot of points. What are you talking about with the video format?
    Reply
  • cyrusfox
    PEnns said:
    Say what you want about Windows, but Window-based laptops run circles around those nasty, dumb machines, for about the same price point.
    As a counter point, ChromeOS Flex is super efficient and makes an unsupported old chromebook fully update , with Linux capability and security compliant browsing as well as boasting 6+hour battery life (Not bad for a 8 year old beat up Acer C740). I Wouldn't buy a new chromebook but a free to $30 one, sure!

    PEnns said:
    Those dumb boxes can't even play one of the most widespread video formats on the planet!
    also are you talking about MKV or which format? I would imagine a linux install of VLC should rectify this quickly
    Reply
  • steve15180
    helper800 said:
    In my opinion this is a bad take. Chromebooks are the everyday persons boiled down use case. I would say the vast majority of people who use laptops use them for simple basic tasks such as web browsing, word processing, slides, emails, and otherwise. Chromebooks also last significantly longer than you believe. Google has promised 10 years of support for chromebooks, much longer than most OSs. I work at a school district and you would not believe how long these chromebooks last with all these kids using them every single day for years on end. In fact, we have to surplus 90% of our old chromebooks because they still work 5+ years later and just don't die.
    I work in a school district as well. And you should know that your support numbers are dead wrong. 10 years starts in 2024. Until then, it is 6.5 years after the specific model is FIRST introduced. Which means that if you buy the same ones as replacements 2 years later, your down to 4 .5 years. Second, these are no better than any other entry level laptop. No better, no worse, except that the students abuse the heck out of them and it shows. Lastly, your locked into google for all of your useful apps. This was tried before, and failed miserably (anyone remember the chromebook with an awesome high res display....if you blinked, you missed it).
    Reply
  • bit_user
    Chromebook Plus models are designed to offer superior performance and therefore are powered by at least a 12th Gen Intel Core i3 or AMD Ryzen 3 7000 CPUs,
    All x86? That seems like a pretty major snub to Qualcomm and Mediatek.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    PEnns said:
    Say what you want about Windows, but Window-based laptops run circles around those nasty, dumb machines, for about the same price point.
    So tell me: if you put a Windows-based laptop in the hands of the average teenage boy, how long does it usually take to get virus-infected?

    Furthermore, if you're going to say that's not an issue if you use good security software, then let me tell you what the software on my corporate laptop does to performance. On a low-spec CPU, it would perform like utter trash. And yet, we still manage to get hit with malware.
    Reply
  • pixelpusher220
    helper800 said:
    In my opinion this is a bad take. Chromebooks are the everyday persons boiled down use case. I would say the vast majority of people who use laptops use them for simple basic tasks such as web browsing, word processing, slides, emails, and otherwise. Chromebooks also last significantly longer than you believe. Google has promised 10 years of support for chromebooks, much longer than most OSs. I work at a school district and you would not believe how long these chromebooks last with all these kids using them every single day for years on end. In fact, we have to surplus 90% of our old chromebooks because they still work 5+ years later and just don't die.
    Uh, Google was FORCING EOL on these machines in as little as 3 years https://techxplore.com/news/2023-09-google-lifespan-chromebooksa-school-districts.html
    They finally caved and will start supporting them longer, but up front they specifically made them disposable with no ability to keep them active...yay for SaaS but for your own damn hardware
    Reply