Last two weeks, Acer announced the first tablet running Chrome OS and yesterday, HP announced the second one which is a bit higher than the first.
The tablet called the Chromebook x2 is designed to go after the iPad Pro. It has a 12.3-inch screen (the larger iPad Pro has a 12.9-inch screen), docks with a keyboard cover, and supports stylus input.
The good news is that the full package is available at a cheap cost of $599 in its base configuration and it comes with a keyboard cover and stylus. The iPad however, starts at $649 for a smaller tablet and if you desire the 12.9-inch model that comes with a keyboard and pen, you’ll have to spend about $1,067. Therefore, if what you wish for is a tablet (with a nontraditional operating system) that can serve as a portable computer, HP can give you that for an inexpensive price.
The Chromebook x2 has a Core m3 processor from Intel’s prior generation of Kaby Lake chips, 4GB of RAM (it can be configured with 8GB, too), 32GB of storage, a 2400 x 1600 resolution, stereo speakers, a 5-megapixel front camera, a 13-megapixel rear camera, two USB-C ports, a microSD card slot, a headphone jack, and an estimated 10.5 hours of battery life. It weighs a little bit more than an iPad Pro, and it’s a little bit thicker than an iPad Pro, but not by much.
In a briefing, HP stated that the keyboard was designed to hold firmly with the tablet when they are connected. The images of the Chromebook x2 make it look a combination of Google’s Pixelbook, with its metal glossy white top, and Microsoft’s Surface Laptop, with its soft and colourful keyboard.
There are a few doubts regarding whether Chrome OS will work on a tablet seeing as Google has long been trying to get the operating system to work better with touchscreens even though it is still amenable to desktop.
Our sources report that HP is planning to launch the Chromebook x2 in June.
