Google is expanding the Chromebook Plus category with a powerful new model from Lenovo and a host of AI features for all Chromebook Plus laptops.
The Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 features the MediaTek Kompanio Ultra 910 chipset. This chip has a Cortex-X925 (3.62GHz), three Cortex-X4 and four Cortex-A720, plus an ARM Immortalis-G295 MC11 GPU. The NPU delivers 50 TOPS of on-device performance – more on AI later. The Kompanio Ultra is the most powerful ARM chip used in a Chromebook yet. The chipset is similar to the Dimensity 9400.
Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14
As the name suggests, this laptop has a 14” screen – an OLED panel with 1,920 x 1,200px resolution. It runs at 60Hz and has a brightness of 400 nits. The battery promises up to 17 hours of endurance – the longest out of any Chromebook Plus yet.
This model is the first in the series with Dolby Atmos support and delivers best-in-class audio, says Lenovo.
Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14
There are two USB-C ports and one USB-A, plus a 3.5mm headphone jack on board. Secure logins are enabled by the fingerprint reader.
Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 ports
The Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 is configured with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS storage. You can find it on Best Buy for $750. This (and other Chromebook Plus models) comes with a free 12-month subscription to the Google AI Pro plan, which includes 2TB of cloud storage that is also usable in Gmail and Docs.
The Lenovo model has two exclusive features powered by the on-board NPU. Smart Grouping automatically organizes tabs and documents based on content. You can also do AI image editing in the Gallery app – remove backgrounds or create stickers with just one click. Also, Lenovo partnered with NASA for some exclusive wallpapers showing breathtaking views of Jupiter.
Next up, there are several AI features that are available for all Chromebook Plus laptops (most are integrated right into ChromeOS).
Select to search with Lens is like Circle to Search on your phone. Just long press the launcher (or use the screenshot tool) to highlight an image on the screen and get immediate search results for it.
Text capture is very advanced OCR. For example, you can clip an event invite and it will be added to your calendar. You can even scan handwritten recipes – the text will be digitized and the ingredients can be added to a shopping list on Google Docs.
The Insert Key lets you easily generate images and emojis using AI to add to documents and presentations as easily as you can type the prompt. Speaking of easy, Help me read can summarize long text with complex language and make it more understandable.
By the way, the Google AI Pro plan gives you direct access to NotebookLM for research and writing assistance.
Finally, Google has been working with partners to optimize apps and games for the larger laptop form factor. The award-winning Squid Game: Unleashed game from Netflix is getting keyboard and mouse support. Luminar, a paid AI photo editing software, is also optimized for Chromebooks (and you get a free 3-month trial with a Plus laptop).