HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch: Two-minute review
The HP Chromebook Plus has a high-spec for this class of device, hoping to offer seamless performance whether you’re working, browsing, streaming, or gaming. Its two-tone dark grey and black color scheme does little to elevate its appearance, but it’s inoffensive enough to suit any situation. Its overall form is sleek, though, and the relative lightness and thinness are bonuses too.
What’s more, the build quality is high, thanks to its solid construction and premium feel to every surface, including the keys and trackpad. I also appreciated the thin side bezels around the display, letting it make full use of the space. It’s a small shame, though, that the lid doesn’t open particularly wide.
The port selection is not bad for a Chromebook, if a little sparse. However, it has most of the important interfaces that most users would need, including two USB-C ports either side that can both be used for charging, which is very convenient. However, it’s a little strange that they aren’t at the very rear of each side (the audio jack precedes the one on the left, while the USB-A port precedes the one on the right), but I’m nitpicking here. There’s also a microSD slot to round-out the line-up.
In use, the HP Chromebook Plus acquits itself very well. Navigating ChromeOS and using its various interface features, such as window switching, is a largely seamless experience. Productivity apps are handled with ease, although the cramped layout of the keyboard – caused by the inclusion of a number pad – did make typing trickier than with some of the best Chromebook devices, but I adapted somewhat after a while.
Streaming 4K video is within its grasp too, as is light multitasking. I was particularly surprised with its gaming performance, though, as it managed to run Asphalt Legends Unite with high graphics settings pretty much perfectly, which is impressive.
The display of the HP Chromebook Plus is another highlight. Although it might not offer the highest levels of brightness, it’s still perfectly clear, rendering color accurately and vibrantly no matter the viewing angle or lighting conditions.
Battery life is good, with the HP Chromebook Plus lasting close to 11 hours in our test. There are other Chromebooks that last longer, such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook, but considering its size and spec, it’s a valiant effort. It also charges relatively quickly.
The original list price of the HP Chromebook Plus is quite steep, but fortunately, we’ve seen it on offer for significantly less, which means it competes with some of the best Chromebooks on the market, like the Acer Chromebook Spin 314 and Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook. It might lack the portability and tablet functionality of these two, but it makes up for this omission with a large screen and great performance, which makes it worthy of your consideration.
HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch review: Price and availability
- $549.99 / £449.99 / AU$749
- Available now
- Can be found for much less
The HP Chromebook Plus costs $549.99 / £449.99 / AU$749 and comes in one colorway. The unit I had was equipped with an Intel Core i3 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage, but it can also be configured with an Intel Celeron N4500 Processor and 4GB of RAM.
Despite its nominal price, we’ve seen it for considerably less when we’ve shopped around, sometimes by as much as half price, which brings it in-line with the more budget-friendly competition. This includes the Acer Chromebook Spin 314, which is the best Chromebook overall in our view, thanks to its great display and typing amenability.
There’s also the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook, which is our pick as the best Chromebook for those on a budget. Like the Spin 314, this Chromebook is also convertible, letting you fold it in half to use it like a tablet. However, neither can match the performance of the HP Chromebook Plus, nor are their screens as big, although some may prefer having a smaller device for greater portability.
HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch review: Specs
My review unit of the HP Chromebook Plus was configured with 8GB of RAM and an Intel Core i3-N305 (8 threads, 3.80GHz)
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch |
| Price: | $549.99 / £449.99 / AU$749 |
| CPU: | Intel Core i3-N305 (8 threads, 3.80GHz) |
| Graphics: | Integrated, Intel UHD Graphics |
| RAM: | 8GB LPDDR5 |
| Screen: | 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080), 144Hz, 16:9 aspect ratio, non-touch screen |
| Storage: | 128GB UFS |
| Ports: | 1x USB-A, 2x USB-C, 1x microSD, 1x 3.5mm audio |
| Wireless: | MediaTek Wi-Fi 6 MT7921 (2×2), Bluetooth® 5.3 |
| Camera: | 1080p FHD camera with privacy shutter |
| Weight: | 3.81lbs (1.73kg) |
| Dimensions: | 14.28 x 9.5 x 0.78 inches (36.26 x 24.15 x 1.98cm) |
HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch review: Design
- Well built
- Light and thin for its size
- Slightly odd placement of USB-C ports
The HP Chromebook Plus adopts a fairly typical design, with a grey and black color scheme that looks more formal than some other Chromebooks. While it’s not the most exciting Chromebook to gawp at, it’s nice to know it’s made from sustainable materials, including recycled aluminum and plastic that otherwise might’ve ended up in the ocean.
What’s more, the high build quality reveals itself on close inspection. The whole body feels solid, yet it’s also quite light and thin for a device this size. It’s not as thin as some other Chromebooks or laptops, but given its 15.6-inch size, it’s relatively easy to carry around and travel with.
Every panel is excellently fitted too. It even comes close to rivalling some of the best MacBook Pro devices in terms of its finely machined construction. The keys follow the same trend, feeling premium to the touch, and tightly slotted with minimal play. The trackpad is smooth and covers a large surface area, which enhances its usability.
The hinge for the lid is easy to operate yet secures the screen in place once open with hardly any wobble. However, it doesn’t open as wide as I would’ve liked, which inhibits its versatility somewhat. But the bezel for the screen is pleasingly thin, especially around the sides, which means the display can make the most of its allotted real estate.
Port selection on the HP Chromebook Plus is good, if a little limited for a device this size. It has two USB-C ports either side, both of which can be used for charging. There’s also a USB-A on the right side, and a microSD slot and 3.5mm audio output jack on the left.
The order of these ports is a little odd, though, since neither USB-C port is at the rear of their respective sides: the audio jack on the left and USB-A port on the right sit behind them. This can cause cables to get crossed when charging, given that many will be positioned with outlets in front of them. However, this is a small grievance in the grand scheme of things.
HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch review: Performance
- Handles most tasks well
- Surprisingly good for gaming
- Cramped typing layout
Benchmarks
These are the results of our benchmarking tests for the HP Chromebook Plus:
TechRadar Battery Life Test: 10 hours and 41 minutes
Jetstream2 Benchmark: 205.246
Kraken Benchmark: 720.3ms
Speedometer 3.0: 10.5 (±0.37)
The HP Chromebook Plus performs very well on most counts. ChromeOS is very responsive for the most part, with window switching and other system actions working without much hesitation, making it easy to live with.
It also handles the kinds of tasks Chromebook users typically demand from their devices very well. Light to medium productivity is competently dispatched with, and the 8GB of RAM in my unit meant it barely faltered when multitasking across various apps.
The HP Chromebook Plus is equally capable of entertaining you as well. Watching HD and 4K content is entirely possible, streaming such content without a hitch during my time with it, keeping buffering times to a minimum.
Gaming was also a pleasant surprise. I managed to play Asphalt Legends Unite on high graphics settings at 60fps with hardly a hiccup, which is impressive. It’s certainly not going to trouble the best cheap gaming laptops, but considering the HP Chromebook Plus has integrated graphics rather than a dedicated GPU, it puts in an admirable effort.
I should note that I did try to play Call of Duty: Mobile, but this repeatedly failed to run, crashing almost immediately upon opening. Whether this is a fault of the HP Chromebook Plus or of the game itself – or of the Games app launcher – is hard to determine.
Under heavy and sustained workloads, it can get quite warm towards the rear, but the area is small and it’s not a concern. Thankfully, though, it stays relatively silent.
For typing, the HP Chromebook Plus is somewhat mixed. The keys feel great, offering plenty of feedback while being easy to actuate. However, since it features a number pad, the layout of the character keys is somewhat squeezed, so it took me a while to get used to the smaller spacing between them, although I was never entirely comfortable with using them.
The trackpad, on the other hand, performs without issue; it’s very responsive and super smooth to swipe with. Despite its large size, I only rarely experienced the occasional mis-click or mis-scroll when resting my palm on it while typing (a position inevitably forced upon me, due to the aforementioned key layout).
One of the main highlights of the HP Chromebook Plus is the display. The 1080p resolution is appropriate for the 15.6-inch size, with only a minimal amount of fuzz on the ChromeOS GUI. It’s also quite vibrant, displaying colors with great accuracy and avoiding the washed-out look that some Chromebooks suffer from.
Most impressively, the display remains clearly visible across a wide range of view angles and lighting conditions – again, not something that can be said about every Chromebook. I even tried using it next to a window with bright sunlight streaking unfavorably across the screen, and it did remarkably well to retain visibility. My one minor gripe, though, is that the maximum brightness isn’t as high as some other laptops and Chromebooks, but for the most part I had no problem with its levels.
The speakers on the HP Chromebook Plus provide clear sound that’s balanced across the frequency range. They generate minimal distortion, and largely eschew the tinny quality that other Chromebook and laptop speakers can suffer from. However, since they’re located underneath, audio can be somewhat muffled, but the effect isn’t so egregious as to ruin the experience.
HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch review: Battery life
The HP Chromebook Plus has a good battery life. During our battery test, where I ran a 1080p video on a continuous loop, it managed to last just shy of 11 hours (10 hours and 41 minutes), which falls short of HP’s claim of 13 hours, but is nevertheless an admirable performance.
This places it near the top of the rankings for Chromebooks we’ve tested. It beat what we think is the best Chromebook overall, the Acer Chromebook Spin 314, which only managed a little over 10 hours. However, it couldn’t beat the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook, which achieved over 16 hours.
Charging the HP Chromebook Plus from 30% to full took about 90 minutes, which again is an impressive performance.
Should I buy the HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch?
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Despite that original price tag, the HP Chromebook Plus can often be found for a lot less, making it great value considering the quality on offer. | 4 / 5 |
| Design | It might look fairly nondescript, but the HP Chromebook Plus is built very well, in addition to being surprisingly portable for its size. The keyboard layout is a little cramped, though, and the lid doesn’t open all that wide. | 4 / 5 |
| Performance | The HP Chromebook Plus can handle most everyday tasks with ease, and gaming is impressive too. The display is also great, but typing might take some getting used to on that small layout. | 4 / 5 |
| Battery life | Considering its size, the HP Chromebook Plus lasts a relatively long time, among the best we’ve tested. It charges quickly as well. | 4 / 5 |
| Total Score | The HP Chromebook Plus is a very competent performer all-round, and the display is great to view as well. Typing might be a bit cumbersome owing to the cramped layout, but overall, this Chromebook doesn’t do a lot wrong, and it can be found for a lot less than its list price suggests. | 4 / 5 |
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch: Also consider
| Header Cell – Column 0 | HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch | Acer Chromebook Spin 314 | Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $549.99 / £449.99 / AU$749 | $380 / £329 (around AU$661) | $349 / £399 / AU$549 |
| CPU | Intel Core i3-N305 (8 threads, 3.80GHz) | Intel Pentium N6000 Processor | 1.1GHz Intel Celeron N4020 (dual-core, 4MB cache, up to 2.8GHz Burst) |
| Graphics | Integrated, Intel UHD Graphics | Intel shared graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 600 |
| RAM | 8GB LPDDR5 | 4GB DDR4 | 4GB DDR4 |
| Screen | 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080), 144Hz, 16:9 aspect ratio, non-touch screen | 14-inch Full HD 1920 x 1080p | 11-inch IPS touchscreen, 1,366 x 768 pixels |
| Storage | 128GB UFS | 128GB eMMC | 64GB eMMC |
| Ports | 1x USB-A, 2x USB-C, 1x microSD, 1x 3.5mm audio | USB Type-C x 2, USB 3.1 x 1 , HDMI x 1 | 2x USB-C with charging, 2x USB-A 3.1 Gen1, microSD |
| Wireless | MediaTek Wi-Fi 6 MT7921 (2×2), Bluetooth® 5.3 | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 | 802.11AC (2 x 2) WiFi, Bluetooth® 4.2 |
| Camera | 1080p FHD camera with privacy shutter | 720p webcam | 720p webcam |
| Weight | 3.81lbs (1.73kg) | 3.42lbs (1.55kg) | 2.64lbs ( 1.2kg) |
| Dimensions | 14.28 x 9.5 x 0.78 inches (36.26 x 24.15 x 1.98cm) | 26.5 x 326 x 227mm | 0.7 x 11.41 x 8.18 inches (17.8 x 290 x 207.8mm) |
Here are other Chromebooks to consider besides the HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch:
How I tested the HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch
- Tested for several days
- Used for working, browsing, gaming, and streaming
- Plentiful laptop experience
I tested the HP Chromebook Plus for several days, during which I used it for working and entertainment.
I typed with it a lot, and made sure to use various productivity apps, such as Google Docs and Google Sheets. I also played games, such as Asphalt Legends Unite, which I tried at various graphics settings. I also streamed video content at various resolutions, including HD and 4K. And I connected headphones and a gamepad via Bluetooth.
I have plentiful experience with all kinds of laptops and Chromebooks, including those designed for productivity and those for gaming. I have experience reviewing laptops and Chromebooks too.
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lewis.maddison@futurenet.com (Lewis Maddison)
