5 Things To Know About HP's New Chromebook x2

A New Take On Chrome

While users have no shortage of options for Chromebook devices, HP Inc. is out to prove there's still room for improvement in the category. HP is now unveiling the first-ever detachable Chromebook, the Chromebook x2. The 2-in-1 tablet runs Google's Chrome OS as well as Android apps from the Google Play Store. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company is aiming to bring together strong performance, design and versatility for a Chromebook experience that's a few notches above the typical Chrome fare—while still keeping the device affordably priced for many users.

What follows are five key things to know about HP's New Chromebook x2.

Design

The HP Chromebook x2 tablet features a metal unibody design that's covered with a ceramic white matte finish. Along with offering an appealing look, the white finish—which uses anodized electrodeposition—adds greater durability and scratch resistance to the tablet, according to HP.

Another notable design element is that the hinge for attaching the keyboard to the tablet is on the base of the keyboard. That means the Chromebook x2 will open and close similarly to a typical laptop (no kickstand is needed)—with the exception that users will be able to pull the tablet off with one hand. In addition, the keyboard is hard and rigid to further mimic a laptop keyboard experience, while the keyboard base features a leatherlike coating, HP said. A touchpad is included on the keyboard, as well (unlike on Apple's Smart Keyboard for the iPad Pro).

Display, Pen And Camera

The HP Chromebook x2 features a 12.3-inch IPS display with QHD (2,400 x 1,600) resolution, making it significantly higher-res than the typical Chromebook. The display also includes Corning Gorilla Glass for durability.

Included with the Chromebook x2 is the HP Active Pen for annotating, drawing and navigating. Meanwhile, the device stands out from most other Chromebooks by offering both front- and rear-facing cameras, and by providing smartphone-level quality for the rear-facing camera (it shoots at 13 megapixels). The front-facing, wide-vision camera shoots at 5 megapixels.

Performance And Battery Life

In contrast to the low-end processors found in many Chromebooks, the HP Chromebook x2 will include a seventh-gen Intel Core processor (the Core m3-7Y30) for improved performance. The tablet will be configurable with 4 GB or 8 GB of RAM, as well.

The 2-in-1 will also feature strong battery life of up to 10.5 hours on a charge thanks to a 48W battery—although users can expect higher battery life results for streaming video, HP said.

Additional Specs

Naturally, the HP Chromebook x2 is geared toward portability with a thickness of 0.6 of an inch and a weight of 3.17 pounds (in both cases for the tablet and keyboard combined). On storage, the device comes with 32 GB of internal storage with a microSD slot that can add up to 256 GB more. The Chromebook x2 also includes two USB-C ports for expanding the connectivity options.

Audio quality is another focus for the device, with the tablet offering speakers that are tuned by B&O Play (Bang and Olufsen) and featuring HP Audio Boost 2 technology that's powered by a discrete amplifier.

Price And Availability

The HP Chromebook x2 is scheduled to be available as of June 10, according to HP. The starting price for the Chromebook x2 is $599 for the model with 4 GB of RAM. That pricing includes both the keyboard and the digital pen—neither of which are included with Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which also starts at a higher price of $799.