Back in September, I mentioned a new ARM-based ChromeOS laptop was on the way. And you can now buy it. The HP Chromebook x360 13b with MediaTek processor is available for $469.99. There’s also a $30 upgrade option available that doubles your storage.
While the HP Chromebook x360 13b is powered by a MediaTek ARM chip, it’s not quite the company’s flagship silicon.
That would be the MediaTek Kompanio 1380, aka the MT8195T, which debuted a few months ago. That chip is built on a 6-nanometer process with four Arm Cortex-A78 performance cores (up to 3 GHz) and four Arm Cortex-A55 efficiency cores.
The HP Chromebook x360 13b runs on the MediaTek Kompanio 1200 chipset. It uses the same ARM architecture but with slower cores that run up to 2.6 GHz. That’s really not a huge difference and it probably helps keep costs down. Either way, this is a fanless design.
Aside from the ARM chipset inside, the HP Chromebook x360 13b looks appears like any other recent laptop in HP’s x360 ChromeOS lineup.
And it costs quite a bit less too: The slightly larger version with 11th gen Intel silicon inside retails for $699. It has been available with recent discounts that price it on par with this MediaTek version.
Since the outside looks the same, let’s focus on the inside:
| CPU | Octa-core MediaTek K1200, 4 Cortex A-78, 4 Cortex A-55, Clock speed up to 2.6 GHz, fanless |
| GPU | 5 cores, Mali-G57 |
| Display | 13.3-inch IPS 1920 x 1080 touch display, 16:9 aspect ratio, 250 nits brightness |
| Memory | 4 GB memory |
| Storage | 128 GB NVMe M.2 storage (256 GB option available) microSD card reader |
| Connectivity | 802.11ax (2×2) WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 |
| Input | Non-backlit keyboard (backlit available as an option, multitouch trackpad, 720p wide view webcam with temporal noise reduction, dual-array microphones, privacy shutter |
| Ports | 2 USB Type-C 3.2, 1 USB Type-A, headphone/microphone jack |
| Battery | 2-cell battery, 47 WHr capacity, claimed runtime of up to 16 hours |
| Weight | 2.95 pounds |
| Software | ChromeOS automatic updates (estimated) through June 2030 |
Note that when I first heard about the HP Chromebook x360 13b, I thought ChromeOS updates would cease in June of 2029. However, now that this laptop appears in Google’s Automatic Update Expiration schedule, I see it will get updates through June 2030.
The only upgrade option I see on HP’s website is a $30 charge to upgrade local storage. That doubles the 128 GB on the base model to 256 GB of capacity. It’s nice to see that whichever storage option you choose, you’re getting an NVMe M.2 SSD. Happily, you won’t find slower eMMC storage here.
My review unit is in hand, so I’ll be running the HP Chromebook x360 13b through its paces over time. To me, the main interest is how the MediaTek chipset performs and how much battery life I get with this fanless ARM design.
3 Comments
No option to upgrade the RAM?
4GB seems a bit limiting.
4 GB RAM on a (near) $500 device is unfathomable. They should have cut corners somewhere else.
Is it actually smaller than the 14″, or are the bezels just larger?
How is the performance in comparison to the SnapDragon 7c series?