Lenovo Chromebook C330 2-in-1 convertible laptop review

Don’t search for high resolution or aluminum construction, but expect solid value from the Lenovo Chromebook C330, an 11.6-inch convertible priced comfortably under $300. Get details in Lenovo Chromebook C330 2-In-1 Convertible Laptop Review.

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Pros & Cons

PROS
Low price.
Even with its low resolution, a better-than-expected IPS screen.
USB-C, USB-A, and HDMI ports.
SD slot for storage expansion.

CONS
Jumbo screen bezels.
Subpar sound.
Keyboard isn’t backlit.

It’s easy to seek out a fine 2-in-1 Chromebook if you’ve the bucks. Our Editors’ Choice, the detachable HP Chromebook x2, is $599.99. Among cheaper convertibles, the Acer Chromebook Spin 11 and Asus Chromebook Flip C213SA are $399.99 and $349, respectively. But if you are looking for a model which will fold from laptop to tablet mode without spending tons of folding green, Lenovo’s new Chromebook C330 is simply $279.99 with 32GB of eMMC storage ($299.99 with 64GB). It’s an appealing pick for Chromebook buyers on a budget.

Lenovo Chromebook C330 2-In-1 Convertible Laptop Review

A Low-Cost Convertible

Naturally, you sacrifice something for the C330’s low price. Though it is not flimsy, it hasn’t passed the MIL-STD 810G ruggedness tests of the aforementioned Acer and Asus, and it doesn’t accompany a stylus pen because the Acer does.

But if you were expecting an inexpensive TN display board , you will be pleasantly surprised by the Lenovo’s colorful IPS touch screen. You’ll also find both USB-C and USB 3.0 Type-A ports, plus an HDMI port so you do not need to use the USB-C port for an external monitor. (That is simply also , since it’s taken by the AC adapter when the system’s recharging.)

The screen measures 11.6 inches diagonally and has the familiar, lowest-common-denominator 1,366 by 768 resolution. Other specs include 4GB of RAM and a MediaTek MTK8173C processor, an ARM chip with two 2.1GHz and two 1.7GHz cores. The Chromebook is made of white plastic with black keys and giant black bezels round the display; Lenovo and Chrome logos decorate the lid.

Rear Angle

At 2.64 pounds, the C330 is on the sunshine side for a convertible. (Compare the Acer Spin 11 at 3.09 pounds, though the aluminum-clad, 12.5-inch Asus Chromebook Flip C302CA is simply 2.43 pounds.) It measures a compact 0.77 by 11.4 by 8.5 inches, roughly an equivalent because the Spin 11 and a touch smaller than the Asus C213SA. None of those 2-in-1 Chromebooks may be a burden during a briefcase, though all are a touch heavy to carry with one hand in tablet mode.

The Lenovo’s left side holds the USB-C, USB-A, and HDMI ports, also as an SD card slot for expanding storage. (Like most Chromebooks, the system also comes with 100GB of Google Drive cloud storage for 2 years.) On the proper , you will find an audio jack, the facility button, a volume rocker, and a security-cable locking slot.

Sights and Sounds

The 1,280-by-720-pixel webcam, centered above the screen, takes fairly good, if somewhat soft and shadowy images. Sound from the 2 bottom-mounted speakers is soft and shadowy too—even with the quantity cranked high , audio remains flat and muffled with only a ghost of bass. It’s alright for streaming video, but you’ll definitely want headphones for music.

The screen is far more pleasing, although its low resolution means fine details look a touch pixelated (as they are doing on other 1,366-by-768-pixel displays). Brightness is merely adequate—you won’t want to show it down very far to save lots of battery power—but contrast is sweet , so text on browser or Google Docs pages looks properly black-on-white rather than dark-gray-on-light-gray. Viewing angles are broad but susceptible to reflections on the glossy touch overlay. Colors are clear and saturated, helping both images and videos rush .

A Look at the Keyboard

It’s not ThinkPad-caliber, but the keyboard is one among the C330’s best features. Laid call at the familiar Chromebook pattern, with an enquiry key rather than Caps Lock and browser navigation, brightness, and volume keys along the highest row, it offers decent travel and a quick typing feel. I had no trouble using it to write down most of this review, though like all Windows migrants, I sorely missed Page Up/Page Down and Home/End keys. (The Chromebook equivalents are Alt+Up/Down and Ctrl+Alt+Up/Down, respectively.) The touchpad glides and taps smoothly.

A wide hinge allows you to flip the screen into laptop, stand, tent, and tablet modes, with some wobble when the screen is tapped. The Lenovo lacks rubberized edges to stay the system from skidding on your desk or table in tent mode, but the matter is minimal, and therefore the unit felt comfortable and secure as I grasped it in tablet mode, watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Netflix and playing Android games.

Lenovo Chromebook C330 2-In-1 Convertible Laptop performance Review

The C330 starts briskly, booting in 9 seconds after being transitioned . (That said, most Chromebook users don’t do this , preferring to only close and reopen the lid for faster restarts.) That’s faster than most other inexpensive models…

Subjectively, I’d rate the convertible’s performance right within the middle of Chromebooks I’ve tested, trailing Intel Core-based units just like the HP Chromebook x2 but leading most low-cost ARM designs. Tabs opened and apps launched swiftly, and therefore the C330 didn’t hamper with a dozen browser tabs active.

For the formal tests below, I mapped during a host of budget-priced Chromebooks and Chromebook 2-in-1s. For a primary objective assessment, i attempted the JetStream 1.1 JavaScript benchmark…

For some perspective, the HP Chromebook x2 (more than double the worth of the C330, not charted here) scored 125 points on this test.

Principled Technologies’ CrXPRT and WebXPRT 2015 benchmarks, meanwhile, are wider-ranging and measure performance during a suite of Chrome OS-typical applications. CrXPRT comprises activities within simulated Chrome OS apps, while WebXPRT’s testing antics are purely in-browser…

Lenovo Chromebook C330 (WebXPRT)

As you’ll see, the C330 was on par with the higher of the budget lot here. For comparison’s sake, the ultra-high-end, Core i5-powered Google Pixelbook scored 202 and 416 on these two XPRT suites, respectively, roughly double.

On our video-playback battery-rundown test, the C330 is one among the few laptops I’ve tested that bettered its advertised battery life. (Lenovo claims 10 hours.)

Lenovo Chromebook C330 (Battery Life)

While it can’t keep step with our Chromebook record holder, the Lenovo 500e, its 11-hour time in our playback test indicates that you’re going to haven’t any trouble getting through a mean workday.

A Basic Chrome Convertible With Value

What the Lenovo Chromebook C330 lacks in raw power, it makes up for in convenience. It’s perfectly capable of handling the online surfing, emailing, Google Docs/Office Online productivity work, and casual gaming of most Chromebooks. And it adds the flexibility of a convertible design, plus an above-average screen and keyboard at a coffee price.

Meet the Lenovo Chromebook C330

It doesn’t come almost knocking the HP Chromebook x2 off its Editors’ Choice perch for this class of machine, but it doesn’t come halfway thereto 2-in-1 convertible’s cost, either. Assuming your computing needs are light and you do not mind the smallish, modest-resolution screen, you will find it a bargain among bargains.

Lenovo Chromebook C330 2-In-1 Convertible Laptop customer Review

Light, reasonably fast, and fun to use
This is a great Chromebook! I wouldn’t ever buy a Chromebook for over $300 simply because Chromebooks aren’t meant to be luxury machines like Macs in my opinion. For the price, this little convertible really delivers. I can easily flip the screen into tablet mode and a cool touch is that Chrome OS recognizes when it’s been flipped into a tablet because it flips my “shelf” (Taskbar) and also enables some really cool touch gestures like swiping up from the bottom to go to the app menu! My main complaint is that the device is somewhat flimsy-feeling. It doesn’t feel cheap, but occasionally when flipping the screen a very quiet but still audible “snap” can be heard coming from the hinge. There’s also a tiny gap between plastic seams on the hinge as well, giving the appearance of a crack, which is disconcerting, but it’s been there ever since I took the device out of the box, so I guess it’s normal? A quick note about the pictures I uploaded with this review: The wallpaper that’s on there is mine, not the one that’s there when you turn it on for the first time, and I set the bar position to the left in laptop mode, which is also not the default. The OS will look somewhat different when you buy it yourself and turn it on.
By Jamie at Best Buy