Asus India recently launched four new Chromebooks in the country. The new Chromebooks come at an affordable price point. They are aimed at making life easy for students by providing decent performance and long-lasting battery life. However, there are a bunch of other alternatives available in the market that may even cost less than the Asus Chromebooks. And these alternatives may even perform better at a lesser price. A Chromebook doesn’t suit everyone’s needs, so here are the top 5 alternatives to Asus Chromebooks that can suit various lifestyle needs of students:
AVITA Essential Refresh NE14A2INC43A-MB
A Chromebook has its own set of apps and can also access apps from the Play Store. But not everyone can get habitual to using an entirely new interface. So here’s a traditional laptop that runs on Windows 10 and is low on price. The laptop is priced at Rs 18,990 and comes in Matte Black and Concrete Grey colours.
This laptop by AVITA sports a 14-inch FHD (1920 x 1080 pixels resolution) Anti-Glare Screen with ultra-narrow bezels. The laptop runs on Windows 10 Home OS. The Celeron-N4020 powers it with a Base Processor Speed of 1.1 GHz and Max speed of 2.8 GHz. It has 4 GB DDR4 RAM with intel integrated Graphics and a 128GB SSD for storage.
The battery life could last up to a decent 6 hours. For connectivity, you get Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 1 x Full-size HDMI, 2 x USB 3.0 Type-A, 1 x Micro SD card reader and 1 x 3.5mm Headphone Jack. In addition, the Avita Laptop comes with 18+6 months onsite domestic warranty from Avita covering manufacturing defects and not covering physical damage.
You get the same amount of RAM on this model as the Asus Chromebook C223, priced at Rs 17,999. But, you get only 32GB of storage on the Chromebook C223 whereas you get 128GB of storage on this one.
HP Chromebook 11a
Launched back in April, The HP Chromebook 11a is priced in India at Rs 21,990 and comes in a single Indigo Blue colour option. It is worth looking at as an alternative to the new ASUS Chromebooks.
The HP Chromebook 11a sports an 11.6-inch HD IPS touch display with 220 nits of brightness. The display has a 1366 x 768 pixels resolution, 45 percent colour gamut, and 73.8 percent screen-to-body ratio. It is powered by the MediaTek MT8183 octa-core processor paired with up to 4GB RAM, 64GB of storage, and 100 GB of Cloud Storage with Google One. It also supports 256GB expandable storage as well.
The laptop runs on ChromeOS where you can also get access to Google Play Store apps. The HP Chromebook 11a weighs in at just 1.05 kg and is backed by a 37 WHr Li-Ion polymer battery that claims to offer a battery life of up to 16 hours.
Connectivity options include a USB Type-A port and USB Type-C port, an Audio Jack and a microSD slot along with Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 5. The laptop measures 285×192.8×16.8mm. Additional features include an HP TrueVision HD webcam, built-in Google Assistant support, and one-year Google One subscription.
This Chromebook is priced similar to ASUS Chromebook C523 (Non-Touch variant) which costs Rs 20,999. In comparison to that, the storage options remain the same but the major advantage with this HP Chromebook is that 100GB of extra cloud storage. You can then access those files from anywhere on any device instead of carrying the Chromebook everywhere to access thr files. You also get 16 hour claimed battery life on HP Chromebook compared to 10 hours on Asus Chromebook.
Acer Chromebook C733
Priced at Rs 23,990 on Flipkart, this Chromebook comes with military-grade ruggedness. The Acer C733 Chromebook’s 45Wh battery lasts for up to 11 hours. Equipped with the Intel Gigabit Wi-Fi, the C733 Chromebook also has a 802.11ac wireless Antenna that helps with a dependable Wi-Fi connection. The MU-MIMO (Multi-User Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output) is a standard offering on this Chromebook.
The Chromebook features an HD webcam with an 88-degree wide angle. A Celeron N4000 Dual Core processor powers the laptop. It is paired with 4GB of DDR4 RAM, with 16GB of EMMC storage.
For graphics, you get Intel Integrated UHD 600 graphics. Connectivity options include 2 x USB 3.1 (1st Gen) Type A, 2 x USB Type C and 1 x Micro SD card reader.
There’s an 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 pixels resolution display along with stereo speakers, microphone, Bluetooth 5.0 and Kensington Lock Slot. While you may be getting less storage in this Acer Chromebook compared to the new Asus Chromebook C423, you are getting better battery life with this one.
Lava Magnum XL
If you want more portability, nothing can beat a tablet. A big screen along with a huge battery equals productivity for students. Out of the top 5 alternatives to Asus Chromebooks, this is the cheapest one.
Priced at Rs 15,499, the Lava Magnum XL comes with a screen size of 10.1 inches and a huge 6100 mAh battery. The screen has an IPS LCD panel with 390 nits of brightness.
It has a 2MP front camera and a 5 MP rear camera as well. The tablet has an internal storage of 32 GB, which is further expandable up to 256 GB. Powered by a MediaTek 2GHz quad-core processor, Lava Magnum XL comes in dark grey shade and metallic finish.
This tablet gets you almost the similar experience as the Chromebook and runs on Android. You may miss the keyboard with this one but you do get extra portability. The main advantage here is the price at which you are getting the tablet.
Samsung Galaxy Tab A7
Another one of the top 5 alternatives for Asus Chromebooks is this tablet by Samsung. Priced at Rs 21,990, this tablet can be the ultimate solution for a student. Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 tablet comes with a 10.4-inch WUXGA+ display with a screen resolution of 2000 x 1200 pixels, 80% screen to body ratio, symmetrical bezel and a premium metal finish.
The tablet is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor along with Adreno 610 GPU. In addition, the device comes with 3GB of RAM and up to 64GB of internal storage, which can be further expanded up to 1TB via a microSD card slot.
Read More: Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Review: A multimedia machine
On the camera front, the Galaxy Tab A7 features an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, while for the front, there is a 5-megapixel shooter. The tablet is loaded with a 7040mAh battery with adaptive fast charging, and it runs on the Android 10 operating system. In terms of connectivity, it supports 4G LTE (Optional), Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz/5GHz), Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 5 LE, GPS, GLONASS, USB 2.0 Type-C and single-SIM slot.
The tablet is fitted with a quad-speaker setup that supports Dolby Atmos technology, has a compact form factor, and is 7mm thin. In addition, Galaxy Tab A7 is protected by our signature defence-grade security platform Knox that keeps all your data and transactions safe.
This Tab A7 by Samsung gives you a professional experience. OneUI will allow you to be productive with your work. As per our review, the tablet performs decent and is best for multimedia consumption. This tablet also gets you more storage than the base model Asus Chromebook and is ofcourse, touch screen compatible.