Hey, keep in mind Chromebooks? Those ultra-cheap laptops that run a stripped-down working system constructed on Google’s Chrome web browser? You know, the one your child had to make use of for Zoom college and all that “asynchronous learning” through the pandemic?

Well, Chromebooks are again, and so they’re higher than ever. This month, Google rolled out an enormous improve referred to as Chromebook Plus, an umbrella class for a brand new class of units from varied producers (together with Google itself). The huge promote is velocity: New Chromebook Plus laptops promise double the efficiency over “top selling Chromebooks from July 2022 to Dec 2022,” because of quicker processors, extra reminiscence, extra storage, and even higher video cameras—all whereas maintaining beginning costs on the $400 stage.

My first encounter with a Chromebook Plus was this Acer 515 mannequin, which is constructed round a 15.6-inch (nontouch) show. The Twelfth-generation 3.85-GHz Intel Core i3-1215U processor is certainly a powerful leap over Chromebooks from the earlier technology, although the 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of flash storage on this entry-level configuration have been out there on Chromebooks for years. Naturally, you should purchase higher-end fashions with extra of every thing, although upgrading kind of defeats the aim of shopping for a Chromebook. Connectivity choices are par for the course, together with two USB-C ports (with DisplayPort supported), one USB-A port, and an HDMI 1.4 output jack.

The increase in efficiency is palpable from the get-go. If you’ve ever used a funds Chromebook, you’ve most likely groaned at how ploddingly gradual it’s on menial duties. Even this minimal configuration is vastly quicker than something that’s come earlier than—at the very least twice as quick as older (and costlier) fashions I’ve examined and infrequently three or 4 occasions quicker. Battery life hasn’t suffered, with a stable 8.5 hours of full-screen video playback time.

Meanwhile, new apps borrowed from Google’s Pixel universe are included to present the gadget extra oomph, together with the Magic Eraser photo-editing function, choices for backup and sync to Google Drive, dynamic wallpapers, a snazzy video editor, and enhanced video digital camera controls.

All of that was going nice till my second day of testing, when the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 up and died on me—fully. I closed the lid and plugged it in to cost. When I reopened the laptop computer later, nothing occurred, and the system would now not boot. Troubleshooting with Acer’s engineering staff didn’t revive the pc and the corporate needed to ship a alternative unit. So far, so good with the brand new one.