The Xolo Chromebook is now available to buy on India from online e-commerce store, Snapdeal, with a small discount to the manufacturer’s recommended retail price of Rs. 12,999, after the device was announced last month. The Xolo Chromebook is based around the Rockchip 3288 System-on-Chip (SoC), which mates a quad core ARM Cortex-A17 processor with the ARM Mali 760 Graphics Processor Unit, or GPU, backed up by 2 GB of RAM. The Rockchip processor may be clocked at up to 1.8 GHz and the ARM Cortex-A17 is an improved version of the ARM Cortex-A15, which was used in the first popular ARM-powered Chromebook, the Samsung Series 3. This is a 32-bit processor but in the context of Chrome OS this does not matter as the platform currently only supports 32-bit ARM architecture. Xolo write that their Chromebook boots in just seven seconds.
Otherwise, the Xolo Chromebook is a reasonably straightforward Chromebook. It has an 11.6-inch, 1,366 by 768 resolution non-touchscreen with a brightness of 200 nit. There is 16 GB of local storage plus a MicroSD slot for additional expansion. The Chromebook also comes with a 1.0MP camera, that’s 720p resolution, for video calling and I suppose selfies too (although I do not recommend taking your Chromebook with you for selfies). There’s a 4,200 mAh battery, which should give between eight to ten hours of running time, two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI. Naturally enough the Xolo Chromebook comes with both Bluetooth and WiFi but cellular connectivity is not available either as standard or as an option. The Chromebook is reasonably lightweight at 1.15 kg and is under 18mm thick.
The Xolo Chromebook has two important advantages. The first is that Google will support the model with new versions of Chrome OS for five years from now; if you buy the Xolo Chromebook, it will be receiving updates from Google until at least May 2020. This means Google will keep the browser and platform up to date, which should help reduce the threat of malware and other nasties infecting the Chromebook. The second advantage of buying the Chromebook is that it comes with 100 GB of Google Drive storage for the next two years. This is very useful because whilst Chrome OS and Chromebooks come with local storage (in this case 16 GB) they are designed to work better with cloud computing; parts of your Google Drive account may be made accessible offline but the Chromebook performs better when it’s online. The Xolo Chromebook is just one of a slew of new Chromebook models destined for India, including the Nexian Air Chromebook and models from Asus and Samsung, including Asus’ new Chromebook Flip.
