Bottom line: Chromebooks across the board are growing up, graduating from entry-level devices intended for the education market to premium offerings with respectable specifications. They're more expensive, sure, but not like Google's wallet-busting Pixelbook.
Dell ahead of the annual IFA trade show in Berlin has announced its first premium consumer Chromebook.
The Dell Inspiron Chromebook 14 2-in-1 is constructed of aluminum, not plastic, and sports a 14-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) IPS touch-enabled display. It's powered by an 8th generation Intel Core i3-8130U CPU, 4GB of onboard DDR4 memory, Intel UHD Graphics 620 and up to 128GB of eMMC storage. It comes standard with a backlit keyboard and a 4-cell, 56 WHr battery that's reportedly good for up to 15 hours* of runtime on a full charge.
Dell's press release lists battery life at up to 15 hours although in its fact sheet, battery life is said to be "up to 10 hours."
Other goodies include two USB 3.1 Type-C ports, a single USB 3.1 Type-A connector, a microSD card reader, a combination headphone / microphone jack, 802.11 ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. You also get an EMR pen (stylus) that stows away in the Chromebook, making it that much harder to misplace.
Dell's Inspiron Chromebook 2-in-1 launches on October 23 starting at $599. IFA 2018 officially kicks off on August 31 and runs through September 5.