The Google cloud gaming story has been a shiver in recent days, and a few of the company''s OEM partners are adding to the news circus by introducing a new gaming-first Chromebooks.
Lenovo, Acer, and Asus have combined to offer ChromeOS users with the IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook, Chromebook 516 GE, and Chromebook Vibe CX55 Flip respectively.
These new gaming-focused Chromebooks may initially feel uncomfortable for traditional gamers, but the concepts are pretty correct considering where many are anticipating the future gaming frontier, which is in the cloud.
Yes, the new Chromebooks have a lack of discrete GPUs, but they offer a beefier 12th Gen Intel Core i5-1235U chips that are compatible with 16:10 displays that are capable of generating 120Hz+ refresh rates and extending up to 11 hours of battery life.
The Lenovo Ideapad Gaming Chromebook will feature a 16-inch, 120Hz panel, which has the ability to resolution of 2,560 x 1600 at 350 nits, along with a Core i3-1215U or i5-1235U Intel processor inside. Customers will also receive the usual 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and a choice of 255 or 512GB (eMMC) option.
Acer''s Chromebook 516GE is a 16-inch display with a 2560 x 1600 resolution on a 16:10 aspect ratio. Acer is increasing its capability with an Intel Core i7-1260p processor and a 65-watt-hour battery, which is locked at up to nine hours of battery life.
The Asus Chromebook Vibe CX55 Flip has a 15.6 FHD touchscreen with a Core i3-1115G4, i5-1135G7, and a Core i7-1165G7 Intel processor that is compatible with 128, 256, and 512GB SSD storage. The Vibe CX55 Flip should also be available later this month.
These ChromeOS powered-devices are a great complement to the price, but they are also intended use cases. At $649.99 for Acers Chromebook 516GE, Lenovo''s IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook at $599 and Asus Chromebook Vibe CX55, both priced separately, especially when it comes to their potential application. Nvidias GeForce Now is a cloud platform that can produce RTX 3080 level graphics from a remote server.
Google and its partners are shifting their focus to cloud gaming platforms such as Amazon Luna, Microsofts xCloud, and GeForce Now to provide the subsequent graphical power, ray tracing, and latency compression techniques to replicate dedicated and more expensive gaming experiences on other systems.
The other advantage of these new Chromebooks is the introduction of simple gaming aesthetics that have been missing from the Chromebook lineup. Previously, there have been two areas where Chromebooks typically fell into between higher-end business laptops and the bottom bin replacement tool territory.
Today''s announcement helps to broaden the product category by introducing a third-tier of mid-range gaming laptop to help the platform better compete with the recent wave of Windows-powered mid-range gaming devices.
Google has worked with Lenovo, Acer, Corsair, HyperX, and SteelSeries to create accessories and peripherals for various Chromebooks, including game controllers, mice, keyboards, headsets, and mics, as well as designing custom experiences into ChromeOS.
Google may be out above its skies once more with its focus on cloud gaming, as the reality of the majority of cloud gaming experiences is an add-on to local gaming thanks to the majority of internet infrastructures around the globe.
Ironically, Google may have fallen preyed on the benefits of a cloud-first gaming strategy already as it announced the shuttering of its own Stadia platform last week.
Laptops introduced today do not have dedicated ethernet ports, and will be subject to whatever broadband infrastructure is being provided in any given gaming area, which might sour gamers seeking to make xCloud, Nvidia GeForce, or Amazon Luna their dedicated experiences.
Additionally, gamers may save on laptops with relatively inexpensive fast refresh rate calculators, and they may benefit from their subscription costs to each of the various cloud gaming platforms. In theory, the Venn diagram of gamers and potential Chromebook gaming customers may already overlap.