A versatile Chromebook experience for a reasonable price
£199.99 | $344.99
The Lenovo N20p is the one of the first multi-mode Chromebooks, which is an accomplishment all on its own. With just a flip of the keyboard, this Chromebook transforms from laptop to tablet mode. When you consider that the device weighs only 1.4kg, is sleek and perfect for everyday use, you’ll fall in love with this machine. It’s more expensive than other leading laptop-only Chromebooks, such as the Acer C720 Chromebook and the HP Chromebook 11, but the tablet viewing capability is worth the extra cost.
The N20p is a Chrome laptop with a 10-point multi-touch display. Features and specs are nothing special or out of the ordinary, but they come together to create a pretty seamless machine. There is an 11.6-inch, 1,366 x 768 touchscreen, which doesn’t compare to the Toshiba Chromebook 2’s 1080p screen, but it’s a decent enough display for everyday use.
The N20p also features a quad-core Intel Celeron processor, 16GB of eMMC storage, 4GB of DDR3 RAM and a 1MP webcam.
This is all standard spec-wise for a Chrome OS notebook, and while it doesn’t impress like the Acer 13 Chromebook – which is powered by Nvidia’s ARM Cortex A15-based Tegra K1 – you won’t find the computer lagging behind at all.
The chiclet-style keyboard is relatively standard, although the smaller size of the computer creates the impression that some standard key functions are being left off.
Despite this, the travel between the keys is more comfortable than on most small laptops. The trackpad is crisp, responsive and gives a very satisfying click when it’s selected.
Despite this, the travel between the keys is more comfortable than on most small laptops. The trackpad is crisp, responsive and gives a very satisfying click when it’s selected.
The non-click touch option with mouse movements and gestures (that is, two-finger scrolling) is just sensitive enough to require minimal tapping, but not overly sensitive to the point where you find yourself making many accidental or phantom swipes.
Fast mover
With its 2.16GHz Intel Celeron N2830 CPU, the N20p feels spritely when completing everyday tasks such as checking email and surfing the web. Even with a large amount of tabs open (which we’re all guilty of), there was minimal slowdown of processes thanks to the integrated graphics processing, which is sufficient for basic web browsing. An especially nice touch is the super-quick start-up time for the machine, which also means that powering down the machine when you’ve finished working involves less waiting around.
Performance is on a par with competing systems, with fast boot times (going from cold start to login screen in under 10 seconds) and quick browsing. With the built-in Camera app, 1,280 x 720 photos came out blurry, even with relatively good lighting, rendering and leisure activities, the battery lasted anywhere from 6-8.5 hours. This smaller internal battery allows for a slimmer design, which makes the slate-grey device sleek and easily portable.
Performance is on a par with competing systems, with fast boot times (going from cold start to login screen in under 10 seconds) and quick browsing. With the built-in Camera app, 1,280 x 720 photos came out blurry, even with relatively good lighting, rendering and leisure activities, the battery lasted anywhere from 6-8.5 hours. This smaller internal battery allows for a slimmer design, which makes the slate-grey device sleek and easily portable.
Well-connected
It’s obvious Lenovo has spared no expense in terms of connectivity, too. The N20p features Bluetooth 4.0 as well as 802.11ac Wi-Fi. Since the Chrome OS relies so heavily on an internet connection for nearly everything, state of the art 802.11ac pictures that were darker than expected. Video chats seem to fare better, with users at the other end having no issue with video quality.
Performance is on a par with competing systems, with fast boot times and quick browsing
One disappointment is the sound quality from the laptop’s tiny speakers. Located underneath the chassis, the speakers get some more breathing room in stand mode, where they actually project toward you. But the sound was still tinny and somewhat lacking bass, which seems to be a norm for small laptops. This is particularly a letdown for this system given the N20p lends itself to video viewing, but sadly the audio hardware just doesn’t match up.
The 34.8-watt-hour battery life is good, as promised: after heavy and extended use with both business networking gives the N20p a real edge in this area.
Among the N20p’s best features are the touch control and stand mode; their versatility makes this a great leisure and possibly a work device. You might have some difficulty when using it as a tablet, as Chrome isn’t entirely tailored to touch control, being a largely browser-based operating system, so we’d recommend using this for recreational activities rather than heavy business use.The 300-degree-rotation hinge lets you flip the N20p’s display backward all the way into stand mode, which lends itself nicely to viewing movies or showing presentations, as the image flips automatically to match the display.
The 34.8-watt-hour battery life is good, as promised: after heavy and extended use with both business networking gives the N20p a real edge in this area.
Among the N20p’s best features are the touch control and stand mode; their versatility makes this a great leisure and possibly a work device. You might have some difficulty when using it as a tablet, as Chrome isn’t entirely tailored to touch control, being a largely browser-based operating system, so we’d recommend using this for recreational activities rather than heavy business use.The 300-degree-rotation hinge lets you flip the N20p’s display backward all the way into stand mode, which lends itself nicely to viewing movies or showing presentations, as the image flips automatically to match the display.
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