The Toshiba Tecra 14″ HD had completed the crowd in the Chromebook market, a field for those who are looking for an affordable notebook.
The CB35-B3340 got improved and it is now slimmer and sleeker compared to the previous model, CB35-A3120. Other than that, the company also decided to upgrade the speakers, which is not quite enough to prove its quality.
However, we found it as a solid competitor in a market that is arguably competitive.
When talking about the Chromebook 2, it means that you will find three models: CB35-B3340 (which we are going to review), CB35-A3120, and CB35-B3330. The CB35-B3340 comes with Full HD, 1080p IPS display, and Chrome OS.
Toshiba Tecra 14" HD Business Laptop Computer, Intel Core i7-7500U up to 3.50GHz, 8GB DDR4, 256GB M.2 SSD, DVD±RW, HDMI, 802.11ac, Bluetooth, TPM 2.0, USB 3.0, Windows 10 Professional
Design
The design of the Toshiba Tecra 14″ HD is impressive, for you are going to meet with a notebook that is lighter and thinner than the previous model.
The display panel got upgraded and now you get an HD display.
The notebook weighs 2.95, which is lighter and smaller than some other Chromebook available in today’s market. Our eyes got caught on its keyboard, which has a unique layout with Chiclet-style.
Such a layout comes with a Google search button replacing the regular Caps Lock key. Not only stop that but the regular F1-F12 button has also been replaced with a bunch of chrome functions. What’s next?
Display
As we have stated earlier, the CB35-B3340 has a 13.6-inch, full HD display with 1,920×1,080 resolution which looks fantastic. It’s not the first Chromebook to have used a full HD display but Toshiba managed it good.
While colors are clear and bright, the display is capable of handling grays and dark colors nicely. Since it is IPS Panel we are talking about, viewing angles are good too.
Performance Toshiba Tecra 14″ HD
The Chromebook 2 comes with an Intel Celeron N2840 CPU clocked at 2.58 GHz, and it is equipped with 4GB of RAM. The RAM got upgraded from the previous Chromebook which only brought 2GB.
The notebook also offers nimble browsing, easy system sharing, and fast boot times (double times this time!). That capacity of RAM makes the browsing task smoother.
Furthermore, the Intel Celeron should not disappoint you as it will minimize lag. We have tested it by multitasking, and streaming video while editing photos, and we don’t have any complaints whatsoever.
Other Features (connectivity, battery life, I/O)
- Battery life: the Chromebook 2 has 3-cell ~10.8V (44Wh, 3860mAh). It runs 7 hours and 4 minutes in our battery test, which is an improvement compared to the previous model.
- Connectivity: the Chromebook 2 comes with Bluetooth 4.0 for file sharing and an 80.11ac wireless (2×2 dual-band).
- Audio: SD card reader, headphone/mic jack, HDMI, dual array microphone, HD webcam, 1x USB 2.0, 1xUSB 3.0
Conclusion
In such a crowded market, Toshiba had proven itself as a company that worth mentioning, thanks to the appearance of Chromebook 2.
It is an improvement in terms of quality, which is better in every aspect including display resolution, performance, improved components, sound, and physical size.
No doubt that the company has come forward with its new product. In the end, the Toshiba Tecra 14″ HD could be on top in the field of inexpensive Chrome OS notebooks.
