Lenovo C330 81hy0000us 116 Touchscreen Chromebook M8173c 4gb 64gb Chrome Os Review

Our Verdict

The Lenovo Chromebook C330 is an xi.half dozen-inch convertible that lasts all day on a charge, simply its performance isn't dandy.

For

Long bombardment life
Comfy keyboard
Affordable toll
Relatively rare HDMI port

Against

Dull, low-res brandish
Underwhelming functioning

Update: We added a "Durability and drop test" department to this review with results from our Chromebook drop test report.

The Lenovo Chromebook C330 is an 11-inch convertible that has a lot in mutual with its contest. That includes both its best feature -- most 10 hours of bombardment life -- and its worst -- an unimpressive low-res screen. Nosotros do similar that it comes with an HDMI port, which is adequately unique in this cost range, as well every bit the comfy keyboard, but you shouldn't await the swiftest performance. It still happens to be one of the best laptops nether $300.

Lenovo Chromebook C330 cost and configuration options

We tested the $259 Lenovo Chromebook C330 with 32GB of internal storage, the only spec that differs from its other model. Both feature an eleven.6-Inch, 1366 ten 768-pixel display, the MediaTek MT8173C CPU and 4GB of RAM. The more premium Chromebook C330, which is currently down to $249, bumps you up to 64GB of storage.

Lenovo Chromebook C330 design

Plastic through and through, the Lenovo Chromebook bears an fair hue that reminds me of vanilla ice cream. Its chunky, glossy black bezels, though, aren't as comforting, reminding me of the ribbon-record inside VHS cassettes.

At 0.8 inches thick and 2.eight pounds, the Lenovo Chromebook C330 is heavier than the Acer Chromebook 11 (0.7 inches, 2.4 pounds). The Dell Chromebook 5190 and the HP Chromebook x360 11 G1 (both 0.8 inches, 2.9 pounds) weigh a hair more.

The Chromebook C330 may look a little inexpensive, merely its brandish has no stability problems, staying in place throughout the standard four convertible modes (laptop, stand, tablet and display). The console also rotates smoothly on its 360-degree hinge. The Dell Chromebook 5190 and HP Chromebook x360 eleven G1 also convert between modes, while the Acer Chromebook is a standard laptop.

Lenovo Chromebook C330 durability and drop exam

This is not a rugged laptop and information technology showed in our Chromebook drop test. A corner of the Chromebook C330 broke clear off when the laptop landed on its side onto concrete from four.5 feet. The screen also separated from the chapeau and we weren't able to snap it back into place. Sadly, the laptop didn't survive the drop and shut down at random intervals.

Lenovo Chromebook C330 ports

Most of the Chromebook C330's ports are on its left side, including its USB Type-C port for charging, HDMI, USB 3.0 and SD retention reader.

I was a bit surprised to see an HDMI port on this inexpensive a auto, as none of the laptops I'grand comparison it to offer that port.

On the correct side, you've got a headphone jack, security lock slot and buttons for power and book, considering convertibles place those buttons on the edges for when yous're in tablet, tent or brandish mode.

Lenovo Chromebook C330 display

The Lenovo Chromebook C330's display may charge per unit well for a Chromebook, but you might be used to better colour or brightness. Watching the Sonic trailer, I quickly saw the telltale signs of the C330's sub-total-HD console, as the LED readout on a cop's speed-tracking radar gun looked far likewise pixely, with lots of artifacts. Unfortunately, 1366 x 768 screens are extremely common among xi.half dozen-inch Chromebooks, as the HP Chromebook 11 G1, the Acer Chromebook 11 and the Dell Chromebook 5190 all suffer from these low-res displays.

While the divisive video game character rendered in a slightly-off bluish, other items, such every bit the woods paneling and bluish suits in a Pentagon office, looked faded. While these outputs were acceptable for a budget laptop, I was shocked to see the audio stutter repeatedly every bit I watched Super Mario 64 footage in a YouTube video past VideogameDunkey.

According to our testing, the Lenovo Chromebook C330 produces 75% of the sRGB color gamut, which is close to the 80% Chromebook boilerplate, the 73% rating from the Dell Chromebook 5190, the 79% from the HP Chromebook x360 11 G1 and the 78% rating from the Acer Chromebook 11.

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The Chromebook C330 emits upwardly to 250 nits of brightness, which narrowly tops the 233-nit category average. We saw a like rating from the 258-nit Dell Chromebook 5190 and lower ratings from the HP Chromebook x360 11 G1 (200 nits) and the Acer Chromebook 11 (223 nits). While its colour output held upwards when I watched the Sonic trailer from 33 degrees to the left and right, its glossy screen picked up a lot of glare and reflection from our office'south lighting.

The C330's impact screen accurately registered my taps and gestures as I navigated the desktop and web in Chrome. It also allowed for smooth scrolling.

Lenovo Chromebook C330 keyboard and touchpad

Lenovo understands that just because yous've got a tight budget doesn't mean y'all should be stuck with a lousy typing experience. Testing the Chromebook C330 on the 10fastfingers typing test, I click-clacked my way to a charge per unit of 70 words per minute. That's a chip down from my 80 words per infinitesimal average on mechanical keyboards, which I prefer and employ more than frequently.

The keys offer a good clicking feel, thank you to their 72 grams of required actuation force, which is more than the threescore gram rate nosotros promise companies exceed. That makes up for the 1.ii millimeters of vertical travel in the keys, which is a flake shallow (we look for 1.5 to two millimeters).

The Chromebook C330'southward four.1 x 2.4-inch touchpad tracked my taps correctly and I scrolled downwards web pages without a stutter. It also correctly recognized Chrome Bone' iii-finger navigation gestures.

Lenovo Chromebook C330 sound

Don't expect the Lenovo Chromebook C330 to supplant your stereo. Listening to Carly Rae Jepsen's "As well Much" on the laptop, I liked that information technology provided enough sound to fill a medium-size conference room, just I was frustrated by how crunchy information technology made the song's smooth synths and how hollow the track's bass sounded.

Lenovo Chromebook C330 operation

You don't get much multitasking prowess from the MediaTek MT8173C processor (with 4GB of RAM) in the Chromebook C330, as I heard the audio stutter when I dissever its screen betwixt a 1080p video and five Chrome tabs.

That poor performance translated to a mediocre score of 2,934 on the Geekbench four general benchmark, which falls below the iv,536 Chromebook average and the iv,193 from the Dell Chromebook 5190 (Celeron N3450 CPU, 4GB of RAM). Nosotros found lower scores of 1,366 from the Acer Chromebook 11 (Celeron N3350; 4GB of RAM) and i,339 from the HP Chromebook x360 11 G1 (Intel Celeron N3350 CPU, 8GB of RAM).

On the Jetstream 2 test, which benchmarks Javascript performance online, the Lenovo Chromebook C330 earned a 31.32, which is less than the 52.half dozen Chromebook average.

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The Chromebook C330 again did poorly on the WebGL Aquarium exam, rendering 500 fish at 25 frames per second, a rate that's slower than the 54 fps rate from the HP Chromebook x360 xi G1 and the 46fps mark we saw from both the Dell Chromebook 5190 and the Acer Chromebook 11.

Lenovo Chromebook C330 bombardment life

The Lenovo Chromebook C330 can last longer than an average piece of work day, with slightly better battery life than we wait from a Chromebook. The Laptop Mag Battery Test (web surfing at 150 nits) drained the Chromebook C330 in 9 hours and 51 minutes, which is longer than the 9:10 Chromebook average and the nine:20 from the Acer Chromebook 11. The Dell Chromebook 5190 (9:50) and the HP Chromebook x360 eleven G1 posted almost identical times.

Lenovo Chromebook C330 webcam

The 0.9 megapixel webcam is the kind of boring, pedestrian sensor that laptop reviewers expect. The camera is so sensitive to lighting that small changes can create wildly varied photos: My all-time communication is to take light (natural, if possible) in front of you lot and as lilliputian calorie-free as possible behind you.

Knowing that allowed me to accurately capture my skin tone, the greens of function plants and my trolling colleague Gia, in the background. But even with that knowledge, the photos I took featured a famine of detail in my confront and hair, with only the largest features getting much definition. The glass window backside me looks blown out because of a reflection of light bouncing in from outside.

Lenovo Chromebook C330 heat

The Lenovo Chromebook C330 is one cool customer. After we streamed xv minutes of Hd video on the notebook, our heat gun registered the temperatures on its touchpad (75.v degrees Fahrenheit), K&H keys (79 degrees) and underside (82 degrees). All of those readings fall under our 95-degree condolement threshold.

Lenovo Chromebook C330 software

When it comes to pre-loaded software, most Chromebooks are the same, and that'southward good, thanks to the complete lack of bloatware (which nonetheless plagues some Windows laptops).

Updates to Chrome Os eliminated its dependence on the Chrome Web Store, allowing Android-app emulation from the Google Play Store. Linux app back up volition soon be available "out of the box" for Chromebooks.

Bottom line

The Lenovo Chromebook C330 offers tons of endurance and its keyboard enables comfortable typing. Unfortunately, the C330's operation is mediocre and its low-res brandish does non impress.

For faster performance, you tin can get the Dell Chromebook 5190, though it costs $70 more. But if yous desire your Chromebook to accept an HDMI port forth with long battery life, the Chromebook C330 is well worth a look.

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Lenovo Chromebook C330 Specs

Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.i
Brand	Lenovo
CPU	MediaTek MT8173C CPU
Card Slots	SD memory reader
Brandish Size	eleven.6
Hard Drive Size	32GB
Difficult Bulldoze Blazon	eMMC
Highest Available Resolution	1366 ten 768
Native Resolution	1136 x 768
Operating System	Google Chrome
Ports (excluding USB)	USB Type-C, USB three.0
RAM	4GB
Size	11.4 10 8.5 x 0.8 inches
Touchpad Size	4.1 x 2.four inches
USB Ports	2
Weight	two.82 pounds
Wi-Fi	802.11ac
Wi-Fi Model	Lenovo Wireless Air-conditioning (two x 2)

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Source: https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/lenovo-chromebook-c330