Google unveils four new budget-friendly Chromebooks for under $250

Alongside the announcement of its Chrome OS-powered Chromebit, Google has announced four new Chromebooks aimed at folks who are on a budget. To start off the list, the Haier Chromebook 11 and the Hisense Chromebook are the cheapest of the four, available now for pre-order for just $149. Since these Chrome devices are so inexpensive, both the Haier and Hisense laptops are made of a black plastic material that seem very resilient to scratches and bumps. Both laptops have 11.6-inch screens with 1366×768 resolution and 200 nits of brightness, though the Hisense is slightly heavier and bigger overall. In addition, Haier has also launched another Chromebook aimed at the education field, called the Haier Chromebook 11E. The 11E is just like the Haier 11, though it has a water and spill-resistant chassis, a built-in handle and a removable battery.

Arguably the most interesting Chromebook launched today is made by ASUS. It’s called the ASUS Chromebook Flip, and it boasts a thickness of only 15mm and a 10.1-inch display that be flipped around 360 degrees. The IPS display is a touch screen as well, and will automatically pull up the proper on-screen touch controls when the laptop is in a different orientation. So, if the screen is turned all the way around (like in the press photo above), the Chromebook will recognize that and bring up the proper controls automatically. The Chromebook Flip will be available for $249. Last but not least is the ASUS Chromebook C201. It has an 11.6-inch display and will be available for $169 later this Spring on Amazon.

All of the Chromebooks listed above come with a Rockchip 3288 processor, a Mali 760 GPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and a 720p front-facing camera. Additionally, all Chromebooks come with two USB 2.0 ports, Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0. The Hisense and Haier Chromebooks will be available from Amazon and Walmart in mid-April, though you can pre-order both of them now. Both ASUS Chromebooks will be available from Amazon sometime this Spring.