HP Chromebook 14 review (2016) – still a great Chromebook

At first glance, you could almost mistake HP’s new Chromebook 14 for its similarly-named 2014 predecessor. Both have a neat, white exterior and flashes of sky blue along the side, but open them up and the differences quickly become apparent. Whereas the last model only had a sky blue finish around the lid, the new Chromebook 14 is now blue throughout, giving it a more eye-catching, vibrant finish that really draws the eye. 

It certainly won’t be to everyone’s tastes, of course, but the Chromebook 14’s keyboard tray has a pleasantly glossy finish to it as well as a very light patterned design. It almost resembles the plotting graph paper you used to see in Maths class in school, which is quite charming in its own way.

Overall, the Chromebook 14 feels well constructed despite its copious amounts of plastic. It’s a little lighter than its predecessor at 1.69kg compared to the former’s 1.9kg, and it’s also marginally thinner, measuring 17.8mm in thickness rather than 20.6mm.

Keyboard and touchpad

Otherwise, the two models feel very similar. The keyboard has the same springiness to it as before, and it once again proves surprisingly comfortable to type on. The only mild annoyance is its super-thin Enter key, which can sometimes be a bit tricky to press correctly when typing at speed. 

The touchpad is a good size and comes in a slightly different shade of blue to the rest of the laptop’s interior. It has a nice coating that lets swipes glide across the surface, and it was able to recognise multitouch inputs without any issues. All in all, the build quality of the HP Chromebook 14 remains as good as its predecessor, which was already very good for its price.