Toshiba Chromebook 2 (CB30-B-104) review

The Chromebook 2 is powered by an Intel Celeron N2840 paired with 4GB of RAM. It’s a dual core chip with a base clock speed of 2.16GHz, boosting to 2.58GHz when thermal conditions allow. Our standard benchmarks don’t work with Chromebooks, so we ran the SunSpider 1.0.2 Javascript test instead, where it achieved a result of 549.9ms compared to the 451.4ms of the old Chromebook. This is surprising given that the CPU clock speed is much higher than the 1.4GHz of the old Toshiba Chromebook, and while we have no reason to doubt the accuracy of the figure, the Chromebook 2 was much more sprightly when browsing image and advert-heavy websites.

Battery life is good, too, at 7h 20m – slightly longer than last year’s model. With screen brightness turned down you could feasibly use this laptop all day without the need for a wall socket, but you should carry the lightweight charger with you anyway if you can.

Chrome OS remains an interesting proposition, not least because manufacturers don’t have to pay to install it on their devices. It’s a lightweight operating system that mostly runs in the Chrome web browser, but you’re still able to carry out more basic tasks such as transferring photos from USB drives and SD cards. However, with only 16GB of SSD storage on board, you will need to embrace working in the Cloud. Thankfully, Google provides 100GB of Google Drive for two years with every Chromebook purchase to help get you started. You don’t need a constant internet connection to carry out basic work, either; Google Docs, Sheets and Slides are all usable offline as long as you install the free offline extension from the Chrome webstore. They’re all good applications with plenty of features, although not quite as fully fledged as Microsoft Office Online.

^ It has taken a little while to warm up, but for those who do all their computing through a browser, Chrome is a brilliant little operating system 

The Toshiba Chromebook 2 is the best Chromebook on sale in the UK at the time of writing, managing to squeeze a Full HD screen and great performance into a device costing £270. This is immensely impressive and means it retains its crown as our favourite mid-sized Chromebook.

Just be careful if you’re looking to buy one of these laptops. A quick web search for “Toshiba Chromebook 2” yields mixed results; online shops selling the original Toshiba Chromebooks are placed above stores selling the new version. Always check the specifications section of whichever shop you’re buying from to ensure you don’t buy the wrong product.

With the likes of Asus releasing super cheap laptops with Cloud storage included, Chromebooks have a challenge on their hands, and the higher price of this machine may also put customers off. We think that right now, it’s definitely worth the extra £50 for the Full HD screen. If you still think you really need something with Windows then check out our regularly-updated Best Laptops and buying guide.

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