RGB gaming Chromebooks have arrived

Google and a number of other laptop computer producers have teamed up for an announcement this morning that may excite some and puzzle others: now you can purchase a gaming Chromebook.

Actually, you should buy three. Starting at present, you possibly can order Acer’s Chromebook 516 GE for $649.99, Lenovo’s IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook for $599, and Asus’ Chromebook Vibe CX55 Flip for a to-be-announced worth. These are Chromebook fashions particularly constructed and marketed for gaming.

What’s a bit counterintuitive about these “gaming” machines is that they, being Chromebooks, should not have discrete GPUs. We typically don’t think about a laptop computer to fall into the “gaming” class if it solely has built-in graphics (and even at present’s entry-level GPUs are a tricky promote for a lot of avid gamers).

Google’s intention right here is that you’ll recreation on these Chromebooks utilizing Nvidia’s GeForce Now service, which is able to come preinstalled. (RIP Stadia.) This platform can, theoretically, convey the efficiency of an RTX 3080, together with bells and whistles like ray tracing, to machines that don’t have the {hardware} to provide it themselves (a Chromebook with built-in graphics, for instance). It’s “a great technology to make it feel like you’re playing on a local computer,” Phil Eisler, the top of GeForce Now, advised The Verge final 12 months.

Chrome OS fans can benefit from different cloud gaming companies as properly, together with Xbox Cloud Gaming and Amazon’s Luna (in the event that they’re among the many 5 individuals who use that commonly). It is, in fact, a bit awkward that this announcement comes proper after Google’s cancellation of its personal Stadia platform — one has to marvel how a lot of a loop that announcement threw to the groups who’ve been engineering these merchandise.

Of course, aspiring cloud avid gamers can run GeForce Now on no matter laptop they wish to — a gaming Chromebook is hardly crucial. So what makes these gadgets “gaming” Chromebooks?

Well, they’re definitely named like gaming laptops are named. (I imply, “Chromebook Vibe”? Come on.) They additionally look convincingly like gaming laptops. Both the Chromebook 516 GE and IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook embody flashy RGB keyboards with anti-ghosting expertise, whereas the Chromebook Vibe has color-blocked WASD keys. Flipping by way of the images of Acer’s mannequin, it very a lot seems just like the form of obnoxious RGB rig I evaluation on a regular basis.

The different main draw for all of those fashions is refresh charge. The Vibe has a 144Hz display screen, whereas Acer’s and Lenovo’s fashions each have 120Hz shows. That’s the largest potential profit of those gadgets that I can consider — you’ll be capable of see much more frames than you’ll on most Chromebooks, which have 60Hz panels.

Somewhat satirically, nonetheless, GeForce Now’s decrease tiers are capped at 60fps. If you wish to be getting body charges that may take full benefit of those fancy screens, you’ll wish to be paying for GeForce Now’s high RTX 3080 tier (which dangers mitigating the price-competitiveness of those merchandise considerably).

So should you’re making an attempt to make sense of this announcement, the best way I’m pondering of it’s: these Chromebooks are going to be a few of the most cost-effective 120Hz or 144Hz laptops you should buy. The most blatant use case for that type of machine is cloud gaming (although it’s definitely not the one one).

High-refresh-rate screens for extra individuals means higher gaming for extra individuals. Budget gaming merchandise are additionally large sellers with confirmed demand. “The top-selling products at Best Buy are not the premium assortment,” Acer Pan America president Gregg Prendergast advised The Verge in an interview final 12 months. “They’re products like Nitro that are $699, $799. That’s where the real velocity is.” 

On the opposite hand, GeForce Now is just not free (and the RTX 3080 tier is particularly not free). The web high quality required to make the service a very good expertise can also be not free. And even for folk who’re keen to pay for it, it’s value allowing for that GeForce Now can in all probability run simply positive on no matter laptop you have already got.