HP announces two new Chromebooks in education push

Today, HP is strengthening its Chromebook Education Edition lineup by announcing two new devices primarily aimed at the classroom. In April, the Chromebook x360 11 G2 EE and the Chromebook 11 G7 EE will join the company's existing G-series, with some details on both computers revealed today.

As the Chromebook x360 11 G2 EE's (maybe unnecessarily long) name suggests, it is equipped with a 360-degree hinge and supports the four usage modes we typically see with2-in-1 laptops: stand, tent, tablet and notebook. The G2 supports the HP Wacom EMR pen and is equipped with dual cameras-something that may seem strange on a consumer notebook, but may be used in education.

The robust design of the G2 with its enhanced USB-C ports, rubber trim and "minor-spill-resistant keyboard" is also useful for the classroom. The way HP describes the water resistance of the notebook gives us a pause, but it seems that it will not be a total loss if it manages to get only slightly wet. As regards hardware specifications, HP only says that the G2 will ship up to 8 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage using "the latest Intel processors."

It describes the G7's internals in a similar way-it actually sounds like the G7's and G2's spec sheets are mostly the same. As far as we can tell, the main difference is that the G7 uses a 180-degree hinge instead of the 360-degree hinge of the G2. This allows the G7 to open and lay flat on the surface, but does not fold into configurations for stands, tent or tablets.

Both of these Chromebooks will be launched in April, and we expect to see both of them in full. Pricing will probably also be revealed then, as the ever-important detail for today's announcement by HP was missing. For those details, we'll keep an eye out, so stay tuned.