While the standout features of the IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook 16 are primarily for cloud gaming, they also happen to boost productivity. The larger display, denser resolution, more accurate colors, more capable CPU, Wi-Fi 6, and integrated numpad are arguably just as useful for schoolwork and spreadsheets in addition to video streaming and gaming. Most other Chromebooks have cheaper panels in comparison with poorer color accuracy and shallower colors.
A “gaming Chromebook” might sound weird at first, but there’s no denying that the fast, large, and color-accurate display can come in handy for other applications as well.
A few major drawbacks hold back the model. For one, Chrome OS is unable to detect or connect to our Wi-Fi 6E network despite shipping with an Intel AX211 module. The 120 Hz native refresh rate, which is a key selling point of the model, is not yet supported at the OS level as well. Wi-Fi 6E and 120 Hz can each potentially improve the game streaming experience and yet both are unusable at the time of review. Furthermore, the speakers aren’t noticeably louder or better than the speakers on smaller Chromebooks and the lack of a touchscreen automatically makes the system incompatible with many Play Store games. For a model that calls itself a “Gaming Chromebook”, these setbacks can be a real sting. We suspect that some of these omissions were made to keep prices within the $500 to $600 USD range which is already on the upper-end of the spectrum for a Chromebook.
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