TCL has unveiled a Snapdragon-powered Windows 11 laptop for students. The Book 14 Go is TCL’s first laptop.
It packs a 14.1” display with 1,366 x 768 px resolution (60 Hz). If you need to hop on a video call, you can use the 720p video camera, plus the stereo speakers (2x 1W) and a built-in microphone.
This laptop is based on the older Snapdragon 7c chipset (8 nm), instead of the new Gen 3 chip, but this is meant to be an affordable laptop for school – it will launch in the April-June quarter in select regions for $350.
Anyway, the chipset is paired with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of built-in storage. There is a full-size SD card slot if you need more storage – it won’t be fast, but this is more of a Chromebook alternative than a gaming laptop.
One advantage it has over most laptops is that the chipset has always-on LTE connectivity (Cat. 4) with 4G fallback, so if you put a SIM card in it you will have Internet access anywhere you go. There is also Wi-Fi 5 (ac, 2×2 MIMO) for local connections, plus Bluetooth 5.1 for audio (though there is a standard 3.5 mm jack as well).
In terms of portability, the laptop measures 14 mm (0.55”) thick and weighs 1.3 kg (2.87 lbs). TCL says it is the thinnest in its price range. The body does use quite a bit of plastic, though it has a metal frame to give it more rigidity. It is painted in a slate gray color that TCL has dubbed “Skywriting”.
The battery isn’t huge at 40 WHr, but the efficient chipset means that the laptop has an endurance time of 10-12 hours. Getting that out of a cheap x86 laptop is a tall order. Anyway, another nice feature is that the laptop uses USB-C Power Delivery for charging (25W), meaning you can use your phone’s charger (that’s handy when traveling, otherwise the laptop comes with its own charger to use at home).
There are two USB- ports, actually, both support charging, but one also offers DisplayPort, so you can hook up an external monitor. There is also a regular USB-A for your older accessories.
Again, the TCL Book 14 Go is coming in Q2 with a $350 price tag.
