Hisense Chromebook 11
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Note: This product has been discontinued and reached its Chrome OS Auto Update Expiration date in June 2020. It is no longer available for purchase new and no longer receives security updates. The information below is kept for historical reference and for owners researching hardware they already own.
The Hisense Chromebook 11 represented one of the most aggressive value propositions in Chromebook history when it launched in 2015 at $149. Sold exclusively through Walmart, this budget machine paired a Rockchip RK3288 ARM processor with 2GB of RAM and 16GB or 32GB of eMMC storage. As PCWorld noted, someone earning minimum wage would only need to work about 15 hours to afford this Chromebook, compared to 20+ hours for competitors at the time. The fanless design kept operation silent, though Hisense made clear compromises in build quality, display, and input devices to hit that price point.
The Ultra-Budget Chromebook Era
To understand the Hisense Chromebook 11, it helps to remember the moment it arrived. By early 2015, Chrome OS had spent four years climbing out of its Cr-48 prototype days and into mainstream retail. School districts were buying Chromebooks in bulk for one-to-one student programs, and the back-to-school category at big-box retailers had quietly turned into a price race. Google's reference platform was lean enough to run on modest hardware, and ARM vendors saw an opening: if a tablet-class system-on-chip could drive a laptop with no fan, the bill of materials for an entire computer could dip below $100. The Hisense Chromebook 11 was one of the first machines to land at the bottom of that curve in a way ordinary shoppers actually noticed, because it sat on a Walmart shelf next to printers and inkjet cartridges at a price almost anyone could justify.
The Haier Chromebook 11, announced alongside the Hisense at the same Google press event in early 2015, shared the same Rockchip RK3288 reference design and the same $149 price. The Asus Chromebook Flip C100PA, the Asus C201, and the second-generation Samsung Chromebook 3 used variations of the same ARM platform during the next year, and Acer's CB3 series rounded out the budget tier with Intel Bay Trail and Braswell silicon. For about two and a half years, this cluster of devices defined what an entry-level Chromebook looked like: an 11.6-inch 1366 by 768 TN panel, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of eMMC, plastic chassis, no fan, and a battery that could plausibly last a school day. The Hisense was the most explicitly bargain-priced of the group, and the only one Hisense itself ever shipped under its own name in the United States.
That era ended sooner than the prices suggested it should have. By 2018 Google was tightening Chromebook requirements: the new education-tier Chromebooks ran Intel Apollo Lake or AMD A4 chips with 4 GB of RAM as a default, and 2 GB ARM models stopped being competitive. Google's Auto Update Expiration calendar made the cutoff explicit. The RK3288 generation, including this Hisense, hit its AUE in mid-2020. Buyers who picked up a Hisense Chromebook 11 in 2015 got five years of updates, exactly as Google's original policy promised at the time, and then the device aged out.
Pros and Cons of Hisense Chromebook 11
| Pros | Cons | | --- | --- | | Extremely affordable at $149 | Poor display viewing angles (TN panel) | | Fanless silent operation | Cheap-feeling keyboard with flex | | Adequate performance for basic Chrome OS tasks | Trackpad has clicking and dragging issues | | Good battery life (6 to 9 hours tested) | Only USB 2.0 ports, no USB-C | | 802.11ac Wi-Fi at this price point | 2GB RAM limits multitasking | | Lightweight at 2.4 pounds | Screen maxes out at 200 nits brightness |
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Hisense Chromebook 11 Comparison Chart
Hisense Chromebook 11 | Hisense Chromebook 11 | |
| Price | List Price: $149.00 Amazon Prices: | List Price: $179.00 Amazon Prices: |
| Model number | C11 | C12 |
| Performance Rating | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Chromebook Plus | No | No |
| Processor | Quad-core 1.80 Ghz Rockchip RK3288 | Quad-core 1.80 Ghz Rockchip RK3288 |
| RAM | 2 GB | 2 GB |
| Internal Storage | 16 GB eMMC | 32 GB eMMC |
| Screen Size | 11.6" | 11.6" |
| Screen Resolution | 1366x768 | 1366x768 |
| Screen Type | TN | TN |
| Touch Screen | No | No |
| Stylus / Pen | No Stylus Support | No Stylus Support |
| Dimensions width x length x thickness | 8.03 x 11.42 x 0.76 inches (203.96 x 290.07 x 19.3 mm) | 8.03 x 11.42 x 0.76 inches (203.96 x 290.07 x 19.3 mm) |
| Weight | 2.4 lbs (1.09 kg) | 2.4 lbs (1.09 kg) |
| Backlit Keyboard | No | No |
| Webcam | No Webcam | No Webcam |
| WiFi | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 4.0 | Bluetooth 4.0 |
| Ethernet | No | No |
| Cellular Modem | No | No |
| HDMI | Full-Size HDMI | Full-Size HDMI |
| USB Ports | 2 USB 2.0 | 2 USB 2.0 |
| Thunderbolt Ports | No | No |
| Card Reader | microSD Card Reader | microSD Card Reader |
| Battery | Lithium-ion | Lithium-ion |
| Battery Life | 8.5 hours | 8.5 hours |
| Fanless | Yes | Yes |
| Auto Update Expiration Date | June, 2020 | June, 2020 |
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The Hisense Chromebook 11 delivered exactly what its price suggested: basic computing functionality without frills. The 11.6-inch TN display offers a 1366 by 768 resolution with 200 nits of brightness according to PCWorld's testing. Viewing angles suffer considerably, a typical TN panel limitation, though this matters less for direct viewing during typical use. The Rockchip RK3288 quad-core Cortex A17 processor paired with Mali 760 graphics proved somewhat competitive with Intel's budget Celeron chips of the era, handling full-screen video playback with only occasional hiccups.
Connectivity includes 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI output, two USB 2.0 ports, a headphone jack, and microSD card expansion. The absence of USB-C and USB 3.0 reflects the device's 2015 vintage. A USB Ethernet adapter could be used through the USB 2.0 ports for wired network access, though at reduced speeds compared to USB 3.0 connections. The 2.4-pound form factor, while not the lightest, remained portable enough for students and casual users who were the clear target audience.
Inside the Rockchip RK3288 Platform
The Rockchip RK3288 system-on-chip that powers the Hisense Chromebook 11 is the same silicon that defined the early ARM Chromebook generation. Built on a 28 nanometer process and announced in 2014, it integrates four ARM Cortex-A17 cores, a Mali GPU, hardware video decoding, and the usual collection of camera and display controllers onto a single die. ARM positioned the Cortex-A17 as a refresh of the Cortex-A12, with branch prediction and out-of-order execution tuned for tablet workloads, and Rockchip clocked it up to 1.8 GHz for laptop use. That made it competitive on paper with Intel's Bay Trail Celeron N2840 used in some sibling Chromebooks, and slightly faster in the JavaScript and HTML rendering benchmarks Google cared about when it certified the platform.
In day-to-day terms the RK3288 means the Hisense behaves like a mid-range Android tablet pretending to be a laptop. Single-tab browsing feels snappy, YouTube playback at 1080p stays smooth as long as the encode is friendly to the hardware decoder, and Google Docs is well within its envelope. Open more than half a dozen Chrome tabs and the 2 GB of RAM becomes the bottleneck; Chrome OS will start unloading background tabs and reloading them on focus, which feels jerky. Heavy WebGL, modern web applications that lean on JavaScript frameworks, and the post-2018 wave of progressive web apps all push the chip harder than its original target workload anticipated. Owners who keep usage simple and lean (one to three tabs, classic web mail, document editing) still find the experience tolerable on the original hardware.
Connectivity, Build, and Daily Use
Beyond the headline specs, the Hisense Chromebook 11 makes the trade-offs of a sub-$150 laptop visible in small details. The chassis is matte plastic with a textured lid, hinges are stiff enough to keep the screen at a chosen angle, and the bottom panel is a single piece with no user-serviceable doors. The eMMC storage is soldered to the board, the RAM is soldered, and the battery is internal and held in with adhesive. None of that is unusual for the price tier (Asus, Haier, and Samsung made the same calls on their RK3288 models), but it does mean the device is not a candidate for hardware upgrades; what shipped in 2015 is what runs today.
Wireless is the area where Hisense was unexpectedly generous. The 2x2 MIMO 802.11ac radio outpaces the single-stream cards that were still common in budget Windows laptops of the same vintage, and the Bluetooth 4.0 stack is good enough for a wireless mouse and a pair of earbuds at the same time. The webcam is a basic 0.9-megapixel sensor with a built-in microphone and was never going to flatter anyone on a video call, but it works for the school-conferencing scenarios it was designed around. The single combo headphone jack and stereo speakers underneath the chassis round out the audio path; sound projects downward and bounces off whatever surface the laptop is sitting on, which is forgiving on a desk and muffled on a soft bed or blanket.
Reviewer Insights
PCWorld
Gordon Mah Ung and Melissa Riofrio's hands-on review emphasized the economic reality of the Hisense Chromebook 11. The utilitarian textured matte-plastic chassis featured a sturdy lid, though the brushed-metal wrist area felt "uncomfortably cold" during extended use.
The keyboard drew significant criticism: "The keyboard is the cheapest-feeling part, with hard-plastic keys that feel second-rate" with limited key travel and noticeable flex during typing. Despite these input limitations, PCWorld found the device surprisingly capable for video playback: "We could play an action movie at full-screen with only very occasional hiccups."
Battery testing yielded 6.22 hours versus Hisense's claimed 8.5 hours, a substantial gap, though still adequate for a school day.
Popzara Press
Herman Exum's review for Popzara described the device as "plainly good enough, delivering the basic experience one should expect from an entry-level Chromebook."
The SunSpider benchmark score of 601.6 milliseconds demonstrated adequate but not impressive JavaScript performance. The trackpad emerged as a particular pain point, with clicking and dragging described as troublesome. Popzara's battery testing proved more optimistic than PCWorld's, achieving approximately 9 hours of use.
Heavy tab usage caused noticeable sluggishness due to the 2GB RAM limitation, but for standard web browsing and video conferencing, performance remained acceptable given the price.
Reviewer Insights
PCWorld
Gordon Mah Ung and Melissa Riofrio's hands-on review emphasized the economic reality of the Hisense Chromebook 11. The utilitarian textured matte-plastic chassis featured a sturdy lid, though the brushed-metal wrist area felt "uncomfortably cold" during extended use.
The keyboard drew significant criticism: "The keyboard is the cheapest-feeling part, with hard-plastic keys that feel second-rate" with limited key travel and noticeable flex during typing. Despite these input limitations, PCWorld found the device surprisingly capable for video playback: "We could play an action movie at full-screen with only very occasional hiccups."
Battery testing yielded 6.22 hours versus Hisense's claimed 8.5 hours, a substantial gap, though still adequate for a school day.
Popzara Press
Herman Exum's review for Popzara described the device as "plainly good enough, delivering the basic experience one should expect from an entry-level Chromebook."
The SunSpider benchmark score of 601.6 milliseconds demonstrated adequate but not impressive JavaScript performance. The trackpad emerged as a particular pain point, with clicking and dragging described as troublesome. Popzara's battery testing proved more optimistic than PCWorld's, achieving approximately 9 hours of use.
Heavy tab usage caused noticeable sluggishness due to the 2GB RAM limitation, but for standard web browsing and video conferencing, performance remained acceptable given the price.
Who Was the Hisense Chromebook 11 For?
The Hisense Chromebook 11 was designed for extremely budget-conscious buyers who needed basic computing at the lowest possible price. Students, light web browsers, and those seeking a secondary device found the value proposition compelling. The device was never intended to replace a primary laptop or handle demanding workloads.
With Chrome OS updates ending in June 2020 and the product long discontinued, this Chromebook now serves purely as a historical reference for how aggressively manufacturers pushed prices during the early Chromebook expansion era, and as an owner's reference for the people who still have one in a drawer.
After AUE: What Owners Should Know
Reaching the Auto Update Expiration date in June 2020 has practical consequences that any current owner should understand. Chrome OS still boots, the desktop still loads, and the user interface still works the same way it did the day before AUE arrived. What changed is everything underneath. Google stopped publishing browser updates for the device, which means the version of Chrome on the machine is frozen at whatever was current in mid-2020. The TLS stack, the JavaScript engine, the certificate roots, and the sandbox isolation that Chrome OS relies on for security no longer receive patches.
In practical use that translates into a slow accumulation of problems. Modern web applications written against newer JavaScript features may refuse to run or behave incorrectly. Banking sites and other security-sensitive services start rejecting the older Chrome user agent. Expired certificate authorities cause connection errors. Streaming services that enforce DRM updates may stop playing protected content. The deeper concern is that any browser-exploitable vulnerability discovered after mid-2020 will not be patched on this hardware, which makes browsing untrusted sites or opening unexpected links materially riskier than doing the same on a current Chromebook.
For owners who want to keep using the device, the safest path is to narrow what it does. A post-AUE Hisense Chromebook 11 still makes a reasonable offline-first machine for typing in Google Docs over a known good network, a streaming jukebox for a household music collection, a guest-room web browser for hotel-style email and weather checking, or a dedicated kids' laptop with parental controls on a separate access point. Disconnecting it from anything sensitive (no banking, no payroll, no health records, no shared password manager) keeps the residual risk contained.
Repurposing the hardware into a non-Chrome-OS setup is harder than it sounds. The RK3288 is an ARM chip, so the Linux distributions most people reach for first will not run as-is. ChromeOS Flex requires an x86-64 processor and refuses to install on ARM hardware, which rules out the most obvious cleanup path. Community projects such as MrChromebox's firmware utility and Mainline Linux for ARM Chromebooks have brought varying degrees of success to RK3288 devices, but the process involves removing the write-protect screw, flashing custom firmware, and accepting that hardware acceleration for video and graphics is partial at best. Owners comfortable with that level of work can usually get a lightweight Debian or postmarketOS environment booting; owners who would rather not touch a screwdriver are better off treating the Chromebook as a Chrome OS device with a narrowed job description.
When the machine finally stops being useful, recycling is the right answer. Most US municipalities accept Chromebooks at their e-waste days, and Best Buy and Staples have ongoing electronics recycling programs that take laptops at no charge. Wiping the device through Settings then Powerwash before handing it off removes the local Google account and any cached data, which is a sensible final step even on a device that never held much beyond browser tabs.
Those looking to replace this Chromebook with something current can browse the full Chromebook Comparison Chart to compare specs and prices across today's lineup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How much did the Hisense Chromebook 11 cost?
A: The Hisense Chromebook 11 launched at $149 for the 16GB model (C11) and $179 for the 32GB model (C12), making it one of the most affordable Chromebooks ever released.
Q: What processor did the Hisense Chromebook 11 use?
A: The Hisense Chromebook 11 used a Rockchip RK3288 quad-core ARM Cortex A17 processor running at 1.8GHz with Mali 760 quad-core graphics.
Q: Is the Hisense Chromebook 11 still receiving updates?
A: No, Chrome OS updates for the Hisense Chromebook 11 ended in June 2020. The device has reached its Auto Update Expiration (AUE) date and no longer receives security or feature updates.
Q: What was the battery life of the Hisense Chromebook 11?
A: Hisense claimed 8.5 hours of battery life, but independent reviewers measured between 6.22 hours (PCWorld) and 9 hours (Popzara) depending on usage patterns.
Q: Where was the Hisense Chromebook 11 sold?
A: The Hisense Chromebook 11 was sold exclusively through Walmart in the United States when it launched in 2015.