OP1 Chromebooks

The OP1 is the Chromebook-tuned name for Rockchip’s RK3399, an ARM system-on-chip that reached Chromebooks in 2017. “OP” stands for Optimized Processor: Google and Rockchip worked together for more than a year to tune the chip for the Chromebook platform. Under the branding sits the RK3399-C, an ARM big.LITTLE design that pairs two high-performance Cortex-A72 cores with four efficient Cortex-A53 cores: six cores and six threads in total, running from a 1.6 GHz base up to 2.0 GHz. Graphics come from an integrated Mali-T860 GPU tuned to accelerate ChromeOS rendering and video.

When it arrived, the OP1 sat a clear step above earlier ARM Chromebook chips like the Rockchip RK3288. Its Cortex-A72 cores gave it enough headroom to feel responsive in everyday browsing, and its low power draw let manufacturers build thin, silent, fanless machines with all-day battery life. It also landed right as ChromeOS gained native Android app support, which an ARM design ran more comfortably than the Intel chips of the same moment. That combination made the OP1 the engine for a small wave of premium-feeling convertibles and tablets rather than the plastic education clamshells of earlier ARM Chromebooks.

In the Starry Hope catalog, three devices carry the OP1: the Samsung Chromebook Plus (a 12.3-inch convertible with a built-in stylus), the ASUS Chromebook Flip C101PA (a compact 10.1-inch aluminum convertible), and the Acer Chromebook Tab 10 (the first tablet built for ChromeOS). All three are long discontinued, and every one is now at or past its ChromeOS update window. This page is for owners of that hardware and anyone weighing a used unit, not a buying guide for a current purchase.

Performance

Our catalog records an Octane 2.0 score of 4,944 for the OP1, which places it in the entry-level band of the Chromebook processor spectrum, well below modern budget silicon such as Intel’s Processor N100 and the newer MediaTek Kompanio parts. It was a chip built for efficiency and quiet operation rather than raw throughput. The two Cortex-A72 cores carry the interactive load, so single tasks feel more responsive than the core count suggests, while the four Cortex-A53 cores keep background work off the fast cores.

In practice the OP1 was comfortable with a handful of browser tabs, Google Workspace documents, video streaming, and light Android apps. The ceiling showed up under load: opening many tabs at once, juggling several Android apps, or driving a very high-resolution panel would expose stutter, which the Samsung Chromebook Plus felt most because its Quad HD display asked the most of the chip. Every OP1 Chromebook shipped with 4GB of soldered, non-upgradeable RAM, and on aging devices that memory limit tends to become the bottleneck before the processor does.

Ideal Use Cases

For someone who already owns an OP1 device, the chip still suits the light, single-focus workloads it was built for: reading, writing in a web editor, watching video, video calls with little else running, and note-taking with the stylus on the Samsung and Acer models. The fanless design keeps these machines completely silent, which suits them to a recipe screen, a media player, or a couch browser.

Because these are legacy devices at or near the end of update support, the safest roles are the ones that do not depend on the browser staying current or on sensitive accounts. Keep a no-update Chromebook off online banking and single sign-on, where sites deliberately reject outdated browsers, and treat it as a read-mostly companion. The stylus, cameras, headphone jack, and microSD reader keep working regardless of software support, which is where an old OP1 unit ages most gracefully. Anyone who needs a daily driver with current security is better served by a supported model; the Chromebook Comparison Chart sorts current options by specs and form factor.

What to Look For

If you are evaluating a used OP1 Chromebook, the update window is the first thing to check, not the specs. Confirm the exact model against Google’s Auto Update Expiration list first; our Auto Update Expiration explainer covers what still works after it. A unit past its window keeps running but receives no security or browser-engine updates, and more of the modern web will quietly fail on it over time.

Beyond the update window, the three OP1 devices differ mainly in form factor and screen. The Samsung Chromebook Plus is the most laptop-like, with the largest screen (a 12.3-inch 3:2 Quad HD panel), a metal body, and an included stylus, so it is the most comfortable for reading and note-taking at a desk. The Acer Chromebook Tab 10 is a pure tablet with an even denser 4:3 display and a battery-free Wacom pen, best for handheld, stylus-first use. The ASUS Chromebook Flip C101PA is the smallest and lightest, with a sturdy aluminum shell, though its low-resolution screen and cramped keyboard suit travel and small hands more than long typing.

On every one, plan around 4GB of RAM and modest eMMC storage (16GB to 32GB), none upgradeable, so a microSD card and a low tab count go a long way. Connectivity is USB-C based across the board (the ASUS adds a single legacy USB-A port), and none include HDMI or Ethernet, so an external display or wired network needs a USB-C adapter. Battery life was a strength when these shipped, but a cell this old may hold far less than its rating, so test any used unit first.