Rockchip RK3288 Chromebooks

The Rockchip RK3288 was a pioneering ARM system-on-chip that brought ultra-affordable Chromebooks to market in 2015. Built on a 28nm HKMG process, this processor made history as the first SoC to use ARM’s Cortex-A17 cores (internally developed as Cortex-A12 before ARM renamed them). The quad-core design runs at up to 1.8 GHz with a NEON coprocessor for accelerated media and signal processing. According to ARM, a single Cortex-A17 core delivers roughly 40% more performance than the older Cortex-A9 cores found in earlier mobile processors, representing a significant generational leap for the ARM architecture.

Rockchip positioned the RK3288 as a versatile chip for Android tablets, TV boxes, and eventually Chrome OS devices. The integrated Mali-T760 MP4 GPU clocked at 600 MHz provided strong graphics performance for its time, supporting OpenGL ES 3.0/3.1, OpenCL 1.1, and DirectX 11.1. The video engine handles 4K H.264 and 10-bit H.265 decoding, along with 1080p encoding for H.264, VP8, and MVC. A dual-channel DDR3/DDR3L/LPDDR2/LPDDR3 memory controller rounds out the specification, though Chromebook implementations typically used DDR3L.

In the Chromebook market, the RK3288 enabled a wave of ultra-budget devices priced at just $149, primarily targeting the education sector. Haier, Hisense, and Poin2 all released 11.6-inch Chromebooks using this processor in 2015, making Chrome OS accessible to cost-conscious school districts and students. While these devices reached their end-of-life dates in 2020, the RK3288 played an important role in demonstrating that ARM processors could deliver usable Chromebook performance at prices Intel struggled to match.

Performance

The Rockchip RK3288 scores approximately 7,103 on the Octane 2.0 JavaScript benchmark, the primary metric for measuring Chromebook responsiveness. This places it at the lower end of the Chromebook spectrum. For context, the Samsung Exynos 5 Octa 5800 scores similarly at 7,100, while NVIDIA’s Tegra K1 (which powered the Google Chromebook Pixel 2 LS prototype) achieved 7,407. Intel’s Bay Trail-based Celeron N2840 outperformed all these ARM chips with an Octane score of 8,700, and the later Intel Celeron N4000 nearly tripled the RK3288’s performance at 20,000.

In Geekbench 3 testing, NotebookCheck measured the RK3288 at approximately 2,183 multi-core, placing it roughly equivalent to Intel Atom Z3735F (2,166) and slightly behind Intel Atom x5-Z8300 (2,198). PassMark data positions the RK3288 around the 4700th fastest in multi-threaded performance out of 5,499 CPUs tested, firmly in the entry-level category. The 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Physics score of 15,496 actually compares favorably to several later processors, demonstrating the Cortex-A17 cores’ efficient design.

What do these numbers mean in real-world use? Reviews from the 2015-2016 era described RK3288 Chromebooks as surprisingly usable for basic tasks. Chrome OS’s lightweight nature helped compensate for the modest hardware. Opening several browser tabs, writing documents in Google Docs, and streaming video all worked acceptably. However, heavy multitasking exposed the processor’s limitations, and the 2GB RAM configuration on all RK3288 Chromebooks further constrained what users could accomplish. Performance was “analogous to a mid-range smartphone” of that year, according to contemporary reviewers. The fanless design enabled by the low power consumption meant completely silent operation, which many users appreciated in quiet environments.

Ideal Use Cases

The Rockchip RK3288 was purpose-built for budget education Chromebooks, and that remained its primary use case throughout its lifespan. Every RK3288 Chromebook featured fanless passive cooling, making them completely silent during operation. Battery life typically reached 8.5-10 hours, sufficient for a full school day without charging. At $149 launch prices, school districts could deploy Chrome OS devices at scale without breaking budgets.

Basic Chrome OS tasks represented the RK3288’s comfort zone. Web browsing with a handful of tabs, Google Classroom assignments, Google Docs and Sheets for schoolwork, YouTube for educational videos, and video calls for remote learning all functioned adequately. The processors handled 1080p video playback smoothly thanks to hardware video decoding. For students primarily using web-based educational tools, these devices delivered acceptable performance at exceptional value.

However, the RK3288 showed clear limitations when pushed beyond basic tasks. Heavy browser multitasking with 10+ tabs caused noticeable slowdowns. Android app support arrived late in these devices’ lifecycles and ran poorly on the limited hardware. The 2GB RAM configuration proved increasingly inadequate as web pages grew more complex over time. Linux application support through Crostini was not available on these ARM devices. Users expecting to do anything beyond light productivity found the RK3288 frustrating.

At this point, all RK3288 Chromebooks have passed their Auto Update Expiration dates and no longer receive Chrome OS updates. They are not suitable for purchase or deployment in any scenario requiring ongoing security support.

What to Look For

All Rockchip RK3288 Chromebooks shipped with 2GB of DDR3L RAM, which was marginal even at launch and became increasingly inadequate as Chrome OS and web applications evolved. This memory was soldered and not upgradeable. Expect aggressive tab discarding once you exceed 5-7 open browser tabs, with background tabs reloading when you return to them. This hardware limitation cannot be overcome and represents a fundamental constraint of these devices.

Storage on RK3288 Chromebooks was limited to 16GB or 32GB of eMMC flash. The Haier Chromebook 11 and Poin2 Chromebook 11 included only 16GB, while the Hisense Chromebook 11 offered both 16GB and 32GB variants. For Chrome OS with its cloud-centric design, 16GB proved workable but tight once any Android apps were installed. All models included microSD card slots for storage expansion, though external storage runs slower than internal eMMC.

Every RK3288 Chromebook featured an 11.6-inch TN display at 1366x768 resolution. TN panels offer poor viewing angles compared to IPS technology, meaning colors shift and wash out when viewed from the side. This was acceptable for individual student use but problematic for sharing the screen with others. None of these devices included touchscreens or convertible form factors.

Build quality was basic across all RK3288 Chromebooks, reflecting their ultra-budget positioning. The devices weighed approximately 2.4 pounds with plastic chassis and standard chiclet keyboards without backlighting. Connectivity included 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI output, two USB 2.0 ports (no USB 3.0 or USB-C), and a microSD card reader. The lack of USB-C particularly dates these devices compared to modern Chromebooks.

Most critically, all RK3288 Chromebooks reached their Auto Update Expiration dates in 2020. The Haier Chromebook 11 expired June 2020, the Hisense Chromebook 11 expired April 2020, and the Poin2 Chromebook 11 no longer receives updates. These devices should not be used for any tasks requiring security, including accessing personal accounts, school systems, or sensitive information. They represent historical artifacts of Chrome OS’s evolution rather than viable current options.