Month: May 2020

As many of us are now working and schooling from home, you may have be thinking about dusting off that old laptop in the closet. You know, that one that runs Windows… 7? 8? XP? Who can be bothered, honestly? But it’s old, it’s slow, and you know it’s really not going to be very pleasant to use. On top of that, it’ll probably be an absolute Swiss cheese of security holes, and you really don’t want to be putting a laptop without proper Windows or Mac OS security updates online. You do have a real option to make that machine feel a lot fresher and safer, though, so long as working inside a browser fits most of your day to day needs. Specifically, Chrome OS.

While Google officially supports only devices that are custom-built to fit Chrome OS, thanks to Neverware’s CloudReady fork of Chromium OS, almost any x86 Windows or Mac OS laptop can become a Chromebook, plus: it’s totally free. We’ll show you how to get set up.

CloudReady officially certifies only a few models that you can find on Neverware’s website. Still, the company says that it should work on most laptops, though “uncertified models may have unstable behavior, and our support team cannot assist you with troubleshooting.” It’s still worth a try since you can give the OS a test run from a USB drive before installing.

I chose a 2008 HP EliteBook 2530p to test this myself. It’s a 12-inch Core 2 Duo laptop with 2GB of RAM and a 250GB HDD, so you can imagine that Windows is unusable on it these days. It’s one of the certified Neverware models, so the company tells us exactly what works and what doesn’t on the hardware. It warns me that I need to enable UEFI in my BIOS settings before attempting the installation and that the laptop’s dedicated Wi-Fi and mute buttons won’t work, so it encourages me to use the on-screen alternatives for that. Considering this computer is more than 12 years old and was never meant to run Chrome OS, that’s a pretty small list of problems.

CloudReady vs. Chrome OS

Compared to the regular Chrome OS, this Chromium OS build has a few missing features. It doesn’t support Google Assistant at all and you don’t have access to the Play Store or any Android apps. The same is true for Linux applications. You also can’t connect your Android phone to the OS. Geolocation and timezone info can’t be accessed by CloudReady, so you can’t use location-based applications and need to change time zones while traveling manually. More advanced features like Power Wash and Device Data Wipe are also missing to preserve Neverware’s Chromium OS customization. Num Lock switchers aren’t supported on any laptop, either.

Since Neverware hast to adjust its tweaks with each new Chromium OS update, CloudReady is always about a version behind the latest stable release of Chrome OS, and you can’t use any of the beta, dev, or Canary versions of the OS.

When I set up the device in US English, I also encountered the problem that CloudReady thought my German keyboard had an English layout (which is particularly annoying while entering passwords), which I could only fix after I’d fully installed the system. This seems like an edge case, though — most people will probably use their laptops in the language its keyboard shipped with. Guest Mode generally exclusively works with a US English keyboard layout, though, so be warned when you give away your laptop and you have a different keyboard layout.

To see Adobe Flash content or watch protected media like Netflix films, you first need to activate the corresponding plugins in Settings -> Media Plugins — proprietary software like these doesn’t come with the open-source Chromium OS base.

Other Chromium OS solutions

Of course, instead of going for CloudReady, you could also install Chromium OS right away without relying on a for-profit company at all. If you go this route, you won’t have access to Flash and DRM-protected content, but in contrast to CloudReady, you can install Chromium OS on ARM devices. Older laptops rarely run on ARM chips, though, so this might be of little tangible advantage here.

There’s also FydeOS (based on Flint OS, which has been bought by Neverware). It recreates more Chrome OS functions like Linux and Android app support and even works on Raspberry Pi units. However, this fork isn’t as well documented for laymen as CloudReady, and it doesn’t offer a selection of certified models that are guaranteed to work with limited issues only. While you might be happier with FydeOS in the long run thanks to its more advanced features, CloudReady is great if you want to dip your toes into the world of Chromium/Chrome OS. (Also, Neverware is a US company while FydeOS is Chinese, if that’s important to you.)

Installing CloudReady

If your model isn’t on the list of supported devices, make yourself familiar with the critical requirements stated on Neverware’s website. It says you’ll need a PC or Mac from 2007 or later and at least 2GB of RAM. For installation, you should also have a USB drive with 8 or more GB of storage at hand.

Create the USB stick installer

If you’re a Windows person, you can use CloudReady’s automated USB installer tool, which is a little involved process well described by the on-screen instructions.

On Mac and Chrome OS, the path to Cloudready is a little more complicated. First, download the CloudReady Home Edition image. While that’s in progress, you can add the Chromebook Recovery Utility to your Chrome browser, which you will need to create the stick. Launch the utility and click the gear icon in the top right corner and choose Use local image. Once you’ve finished downloading the image file, select it in the installer, and the program will start creating the recovery media.

Installation and setup

Now that you’ve got your USB tool, you can plug it into the machine you want to turn into a Chromebook while it’s turned off. To install the OS, you need to boot your laptop from that USB stick, which means you’ll have to enter the BIOS and change the boot sequence. Depending on your brand, you might be able to rely on the list below. For others, you’ll need to search Google for instructions on how to change the boot order.

Once you’ve entered the screen with boot options, you’ll have to choose the one that represents your USB tool. It should be named “USB device,” “USB storage,” or something else that makes sense (it won’t be your hard drive or your CD/DVD reader). If you select the correct one, you should see a bright, white screen with the CloudReady logo on it.

You can set up your Google account and start testing the Chrome OS environment then and there. Your experience while testing it will likely be much slower than what you can expect once you’ve installed the OS, but make sure everything works before you do that. Check if all your connections like Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB, and Bluetooth are functional, and make yourself familiar with Chrome OS’ keyboard shortcuts. Ensure your touchpad works as expected, and see if your webcam and speakers function properly. If you have a touchscreen, see if you can use it with the OS.

Once you’re 100 percent sure you want to turn your machine into a Chromebook and know about potential issues, click the notification/clock pill in the bottom right corner and select Install OS. You’ll have to go through an end-user agreement with Neverware, but once that’s done, the USB drive will begin formatting your hard drive and install Chromium OS. Note that you will lose your previously installed OS and any files on it in the process.

On your fresh install, you’ll have to sign in to your Google account again. Since Chrome OS is mostly cloud-based, you won’t have to fully set up everything one more time, though — most of your settings should be downloaded automatically from Google’s servers. If you’ve already activated Flash and proprietary media on your USB drive install, you’ll have to toggle those on once more, though. After that, you’re all set to start playing with your brand-new Chrome OS machine. The lightweight system should breathe new life into whatever aging device you call your own.

If you run into any issues during any part of the install process, check out Neverware’s excellent detailed guide — it stretches across multiple pages and also accommodates more outlandish scenarios.

Using CloudReady

Considering my HP EliteBook only has 2GB of RAM and a Core 2 Duo processor, I’m astounded how well it runs. As long as I limit myself to a maximum of about five tabs or windows at a time and try not to leave Gmail open all day, I’m almost inclined to believe I’m using some modern entry-level Chromebook. I haven’t missed the Assistant one bit, and while the lack of Android apps is a minor annoyance, I don’t think my EliteBook could realistically keep up with the necessary virtualization anyway.

In fact, I’ve entirely written and researched this guide on the trusty old HP laptop, though I wouldn’t use it for my job in the long run — simply leaving Gmail, Slack, and WordPress open at the same time leads to noticeable slowdowns. Depending on your laptop, you might get much more performance out of it, though, and as a secondary device for casual document editing, Amazon shopping, video streaming, Gmail checking, or Reddit browsing, any old laptop on Chrome OS should do fine.

If you consider upgrading your old machine’s hardware after turning it into a Chromebook, I can only recommend to check out used, proper Chromebooks before. Depending on how much you’re willing to invest in your current hardware, a second-hand alternative might be the better and more stable deal as you may get access to the regular Chrome OS experience complete with Google Assistant, Android apps, and Linux virtualization (check their update expiration date beforehand, though!).

Display tech is one of the key cornerstones of a great smartphone. After all, you interact with it all the time. The display resolution wars may not be raging like they once were, but premium-tier smartphones still occasionally push the envelope. The mouthful that is Wide Quad High Definition (WQHD+) is now the standard-bearer for flagship quality, although Sony goes a step further with its 4K mobile display technology.

Despite the prevalence of very high-resolution display hardware in the market, the majority of high profile smartphones actually default to Full HD+ (~2400 x 1080) resolutions in software. That’s right, you’re probably not fully using the QHD+ (~3200 x 1440) display you paid for unless you trawl for the settings toggle.

Samsung was one of the first to adopt this approach in its Galaxy S lineup, which continues to this day. The Galaxy S20 Ultra, for example, houses a 3,200 x 1,440 resolution WQHD+ display but is actually set to just FHD+ out of the box for better battery life. This has become a major trend for flagship phones in 2020, with few handsets delivering their maximum resolution out of the box. Some of you probably don’t mind this level of fine control, but there’s probably an equally large group of consumers out there who don’t even know these options exist.

QHD isn’t really a thing in 2020

The reasoning behind such a sneaky maneuver is ultimately battery life. Powering extra pixels and pushing out higher resolutions puts more strain on your processor and eats up more power, especially from the GPU when gaming. There’s also the trend in 90Hz and 120Hz refresh rates to consider. Again these can put extra strain on processing components as well as simply sucking down more juice on their own when compared to traditional 60Hz displays.

All this can leave devices looking a bit underwhelming compared to their promotional marketing. To demonstrate, I’ve compiled just a short list of smartphone spec sheets versus what the phone defaults to out of the box.

While you can technically get everything you’re promised on a spec sheet, you’ll seldom experience this straight out of the box. Instead, customers are left to dive into settings menus themselves, often sacrificing battery life in the process. It’s the same whether you splashed out on the ultra-expensive Galaxy S20 Ultra or the more affordable OnePlus 8 Pro. This is a far cry from first-generation QHD handsets, such as the LG G3 and Oppo Find 7 that offered QHD out of the box all the way back in 2014.

Older devices like the LG G3 were set to QHD out of the box, so what gives?

Furthermore, a lot of seemingly high-end devices are just outright shipping with FHD+ displays. This list includes the LG V60, LG Velvet, Motorola Edge Plus, Xiaomi Mi 10, the standard Samsung Galaxy Note 10, and many others. QHD and QHD+ have definitely fallen out of favor compared with a couple of years ago.

In addition to the obvious reduction in resolution, most if not all phones with high-refresh rates sport variable refresh rates. They’re definitely not 90Hz or 120Hz all of the time, and it’s another compromise made at the alter of prolonged battery life.

When did this trend start?

As I mentioned earlier, Samsung quickly decided to stick with FHD out of the box for better battery life during the industry transition to QHD. The company left it up to us whether or not we wanted to take the battery hit for a small increase in visual quality. Other manufacturers followed suit with similar software options in subsequent generations and is now a virtually universal feature. However, it was the move over to wider aspect ratios and the adoption of FHD+ that sealed QHD’s fate.

To understand why, we need to know a little bit about the limits of human vision. To quickly summarise, there’s a point where even those with the best eyesight can’t tell the difference when resolution increases for a given display size and distance. For smartphone sizes and typical viewing distances, this pixel density improvement cut off falls somewhere between FHD (1,920 x 1,080) and QHD (2,560 x 1,440). Enter FHD+ (2,400 x 1,080), which sits nicely between the two in terms of pixel count and density. While discerning consumers may spot the difference between FHD and QHD, it’s virtually impossible to distinguish FHD+ from higher resolutions.

FHD+ has basically replaced the old QHD specification

If you’re interested in some numbers, a typical 6.5-inch smartphone has a resolution density of 339 pixels per inch at FHD and 452 at QHD. For very close viewing distances, around 400 or so pixels per inch is the point of imperceivable difference. A wider aspect ratio FHD+ display sits bang on this middle ground with 397 pixels per inch, making it indistinguishable from higher resolutions.

Balancing refresh rates against resolution is a price worth paying

We don’t really need QHD or WQHD+ resolutions — all that required power could be put to better use. Technology continues to move on, with newer devices increasingly boasting battery consuming high refresh rate displays too. A slight reduction in resolution, that’s virtually impossible to notice, seems like a small price to pay for slick-looking 120Hz interfaces. After all, resolution is just a small part of the display experience and most of us would prefer to ensure all-day battery life.

It’s also worth noting that the majority of video content streamed to mobile devices remains in the 1080p (FHD) format. Scaling this to fit 1440p (QHD) displays can actually make video look worse than playing back at its lower, native resolution while consuming more power. This is because FHD doesn’t factor into QHD by a whole number to keep pixels looking crisp. 1080p still looks sharp on a 4K display because each pixel is scaled up by a factor of 4. With QHD, the scaling factor from FHD is 1.3x, meaning resolution detail is averaged in order to fit. This can lead to a loss of detail and consumes processing power, or you phone may just dynamically switch resolution for playback.

This begs the question, why bother offering WQHD+ as an option anyway? Especially as the vast majority of manufacturers hide this option away in the settings where few will likely bother to venture. We can’t see the difference and driving additional pixels consumers more power even if we lower the software resolution. Why not just drop WQHD+ entirely?

Unfortunately, the fear of a renewed resolution war keeps some brands tied to these overkill specifications. You seemingly can’t charge the highest prices in the market without offering the biggest values on the spec sheet. Even if they’re pointless numbers.

Wouldn’t it be better if brands stopped pretending WQHD+ is necessary?

However, plenty of great handsets have already dropped the pretense, including flagship and premium tier smartphones, and it’s a trend that looks set to continue. These phones, like the LG Velvet and OnePlus 8, could turn out to be some of the best buys of 2020, offering comparative real-world display experiences with lower price tags and better battery life.

After all, there’s no point paying for a specification that even manufacturers have realized makes absolutely no difference.