HP Chromebox G4 Sparkling black 2023

A fantastic, secure cloud terminal for kiosks and front desks. For literally any other use, the 4GB of RAM makes it an exercise in frustration.

What surprised us is how well Chrome OS hides the painfully basic hardware. The Intel Celeron 7305 and 4GB of RAM are objectively weak, landing in the 16th and 1st percentiles in our database, which is about as low as it gets. But for a single browser window with a handful of tabs, it doesn't feel like a total slug. The real weak spot is that 64GB of eMMC storage, sitting at the 5th percentile. It's tiny and slow, so you're completely dependent on the cloud. Don't even think about installing Linux apps or hoarding files locally.

The obvious alternative is the Apple Mac mini M4, which is in a completely different universe of performance but also costs more and runs macOS. If you need a tiny desktop for actual work, that's the one. On the Chrome OS side, a Lenovo IdeaCentre Chromebox is a direct competitor with similar specs, so it often comes down to which one is on sale. If you're even slightly tempted by a cheap Windows box like the GMKtec K12, just know you're trading Chrome OS simplicity for more power but also more IT headaches.

Pricing is all over the place, ranging from $290 to $547 across different vendors. At the low end, it's a fair price for a managed cloud endpoint. At the high end, you're getting fleeced. For $547, you can buy a much more powerful mini PC with a real processor and upgradeable RAM. If you're paying more than $350 for this, you're doing it wrong. The Newegg listing at the lower end is the one to look for.

The HP Chromebox G4 is a tiny desktop that knows exactly what it is, and that's a dedicated cloud terminal. It's not trying to be your main PC, and honestly, with 4GB of RAM and a Celeron chip, it couldn't even if it wanted to. The one thing to know is this: it's a fantastic, secure little box for a very specific job, like powering a digital sign, a kiosk, or a front desk setup where you live in a browser. Try to make it do more than that, and you'll be staring at a loading spinner more than your actual work.

If you're looking for a cheap home computer for school, browsing, or light office work, this isn't it. The 4GB of RAM will have you pulling your hair out. Go get a used Dell Optiplex Micro or a newer Intel NUC with at least 8GB of RAM instead. You'll get a real computer for the same money.

The HP Chromebox G4 is a purpose-built tool that excels at being a secure, zero-fuss cloud terminal. If that's exactly what your business needs for a kiosk, call center station, or digital signage, buy it without a second thought. For anyone else, even for a student or a home office, the 4GB of RAM makes it a non-starter. This is a corporate IT purchase, not a personal computer, and it's brilliant within those narrow walls.