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How big is an 11.6-inch laptop screen? The Chromebook and budget-laptop size, explained

By TechCompare · Updated · How we check

An 11.6-inch 16:9 screen is about 25.7 cm (10.11 inches)10.11 inches (25.7 cm) wide and 14.4 cm (5.69 inches)5.69 inches (14.4 cm) tall. These are screen dimensions and exclude the bezel and stand.

The 11.6" 16:9 laptop panel next to a 13.3" 16:9 reference

Drawn to scale so you can see the size difference at a glance

11.6" 16:9 laptop: 25.7 cm (10.1 in)10.1 in (25.7 cm) × 14.4 cm (5.7 in)5.7 in (14.4 cm) · 371 cm² (57 in²)57 in² (371 cm²)
13.3" 16:9: 29.4 cm (11.6 in)11.6 in (29.4 cm) × 16.6 cm (6.5 in)6.5 in (16.6 cm) · 488 cm² (76 in²)76 in² (488 cm²)
Width difference: 3.8 cm (1.5 in)1.5 in (3.8 cm) (14.7%) · Height difference: 2.1 cm (0.8 in)0.8 in (2.1 cm) (14.7%) · Area ratio: 1.31×
Both panels share a corner and are drawn at the same scale, so the extra width and height of the larger screen are true to size. Open these two in the full Screen Size Comparison ›
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An 11.6-inch 16:9 laptop screen measures 25.7 cm (10.11 inches)10.11 inches (25.7 cm) wide by 14.4 cm (5.69 inches)5.69 inches (14.4 cm) tall, giving you about 371 cm² (57.5 square inches)57.5 square inches (371 cm²) of display area. It's the smallest practical laptop size still in production, found almost exclusively on Chromebooks, education laptops, and ultra-budget Windows machines. The 16:9 aspect ratio suits video streaming, a main use case for this class, and the small diagonal keeps the chassis cheap to ship and easy to fit in a school bag.

Dimensions
25.7 cm × 14.4 cm10.1" × 5.7"
10.1" × 5.7"25.7 cm × 14.4 cm
Screen area
57 sq in
371 cm²
Aspect ratio
16:9
29.5 cm (11.6") diagonal11.6" (29.5 cm) diagonal

How this is calculated

In metric, 25.7 cm wide by 14.4 cm tall, roughly 371 cm². At the typical 1366×768 resolution on an 11.6-inch panel you get about 135 PPI, which is acceptable for the price tier but visibly coarse compared to a 13.3-inch 1080p panel at 166 PPI.

The 16:9 ratio trades vertical workspace for media compatibility: a 16:10 panel of the same diagonal would show more lines of text, but at this size most laptops stick with 16:9 because the panels are cheap and the target audience (kids, classrooms, kiosks) doesn't spend the day reading code.

Verdict

Pick 11.6 inches only for classroom and budget use, and step up to 13.3 inches for any full-day adult work. The panel measures 25.7 cm (10.11 in)10.11 in (25.7 cm) wide by 14.4 cm (5.69 in)5.69 in (14.4 cm) tall for about 371 cm² (57.5 in²)57.5 in² (371 cm²) of area. The small size keeps the chassis cheap to ship, fits any school bag, and survives the rough treatment of kids and classroom carts.

At the typical 1366x768 resolution you get about 135 PPI, acceptable for the price tier but visibly coarse against a 13.3-inch 1080p panel at 166 PPI. For daily adult work the screen feels cramped and the resolution shows the pixel grid.

More Screen Size scenarios

24" 16:9 monitor
The classic desktop size: big enough for a browser plus sidebar, and it fits on any desk.
View details
27" 16:9 monitor
A 27-inch 16:9 monitor measures 23.53 inches (59.8 cm) wide by 13.24 inches (33.6 cm) tall, giving you about 312 square inches (2010 cm²) of screen area, excluding the bezel.
View details
32" 16:9 monitor
A 32-inch 16:9 monitor measures 27.89 inches (70.8 cm) wide by 15.69 inches (39.8 cm) tall, giving you about 438 square inches (2823 cm²) of screen area.
View details

Related guides

14" 1080p laptop PPI
PPI of the next-up budget laptop tier.
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4:3 retro aspect ratio
A retro aspect ratio that pairs with small laptop panels.
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Screen size chart
Width, height and area of common screen sizes, in inches and cm.
View guide

Frequently asked questions

What are the exact dimensions of an 11.6-inch laptop screen in inches and cm?
An 11.6-inch 16:9 screen is 25.7 cm (10.11 inches)10.11 inches (25.7 cm) wide and 14.4 cm (5.69 inches)5.69 inches (14.4 cm) tall. The screen area is about 371 cm² (57.5 square inches)57.5 square inches (371 cm²).
Is an 11.6-inch laptop too small?
For kids, classroom carts, and casual browsing, 11.6 inches is fine. For any kind of full-day work like writing, coding, or spreadsheets, the small panel and typically low resolution (1366x768) feel cramped. Most adults will be happier stepping up to 13.3 inches.
What is the PPI of an 11.6-inch screen?
An 11.6-inch panel at 1366x768 has about 135 PPI (pixels per inch). At 1920x1080 it would be about 190 PPI, but most 11.6-inch laptops ship with the lower resolution to keep cost down.

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