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The best Chromebooks provide a more affordable (and more child-friendly!) alternative to Windows laptops and MacBooks, while still offering strong performance that can get you through a hard day at work or school.
Take the Acer Chromebook Spin 314, for example. Despite being a couple of years old at this point, its Intel Pentium N6000 processor is powerful enough for the everyday tasks that Chromebooks excel at, while also offering a Full HD touch display and a 2-in-1 form factor that makes it usable as a laptop or tablet.
Price is a key factor when it comes to Chromebooks – after all, they’re positioned as budget machines. Most Chromebooks will offer better value for money than the best Windows laptops with similar performance, since ChromeOS is a lightweight operating system that doesn’t demand high-end internal components to run smoothly.
We’ve reviewed dozens of Chromebooks over the years, and we’re here to use our many years of experience to help you find the best Chromebook for your needs and budget.
1. Acer Chromebook Spin 314 – The best Chromebook for most people
SPECIFICATIONS:
CPU: Intel Pentium N6000
Screen: 14” Full HD 1920 x 1080p
Storage: 128 GB eMMC
Weight: 1.55kg
The Acer Chromebook Spin 314 is ideal for those who just want a straightforward and cheap solution to getting that full laptop experience. Unlike other budget-level ChromeOS models, it comes with a 14-inch 1080p display and enough power to do everyday tasks.
In fact, it handled day-to-day performance well when tested. Of course, we were not so impressed by its 128GB of storage. But, that’s one of the compromises here. Along with the fact that it can get a little warm if you push it beyond its limits as it’s powered by an Intel Pentium chip and 4GB of RAM.
Keeping in mind its price, we like how portable it is. At just under three and a half pounds, chucking it in a backpack or messenger bag is no work at all. Add in a solid typing experience and battery life, and you could take this anywhere to get some work done. If you do want to get a little spicy, the Acer Chromebook Spin 314 does have that 2-in-1 form factor so it can easily double as a tablet if you so choose.
2. Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook – The best budget Chromebook
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: 1.1GHz Intel Celeron N4020
Screen: 11″ HD (1366 x 768) IPS, touch
Storage: 64GB eMMC SSD
Weight: 1.20kg
We’re always learning, but some of us are learning more than others. Younger students are sure to benefit from the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3, which packs a rather rugged build quality that is well-suited for users who want to quickly stuff everything in their backpack or are likely to drop things on the floor. The keyboard base is solid and the hinge is very robust, enabling it to survive any amount of careless handling.
This isn’t the most powerful Chromebook, but students need reliability more than power – especially if they’re only really using it for homework, note-taking, and perhaps the occasional bit of Netflix. Fortunately, the IdeaPad Flex 3 has a seriously impressive battery life – our testing yielded a whopping 16-hour-and-20-minute result – which will allow them to make it through a whole day of school without needing to plug in. It’s also very affordable, which should provide a nice bit of financial relief for parents who need to buy their kids a school laptop.
3. HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook – The best high-end Chromebook
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: Up to 12th-gen Intel Core i7 with vPro
Screen: Up to 13.5″ QHD+ (2256 x 1504) touchscreen
Storage: 128GB – 256GB eMMC
Weight: 1.27kg
The HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook is still the best Chrome-powered laptop on the market – even if its pricing means that it won’t be the best pick for everyone, at least not in its higher-end configurations. While it’s probably the most premium Chromebook ever to hit retail, there are a few more affordable entry-level models that will make a strong case for any students looking for a slick, powerful laptop with Chrome OS.
It’s one of the most powerful Chromebook we’ve ever tested. In fact, it’s the best scoring Chromebook in our Kraken and Jetstream 2 tests, beating out the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 by nearly 200 points. Even the entry-level 12th-gen Core i3 configuration still packs some seriously solid specs that would make a lot of other Windows and macOS laptops blush.
Featuring some of the best security features we’ve ever seen on a Chromebook, including the first Chromebook to ever come powered by Intel vPro, this is the perfect lightweight and portable productivity Chromebook. Just be prepared to spend a whole lot of money for the privilege.
4. Acer Chromebook 516 GE – Top Chromebook for cloud gaming
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: Up to 12th-gen Intel Core i7
Screen: 16″ WQXGA (2560 x 1600) 16:10 IPS, 120Hz
Storage: Up to 256GB PCIe SSD
Weight: 1.70kg
‘Gaming Chromebooks’ are still a topic of some debate. Many will argue that they’re not truly gaming devices, since they rely on cloud-based game-streaming services – such as Nvidia GeForce Now – to actually run the latest games without the need for powerful local hardware. By this metric, any Chromebook can be a gaming Chromebook.
With the 516 GE, though, Acer is making a surprisingly strong case for this new breed of Chromebooks. GE naturally stands for ‘Gaming Edition’, and this is just that: a solid Intel-powered Chromebook, with some slick new features added in to appeal to the gaming audience.
Chief among these is this display, a crisp and colorful QHD panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio to provide more screen real estate. With 100 sRGB color reproduction and good maximum brightness, it’s one of the best screens we’ve ever seen on a Chromebook. The 120Hz refresh rate is also vital for ensuring a smooth framerate during intense gameplay.
The speakers have seen an upgrade, we’ve got Wi-Fi 6E and a physical Ethernet port to ensure a speedy connection, and the keyboard has been given a gamer-inspired RGB makeover. The only real downside here is that you’ll need to pay for a subscription service like GeForce Now or Amazon Luna, but there’s some good news – Google is handing out three-month subscriptions for free with gaming Chromebook purchases!
5. Acer Chromebook Plus 515 – The best Chromebook for students
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: Intel Core i3-1215U
Screen: 15.6-inch full HD (1920×1080) display with IPS, 16:9 aspect ratio
Storage: 128GB
Weight: 1.68kg
Just because the bar is a bit lower performance-wise with Chromebooks doesn’t mean you should live with a sluggish laptop. The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 may just about hit that budget-level price range, but with its 12th-gen Intel Core i3 and 8GB of RAM, it’s more than enough power to get most users through their day-to-day needs.
When we tested it, we found it to not only do wonderfully with those everyday tasks. But, it was powerful enough to run Adobe Photoshop, newly available on ChromeOS, as well as the Nvidia GeForce Experience, meaning you can use this for some forms of gaming.
The battery life is a bit underwhelming for a Chromebook. When tested, it lasted only five of the ten advertised hours in our battery test. But, at least, it takes less than an hour to charge back up. The rest of the package here is strictly on the positive side as the keyboard and touchpad are satisfying to use and the 15.6-inch 1080p touch display offers quite a bit of screen real estate.
Oh, and if you’re environmentally conscious, you’ll be happy to know that quite a few materials are made of recycled materials.