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The Best Chromebook

By Kimber Streams

Kimber Streams is a writer who has been covering laptops and other tech at Wirecutter for more than a decade. They once built a fort out of keyboards.

A good Chromebook can do almost anything that a regular laptop can do, and the best models can feel better to use than their similarly priced Windows counterparts.

After testing most of the Chromebooks released over the past 10 years and testing 28 models so far in 2024, we recommend the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus . It’s an excellent laptop, with the best combination of features and price of all the Chromebooks we’ve tested, including fast performance, a spacious touchscreen, and long-enough battery life for a full day of work or classes.

Everything we recommend

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus

The best chromebook.

Reliable performance, a spacious touch display, and long-enough battery life for a full workday make this model the best Chromebook for the price. But it is a bit heavy.

Buying Options

Budget pick.

Asus Chromebook Plus CX34

Less expensive, worse display.

This Asus model is a less expensive option that doesn’t sacrifice performance, but its non-touch display isn’t as tall, vibrant, or convenient as that of our top pick.

Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook 16″ (82V80009UX)

Best if you want a big screen.

This inexpensive model offers fast performance, a roomy 16-inch screen with a high refresh rate, and an RGB keyboard with a built-in number pad. But it’s huge and heavy.

Upgrade pick

Asus ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus (CX5403CMA-DB588)

More portable.

The ExpertBook is lighter and has longer battery life, a brighter display, and a crisper webcam than our top pick. But it’s more expensive, and it lacks a touchscreen.

Why a Chromebook?

Many kids already use Chromebooks at school, and these inexpensive, secure, and accessible laptops are great for pulling out of a bag and getting right to work.

Chromebooks can do almost anything that regular laptops can do, using browser-based software and services instead of Windows or macOS apps.

A great $500 Chromebook can feel faster to use—and can be lighter and more compact—than a similarly priced Windows laptop.

If you already have a desktop or laptop, a Chromebook is an excellent and affordable secondary device.

Recommended configuration

The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus has a reliable keyboard and trackpad, a tall touchscreen, and surprisingly good speakers. All of those features combined with the IdeaPad Flex 5i’s reasonable price make it the best Chromebook for most people’s needs. It has enough battery life to last a full day of work or classes, but not much longer, and we wish that it were lighter—at 3.6 pounds, it’s heavy for a 14-inch laptop.

The best cheap Chromebook—and the next-best option if our top pick is unavailable—is the Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 . It’s just as fast as our top pick and can handle everyday workloads with ease, unlike many cheap Chromebooks, which feel slow with just a handful of tabs open. The CX34 also has a comfortable, backlit keyboard, battery life similar to that of our top pick, and a light, compact body. This model’s display is fine, but it lacks touch input, it’s not as tall, and its colors aren’t as vibrant as what you can get on our top pick.

The best option if you want a big screen is the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook 16″ . Photos and videos look great on its gigantic 16-inch display with a high refresh rate, and the RGB keyboard is a fun extra feature. But this 4-pound laptop is inconvenient to take to work, class, or even a coffee shop—it’s best used around the house. If you need a more portable Chromebook to commute or travel with, consider our other picks instead.

If you want a more portable Chromebook that weighs less and offers longer battery life, as well as a brighter screen and a crisper-looking webcam, get the Asus ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus (CX5403CMA-DB588) . It’s an excellent Chromebook with premium build quality, a reliable keyboard and trackpad, and a convenient fingerprint reader. But it costs several hundred dollars more than our top pick, and it lacks a touchscreen and a 360-degree hinge.

The research

What is a chromebook, why you should trust us, how we picked, how we tested, top pick: lenovo ideapad flex 5i chromebook plus, budget pick: asus chromebook plus cx34, best if you want a big screen: lenovo ideapad gaming chromebook 16", upgrade pick: asus expertbook cx54 chromebook plus, other chromebooks worth considering, the competition.

A Chromebook is a laptop that runs ChromeOS , an operating system that uses the Chrome web browser as its primary interface. Chromebooks are ideal for students and kids, but they’re also worth considering if you spend most of your computer time in a web browser, if you’re on a tight budget, or if you already have a decent desktop PC . A good Chromebook can do almost anything a regular laptop can do—as long as that task is possible in a web browser or in Android apps . And $500 Chromebooks tend to be faster, lighter, and sleeker than $500 Windows laptops. Chromebooks are also secure and easy to maintain .

But Chromebooks can’t run Mac or Windows programs, including Windows-specific games. They work best with a full-time internet connection, though you can find offline options for Gmail, Google Drive, and other apps , and Chromebook Plus models can automatically sync Google Drive files for offline use. If you use web-based email, if you can get by with Microsoft 365 , Google’s office web apps, and Android app alternatives, and if you stream your music and movies, a Chromebook should do just about everything you need it to.

Most newly released Chromebooks have 128 GB of onboard storage; Google also provides 100 GB of free online Google One storage for one year. (Once your year is up, you have to pay to keep that cloud storage. Right now, 100 GB of storage costs $2 per month or $20 per year.) Most Chromebooks also include USB ports and a microSD card slot that you can use to expand the storage.

I’ve tested and reviewed hundreds of laptops—including fancy ultrabooks, cheap Windows laptops, gaming laptops, and Chromebooks—and I’ve written or edited most of Wirecutter’s laptop guides since 2014.

For this guide:

• I’ve tested nearly every Chromebook released in the past decade, and for each update to this guide I comb through every Chromebook model from every laptop retailer and manufacturer.
• In 2024, I’ve tested 28 Chromebooks so far that meet our criteria.
• Like all Wirecutter journalists, I review and test products with complete editorial independence. I’m never made aware of any business implications of my editorial recommendations. Read more about our editorial standards .

A Chromebook doesn’t need to be exceptionally powerful or look fancy. But if slow performance, poor battery life, a horrendous screen, or a bad keyboard or trackpad gets in your way, the Chromebook has failed at its only job. Here’s what we look for:

Performance: We’ve found that fast and reliable performance for a Chromebook requires 8 GB of memory combined with an 11th-generation or newer Intel processor or a 5000- or 7000-series AMD Ryzen processor. When we used Chromebooks with lower-end processors or less memory, we encountered long, frequent delays loading tabs, typing in documents and spreadsheets, and speaking on Zoom calls. One way to guarantee that you’re getting fast-enough performance is to look for Google’s new Chromebook Plus label introduced in October 2023, though some models released before then lack the label but meet the spec requirements.

Avoid Chromebooks that run on Intel’s N-series Celeron or Pentium processors, on ARM-based processors from companies such as MediaTek or Qualcomm, or on AMD’s Athlon A4 and A6 processors; in our testing over the years, we’ve come away frustrated by their laggy, inconsistent performance. Also avoid any Chromebooks with less than 4 GB of memory, regardless of their processor.

Price: As of 2024, Chromebooks that meet our performance requirements typically cost $400 to $550. Options with better performance and more features tend to cost at least $700.

Keyboard and trackpad: Both input devices should be good enough not to get in the way of your work. A backlit keyboard is a nice luxury.

Battery life: A Chromebook should last at least a full eight-hour day of classes or work so you don’t have to hunt for an outlet or be stuck with a dead laptop.

Size and weight: The lighter and more compact a laptop is, the easier it is to carry on a plane, to a coffee shop, or to class. And for Chromebooks with 360-degree convertible hinges, being lighter makes them easier to hold in tablet mode—less than 3 pounds is ideal.

Screen: We recommend a 1920×1080 resolution or thereabouts for a 13- to 15-inch screen—higher resolutions often aren’t worth the trade-off in battery life, and lower resolutions look bad. A touchscreen and a 360-degree hinge are nice perks since Chromebooks also run Android apps, and an included stylus is a bonus.

Ports: We appreciate a Chromebook that includes both USB-C ports and traditional USB-A ports, which allows you to connect older peripherals.

Support: Google now guarantees 10 years of software updates—including new features and security fixes—for every new Chromebook. We don’t recommend any Chromebooks with a support date that expires before 2029.

We lived with each Chromebook for at least a full day of work to get a feel for the keyboard, trackpad, screen, and speakers, as well as for each laptop’s real-world performance. We checked Gmail and Google Calendar, ran Slack, streamed music, worked in large Google Drive spreadsheets and text documents, chatted on Zoom, and streamed videos from Netflix, Twitch, and YouTube. We paid attention to any performance issues that surfaced.

To quantify how fast a Chromebook felt to use, we gathered results from the Speedometer 3.0 and JetStream 2 benchmarking tools to measure performance, combining those results with what we saw in our real-world testing.

To test the battery life of each Chromebook, we set each screen’s backlight to approximately 150 nits and ran a customized version of the Chromium web-browsing battery test . It emulates typical browsing behavior by cycling through web pages, email, streaming audio, Google Docs files, and video.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus is an excellent Chromebook, with the best combination of features and price of all the models we’ve tested. It offers fast performance, a reliable keyboard and trackpad, a tall and spacious touchscreen, and enough battery life to last a full day of work or classes. Though we wish it were lighter—at 3.6 pounds it’s weighty for a 14-inch laptop—it’s the best Chromebook for most people’s needs.

It’s fast enough for everyday tasks. The IdeaPad Flex 5i meets all of Wirecutter’s (and Google’s) spec requirements for smooth performance. It was plenty fast enough to handle all my tabs, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, YouTube Music, a YouTube video, a large spreadsheet of Chromebook test results, a long Google Doc, and five to 10 other miscellaneous retailer and laptop-maker websites. I even threw a Zoom call on top, and everything kept working just fine. This model also supports Google’s new Chromebook Plus features for improving video calls, syncing files for offline access, and more.

The battery will last a full day of work or classes, but not much longer. In our testing, the IdeaPad Flex 5i lasted 9 hours 31 minutes on a charge; we prefer to see a couple more hours, especially since battery life degrades over time. If you need longer battery life, consider our upgrade pick instead.

It has a tall, spacious display and surprisingly good speakers. The IdeaPad Flex 5i’s 14-inch 1920×1200 touchscreen has a 16:10 aspect ratio, which is especially convenient for scrolling web pages and working in long documents. It isn’t bright enough to see outdoors on a sunny day—and the glossy touchscreen is reflective—but it isn’t so dim and desaturated as to be distracting. In addition, we found the upward-facing speakers to be unexpectedly competent; the Flex 5i is a better option for watching movies and music videos than our budget pick.

You can use it as a tablet, but it’s heavy. Our top pick has a 360-degree hinge, so you can flip the screen around and use it in tablet or tent mode. But the IdeaPad Flex 5i’s weight makes it difficult to hold in tablet mode. I was able to open the lid with a single hand, but the tight hinge made the action more difficult than it should have been.

The IdeaPad Flex 5i has a mix of new and old USB ports, so it should accommodate the accessories and cables you already have. It has guaranteed update support through June 2032.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It’s heavy for its portable size. At 12.4 by 9.0 by 0.8 inches, our top pick is compact enough to fit into most bags to use on the go. But at 3.6 pounds, the IdeaPad Flex 5i is one of the heavier Chromebooks we’ve tested with this screen size. If you need a lighter Chromebook, take a look at our budget pick or our upgrade pick .

Its 1080p webcam is fine but could be better. The webcam produces a dim image even with Google’s new Improve Lighting feature enabled. (It does have a convenient privacy shutter to block it when you’re not using it.) Our budget pick and upgrade pick have better webcams, if you need one for frequent video calls.

The best inexpensive Chromebook, and the next-best option if our top pick is unavailable, is the Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 . Unlike many cheap Chromebooks, which can struggle with basic tasks, the CX34 feels as fast as our top pick, the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i. And it has a comfortable, backlit keyboard, a responsive trackpad, and a decent 14-inch 1080p display. But compared with the IdeaPad Flex 5i’s screen, the CX34’s display lacks touch input, it’s not as tall, and its colors aren’t as vibrant.

Our budget pick is just as fast as our top pick. Many cheap Chromebooks rely on slow processors or have limited memory; typically those models can’t handle a video call and an open document at the same time, or they bog down with just a handful of tabs open. But the CX34 doesn’t make any sacrifices in the performance department—our budget pick can handle everyday workloads with ease.

It’s light and compact. Our budget pick is easier to lug around because it’s about a third of a pound lighter and a bit more compact than our top pick. The CX34 lasted 9 hours 52 minutes in our battery-life test, about the same as the IdeaPad Flex 5i. Both models have enough battery life to make it through a full day of work or classes.

Its smaller, non-touch display is a step down. The CX34’s 14-inch 1920×1080 screen is fine, but its 16:9 aspect ratio isn’t as nice as the IdeaPad Flex 5i’s taller display for working in documents or browsing the web. This model’s screen also lacks touch input, and colors look more drab and desaturated in comparison with those on our top pick’s display.

You can’t use it as a tablet. Unlike the IdeaPad Flex 5i, which has a 360-degree hinge, the CX34 can work only as a basic clamshell laptop. It’s easy to open with one hand, though.

The CX34 has a 1080p webcam with a built-in privacy shutter. Like the IdeaPad Flex 5i, the CX34 has a variety of useful ports, and it has guaranteed update support through June 2032.

If you want a big screen, the best option is the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook 16″ . Its 16-inch display provides more room to get work done or to enjoy streaming shows or movies, and its number pad can be useful if you do a lot of data entry. That big screen makes the whole laptop heavier and bulkier, though. If you need a more portable Chromebook to take to classes, to commute or travel with, or to occasionally cart to a café, you may want to consider our other picks instead.

Its gigantic screen is ideal for working or for watching videos. The 16-inch, 2560×1600 high-refresh display gives you more room to work on documents and spreadsheets or to watch shows and movies. Its colors are vibrant, the matte display doesn’t throw distracting reflections, and the 120 Hz high refresh rate makes scrolling and other actions look extra smooth.

The customizable RGB keyboard is responsive and fun. But the backlit keys feel mushy, and the keyboard deck flexes a lot, even under light typing. This model is the only one of our current picks with a number pad, so if that feature is a must-have for you, this is the Chromebook to get. The IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook’s extra-wide trackpad is accurate, and it works well for all taps, clicks, and gestures.

It offers long battery life, but it’s large and heavy. The IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook will last a full day of work or school away from an outlet—the Core i5 model ran for 10 hours 43 minutes in our battery test, and we expect the Core i3 model to last a bit longer. But at 4 pounds, it’s the heaviest of our picks. And compared with our top pick, the IdeaPad Flex 5i, it’s much bigger overall, measuring nearly 2 inches wider and an inch deeper. This Chromebook is more convenient to use at home, rather than on the go.

Unlike our top pick, this model can’t work as a tablet. The IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook lacks a 360-degree hinge, but it’s too bulky and heavy to use in a tent mode or tablet mode, anyway. I consistently needed both hands to open it. If you want a large-screen laptop that you can open using a single hand, I suggest the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 (CB515-2H) or HP Chromebook 15a-nb0023dx .

Despite being a “gaming Chromebook,” it doesn’t have an Ethernet port. It comes with three months of Nvidia GeForce Now, but the lack of Ethernet made streaming games unreliable in our testing. It does have a variety of USB-C and USB-A ports for most other needs, though. The webcam is about as good as those of our other picks, and it has guaranteed update support through June 2032.

If you want a lighter Chromebook with longer battery life and a more flattering webcam, we recommend the Asus ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus (CX5403CMA-DB588) . The ExpertBook CX54 also has a brighter, higher-resolution display, a convenient fingerprint reader, a more satisfying keyboard, and a more premium build quality. But it typically costs a couple hundred dollars more than our top pick, and it lacks a touchscreen.

The backlit keyboard feels comfortable and satisfying. I enjoyed typing on it more than on our top pick’s shallower keyboard, though the backlight on our review unit looks patchy and uneven. The ExpertBook’s gigantic trackpad is responsive and accurate, and we didn’t encounter any issues with palm rejection.

It’s light and portable, with long battery life. In our battery-life tests, this model lasted 12 hours—about two hours longer than our top pick. That’s plenty long enough for the machine to get through a full day of work or school without needing to be plugged in. At 2.87 pounds, it’s more than half a pound lighter than our top pick, too.

Its display is brighter and higher resolution than our pick’s, but it lacks touch support. Because the 14-inch 2560×1600 display gets much brighter than that of the IdeaPad 5i, you can still see it outdoors on a sunny day. And like our top pick, the ExpertBook has a 16:10 aspect ratio, which is particularly nice for browsing the web.

You can’t use it as a tablet, only as a laptop. Because the ExpertBook CX54 doesn’t have a 360-degree hinge or a touchscreen, you can’t use it in tent or tablet mode like our top pick. But its lid is easy to open with a single hand.

Its webcam is a significant step up over those of our other picks. In our tests, this model’s webcam produced a brighter, more flattering image on Zoom calls. The webcam also has a physical privacy shutter to block it when you’re not using it.

It has a fingerprint reader on the palm rest. And it has guaranteed update support through June 2034.

If our top pick is out of stock: The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514 (CP514-4HN-30UC) is the next best option thanks to its solid performance and long battery life. Compared to the Flex 5i, this model typically costs $50 more, its keyboard lacks a backlight, and its speakers and webcam aren’t as good. But it has a convenient 14-inch, 1920×1200 touchscreen like our top pick, and its keyboard and trackpad are both comfortable and reliable.

If our budget pick is sold out: Get the Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-4HT-359X) . It has reliable performance, decent battery life, and a 14-inch 1080p touch display. Compared to our budget pick, the Chromebook Plus 514’s keyboard doesn’t feel as satisfying to type on and its webcam doesn’t handle low light as well. But for a $350 Chromebook, this model provides a great value.

If our big-screen pick is unavailable: We recommend the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 (CB515-2H) or the HP Chromebook Plus (15a-nb0033dx)  instead. Both models are fast-enough, reliable Chromebooks with long battery life; get the HP model if you want a number pad, otherwise get whichever one is cheaper. Compared with the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook 16″ , both of these models have smaller, lower-resolution, dimmer displays with a standard 60 Hz refresh rate, and as a result, scrolling and other animations don’t look as smooth.

If you want a more premium Chromebook with a big screen: The $700 Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus is surprisingly thin and light—less than half an inch thick and 2.6 pounds—for a laptop with a 15.6-inch 1920×1080 display. It has similar performance to our top pick, long battery life, and a satisfying keyboard and trackpad. But the Galaxy Chromebook Plus lacks a touchscreen, and its webcam isn’t as flattering in low light as our upgrade picks’. This laptop’s thin lid and display flex so easily under light pressure that, while I have traveled with it and not experienced issues yet, I am concerned about its long-term durability.

If our upgrade pick is unavailable, or if you spot a sale: The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 (CP714-1H-54UB) is an excellent premium Chromebook with a 360-degree hinge, solid performance, and long battery life. But compared with the Asus ExpertBook CX54, the Spin 714 is heavier, and it has a dimmer, lower-resolution display and a smaller trackpad.

If you want a Chromebook for streaming games: The Acer Chromebook Plus 516GE (CBG516-2H-59S4)  is the best of the so-called gaming Chromebooks because it’s the only model with an Ethernet port to provide a reliable internet connection for streaming games. It also has a vivid 16-inch, 2560×1600 display with a 120 Hz refresh rate and a responsive, comfortable RGB keyboard. Every gaming Chromebook we’ve tested on Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now (Priority and Ultimate tiers) has exhibited frustrating hiccups over Wi-Fi on a 500 Mbps internet plan, so we don’t recommend getting a Chromebook to stream games over Wi-Fi.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i Chromebook Plus costs a bit more than our top pick, its keys feel stiff, and our top pick’s taller-aspect-ratio display is more convenient.

The Asus Chromebook Plus CX3402CVA-I5128 is nearly identical to our budget pick, but it has a cheap-feeling, non-backlit keyboard, and it costs more at around $500.

Although the Acer Chromebook Vero 514 (CBV514-1H-38VS) is fast enough for everyday tasks and offers long battery life, it has a non-touch screen that’s dimmer than those of our top picks, and it costs more than our budget picks.

The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-3HT-R8C2) offers fast performance but has a notably dim display with desaturated colors.

The Acer Chromebook Spin 514 (CP514-1H) is large and heavy, and its update support ends a year sooner than our top pick’s. The Acer Chromebook 514 (CB514-2H) is too slow for everyday tasks, and our review unit stopped turning on.

During our tests, the N6000 processor in the Acer Chromebook 314 (CB314-3HT-P6QW) and the Acer Chromebook Spin 314 (CP314-1HN-P138) struggled to support a Zoom call and document editing at the same time.

The ARM-based processor in the Acer Chromebook Spin 513 (CP513-1H-S338) faltered in simultaneously running a Zoom call and allowing work on a spreadsheet.

The Asus Chromebook Flip C433 and Asus Chromebook Flip C434 won’t get Chromebook Plus features and will stop receiving security updates years before our top picks.

At a whopping 4.08 pounds, the Asus Chromebook Plus CM34 Flip is too heavy; this 14-inch model weighs even more than our pick with a 16-inch display . The CM34 Flip is an otherwise good Chromebook with long, 13-hour battery life, fast-enough specs, and Chromebook Plus features.

Upgrade options

The Acer Chromebook Spin 714 (CP714-2W-56B2) is an older model of the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 (CP714-1H-54UB) with pointier edges and two years less support—it’ll stop receiving updates in June 2032. But it has longer battery life than the newer model, and it’s a good Chromebook if you spot it on sale.

Compared with our upgrade pick, the HP Chromebook Plus x360 (14c-cd0053dx) has shorter battery life, it’s a bit heavier, its display doesn’t get as bright, and it’s harder to open with a single hand.

Though the Lenovo ThinkPad C14 Gen 1 Chromebook has a top-notch keyboard and trackpad, our upgrade pick is smaller, lighter, and cheaper, with longer battery life and a taller-aspect-ratio display.

The HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook has a thin and light body, a vibrant 13.5-inch 1080p touchscreen, a comfortable backlit keyboard, and a huge responsive trackpad, and in our tests it offered excellent performance and plenty of battery life. But it retails for more than $1,000.

15- and 16-inch options

The Asus Chromebook Flip CM5 (CM5500FDA-DN344T) has worse performance, a smaller screen, and a higher price than our pick, the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook 16″ .

The Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 (CX5601) is heavier, dimmer, and more expensive than our big-screen pick.

The Acer Chromebook 315 (CB315-4HT) and the Lenovo 3i Chromebook (15″) had too-slow processors that struggled with video calls and other simultaneous tasks in our tests.

Gaming Chromebooks

Google worked with manufacturers to design “gaming Chromebooks” that come with cloud-gaming subscriptions, high-refresh displays, and RGB keyboards. After testing these models, we don’t recommend Chromebooks as gaming devices—they’re limited to Android games (which you can play on any decent Chromebook) and game-streaming services, which are dependent on fickle internet connections. The Acer Chromebook Plus 516GE (CBG516-2H-59S4)  is the only one with an Ethernet port, which makes it more reliable for game streaming, while the Asus Chromebook Vibe CX55 Flip and Asus Chromebook Vibe CX34 Flip cost more and lack Ethernet ports. We like the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook 16″ more for its large screen and low price than its gaming capabilities.

Budget options

The HP Chromebook Plus x360 (14b-cd0133wm) has a dim display that maxes out at 233 nits, which is passable indoors but impossible to see outside.

The HP Chromebook Plus 14a-nf0050nr is comparatively expensive when it’s not on sale, and it has a mediocre keyboard and a dimmer display than our picks.

Equipped with only an N100 processor and 4 GB of memory, the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3i Chromebook (82XH0001US) had difficulty handling simultaneous tasks and video calls.

The MediaTek Kompanio 520 processor in the Asus Chromebook CM30 (CM3001DM2A-M8186) , Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook (14″) and the Asus Chromebook CM14 and Asus Chromebook CM14 Flip was abysmally slow in our tests.

The base Dell Latitude 3445 Chromebook is comparatively expensive for a machine with a low-resolution display, 4 GB of memory, and only 32 GB of local storage.

The Lenovo Chromebook Duet 11″ is a detachable ChromeOS tablet that comes with a keyboard case, but the model we tested was too slow for basic tasks. Its predecessor, the Lenovo IdeaPad Chromebook Duet 3 (11″) has a too-slow processor.

Budget models that rely on the Intel Celeron N4500 processor are too slow for even light use. We also found the MediaTek processor in the Asus Chromebook Flip CM3 (CM3200FVA-DS42T) to be exceedingly slow.

A laptop should last at least five years, so we don’t recommend Chromebooks with a support date that expires before 2029—such as the Asus Chromebook Flip C302 (C302CA-DH54) , which is still available at this writing even though it stopped receiving updates in June 2023. Even if you find one cheap, it’s a bad deal.

This article was edited by Caitlin McGarry and Signe Brewster.

Meet your guide

Kimber Streams

I’ve been Wirecutter’s resident laptop expert for more than a decade. In that time, I’ve tested hundreds of laptops—including ultrabooks, gaming laptops, Chromebooks, and budget Windows laptops—as well as thousands of keyboards, mice, and other peripherals.

Further reading

The Best Laptops

by Kimber Streams and Dave Gershgorn

From budget-friendly options to thin-and-light ultrabooks to powerful gaming laptops, we’ve spent hundreds of hours finding the best laptops for most people.

The Best Laptop Under $500

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If you’re on a budget, these are the best cheap Windows laptops and Chromebooks we recommend after extensive research and hands-on testing.

There’s Never Been a Better Time to Buy a Chromebook

Google’s new Chromebook Plus label will help you find an affordable laptop that isn’t awful.

The Best Laptops for College Students

Of all the laptops we recommend, these offer the best balance of performance and a low price—and that makes them our favorite laptops for college students.

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• WIRED Classics from the Archive
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The Best Chromebooks for Every Budget

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Best Overall Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus Read more

Best Upgrade Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 Read more

Best Thin and Light Chromebook Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus Read more

Best Gaming Chromebook Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE Read more

Chromebooks aren’t just the realm of budget, low-end devices anymore. Thanks to smart initiatives from Google, Chromebook makers are stepping up their game with more powerful hardware than ever before, while keeping prices lower than Windows and macOS laptop alternatives . Throw in a fresh focus on handy AI features and you have a range of affordable computers that make a strong case for replacing your aging laptop.

ChromeOS still doesn’t compete with Windows and Mac machines for heavy-duty stuff like gaming and video editing, but it isn’t trying to. The beauty of Chromebooks is that they offer a lightweight portal to the things that most people need a computer for, without any extra fluff. If you spend all day in a web browser, work with Google apps, and do some occasional light photo editing, a solid Chromebook could be all you need. WIRED has tested Chromebooks for more than a decade, and we’re always on the lookout for the best ones to spend your hard-earned money on. These are the best Chromebooks we recommend right now.

Be sure to read through our Best Cheap Laptops , Best Laptops , Best 2-in-1 Laptops , and Best MacBooks guides for more options.

Updated October 2024: We've added the Lenovo Chromebook Duet Gen 9 and Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus.

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What Does Chromebook Plus Mean?

Almost every Chromebook we recommend below has “Chromebook Plus” in the name. This is an initiative Google launched in late 2023 with its hardware partners to offer a new category of Chromebooks designed for a better, more premium experience. To be deemed a Chromebook Plus, a laptop has to meet or exceed the following hardware requirements:

• CPU : Intel Core i3 12th Gen or above; AMD Ryzen 3 7000 series or above
• RAM : 8 GB or more
• Storage : 128 GB or more
• Webcam : 1080p or higher with Temporal Noise Reduction
• Display : Full HD (1080p) IPS or better

The result? A new baseline that guarantees a certain level of performance when you see the Chromebook Plus name. With the rise in remote work, Google is especially focused on ensuring Chromebook Plus laptops offer a better video calling experience with a higher standard for webcams and AI camera tricks. It’s also gradually folding new AI features into ChromeOS that benefit from the added hardware heft.

Regular Chromebooks haven’t disappeared, and you’ll still find super-budget Chromebook models without the “Plus” moniker. Chromebook Plus models start at $399, though you’ll often find them on sale for less. Expect non-Plus Chromebooks focused on more basic needs to continue to hit store shelves in the $250 range.

How Long Do Chromebooks Get Updates?

In 2023, Google announced a new policy that guarantees 10 years of automatic updates for any Chromebooks released in 2021 or later. That’s probably far beyond the usual upgrade cycle for most people, but it ensures secondhand Chromebooks and those used in schools continue to stay secure and get new features for a long time. When a Chromebook gets its final automatic update, ChromeOS will send you a notification to let you know it’s time to throw in the towel.

The 10-year automatic update timer starts from when a Chromebook is first released. You can check when your Chromebook is set to receive its final update at any time in the “Update schedule” section of its settings menu ( Settings > About ChromeOS > Additional details > Update schedule ). Google also keeps a handy running list of automatic update timelines for every Chromebook model on its support site.

How to Pick the Best Chromebook

Chromebooks can come with a lot of different hardware inside, so it can be hard to figure out exactly what you need. Fortunately, the Chromebook Plus program has made the jumble of specs easier to parse. ChromeOS is also light enough that it doesn’t require incredibly beefy specs to get a good experience. Here are some general tips on what to look out for.

Processor: For the best experience, you should avoid older Chromebooks with Intel Celeron processors. The Chromebook Plus specifications offer a good baseline to guarantee speedy performance, and I’d recommend going with at least an Intel Core i3, Core i5, or AMD Ryzen 3 7000 processor. Just watch out for overspending on configurations with Intel Core i7 processors unless you need the extra horsepower for multitasking Android games, Linux apps, and dozens of Chrome tabs. While Intel and AMD dominate the processor scene, you’ll occasionally find Chromebooks using ARM processors like the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 in the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 above. These can be fine for very basic tasks, but they won’t fare as well under sustained, intense loads (at least until something newer comes along).

RAM: Always opt for at least 8 GB of RAM if you can afford it. You won’t find 4 GB of RAM in anything other than basic, super-budget Chromebooks, but it severely limits your ability to multitask. If you want to avoid slowdowns, 8 GB of RAM is the standard you should aim for.

Storage: Unlike a Mac or Windows PC, a lot of your Chromebook work will live on the web. This means you can typically get away with less storage, but I wouldn’t recommend going below 128 GB. If you can afford it, you’ll be much more comfortable with at least 256 GB. You’ll get the best speed out of an NVMe solid state drive, so look out for that on the spec sheet when you’re comparing models.

Screen: The vast majority of Chromebook displays you’ll find will be IPS LCD panels, and that’s just fine. Until OLED displays make more of a dent in the Chromebook space, IPS LCD screens offer the best contrast and color accuracy. If you’re shopping in the extreme budget range, watch out for TN LCD panels, as they’re generally lower quality and offer worse viewing angles. For resolution, a 1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution should be your standard. You’ll get crisp visuals at 13- and 14-inch screen sizes and it’s passable at 15 inches. Higher resolutions will look even better, but be wary of the battery life tradeoff you’ll see from pushing power to more pixels.

Ports: USB-C ports have become commonplace on the newest Chromebooks, so there’s no longer any excuse to buy one without them. Try to get one that charges over USB-C so you can recharge with a portable power bank when you’re on the go. A microSD card slot can also be beneficial if you want an easy way to expand your storage on the fly. You’ll find that some Chromebooks support Thunderbolt 4 over their USB-C ports as well. While that’s an excellent option to have if you plan to plug your Chromebook into some high-end monitors, it isn’t necessary for most people. Instead, you can get similar external monitor support (and spend a lot less) with an HDMI port or DisplayPort over USB-C support.

Best Overall

As one of the first Chromebook Plus models out of the gate, the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus ( 8/10, WIRED Recommends ) had a lot to prove. Fortunately for Lenovo, it lived up to the hype, becoming one of the fastest, most versatile Chromebooks we’ve tested. While it isn’t a looker, its beefier hardware, 2-in-1 design, and $499 price make it a great overall choice for most people.

The 14-inch 1,920 x 1,200-pixel resolution screen is a bit taller than you’ll find on most laptops, which is great for working on documents and browsing the web. The Intel Core i3 processor and flash storage never struggle to keep up, even if you find yourself drowning in dozens of open tabs. The battery life is the only slight weakness here, but it should still get you through a full workday. Just don’t expect to get much farther without pulling out the charger. The port selection is solid as well, with two USB-C ports and one USB-A on board. There's a microSD card slot, too, if you find the 128 GB of flash storage to be a little claustrophobic.

Specs to look for: Intel Core i3, 8 GB of RAM, 128-GB SSD

Best Upgrade

Acer’s Chromebook Spin line has made a name for itself over the years and its latest entry, the Chromebook Plus Spin 714 ( 9/10, WIRED Recommends ), keeps that reputation alive. For $699 (or even $599 if you find it on sale), Acer packs a surprising amount of power into this laptop thanks to its Intel Core Ultra 5 115 processor. It showcased breezy performance in my testing, and the chip’s dedicated AI processing power is a perfect complement to the AI features Google is now sprinkling into ChromeOS.

Aside from its processing power, the base Chromebook Plus Spin 714 comes with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of SSD storage (a 16 GB RAM model is available at Acer's store ). The laptop is packed in a pleasantly premium body with a vibrant 14-inch touchscreen that rotates on a pair of gold-accented hinges. Two Thunderbolt 4-capable USB-C ports, an HDMI port, and one USB-A port give you plenty of connectivity options as well. The one major area where the Chromebook Plus Spin 714 is a letdown is sound quality. Simply put, the speakers are awful, which hinders an otherwise great laptop for Netflix and YouTube binges. Plan on pairing this laptop with a good set of earbuds or headphones to get the most out of it.

Specs to look for: Intel Core Ultra 5 115, 8 GB of RAM, 256-GB SSD

Best Thin and Light Chromebook

If you want the thinnest Chromebook out there, Samsung’s latest Galaxy Chromebook Plus can’t be beat ( 8/10, WIRED Recommends ). It’s an insane 0.47-inch thick and weighs just 2.58 pounds, making it one of the thinnest and lightest laptops available. Despite its portable bona fides, Samsung manages to pack the Galaxy Chromebook Plus full of impressive hardware.

While it’s on the larger side, the 15.6-inch AMOLED display on this laptop is phenomenal and makes everything pop. It's powered by an Intel Core 3 100U processor, 8 GB of RAM, and a 256-GB solid state drive. It’s enough to keep up with ChromeOS, and an impressive number of ports (two USB-C, one USB-A, one HDMI, and one microSD) make it more flexible than you’d expect from such a thin device.

Specs to look for: Intel Core 3 CPU, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD

Best Gaming Chromebook

Chromebooks aren’t usually what you’d consider gaming laptops , but they’ve made gains in that segment over the past couple of years with the rise of cloud gaming. The best of the bunch is the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE ( 8/10, WIRED Recommends ), which works perfectly with streaming services like Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now. You can even use the Steam beta for Chromebooks, but I found this was only good for light indie titles.

I love the 516 GE’s large, vibrant 16-inch screen, and it can push some serious frame rates with its 120-Hz refresh rate . The laptop doubles as a solid productivity machine too, thanks to its comfortable keyboard, 8 GB of RAM, and an Intel Core 5 120 U processor that can handle plenty of open tabs and apps. There’s even a dash of RGB for the keyboard backlighting to add some extra gaming flavor, though it’s not as impressive as the RGB lighting you get on dedicated gaming keyboards.

Specs to look for: Intel Core 5 120 U, 8 GB of RAM, 256 GB SSD

Best-Looking Chromebook

Chromebooks don’t tend to be lookers, but Asus breaks that mold with the Chromebook Plus CX34 ( 7/10, WIRED Recommends ). It’s wrapped in a gorgeous white shell that, while plastic, felt durable in my testing. I’ve reviewed plenty of bland, gray Chromebooks, and I found myself reaching for the CX34 more because of its attractive design.

The hardware in the CX34 is typical for a Chromebook Plus, and it felt responsive even when I had my usual complement of more than a dozen tabs and a handful of apps running. Unfortunately, this model doesn’t come with a backlit keyboard, and its 14-inch, 16:9 display feels cramped compared to other Chromebooks I’ve used with taller 16:10 screens. If you can look past those shortcomings though, the CX34 is a solid little workhorse that stands out.

Specs to look for: Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD

Best Battery Life

The Lenovo Chromebook Duet Gen 9 ( 8/10, WIRED recommends ) is one of my favorite new Chromebooks, and it’s easy to see why. The ultra-portable detachable has excellent battery life thanks to its MediaTek Kompanio 838 processor, regularly getting nearly 10 hours on a charge in my testing. It’s also just plain fun to use—since it’s in such a small package, you can easily toss it in a bag and take it anywhere. The display detaches from the keyboard, perfect for when you want to curl up on the couch with the Netflix Android app.

You can get this Lenovo with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of eMMC storage, but I recommend spending a little more to upgrade to 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. A Lenovo stylus comes in the box and can be easily tucked away into a magnetic spot on the back of the display (which looks great, by the way). The whole package feels great to use; just be aware that there are only two USB-C ports and the smaller keyboard and trackpad take some getting used to.

Specs to look for: 8 GB RAM, 128 GB eMMC storage

Best Budget Chromebook

If you want a snappy laptop but don’t want to spend the extra cheddar on some of our other top picks, the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 ( 8/10, WIRED recommends ) will do the job. It’s not stylish, but it keeps the price low by sticking to the basics. Inside is an Intel Core i3-1215U processor, which handles ChromeOS and up to 20 open tabs with ease. Battery life is also good enough to get you through a workday, and it handled 8.5 hours of full-screen video before calling it quits out in our testing. The 15-inch 1,920 x 1,080-pixel screen is nothing to write home about, but it’s crisp and won’t strain your eyes.

There’s no touchscreen, but the two DisplayPort-capable USB-C ports, one HDMI 1.4 jack, and one USB-A port give you plenty of options for hooking up an external monitor.

Specs to look for: Intel Core i3-1215U, 8 GB of RAM, 128-GB flash storage

Another Good 2-in-1 Chromebook

I've had an excellent time using this 2-in-1 Chromebook Plus as my go-to laptop for when I'm traveling. The x360 is fairly nondescript, but it's lightweight, and because of the 2-in-1 design, I can flip the screen into tent mode to watch 3 Body Problem without a keyboard in the way. The speakers sound decent and get surprisingly loud, and the 1,920 X 1,200-pixel resolution is sharp on this 14-inch IPS LCD panel. The touchscreen is a nice option to have when I need to make a quick adjustment, though I wish ChromeOS had slightly larger touch targets. I'm quite happy with the key travel on the keyboard, though I've run into a small issue where the trackpad sometimes doesn't register a press. It didn't happen often enough to pose a serious problem.

The Intel Core i3 inside this machine is snappy; it didn't break a sweat when I was running more than 20 tabs and had it connected to an external monitor. Battery life isn't anything to write home about, but it more or less got me through a full workday, not much more. I wish there was a fingerprint sensor or some kind of biometric authentication so I didn't have to keep typing in a password to unlock this laptop. —Julian Chokkattu

Specs to look for: Intel Core i3-N305, 8 GB of RAM, 128-GB flash storage

Other Good Chromebooks

Acer Chromebook Plus 514 for $325 : As the slightly smaller sibling to the Acer’s Chromebook Plus 515, the Chromebook Plus 514 ( 8/10, WIRED recommends ) offers a similarly great experience for budget-conscious buyers. It’s not the prettiest Chromebook out there, but it speeds through most tasks with its Intel Core i3-N305 processor and 8 GB of RAM. Best of all, you can frequently find it on sale for less than its usual $399 price.

Asus Chromebook CM14 for $167 : If you only need the most basic bare-bones Chromebook, the Asus Chromebook CM14 ( 7/10, WIRED recommends ) is a solid contender. It’s firmly in the extreme budget end of the category, and the dull 14-inch display and stifling 64 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM are anything but fancy. However, the MediaTek Kompanio 520 processor consistently gave me an impressive 10 to 11 hours of battery life, which is great for a laptop that can be had for under $200 when on sale.

Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5 13 Inch for $379 : It’s a little on the older side now, but the Chromebook Duet 5 is still a solid pick if you want the detachable form factor of the Chromebook Duet Gen 9, but with a larger screen. Instead of an 11-inch display, you get an excellent 13-inch screen with the Duet 5 with great battery life from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 processor. Just don’t expect the slightly older hardware to pull miracles with Google’s new AI features and you should be happy with this pretty capable portable companion.

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Best Chromebook of 2024

There are a lot of Chromebooks out there to choose from but these are the best reviewed by CNET editors for work, home or school.

Our Experts

• More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds.

CNET’s expert staff reviews and rates dozens of new products and services each month, building on more than a quarter century of expertise.

What is the best Chromebook overall?

The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 is the best Chromebook we've tested this year. It's a member of the new Chromebook Plus laptop category that Google introduced at the end of last year that guarantees a minimum set specs, capabilities and features for Chromebook buyers.

With Chromebook Plus, you'll get the following:

• 12th-gen Intel Core i3 or AMD Ryzen 3 7000 processor or better
• 8GB or more of memory
• 128GB or more of storage
• 1080p IPS LCD or better
• 1080p webcam with temporal noise reduction

New Chromebook Plus laptops also include 12 months of Google One AI Premium , which includes Gemini Advanced, Gemini for Google Workspace, 2TB of cloud storage and everything else available in the $20-a-month Premium plan . 

The Chromebook Plus 514 hits these requirements and does so for just $350. And right now it's on sale at Costco for only $250. That's a great price for a well-rounded Chromebook that features a bright 14-inch display, roomy 512GB SSD, excellent webcam and long battery life.

Read more:   How to Take a Screenshot on a Chromebook

CNET's editors tested all of the Chromebooks on this list. Each member of our team has decades of experience testing and reviewing laptops. ( I've been reviewing Chromebooks since their start more than a decade ago.) We conduct performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and extensive hands-on use. All of the models on this list offer excellent performance and features for their price. Considering an older or used model? Check the auto-update expiration date for the model  before you buy. The AUE is when ChromeOS stops receiving system updates, now up to 10 years, but the date differs for every model, old and new.

If you're still unsure if this type of laptop is right for you, here's a breakdown of all that a Chromebook can and can't do compared with a traditional laptop . This list of the best Chromebook models is updated periodically.

Best Chromebooks for 2024

• Long battery life
• Excellent webcam performance
• Bright, matte touchscreen
• Durable build
• No keyboard backlight
• Lots of flex on the keyboard, touchpad
• Slower 5Gbps USB-C ports

Best overall Chromebook

Acer chromebook plus 514.

This 14-inch Chromebook Plus model delivers good performance and even better battery life, along with a respectably bright display with a matte finish to limit glare. And it has more storage than you'd typically find at its price. The model we reviewed lacked keyboard backlighting, which was a bit of a bummer, but Acer does sell models with a backlit keyboard that aren’t that much more expensive. With its mix of features and performance for the price, it’s easy to recommend the Acer Chromebook Plus 514 for school, work or home.

Acer Chromebook Plus 514 review

• Excellent port assortment
• 1440p-resolution webcam
• Tiny touchpad
• No microSD card slot
• Pen no longer included

Best premium Chromebook

Acer chromebook spin 714.

Acer's premium two-in-one doesn't stray far from its predecessor in terms of what it offers: sturdy design, nice-looking display, strong performance and long battery life. The main changes are an updated 13th-gen Intel Core i5 processor but Acer removed the garaged pen for use on the touchscreen display. It still works with USI pens. Less expensive options are available, but if you want a Chromebook that'll last for years, this is it. Keep an eye out for a sale on this one, too: It normally lists for around $700, but can often be found on sale for less than $600. 

Acer Chromebook Spin 714 review

• Includes a keyboard cover
• Works as a laptop or tablet
• Excellent overall value
• Touchpad isn't great
• Slower performance
• No headphone jack

Best Chromebook tablet 2-in-1

Lenovo duet chromebook.

The Lenovo Duet Chromebook (aka Chromebook Duet 3) is an awesome little 11-inch ChromeOS tablet with a detachable keyboard and touchpad. Its small size and performance aren't ideal for full-time use. The Chromebook Duet 3 is a good pick if you're looking for an affordable ultraportable device to get some work done on the go, sketch or jot down notes in class, or do simple stuff like email, web browsing, gaming, reading and streaming video.

Lenovo Duet Chromebook review

Things to consider when buying a Chromebook

Operating system: Chromebooks run on Google's ChromeOS operating system. It is different than MacOS and Windows and can't natively run software designed for those OSes. 

Apps:  Chromebooks run web apps, Android apps from the Google Play store and Linux software. With more software going online, it's easier than ever to find the applications you need; still, before you buy, check if any necessary apps are available for ChromeOS. 

Specs: ChromeOS doesn't require powerful components to run smoothly (which is why you can find many good Chromebooks for less than $400). Still, we recommend getting the best hardware you can afford because they can't be upgraded later. 

AUE: Google gives all Chromebooks an auto-update expiration date. This is when a specific model will no longer receive ChromeOS security and feature updates. These can be checked on Google's site before you buy, and newer models are supported for 8 to 10 years.

Security: Because it's nearly impossible for Chromebooks to be corrupted with viruses or other malware, you don't need to worry about extra software to secure a Chromebook.

How we test laptops

The review process for laptops consists of two parts: performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and extensive hands-on use by our reviewers. This includes evaluating a device's aesthetics, ergonomics and features in relation to price. A final review verdict is a combination of both objective and subjective judgments. 

We test all laptops with a core set of benchmarks, including  Primate Labs Geekbench 5 and 6 ,  Cinebench R23 ,  PCMark 10 , a variety of  3DMark  benchmarks (whichever can run on the laptop), UL Procyon Photo and Video (where supported), and our own battery life test. If a laptop is intended for gaming, we'll also run benchmarks from  Guardians of the Galaxy ,  The Rift Breaker  (CPU and GPU) and  Shadow of the Tomb Raider . We have a different set of tests specifically for Chromebooks since they can't run Windows or MacOS software. 

For the hands-on, the reviewer uses it for their work during the review period, evaluating how well the design, features (such as the screen, camera and speakers) and manufacturer-supplied software operate as a cohesive whole. We also place importance on how well they work given their cost and where the manufacturer has potentially made upgrades or tradeoffs for its price.

The list of benchmarking software and comparison criteria we use changes over time as the devices we test evolve. You can find a more detailed description of our test methodology on our  How We Test Computers  page. 

Chromebook FAQs

What is the difference between a laptop and a chromebook.

A Chromebook is a laptop running on Google's ChromeOS instead of Microsoft Windows or Apple's MacOS. This means Windows or Mac software cannot be directly installed and run on a Chromebook. Instead, Chromebooks are designed to use web apps ( like those for Microsoft Office 365 ), Android apps and Linux software. Because ChromeOS is built for efficiency and to take advantage of web or cloud services , the operating system runs well with less expensive hardware. While Chromebooks come in various sizes and designs, options are more plentiful with Windows laptops or Apple MacBooks, especially if you need to run demanding software. Again, ChromeOS is what really makes a laptop a Chromebook but there are some other differences to consider before you buy. 

What OS does a Chromebook use?

Chromebooks run on Google's minimalist  Chrome  operating system or ChromeOS. When ChromeOS launched more than a decade ago, it was essentially  Google's Chrome web browser . It has grown vastly in capabilities over the years but remains a simple, lightweight and secure operating system that can run briskly on even low-end components. Although ChromeOS can do much more today, quite a lot can be done entirely on the web these days. Take stock of everything you do on a daily basis and you may find there's nothing you can't accomplish with ChromeOS. 

What are the pros and cons of a Chromebook?

There are several pros to a Chromebook but one big con will instantly rule out buying one. Chromebooks are not natively compatible with Windows or Mac software. If you need to run a specific Windows or MacOS program, you cannot do so directly from a Chromebook. That said,  there are ways around it , including finding a substitute web or Android app, or a Linux equivalent. 

Also, if you need advanced photo- and video-editing capabilities, you'll want a Windows, Mac or Linux laptop. Basic photo and video editing are fine, but Chromebooks typically don't offer the graphics performance you need for demanding tasks or, again, the option to install Windows or Mac software and games. At least not directly on a Chromebook. Services like Adobe Photoshop on the web and Adobe Express make it possible to do more graphically demanding tasks. 

One other potential negative is the Auto Update Expiration date, or AUE. Currently, non-Google hardware is only supported for so long before it stops receiving ChromeOS and browser updates, including those for security. For models released now, the date is roughly eight to 10 years from the initial release of the device, but that's not always the case.  Google maintains a list of AUE dates for all models , and you should check it before you buy a Chromebook, new or used. 

There are many pros to a Chromebook, but the biggest is the price. While premium models start at around $500, you can find excellent options for everyday use for around $350. The Lenovo Duet Chromebook, for example, is a two-in-one Chromebook with a detachable keyboard cover so it can be used as a tablet or a laptop and starts under $400. Like other laptops, a higher-end Chromebook generally means a better experience. 

Also, some of the same reasons Chromebooks are popular for schools and businesses make them excellent family computers. Everyone in the family can have separate Google accounts, and signing in gives them access to only their stuff and not yours. Accounts for kids can be managed with  Google Family Link . It's nearly impossible for Chromebooks to be corrupted with viruses or other malware. If it isn't running quite right, you can reset it with  Chrome's Powerwash feature  and in a couple of minutes, the system is clean and fresh. Just sign into your Google account and the Chromebook is completely restored. 

Read more:   How to Reset a Chromebook in Under a Minute

Can I use any USB-C charger for my Chromebook? 

Yes and no. Since 2017, new Chromebooks all charge via their USB-C ports. Chromebooks typically need either a 45- or 65-watt power adapter. You'll need to check the specs for your specific model to find its power needs, typically found on the bottom of the Chromebook or on the manufacturer's site. (If it's given in volts and amps, you can get watts by multiplying the two together e.g. 15 volts x 3 amps equals 45 watts.) Using a charger that doesn't meet the power demands of the Chromebook may still charge it but at a slower rate. Also, if you're using the Chromebook while using a low-power charger, it will take even longer to charge fully. On the upside, Chromebooks will display a notification if the USB-C cable you're using won't support the necessary performance. 

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HP Chromebook x360 14c review: a stepping stone to something great

This chromebook didn’t blow me away, but i think the next one could be great.

By Monica Chin , a senior reviewer covering laptops and other gadgets. Monica was a writer for Tom's Guide and Business Insider before joining The Verge in 2020.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

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Chromebooks are growing up. When I first began reviewing them, Google’s Pixelbook was largely still the gold standard among Chrome OS-based devices that might appeal to working professionals (rather than younger students, as has been the primary Chromebook market for years on end). Just a short time ago, higher-end devices like the Pixelbook and Samsung’s Galaxy Chromebook were something of an anomaly. 

But in the past couple years, a new class of Chromebooks has been trickling in. We’ve been seeing more expensive, better-built devices that focus on elements like screen and webcam quality at the expense of features like weight and battery life, which have traditionally been Chromebook staples. While HP’s $659 Chromebook x360 14c doesn’t quite occupy what I’d characterize as the premium tier, it still aims to be a primary work and productivity driver, equipped with Intel’s 11th Gen processors and HP’s signature stylish build. 

Overall, I don’t think this is the best-value Chromebook in that group that you can buy. It’s a bit clunky, the keyboard and touchpad aren’t my favorite, the screen is glare central, and there are Chromebooks not too far off this price point that offer significantly more. But its standout features (the audio and webcam are both surprisingly good) will appeal to some. It’s a device I’m glad to see HP making and one I hope it will improve upon with future iterations. 

The 14c’s most unique draw is its build quality and design. This is a nice-looking and nice-feeling device. The accents and keyboard backlight are classy. The material doesn’t feel plasticky in the least. There’s little to no flex in the keyboard deck and screen (a rarity among Chromebooks at this price point) and no screen wobble that I observed. The lid did pick up some smudges, but these weren’t very visible unless I was really looking for them. (The fingerprint situation was much better than it is with, say, literally any dark MSI or Razer laptop.) 

The chassis is 3.35 pounds and 0.71 inches thick. That does make it a bit of a clunker, and you can find thinner and much lighter fare at this price point. I will say, though, that the device feels more portable than those numbers imply. The rounded corners and sleek look make it feel fairly unobtrusive and chic.

It’s also a very solid video conferencing tool. People I zoomed with remarked that I sounded good through the 14c’s dual microphones. The webcam was also surprisingly good — probably one of the best webcams I’ve used on a laptop this year. It provided accurate colors, even in not-great lighting. You can turn it on and off with a tiny physical button on the right side of the chassis. While this isn’t quite a physical webcam shutter, it is nifty and easy to reach. Even the audio was clear, with audible harmonies and no distortion, though I wish it got a bit louder. 

Those are the x360’s main benefits. Elsewhere, while there aren’t necessarily any major problems, I do have some mixed feelings. The touchpad, for example, is quite roomy and capable when it comes to palm rejection. But the sensitivity took some getting used to, and I never quite came around on it. It was so sensitive out of the box that I was having trouble navigating, but bumping the sensitivity down a notch made the cursor feel unusably slow. (I know I sound like a Goldilocks here, but this is not a problem I usually have with touchpads.) I had some skidding issues with the touchpad’s surface as well, which may have contributed. The keyboard is comfortable and nicely backlit but a bit slow and flat for my taste. I was a fair bit under my usual typing speeds. 

Agree to Continue: HP Chromebook x360 14c

Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when we review them, since these are agreements most people don’t read and definitely can’t negotiate.

To start using the HP Chromebook x360 14c, you’ll need to agree to the following:

• Sync your Chromebook apps and settings and Chrome browser bookmarks, passwords, and history with other devices your Google account is signed into
• Google Play terms of service

You can also say yes or no to the following:

• Sign in to a Google account
• Set up your fingerprint
• Google Drive backup
• Allow apps and services with location permission to use your device’s location
• Let Google Assistant access a screenshot of your screen and show you info related to what’s on your screen
• Google Assistant voice match
• Sync Wi-Fi networks with your Android phone

In total, that’s two mandatory agreements and seven optional agreements to use the HP Chromebook x360 14c.

The display is another area where I have mixed feelings. Colors and saturation were adequate — I didn’t have any problems with YouTube-watching and the like — and there’s stylus support. But this is still a 16:9 display, while many of our favorite Chromebooks have moved to taller displays with more room. The panel is also dim for this category, maxing out at just 250 nits. I was able to work indoors at medium brightness, but I had to deal with quite a bit of glare, and you might struggle to see the screen in brighter areas. 

The specs of our test unit are, in general, fine. The configuration I was sent has an MSRP of $659.99 (currently selling for $539.99) and includes a Core i3-1125G4, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. 

This is, by no means, the most powerful Chromebook you can buy (there are models out there with Core i5 processors for not too much more), but it blew through my pile of Chrome tabs and various apps, including Twitter, Messenger, and Gmail without issues. Zoom calls overtop all this, which can make some lesser-powered Chromebooks stumble, were a non-issue. 

More impressively, the x360 14c did this with little heat and almost no fan noise. I actually wasn’t convinced this thing had a fan after a day or so of testing because I was running a fairly heavy load and really not hearing anything. When I put my ear very close to the bottom of the deck, though, I could hear consistent whirring and occasional whine.

Still, plenty of Chromebooks that house more powerful chips (including Acer’s Chromebook Spin 713 ) have constantly blazing fans. If you’re mostly working in Chrome (as I do), you shouldn’t need more powerful specs than this, and you shouldn’t need to worry about annoying fans throughout your day. If you’re running more intense programs, something like the Spin 713 will likely give you faster performance.

Battery life was also acceptable, though unexceptional for a Chromebook. I averaged six hours and 24 minutes of consistent work. That’s about an hour worse than what we saw from the Spin 713, and plenty of budget Windows laptops last longer . And it wasn’t the fastest charger, juicing up to just 55 percent in an hour of light Chrome use.

Final consideration: the Chromebook x360 14c runs Chrome OS, as other Chromebooks do. This operating system improves every time I test it and has reached a point in the past year or so where I almost never run into major problems. Some Android apps that were a disaster on this device (Messenger, for example) are now functional. Others (like Slack) have just been removed from the Play Store. 

For someone like me who largely works in Chrome and doesn’t generally prefer Android apps, the experience isn’t much different from using Windows (especially since Microsoft has also moved all the icons to the center of the Windows 11 taskbar). The limiting factor for me is that there are still all kinds of programs you can’t run on Chrome OS without a bunch of extra work — I have to use Slack in my browser, for example, and I much prefer having the desktop client. And certain programs you might want to use, such as various members of the Adobe Creative Suite, don’t have browser equivalents at all. 

HP Chromebook x360 14c specs (as reviewed)

• Processor: Intel Core i3-1125G4 (up to 3.7 GHz, 8MB L3 cache, four cores, eight threads)
• Memory: 8GB DDR4-3200 MHz
• Storage: 128GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
• Weight: 3.35 lbs
• Dimensions: 12.66 x 8.11 x 0.71 inches
• Battery: 3-cell, 58Wh
• Display: 14-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) touch IPS display, 250 nits
• Camera: HP Wide Vision 720p HD camera with integrated dual array digital microphones
• Wi-Fi: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 (2x2)
• Bluetooth: 5

The Chromebook x360 is a fine device, but it’s not the best one you can buy. For comparison, we can look to the Chromebook Spin 713, currently our top Chromebook pick. This device (there’s only one 11th Gen model) is currently going for $699 at Best Buy , about $40 more expensive than the x360’s MSRP and $160 more than its discounted price at the time of this writing. (I have seen the Spin 713 on sale for as low as $569 in the past.) That affordability is most of the advantage the 14c has over the 713 — Acer’s device gives you a gorgeous, much higher-resolution, brighter, glare-free, 3:2 display, more storage, a more powerful processor, Thunderbolt 4 support, a fantastic keyboard and touchpad, and a thinner and lighter chassis. The 14c has a better webcam, better audio, and a nicer-looking chassis, but I think it’s still in a lower tier. 

Those who are really wed to the $659 list price might also consider Lenovo’s Flex 5 Chromebook . Its Core i3 SKU is currently listed at $564.99. This device has an equally sturdy build to the 14c and performs just as well, but it’s still much lighter and has a keyboard and touchpad that I much prefer. It’s more of a toss-up between these two, a fact which ultimately showcases how great of a deal the Spin 713 is. 

With all that said, I like what HP has done here. It’s made a device that looks and feels much nicer than all kinds of other devices you’ll encounter in the upper echelons of the Chromebook market. I like that the camera, microphones, and speakers — often neglected in laptops across the board — have clearly gotten significant investment. I think the 14c is only a few tweaks away from being a great laptop — but those are important tweaks, and it’s not quite there yet. I don’t think it offers a better-value package than other Chromebooks you can buy. There are just too many things that competitors do better. 

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Best Chromebooks in 2024: our top picks

These Chromebooks are great, affordable alternatives to Windows PCs and MacBooks.

• Best overall
• Best 2-in-1
• Best tablet
• Best gaming
• Battery life results
• Chromebook vs laptop
• How to choose

Frequently asked questions

• How we test

Even the best Chromebooks can't do very much without an Internet connection. But as long as you're online these cheap, low-powered laptops are perfect for browsing the web, working online and streaming games.

I know because my team and I review dozens of laptops from top vendors every year, including Chromebooks, so I know the limitations of ChromeOS keep these laptop's prices low without limiting their versatility.

That's why I recommend the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus as the best Chromebook for most folks because it's a cheap, durable ChromeOS 2-in-1 with a bright touchscreen and a comfy keyboard.

Those on a budget can get by with a plucky Lenovo Chromebook Duet tablet, but my personal favorite Chromebook to recommend is the Framework Chromebook because you can repair or upgrade it for years to come.

Read on for more recommendations, fuller explanations and a detailed breakdown of our battery testing so you can pick the best Chromebook for your needs.

The quick list

In a hurry? Here's a brief overview of the laptops on this list, along with quick links that let you jump down the page directly to a review of whichever laptop catches your eye.

The Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus is the best Chromebook for most people because it gives you enough power to rival a premium laptop despite costing half as much.

As long as you have an Internet connection this sturdy Chromebook is fast enough for everything you can do on it, and its bright 1200p touchscreen rotates 360 degrees around so you can use it as a tablet.

Plus, the keyboard is comfy to type on and you get plenty of ports for using accessories, so this is a decent device for remote learning or getting work done. And since it qualifies as a Chromebook Plus you get access to Google's advanced AI features, like Magic Eraser photo editing and text generation via Google Gemini.

While I wish Lenovo would throw in a stylus for free so it's easier to take full advantage of this Chrome 2-in-1's lovely touchscreen, I can't complain you're not getting a deal on this capable, affordable Chromebook.

Read more below

Lenovo's Chromebook Duet is technically a Chrome tablet, but it's such a good value we also recommend it for folks seeking a cheap Chromebook. The Duet is a great Chrome slate for browsing the web that comes with a detachable keyboard included at no charge, making it a great budget Chromebook to boot.

The Acer Chromebook Spin 714 is pricey but delivers good battery life, strong performance and a stylus and mouse packed in, making it our top pick for best 2-in-1 over the Flex 5i because the Spin's screen is brighter and more colorful—plus you get the stylus for free.

The pricier Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 is a well-built Chrome tablet that offers a nice screen and enough power to get work done. It's suited to browsing the web or remote learning, and the included keyboard cover is good enough for writing emails or short assignments.

Acer's Chromebook 516 GE is built for game streaming, pairing a speedy Intel CPU with a 16-inch WQXGA 120Hz display. It can't compete with dedicated gaming laptops, but its much cheaper and lighter.

Read m o re below

The Framework Laptop Chromebook Edition is a truly unique Chromebook that's designed to be easy to upgrade and repair, making it a great investment for folks who prioritize long-term value. The option to buy and hot-swap ports via the unique Expansion Card system is also unparalleled.

Alex Wawro is a lifelong journalist who's spent over a decade covering tech, games and entertainment. He oversees the computing department at Tom's Guide, which includes managing laptop coverage and reviewing many himself every year.

The best Chromebooks you can buy

Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.

The best overall

1. Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus

Our expert review:

Specifications

Reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

The Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus is a good all-around Chromebook 2-in-1 that's aimed at students, professionals and anyone who needs a cheap, sturdy Chromebook with a touchscreen that rotates 360 degrees, so you can use it like a hefty Chrome tablet.

I recommend it as the best Chromebook for most people because it does everything a Chromebook can and does it fairly well, from streaming movies on its bright 14-inch 1200p touchscreen to slinging spreadsheets in Google Sheets or Microsoft Office 365.

Our performance testing backs that up, as the Intel Core i3-1315U CPU and 8GB of RAM onboard give this Chromebook enough pep to launch and run any app without noticeable slowdown, and it outperforms all the other Chromebooks on this list in our Geekbench 6 CPU tests.

The Lenovo Flex 5i also qualifies as a Chromebook Plus, which means it has enough processing power onboard to let you use Google's AI tools, which help you do things like quickly edit images or offer suggestions when you're writing text.

However, the Flex 5i disappoints a bit in our battery tests, where it lasted roughly 7 hours and 36 minutes before conking out. That's okay but not great, and since we couldn't even get 8 full hours in our testing under controlled conditions you shouldn't expect this laptop to last you through a full day at school or the coffee shop unless you use it sparingly—so pack the charger for those days.

Bottom line: While this Chromebook can't last as long on a full charge as the best MacBooks or the best Windows laptops , it's the best Chromebook for most people that we've reviewed thus far because it's cheap, speedy and offers a bright display, a comfy keyboard and plenty of ports.

Read our full Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus review .

The best value

2. Lenovo Chromebook Duet

Sometimes, it's amazing how much you can get for $300 or less. The Lenovo Chromebook Duet, for example, is a 2-in-1 Chromebook that offers something Microsoft's Surfaces and Apple's iPads won't: it's keyboard is included by default. Not only do you get that value, but the Chromebook Duet's tablet display is excellent in its own right, with a surprising amount of color output and a crisp 1920 x 1200-pixel resolution.

Smaller hands may find the Chromebook Duet's keyboard a little on the tight side, but at this price, any keyboard is a surprise and a steal. Making things even better, the Chromebook Duet features ChromeOS tablet optimizations that are long overdue to take advantage of all of its screen space. On top of all of that? It lasted for 12 hours and 47 minutes, nearly 13 hours .

Read our full Lenovo Chromebook Duet review .

The best 2-in-1

3. Acer Chromebook Spin 714

The Acer Chromebook Spin 714 ($729 to start) is what we recommend as the best 2-in-1 Chromebook for most folks beacause it offers good battery life and speedy performance. Plus, it comes with a handy travel mouse and stylus, making it a great tool for getting things done on the go.

The HDMI out and USB-A port mean you still have basic connections without needing a dock or adapter cables, but USB-C and Thunderbolt 4 are also on tap for current- and next-gen devices, which you don't always get on even modern Chromebooks.

Plus, the 14-inch display looks good in person and is bright enough, even if it can't compete with other premium Chromebooks in that department. The included mouse and stylus give you lots of options for getting work done in either laptop or tablet mode. Most importantly, the battery should last you an entire workday.

Read our full Acer Chromebook Spin 714 review .

The best Chrome tablet

4. Lenovo Duet 3

The Lenovo Duet 3 (or Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3, depending on where you buy it) is a great Chrome tablet that can be yours for as low as $359. This is effectively a bigger, more expensive follow-up to the Chromebook Duet Lenovo released in 2020, a surprisingly capable and inexpensive Chrome tablet that's still on this list.

We loved the original Duet for its great battery life, solid performance and decent packed-in keyboard cover, all of which could be had for roughly $250. Lenovo's new Duet 3 costs a bit more, but it also delivers a bigger, brighter display, more ports, and the added power of a beefier Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 chip. It's one of the best Chrome tablets you can buy, and the fact that Lenovo includes the keyboard cover at no extra cost helps it double as a surprisingly effective 2-in-1 Chromebook. While the original Duet further down this list is a better buy if you're short on cash, those who can afford it will be well-served by this excellent Chromebook.

Read our full Lenovo Duet 3 Chromebook review .

The best for gaming

5. Acer Chromebook 516 GE

Advancements in ChromeOS and cloud gaming services have made the idea of a "gaming Chromebook" that can play the latest and greatest games a viable option, and the Acer Chromebook 516 GE was one of the first to hit the market.

With a starting price of $649, a big 16-inch (2,500 x 1,600 pixels) display and a surprisingly low (for a 16-inch gaming laptop) weight of 3.9 pounds, the Acer Chromebook 516 GE is a solid big-screen Chromebook for not a lot of money.

Admittedly, the 12th Gen Intel CPU, 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD in our review unit didn't give it a lot of horsepower or space to run games, but since you're meant to mostly play games via cloud gaming services like Amazon Luna, GeForce Now and Xbox Game Pass you just need a rock-solid Internet connection. And since it sports an Ethernet jack (a rarity on Chromebooks) you can count on being able to plug into wired Internet for optimal gaming.

Read our full Acer Chromebook 516 GE review .

The best for DIYers

6. Framework Laptop Chromebook Edition

The Framework Laptop Chromebook Edition is a ChromeOS variant of Framework's signature 13-inch laptop, which is more repairable and upgradable than anything else on the market. Each laptop Framework ships comes with a screwdriver so you can crack open the case and swap out parts yourself, and everything from the memory to the screen bezel to the mainboard is user-replaceable.

It's not for everyone, but if you're the DIY type and love the idea of being able to tinker with your laptop's innards this is the best laptop for you. The Framework laptop is currently only available for purchase from the Framework website , and the price tag starts at around $1k — though you can pay even less for the DIY Edition if you're willing to assemble your laptop yourself and provide your own memory, storage, operating system, and Wi-Fi card. It's a great ultraportable that doubles as a learning device you can take apart and fix or upgrade yourself.

Read our full Framework Laptop Chromebook Edition review .

Battery benchmarks: comparison

Battery life is one of the key things you should look at when deciding which Chromebook to buy, which is why we run every laptop we review through a series of battery tests to see how long it lasts on a full charge.

These tests do not reflect real-world use patterns since we have to set every laptop to the same settings in order to do fair comparisons. Thus, while the times listed here are accurate and useful as a comparison point, your own experience with a laptop's battery life will likely vary.

This is because when we run our battery test we set the laptop's display to 150 nits of brightness and have it endlessly browse the web via Wi-Fi until it dies. However, when you use your laptop you're likely adjusting brightness on the fly, doing all sorts of different tasks while perhaps listening to music or watching a video at the same time, and generally putting the machine through more of a workout than it gets in our test.

So while I stand by our testing and the battery life results we compare in the chart below, I want to be clear that your own experience will vary!

Chromebooks vs. laptops

One of the most common questions I get goes something along the lines of "What's the difference between a Chromebook and other laptops?"

While Chromebooks typically aren't as capable as laptops running Windows 11 or macOS Sequoia , they're also typically cheaper and easier to use. This is because Chromebooks are built to run on ChromeOS, Google's web-based operating system.

ChromeOS doesn't require much raw computing power or storage space to run, but it does require one key thing to be maximally useful: A fast Internet connection. That's because ChromeOS is designed to push as much work as possible to the cloud (i.e. far-away computers you connect to over the Internet) rather handling it locally, so it can run on as many devices as possible.

So while Chromebooks are typically cheaper than any competing laptops, they also lose a lot of their power when they lose their Internet connection. Sure, you can still work on your Google Docs saved in offline mode and maybe stream some episodes of a show you've saved to your Chromebook's storage drive, but unless you've taken precautions to prepare you're not going to be able to use your Chromebook for much without a good connection.

But if you expect to be online basically all the time, say because you need a laptop for home learning or just browsing the web while you're on the couch, a Chromebook is a great low-cost choice. They're perfect for anything you do on the web, whether that's streaming your favorite shows or researching projects for school.

If you pay for a great cloud gaming service like Nvidia 's GeForce Now or Xbox Game Pass you can even play some of the latest and best PC games right on a Chromebook—check out our guide to how to use GeForce Now on a Chromebook for a step-by-step walkthrough, but remember: you have to have a fast, strong Internet connection for best performance.

How to choose the best Chromebook for you

Finding the best Chromebook these days begins with a simple question:

Do you need a touchscreen? An increasing number of Chromebooks offer 2-in-1 designs with a touchscreen, allowing you to use Android apps from the Google Play store . However, those systems tend to be on the pricier side. If you want just a basic laptop on the cheap, a Chromebook without a touchscreen is the way to go.

Screen size: As a general rule, an 11-inch display is good for younger kids, but a 13-inch display is better for older students and business users on the move. If you want a Chromebook as a primary home laptop, we would opt for a 14-inch or 15-inch display..

Performance: Are you buying this for a kid who's got modest needs? A Pentium or Celeron processor should be enough. A Core M or Core i5 CPU is better for those who want more performance. Most budget Chromebooks start with 4GB of RAM, but we would get 8GB or more if you plan to work with a lot of tabs open. Because Chromebooks rely on the cloud, local storage isn’t that important, which is why 32GB tends to be standard. You’ll find 64GG to 128GB on more premium models.

Chromebook or Chrome OS Flex? One last thing to consider: do you need a Chromebook, or do you just want Chrome OS? Because if it's just the software you like, Google is starting to offer Chrome OS Flex , an education/enterprise-focused version of Chrome OS that you can install yourself on a Mac or PC. If you're of a technical mindset and have an old laptop that could use some up-to-date software on it, you could always give this a try.

What does 'Chromebook Plus' really mean?

This is a great question, and I get it a lot because in late 2023 Google rolled out a new classification of Chromebook: The Chromebook Plus.

The first Chromebook Plus Chromebooks started shipping in October 2023, and they're notable because Chromebooks which qualify as Chromebook Plus models will get access to some AI features that other Chromebooks won't.

Laptops which qualify as Chromebook Plus get improved video calls thanks to built-in AI features which help enhance things like image quality and lighting, for example. And select apps, like the Google Photos app, get extra AI-powered features like the Magic Eraser tool made famous by the Google Pixel phones.

So in short, Chromebook Plus is a new category of Chromebook that gets access to special features not available to all Chromebooks. To qualify for the Chromebook Plus program, a Chromebook must meet at least the following system requirements:

CPU: Intel Core i3 12th Gen or above, or AMD Ryzen 3 7000 series or above

RAM: 8GB or more

Storage: 128GB or more

Webcam: 1080p+

Display: 1080p IPS or better

If a laptop qualifies as a Chromebook Plus you should see a badge to that effect somewhere on the laptop's packaging.

How much should I spend?

In general, I recommend you spend as little as possible while getting a laptop that will meet all your needs for at least the next 3-5 years.

When buying a Chromebook, you should not be spending more than $800 unless you really want something fancy. In fact, most good Chromebooks can be yours for under $600, and while units in the $300-$500 range will be weak and potentially clunky (don't expect fancy trim), they should be more than good enough for browsing the web, writing emails and taking video calls.

Stay far away from any Chromebook which costs significantly more than $1,000. Some companies, like HP, occasionally sell Chromebooks with four-figure prices as premium business ultraportables or luxurious daily drivers, and if you're spending that much you should probably just get yourself a MacBook Air or Dell XPS 13.

How long will my Chromebook get updates?

You should check with your Chromebook manufacturer to get the most accurate and up-to-date information about how long it will be supported with general software and security updates.

However, in general you can expect 5-10 years of support. Google has said that every new Chromebook will be guaranteed 10 years of security updates starting in 2024, though Chromebooks released since 2021 will also have access to said updates.

How do I find the best Chromebook deals?

Chromebooks are typically considered cheap laptops, but that doesn't mean they're always affordable. As Chromebooks advance and Google and other companies cram more features into them, the prices are only going to increase.

First and foremost, check out our guide to the best Chromebook deals around right now. Our deals experts regularly look for great Chromebook sales and update that page regularly, so it's a good resource to bookmark.

Second, consider holding off on until a major shopping event like Black Friday, Cyber Monday or the back-to-school shopping season, which typically starts in early August but gets earlier every year. During these sales events retailers typically roll out their biggest discounts on the broadest variety of Chromebooks, so if you can afford to wait for a sale, do it!

Should I get a clamshell Chromebook or 2-in-1?

There are two major models of Chromebook available, and they have to do with how the screen folds.

Clamshell Chromebooks look like classic laptops, with a hinge in the middle that attaches the screen to the keyboard deck. The hinge doesn't extend farther than 180 degrees, so you can count on having the screen sturdily propped in front of the keyboard for marathon work sessions.

But 2-in-1 Chromebooks typically have some way to transform them into a tablet, either by detaching the screen from the keyboard or flipping the keyboard around 360 degrees to lay flat against the back of the screen. These Chromebooks have to have touchscreens, which is nice to have when you're running Android apps on your Chromebook. And the fact that they double as tablets can be nice when you're traveling or lying in bed and just want a screen to watch videos on.

However, 2-in-1 Chromebooks tend to be more expensive and their keyboards are rarely as good as the best you find on clamshell models. So if you want a productivity machine or something cheap, you probably want to lean more towards clamshells.

How much RAM do I need?

Storage isn't hugely important on a Chromebook since most of your work is stored online in cloud services like Google Docs or Microsoft 365. But RAM is more valuable because its what your Chromebook uses to store and move data around in memory in real-time.

That means having low RAM will cause your Chromebook to feel slow, sluggish and generally unsteady during daily operation. So in general I recommend you get a Chromebook with no less than 8GB of RAM, because anything less can cause your machine to start to feel slow and underpowered. If you can get a Chromebook Plus, so much the better.

If you see a Chromebook with 16GB of RAM, that's even better. But there's not much need to go above that, as 32GB of RAM and beyond is really only key when you're running demanding programs like modern games or video editing apps.

How we tested these Chromebooks

How we test these chromebooks.

To find the best Chromebook, we run every machine we review through a rigorous suite of benchmarks and real-world tests to gauge how it will perform during everyday use.

We measure the average brightness and color quality of each laptop's display using our in-house light meter and colorimeter. For general performance, we run our machines through tests that include JetStream 2 (a Web-based benchmarking suite that runs over five dozen tests designed to measure how well systems handle the kind of applications they’re most likely to encounter on the Internet) and a custom battery test that tasks the machine with browsing the internet over Wi-Fi until it runs out of juice.

For more information on our testing process, check out our guide to how we test .

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Alex Wawro is a lifelong tech and games enthusiast with more than a decade of experience covering both for outlets like Game Developer, Black Hat, and PC World magazine. A lifelong PC builder, he currently serves as a senior editor at Tom's Guide covering all things computing, from laptops and desktops to keyboards and mice. 

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• Don 1234567 Re: the Samsung Chromebook 4, I'm seeing two different models of it, differing by about $15. Tough to figure out what the difference is, but they have different model numbers, and are showing different processors: Celeron N4020 vs N4000. Is that it, just the different processor? The 4020 is the cheaper one. Reply
• Senor Sopa I usually look to Tom's Guide for advice, but I wonder about your credibility when you provide 2 links under the Lenovo Duet 3 Chromebook that go to the wrong device. Both the Walmart and Microsoft links point to the Duet 3i which is not a Chromebook at all but a Windows 11 device! Reply

Senor Sopa said: I usually look to Tom's Guide for advice, but I wonder about your credibility when you provide 2 links under the Lenovo Duet 3 Chromebook that go to the wrong device. Both the Walmart and Microsoft links point to the Duet 3i which is not a Chromebook at all but a Windows 11 device!

• View All 3 Comments

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Best Chromebook

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Notable Mentions

Recent updates, all reviews, the 5 best chromebooks - black friday 2024.

Chromebooks are increasing in popularity as more people work or attend classes remotely. Although they aren't powerful computers that can handle demanding workloads like video editing or 3D rendering, they're more than adequate for those who can access their work or class material online through a web browser. Because Chrome OS is a lightweight operating system designed to run on lower-end hardware, Chromebooks also tend to be more affordable than Windows and macOS laptops, making them a great option for students or those on a tight budget.

We've tested more than 135 laptops. Below, you'll find our recommendations for the best Chromebooks. You can also see our picks for the  best laptops for battery life , the best student Chromebooks , and the best travel laptops . Or, if you're interested in shopping for some Chromebook-compatible peripherals, check out our recommendations for the best printers for Chromebook .

The best Chromebook we've tested is the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 (2024). This 2-in-1 convertible feels surprisingly well-built compared to most Chromebooks, and its compact design makes it easy to carry around. It provides a great user experience, sporting a nice FHD+ display, an amazingly comfortable keyboard, and an excellent 1440p webcam. The display gets pretty bright, so you get good visibility in well-lit settings, and since this is a 2-in-1 convertible, you can flip the screen around and use it as a tablet. There's pen input support if you want to take handwritten notes or draw, but unlike the Acer Chromebook Spin 714 (2022) we tested, it no longer comes with a stylus, and there isn't a place to dock the pen for transport. The port selection is decent; it has two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4s, a USB-A, an HDMI, and a headphone jack.

Configuration-wise, although Acer had announced several Intel Meteor Lake CPU options (up to a Core Ultra 7 165U), it's only available with a Core Ultra 5 115U at this time. Don't worry, though, as the Core Ultra 5 is more than adequate to handle most productivity tasks like text processing, web browsing, and video playback. Battery life is great at around 10 hours of light use, enough to comfortably get you through a typical school or workday, and the laptop charges over USB-C, so you don't have to carry around a proprietary charger. Unfortunately, there's no fingerprint sensor or facial recognition camera for quick logins, which isn't all that surprising for a Chromebook. If you're new to Chromebooks, know that most applications that run on Windows and macOS don't work on Chrome OS, so you must ensure you can do everything through a Chrome browser or Android app.

See our review

Best Budget Chromebook

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i Chromebook 14 (2023) is our best budget pick. This affordable 14-inch model feels reasonably well-built and is easy to carry around. It's a good choice for younger students or anyone needing a simple device for light productivity tasks, web browsing, and video playback. You can configure it with an Intel N100, N200, or a Core i3-N305 CPU; we recommend the latter, as the N100 and N200 are much slower and only suitable for those with an extremely light workload. The Core i3 configuration (with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage) is often on sale for around $400 USD on Lenovo's website .

This model sports a 1080p touch-sensitive IPS panel. It looks very sharp, and unlike most budget-friendly Chromebooks, it gets bright enough to combat glare and doesn't look washed out. You also get an excellent 1080p webcam for video calls, another rarity among Chrome OS devices. The keyboard feels spacious but a bit mushy, and unfortunately, the touchpad is small and not always responsive, so it's best to use a mouse. The Intel Core i3-N305 can handle productivity tasks like text processing, web browsing, and video playback; just don't expect to do anything remotely intensive. If you're a heavy multitasker and need even more processing power, you're better off getting the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 above. Battery life is excellent at around 13 hours of light use.

Best Cheap Chromebook

If you want to spend as little as possible, consider the Acer Chromebook 315 (2020). This 15-inch device is great for younger students or anyone needing a simple laptop for emails and web browsing. Its compact design makes it easy to carry around, and its battery lasts a full day of light use, so you don't have to worry about bringing a charger. It has a full-size keyboard with a numpad, a reasonably large touchpad, and a decent 720p webcam. Ports include two USB-As, two USB-Cs, and an SD card reader. The USB-Cs support charging and video output.

You can choose between a 720p or 1080p panel for the display (with or without touch input). We recommend the 1080p option, as the 720p resolution just doesn't look that great on a 15.6-inch screen. The 1080p panel looks decently sharp and provides plenty of space for multitasking, but it doesn't get very bright, meaning you might have some visibility issues in well-lit settings. This laptop is only available with Intel Celeron CPUs. They can handle light workloads just fine, but you'll likely experience some slowdowns, more so than on the models we recommend above.

One more thing to bear in mind: all Chromebooks have an expiration date, meaning the date at which they stop receiving software updates. This Chromebook's end of life is in June 2026. It'll still work after that date, though you'll miss out on important security updates and bug fixes.

Best Chromebook For Multimedia

For media consumption, we recommend the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5 (2021), a 13-inch Chrome OS tablet with a kickstand and detachable keyboard. This form factor lets you take the keyboard off when viewing content, which is convenient in tight spaces like an airplane, and it also makes the device easier to hold and use as a tablet. You can pop the keyboard back on when you need to type something out; however, it feels cramped, so there are better options for typing long essays.

The feature that makes this device amazing for viewing media is its OLED display. It's sharp, bright, and colorful, and like all OLEDs, it displays deep, inky blacks. The speakers get reasonably loud. However, they don't have much bass and sound slightly unnatural. The battery lasts around eight hours of video playback or 10 hours of light use, and it charges over USB-C, so you don't have to deal with a proprietary charger. The display supports pen input if you want to take notes or draw, but you must buy the stylus separately.

Best Gaming Chromebook

The best gaming Chromebook we've tested is the Acer Chromebook 516 GE (2024). Chromebooks aren't typically associated with gaming, as, except for Android games from the Google Play Store, most games don't run on Chrome OS. Also, most Chromebooks lack the processing power to drive demanding titles. However, with increasing internet speeds, cloud gaming is a viable option, which is what this device is for. Services like NVIDIA GeForce NOW and Xbox Cloud Gaming (in Beta) do all the processing on their servers and stream the image to your device, somewhat like video streaming, thus removing the need for powerful hardware. Regarding Google Play Store games, some will run just fine, but some might not because these Play Store titles are primarily designed for Android smartphones and tablets. Also, you may come across titles with no keyboard, mouse, or controller support.

With all that out of the way, let's talk about the laptop itself. It feels pretty well built for a Chromebook, and while it's a little bulky, it isn't too heavy. It sports a 16-inch QHD+ display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a good response time, so you get a clear image in fast-paced, movement-heavy games. There's Wi-Fi 6E support and an Ethernet port for a fast and stable internet connection, which is essential for a good cloud gaming experience (a slow connection will cause increased latency and a loss in graphical quality). Battery life will depend on the type of game; you can get about five hours when playing locally processed games, which is a gigantic improvement over the older model from 2022, but you can likely get around eight hours when playing via a cloud gaming service.

• Acer Chromebook Plus 515 (2023): The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 (2023) is a good alternative to the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i Chromebook 14 (2023) if you need a Chromebook with more processing power. It also has a better keyboard and touchpad. However, its display doesn't get nearly as bright, meaning visibility may be an issue in well-lit rooms, and its battery life is much shorter at around eight hours of light use. See our review
• Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 (2022): The Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 (2022) is a good alternative to the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5 (2021) if you want something more compact. The downside is that it uses an IPS panel, so you won't get the deep blacks you would get on the Duet 5's OLED display. See our review

Oct 11, 2024: Replaced the Acer Chromebook 516 GE (2022) with the Acer Chromebook 516 GE (2024) because the 2022 model is discontinued.

Aug 28, 2024: Replaced the Acer Chromebook Spin 714 (2022) with the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 (2024) because the 2022 model is discontinued and hard to find.

Jul 25, 2024: Verified that all picks are valid and available. No change in recommendations.

May 28, 2024: Minor changes to shorten text and improve clarity. No change in recommendations.

May 02, 2024: Confirmed that picks are accurate and available. There are no changes in the recommendations.

Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best Chromebooks you can get. We factor in the price (a cheaper laptop wins over a pricier one if the difference isn't worth it), feedback from our visitors, and availability (no laptops that are difficult to find or almost out of stock everywhere).

If you prefer to make your own decision, here's the list of all of our Chromebook reviews, sorted by price from low to high. Most laptops are available in various configurations, and the table only shows the results of the model we tested, so it's best to see the full review for information about other variants.