Chromebooks might have a hard time competing with Windows laptops and MacBooks, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have their place.We’ve reviewed hundreds of laptops over the years, testing for important qualities like performance, battery life, and display quality — and we’ve found that Chromebooks consistently excel at performance and reliability.
You can find Chromebooks from Google, HP, Lenovo, Acer, and many others, and we’ve dug through them to put together this roundup of the best Chromebooks on the market.They’re incredibly accessible devices, and for the right person, a Chromebook can be the best laptop in terms of value.
The Chromebook laptops we’ve assembled here are something special.They offer solid performance, excellent functionality, and enough diversity to handle just about any need.Read on to see which models you should consider and maybe even acquire for yourself.
HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook Most innovative and feature-packed Chromebook Jump to details Acer Chromebook Spin 714 Best 2-in-1 Chromebook Jump to details Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5i Best Intel-based 2-in-1 Chromebook Jump to details Asus Chromebook Plus CM34 Flip Best AMD ChromeOS 2-in-1 Jump to details Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 A highly affordable Chromebook Jump to details Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Best OLED Chromebook Jump to details More Acer Chromebook 516 GE Best Cloud Gaming Chromebook Jump to details Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 Best budget clamshell Chromebook Jump to details Show 5 more items Mark Coppock/Digital Trends / Mark Coppock/Digital Trends HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook Most innovative and feature-packed Chromebook HP Dragonfly Pro Review Pros Extremely fast ChromeOS performance Excellent, bright display Good keyboard and superior haptic touchpad Solid build quality Convenient live support Cons Expensive Below average battery life Chromebooks haven’t historically kept up with Windows and macOS laptops in terms of overall innovations and features.But HP set out to change all that with the Dragonfly Pro Chromebook, an expensive machine that serves as the new standard bearer for the platform.
First, it’s well-equipped with Intel 12th-gen CPUs and 16GB of RAM, a lot of memory and power for the lightweight Chrome OS that makes it one of the fastest Chromebooks ever.It’s built as well as any premium laptop, and it enjoys an impressive 14.0-inch 16:10 display at a high 2560 x 1600 resolution.
But then toss in one of the first haptic touchpads on a Chromebook and you’re talking real innovation, with extra features that make the haptic engine even more valuable.
The display is touch- and pen-enabled, and HP included a fingerprint reader that’s also unusual for Chromebooks.The keyboard even has RGB lighting.The machine supports Chrome OS Enterprise, making it a secure and manageable choice for enterprises, and there’s live 24/7 support available directly from the machine for small business users and consumers.Taking everything into consideration, the Dragonfly Pro Chromebook is the best Chrome OS laptop you can buy today.
HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook Most innovative and feature-packed Chromebook Mark Coppock / Digital Trends Acer Chromebook Spin 714 Best 2-in-1 Chromebook Acer Chromebook Spin 713 2021 review: A supremely fast Chromebook Review Pros Very good performance Evo certification Thunderbolt 4 support Conservative good looks Good touchpad Excellent 3:2 display Cons Battery life took a step backward Chassis could feel a little sturdier Keyboard wasn’t as crisp as some If you’re looking for a 2-in-1 Chromebook that’s also powerful, you need the Acer Chromebook Spin 714.We reviewed the previous model, and the new version just ups the ante.It’s also not an overly expensive Chromebook, and it’s worth every penny.
An all-aluminum chassis reaches near premium laptop levels in terms of build quality, reminding you that you’ve bought something classy.Impressively, it has Thunderbolt 4 support which you don’t normally see on Chromebooks along with the usual selection of USB ports, a full-size HDMI port, and 3.5mm audio jack.
It’s powered by Intel 13th-gen CPUs with plenty of RAM and storage, making it a very fast Chromebook.
The 14-inch display is a 16:10 aspect ratio with a resolution of 1920 x 1200, providing sharp text and images.Acer added an active pen that has its own silo, an improvement from the previous model.
Don’t count on it being an ideal display for working outdoors under a bright sun but for everything else, it’s good quality with colors that seem natural and not oversaturated.The downside? Speaker quality is a little weak for listening to music but it’s adequate.
Acer Chromebook Spin 714 Best 2-in-1 Chromebook Related The 5 best portable monitors for laptops and gaming in 2024 7 best 2-in-1 laptops in 2024: tested and reviewed The 6 best XLR cables for microphones in 2024 Digital Trends Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5i Best Intel-based 2-in-1 Chromebook Pros Fast 13th-gen CPU Lots of RAM Convertible 2-in-1 format Touch and pen support Cons Just a FHD display Not the best colors Laptops under $500 are usually pretty flakey and not exactly what you want from a Windows 11 machine.That’s why something like the Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5i is perfect if you’re willing to switch to Google’s world.
As with the other Chromebooks here, Lenovo has packed in a processor you’ll see on many Windows systems — a 13th-generation Intel Core i3 processor.It also has 8GB of RAM, which is a ton given that Chrome OS runs fast on even less memory.
Gaming is a reasonable proposition given Intel Iris Xe graphics, and performance for work tasks will be excellent.You’ll be able to have a number of Chrome tabs open without suffering here.It’ll also work well with Google apps.Similarly, battery life will be respectable, if not amazing.
It offers about six to seven hours, which isn’t far off a working day if you factor in breaks.Crucially, at this price, it’s a fairly respectable figure even if it’s not exactly exciting.
Its 13.3-inch IPS LED touchscreen display offers a standard 1920 x 1080 resolution.It won’t offer the sharpest color quality and it only brightens up to 300 nits, so it’s not great for outdoor use.Its upward-firing speakers are similarly fine and nothing more, but again, this is a budget Chromebook.On the plus side, you do get a great typing experience.Keycaps are large with plenty of travel and responsiveness.
It’s also a backlit keyboard and its touchpad is large, if a little sloppy at tracking.You can always switch over to the touchscreen if that feels more comfortable.
For anyone on a tight budget, the Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5i may never truly excite, but it gets the job done.Perhaps best suited for a student, it works well while you’re on the move if you don’t mind not quite getting a full day’s worth of battery life.
Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5i Best Intel-based 2-in-1 Chromebook Digital Trends Asus Chromebook Plus CM34 Flip Best AMD ChromeOS 2-in-1 Pros Solid build quality Fast AMD processors Up to 16GB of RAM Up to 512GB of SSD storage Touch-enabled Cons FHD display only Anyone who’s been reading up on the differences between Chromebooks and laptops might be worried that they’re getting an inferior product by steering toward Chromebooks.The Asus Chromebook Plus CM34 Flip demonstrates that this really isn’t the case.It’s the kind of Chromebook you could mistake for a Windows-based system.
A flagship model, it offers phenomenal build quality.
Its aluminum shell looks great while also feeling solid in your hands.Even its hinge opens smoothly with one hand and feels solidly reliable.It doesn’t even shake when you switch it to clamshell, presentation, tent, or tablet modes — something you’re likely to do often thanks to the touchscreen.Reasonably small bezels and an 85% screen-to-body ratio prove useful and enhance the device’s good looks.
Elsewhere, port options are a little limited with just two USB-C 3.1 ports and no Thunderbolt support.The HDMI and USB-A ports help avoid the need for dongles, and there’s also a microSD card reader and a 3.5mm audio jack.The keyboard feels great too with oversized keycaps, 1.2mm of travel, and a snappy feeling while you use it.
A wide touchpad further helps with responsiveness.The 14-inch full HD display is sufficient with decent contrast, although it’ll struggle under direct sunlight.It’s matched up with some reasonable speakers for all your streaming needs.
Performance-wise, AMD processors provide good performance with a minimum of 8GB of RAM and 128GB of SSD storage.This is a Chromebook that can keep up with most of what you’re doing.You’ll be fine to open plenty of Google Chrome tabs at once, as well as switch between many different apps without an issue.Gaming is pretty smooth too.
Depending on what you’re doing, you should be able to count on about 10.5 hours of battery life.
For the average working day, you should be happy with these results even if it’s not quite as impressive as the best Chromebooks.
For anyone who needs a more high-end Chromebook, this is a great option.
Asus Chromebook Plus CM34 Flip Best AMD ChromeOS 2-in-1 Mark Coppock/Digital Trends / Digital Trends Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 A highly affordable Chromebook Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 Review Pros Good enough productivity performance Excellent battery life Surprisingly good display Folio kickstand and keyboard included Strong value Cons Keyboard is too cramped Limited to Wi-Fi 5 The Lenovo’s Duet 3 is a detachable tablet Chromebook for not a lot of money.That’s precisely why Mark Coppock mentioned it was “$300 well spent” in his review.It got high marks for decent productivity performance, excellent battery life, a surprisingly good display, and the folio kickstand and keyboard it comes with — all of it makes for a very strong value.If you’re a student, or on a budget, pay attention to that, because it means your money goes further here.
Inside the unit is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 processor and 4GB of system memory, which is reasonable given the price.The 64GB of eMMC flash storage offers space to store photos, documents, and offline files, but Chromebooks also benefit from Google’s cloud storage solution and Google Drive.
With up to 12 hours on a single charge, you have plenty of power and support to get work done, do some studying, listen to music, watch some media, or do whatever else you want to do on the go.You also get WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, a 5MP user-facing camera for video calls, and an 8MP “world” or rear-facing camera for high-quality shots.Overall, it’s a great little device.
Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 A highly affordable Chromebook Mark Coppock / Digital Trends Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Best OLED Chromebook Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook Review Pros Acceptable productivity performance Very long battery life Excellent display Solid build quality Affordable Cons Display is in the old-school 16:9 aspect ratio Limited to Wi-Fi 5 Kickstand add-on is inconvenient Lenovo’s Duet 5 is a Chromebook tablet with an OLED display, one of the first and also one of the most inexpensive.
The beautiful 13.3-inch beautiful OLED display is definitely the tablet’s highlight, providing the usual excellent colors and deep contrast that only OLED can provide.The tablet’s portability pairs nicely with an impressive degree of power, thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon SC7180 octa-core processor and 8GB of system memory.
The 128GB of eMMC flash storage offers plenty of space to store photos, documents, and offline files when you need them.The Duet 5 has WiFi 6 onboard for faster, more stable wireless connections, but also offers wired connectivity too when you’re near an Ethernet port.
The Lenovo Duet 5 offers acceptable productivity performance, long battery life, excellent display, and solid build quality.It also offers surprisingly good build quality for the price, along with an included keyboard that’s comfortable and offers a usable touchpad.
Overall, it’s one of the better Chromebook bargains.
Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Best OLED Chromebook More Aaron Leong Acer Chromebook 516 GE Best Cloud Gaming Chromebook Acer Chromebook 516 GE Review Pros Performance and endurance Great display Good price for the specs Well-built Play AAA games without your lap turning into lava Cons Gaming-related bugs and crashes No touchscreen Could use customizable keys It’s a bit strange seeing a Chromebook that’s branded for gaming, especially since that’s not what their core purpose is.However, Acer certainly pulled it off here.You can play AAA games without your lap turning into lava because the system is overheating.That’s possible thanks to all of the power under the hood.
Cloud gaming via GeForce Now or Xbox Cloud Beta is the way to go, but this system is fully capable of that and more.Chromebooks also have access to Google Play and this thing will certainly handle any Android-viable games you throw at it.
It has an Intel Core i5 processor, running at a base clock speed of 1.7GHz, paired with 8GB of energy-efficient LPDDR4 system memory — expandable up to 16GB.Games, movies, and streaming media look fantastic on the 16-inch TFT LCD at a WQXGA resolution (2560 by 1600), with a brightness rating of 350 nits.The 256GB NVMe solid-state drive is faster and larger than what you get with most comparable systems.
Our review clearly lays out the details of using the system, especially for cloud gaming.It’s also praised for being well-constructed with a durable chassis, has excellent specs for the price, and delivers great performance and endurance — battery life included.
Acer Chromebook 516 GE Best Cloud Gaming Chromebook Digital Trends Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 Best budget clamshell Chromebook Pros Fast Intel CPUs Up to 16GB of RAM Up to 256GB of storage Solid build quality Cons Only an FHD display Most of our budget Chromebooks have been 2-in-1s, but you can find very affordable clamshell Chrome OS laptops as well.The Chromebook Plus CX34 is one such laptop, offering a solid build that’s backed up by MIL-STD 810H military certification for durability.
Toss in up to a 13th-gen Intel Core i5 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage and the Chromebook Plus CX34 can burn through demanding Chrome OS workflows.
The 14-inch display offers just FHD resolution, not the best colors, and just 250 nits of brightness, showing where a corner was cut to attain such an affordable price.
The keyboard offers a good typing feel and there are plenty of ports.The latter include two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
You don’t have to spend a lot to get a great Chrome OS clamshell.
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