The best Chromebooks allow you to get excellent laptop specs for much less than you'd spend on a Windows or Apple laptop. Yes, there's a compromise in that they can't run Windows or MacOs. However, there are very decent Android or web-based alternatives to most Windows and Apple software these days. So if you're happy with that, a Chromebook can make a lot of sense.
Another favorable aspects of the best Chromebooks is that they're known for their fantastic battery life. Up to 12 hours on a single charge is often possible – and some models are capable of even longer.
To help you find the right model, we've brought together the best Chromebooks in one place, for a range of budgets and use-cases.
The best Chromebooks in 2024
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Best Chromebook overall
The HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook is a premium enterprise Chromebook, offering exceptional performance, a sleek design, and robust security features, including Intel vPro technology for enhanced data protection. That makes it the best Chromebook on the market today, although it may be overkill for many casual users.
Designed for business professionals, the HP Elite Dragonfly includes features like a high-resolution touchscreen, a haptic-feedback trackpad, and a 5MP webcam with a privacy shutter. With Intel 12th-generation U-series processors, it run fast and responsively. It excels in productivity and connectivity, with options for Wi-Fi 6E and 5G/LTE.
While its price starts at $1,149 and climbs sharply for higher configurations, it remains more affordable than many business-class Windows devices. However, it's still very expensive for a Chromebook, and all that power means battery life is only average, lasting around eight hours under typical use. Overall, then, this is the Rolls Royce option, but people on modest budgets will be better served by models further down on our list.
Best Chromebook for most people
Although the Acer Chromebook Spin 314 (2023) isn't as powerful as our number one pick, it is much more affordable, while still offering a clean design and solid performance, along with 2-in-1 functionality. That makes it an excellent choice for students, and anyone seeking a lightweight device for everyday tasks.
Lightweight and easy to carry, it’s an ideal companion for on-the-go use. The keyboard offers a comfortable typing experience, while the trackpad is highly responsive, enhancing usability. The 14-inch Full HD touchscreen adds vibrancy to visuals and features a 360-degree hinge that allows it to transition seamlessly into tablet mode.
Its battery life is equally impressive, lasting up to 10 hours on a single charge. However, the device is not without limitations. The Intel Pentium processor and 4GB of RAM provide decent performance for web browsing, streaming, and light multitasking, although it can struggle with more demanding applications or software.
Best Chromebook for gaming
If you want a Chromebook for cloud gaming, leveraging streaming services like Nvidia GeForce NOW, here's our top pick. The Acer Chromebook 516 GE offers excellent performance and robust build quality, with standout features including a stunning 16-inch QHD display with a 120Hz refresh rate, efficient cooling, and remarkable battery life of over seven hours on a charge. The keyboard is comfortable, too, and includes RGB backlighting, enhancing its gaming appeal.
That said, it's not perfect. Audio quality is poor, so you'll need external headsets or speakers for optimal audio. Plus it's relatively expensive for a Chromebook. Despite these drawbacks, the Chromebook's lightweight design, excellent streaming performance, and solid port selection make it an appealing option for both cloud gaming and productivity tasks.
Best cheap Chromebook
When the first Chromebooks launched back in 2011, their low pricing was a major draw. HP's latest Chromebook 14 continues this philosophy. By far its best feature is its 14-inch Full HD 1080p screen, which is even an IPS panel, so you needn't worry about restricted viewing angles or weak contrast. Be sure you go for this Full HD (FHD) version of the Chromebook 14 though, as other models are available with lower-res screens, and we don't reckon their marginally lower price is worth the viewing compromise.
Of course, a Chromebook this cheap can't be an image-editing powerhouse: the Intel Celeron processor, 4GB of RAM and 32GB on-board storage in the entry-level versions of the HP Chromebook 14 make it the minimum you can get away with for web browsing, image viewing and HD YouTube viewing. But the payoff for having such power-efficient hardware is up to 11 hours battery life from a device that's exceptionally light and portable.
Best cheap, big screen Chromebook
This Chromebook is very cheap, but you get a superb 15.6-inch screen, with a crisp Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution and typically gorgeous IPS color and contrast. It's the sort of screen specs you'd normally expect to find on a Windows laptop costing three times the price of this Chromebook. The screen specs are ideal if you're a student working on graphics-heavy programs (think photo and video editing, or design work), or if you just want to watch Netflix and chill with a decent screen.
Note, though, that this is one of the few available with AMD processing internals rather than the almost ubiquitous Intel hardware. The CPU is only a 1.8GHz dual-core offering , so don't expect blazing-fast image editing, but it's good enough for productivity apps, web browsing and high-res image viewing. And as AMD tech is almost always cheaper than equivalent Intel products, that helps keeps the price of this excellent Chromebook incredibly low.
