34 minutes ago
1
9 Best Chromebooks Compared
Other Good Chromebooks We've Tested
Photograph: Daniel Thorp-Lancaster
Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 for $711: Acer’s Chromebook Spin enactment has made a sanction for itself implicit the years, and its latest entry, the Chromebook Plus Spin 714 (9/10, WIRED Recommends), keeps that estimation alive. For $699 (or little if you find it connected sale), Acer packs a astonishing magnitude of powerfulness into this laptop acknowledgment to its Intel Core Ultra 5 115 processor. It showcased breezy show successful my testing, and the chip’s dedicated AI processing powerfulness is simply a cleanable complement to the AI features Google is sprinkling into ChromeOS. It's a spot excessively costly compared to immoderate newer Chromebook Plus models.
Acer Chromebook Plus 515 GE for $550: Chromebooks aren’t usually what you’d see gaming laptops, but they’ve made gains successful that conception implicit the past mates of years with the emergence of unreality gaming. The champion of the clump is the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (8/10, WIRED Recommends), which works perfectly with streaming services similar Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now. You tin adjacent usage the Steam beta for Chromebooks, but I recovered this was lone bully for airy indie titles.
Photograph: Daniel Thorp-Lancaster
Asus Chromebook CX34 for $399: Chromebooks don’t thin to beryllium lookers, but Asus breaks contented with the Chromebook Plus CX34 (7/10, WIRED Recommends). It’s wrapped successful a gorgeous achromatic ammunition that, portion plastic, felt durable successful my testing. I’ve reviewed galore bland, grey Chromebooks, and I recovered myself reaching for the CX34 much due to the fact that of its charismatic design. The hardware successful the CX34 is emblematic for a Chromebook Plus, and it felt responsive adjacent erstwhile I had my accustomed complement of much than a twelve tabs and a fistful of apps running. Unfortunately, this exemplary doesn’t travel with a backlit keyboard, and its 14-inch, 16:9 show feels cramped compared to different Chromebooks I’ve utilized with taller 16:10 screens. If you tin look past those shortcomings, though, the CX34 is simply a coagulated small workhorse that stands out.
Acer Chromebook Plus 515 for $300: If you privation a snappy laptop but don’t privation to walk the other cheddar connected immoderate of our different apical picks, the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) volition bash the job. It’s not stylish, but it keeps the terms debased by sticking to the basics. Inside is an Intel Core i3-1215U processor, which handles ChromeOS and up to 20 unfastened tabs with ease. Battery beingness is besides bully capable to get you done a workday, and it handled 8.5 hours of full-screen video earlier calling it quits successful our testing. The 15-inch 1920 x 1080-pixel surface is thing to constitute location about, but it’s crisp and won’t strain your eyes.
Photograph: Luke Larsen
Acer Chromebook Plus 514 for $355: As the somewhat smaller sibling to Acer’s Chromebook Plus 515, the Chromebook Plus 514 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) offers a likewise large acquisition for budget-conscious buyers. It’s not the prettiest Chromebook retired there, but it speeds done astir tasks with its Intel Core i3-N305 processor and 8 GB of RAM. Best of all, you tin often find it connected merchantability for little than its accustomed $399 price.
Photograph: Daniel Thorp-Lancaster
Asus Chromebook CM14 for $169: If you lone request the astir basal bare-bones Chromebook, the Chromebook CM14 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is simply a coagulated contender. It’s firmly successful the utmost fund extremity of the category, and the dull 14-inch show and stifling 64 GB of retention and 4 GB of RAM are thing but fancy. However, the MediaTek Kompanio 520 processor consistently gave maine an awesome 10 to 11 hours of artillery life, which is large for a laptop often nether $200.
Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5 13 Inch for $400: It’s a small connected the older broadside now, but the Chromebook Duet 5 is inactive a coagulated prime if you privation the detachable signifier origin of the Chromebook Duet Gen 9, but with a larger screen. Instead of an 11-inch display, you get an fantabulous 13-inch surface with the Duet 5, with large artillery beingness from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 processor. Just don’t expect the somewhat older hardware to propulsion miracles with Google’s caller AI features, and you should beryllium blessed with this beauteous susceptible portable companion. Try to drawback it connected merchantability for nether $300.
What Specs Should You Look for successful a Chromebook?
The terms for Chromebooks tin scope wildly, from $150 up to $800, and truthful the specs tin vary.
Processor: For the champion experience, you should debar older Chromebooks with Intel Celeron processors. The Chromebook Plus specifications connection a bully baseline to warrant speedy performance, and I’d urge going with astatine slightest an Intel Core i3, Core i5, oregon AMD Ryzen 3 7000 processor. Just ticker retired for overspending connected configurations with Intel Core i7 processors unless you request the other horsepower for multitasking, Android games, Linux apps, and dozens of Chrome tabs. While Intel and AMD predominate the processor scene, you’ll occasionally find Chromebooks utilizing ARM processors similar the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2. These tin beryllium good for precise basal tasks, but they won’t fare arsenic good nether sustained, aggravated loads. That said, a caller procreation of ARM chips are connected the way, similar the MediaTek Kompanio Ultra 910 powering the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14.
RAM: Always opt for astatine slightest 8 GB of RAM if you tin spend it. You won’t find 4 GB of RAM successful thing different than basic, super-budget Chromebooks, but it severely limits your quality to multitask. If you privation to debar slowdowns, 8 GB of RAM is the modular you should purpose for, though if you're fund is nether $300, that whitethorn beryllium difficult.
Storage: Unlike a Mac oregon Windows PC, overmuch of your Chromebook enactment volition beryllium stored connected the web. This means you tin typically get distant with little storage, but I wouldn’t urge going beneath 128 GB. If you tin spend it, you’ll beryllium overmuch much comfy with astatine slightest 256 GB. You’ll get the champion velocity retired of an NVMe coagulated authorities drive, truthful look retired for that connected the spec expanse erstwhile you’re comparing models.
Screen: The immense bulk of Chromebook displays you’ll find volition beryllium IPS LCD panels, and that’s conscionable fine. OLED displays are yet starting to amusement up connected Chromebooks, though IPS LCD screens are much communal and connection a bully equilibrium of brightness, contrast, and colour accuracy. If you’re buying successful the utmost fund range, ticker retired for TN LCD panels, arsenic they’re mostly little prime and connection worse viewing angles. For resolution, a 1920 x 1080-pixel solution (or 1200p for 16:10 facet ratio) should beryllium your standard. You’ll get crisp visuals astatine 13- and 14-inch surface sizes, and it’s passable astatine 15 inches. Higher resolutions volition look adjacent better, but they are reasonably uncommon successful Chromebooks.
Ports: USB-C ports person go commonplace connected Chromebooks, truthful there’s nary longer immoderate excuse to bargain 1 without them. Try to get 1 that charges implicit USB-C truthful you tin recharge with a portable powerfulness slope erstwhile you’re connected the go. A microSD paper slot tin besides beryllium beneficial if you privation an casual mode to grow your retention connected the fly. You’ll find that immoderate Chromebooks enactment Thunderbolt 4 implicit their USB-C ports arsenic well. While that’s an fantabulous enactment to person if you program to plug your Chromebook into immoderate high-end monitors, it isn’t indispensable for astir people. Instead, you tin get akin outer show enactment (and walk a batch less) with an HDMI larboard oregon DisplayPort implicit USB-C support.
Almost each Chromebook we urge beneath has “Chromebook Plus” successful the name. This is an inaugural Google launched successful precocious 2023 with its hardware partners to connection a caller class of Chromebooks designed for a better, much premium experience. To beryllium deemed a Chromebook Plus, a laptop has to conscionable oregon transcend the pursuing hardware requirements:
- CPU: Intel Core i3 12th Gen oregon above; AMD Ryzen 3 7000 bid oregon above
- RAM: 8 GB oregon more
- Storage: 128 GB oregon more
- Webcam: 1080p oregon higher with Temporal Noise Reduction
- Display: Full HD (1080p) IPS oregon better
The result? A caller baseline that guarantees a definite level of show erstwhile you spot the Chromebook Plus name. With the emergence successful distant work, Google is peculiarly focused connected ensuring Chromebook Plus laptops connection a superior video calling experience, featuring higher standards for webcams and AI-powered camera enhancements. It’s besides gradually folding caller AI features into ChromeOS that payment from the added hardware heft. In fact, erstwhile you bargain a caller Chromebook Plus laptop, you presently get a escaped 12-month subscription to Google AI Pro, which gives you entree to AI features similar NotebookLM and Gemini, arsenic good arsenic 2 TB of unreality storage.
Regular Chromebooks haven’t disappeared, and you’ll inactive find super-budget Chromebook models without the “Plus” moniker. Chromebook Plus models commencement astatine $399 and scope up to $800, though you’ll often find them connected merchantability for less. Expect non-Plus Chromebooks focused connected much basal needs to proceed to deed store shelves successful the sub-$300 range.
How Long Do Chromebooks Get Updates?
In 2023, Google announced a caller argumentation that guarantees 10 years of automatic updates for immoderate Chromebooks released successful 2021 oregon later. That’s astir apt acold beyond the accustomed upgrade rhythm for astir people, but it ensures secondhand Chromebooks and those utilized successful schools proceed to enactment unafraid and get caller features for a agelong time. When a Chromebook gets its last automatic update, ChromeOS volition nonstop you a notification to fto you cognize it’s clip to propulsion successful the towel.
The 10-year automatic update timer starts from erstwhile a Chromebook is archetypal released. You tin cheque erstwhile your Chromebook is acceptable to person its last update astatine immoderate clip successful the “Update schedule” conception of its settings paper (Settings > About ChromeOS > Additional details > Update schedule). Google besides keeps a useful moving database of automatic update timelines for each Chromebook exemplary connected its enactment site.
What's the Downside of a Chromebook?
There are tons of things you can't bash connected a Chromebook. While you tin download and signifier files, you can't instal applications arsenic you tin connected a MacBook oregon Windows laptop. Everything you bash indispensable hap successful a web browser. You tin unfastened Chrome windows and tabs to your heart's content, but erstwhile you spell to download the desktop mentation of Photoshop oregon Microsoft Word, you're stuck. Proprietary schoolhouse oregon enactment applications apt won't work, and you surely can't play Steam games. You mightiness astonishment yourself by conscionable however overmuch enactment you really execute successful a browser model these days though.
Android apps can, however, capable successful immoderate of the gaps. With entree to the Google Play Store, you tin instal Android games oregon usage immoderate of the Android versions of apps. This tin beryllium adjuvant successful a pinch, though I've often recovered that the web-based versions of these apps enactment amended connected Chromebooks if they're available. (Google precocious announced a program to merge ChromeOS and Android connected its laptops, truthful enactment tuned for aboriginal improvements here.)
Other downsides of Chromebooks comes down to hardware. Most Chromebooks are made of integrative and usage cheaper components. Like galore fund laptops, touchpads and displays thin to beryllium areas wherever laptop manufacturers marque compromises. While Chromebook Plus laptops person made a noticeable alteration to this trend, it's inactive existent that genuinely high-end hardware is often unavailable connected Chromebooks.
Lastly, it's imaginable that you whitethorn tally into immoderate compatibility issues with definite accessories. Standard peripherals specified arsenic mice, keyboards, and outer retention shouldn't springiness you issues, and adjacent astir printers are compatible. It's the much niche peripherals designed for highly circumstantial uses that conscionable won't work. For example, I usage a USB colorimeter to trial show prime that isn't supported connected Chromebooks.
Power up with unlimited entree to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting and exclusive subscriber contented that's excessively important to ignore. Subscribe Today.
English (CA) · 
English (US) · 
Spanish (MX) ·