The 4 Best Chromebooks of 2025
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.
Do not buy
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.
