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Chromebooks will always be known for covering the very lowest budgets, even under $200. But these days, the best Chromebook Plus devices can be real alternatives to Windows laptops and MacBooks. 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 machine.
ChromeOS still doesn’t compete with Windows and Macs 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.
Updated July 2025: We've added the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 and Asus Chromebook CX15.
Best Chromebook Overall
Chromebook Plus 14
Lenovo was one of the first to release a Chromebook Plus model, and so it seems fitting that it would also perfect the formula. The Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is quite simply the best Chromebook I've ever used. It avoids the trade-offs that so many laptops under $700 fall for, using ugly screens and clunky touchpads. The Chromebook Plus 14 bucks this trend, adding a gorgeous OLED panel and a smooth touchpad that feels premium. It even comes with a decent sound system and webcam, elements of cheap laptops that are often ignored.
With some new Windows laptops encroaching on Chromebook territory in terms of price, it was beyond time we got something that upped the ante—and that's exactly what the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 does. Throw in some great performance, exclusive AI features, and a long-lasting battery, and you've got the makings of something special. My only real complaints are that I wish it had a couple more ports, and it's difficult to open with one hand. For $650, though, I can't recommend it highly enough.
Specs Display: 14-inch, 1920 x 1200, OLED CPU: MediaTek Kompanio Ultra 910 RAM: 12 or 16 GB Storage: 128, 256 GB Best Chromebook Under $300
Chromebook CX15
This list is full of great Chromebook Plus models, but many people searching for a Chromebook are likely looking for something cheap. When you get down to under $300, Chromebooks are the only game in town, playing to the strength of the platform. The best in this price range I've tested is the Asus Chromebook CX15. This new 2025 release is a surprisingly solid laptop, featuring a 1080p display that goes up to 300 nits of brightness. It's a well-built and attractive machine that's perfect for students and other budget-oriented shoppers.
The Intel Celeron N4500 inside isn't the most impressive chip in the world, and I have some gripes with the touchpad, which feels clunky. The screen's colors are a bit off, too, which is no surprise for a laptop at this price. But for well under $300, you won't find a better computer, especially with sale prices dipping under $200. You'll get a better experience if you can spend a few hundred more, but it's hard to deny the value proposition of the Asus Chromebook CX15.
Specs Display: 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080, LCD CPU: Intel Core Celeron N4500 RAM: 4 GB Storage: 128 GB
Best $500 Chromebook
Flex 5i Chromebook Plus
$500 has become a sweet spot for Chromebook Plus laptops. They have premium features and build quality, but don't charge more than what people are willing to pay for a ChromeOS device. Among the many options, the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus stands out (8/10, WIRED Recommends). It's still one of the fastest, most versatile Chromebooks we’ve tested. While it isn’t necessarily a looker, its beefier hardware, 2-in-1 design, and $499 price make it a great overall choice for most people.
The 14-inch 1920 x 1200-pixel resolution screen ensures that it feels modern, a taller screen being 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 Display: 14-inch, 1920 x 1200, LCD CPU: Intel Core i3-1315U RAM: 8 GB Storage: 128, 256 GB An Affordable Chromebook Plus Laptop
Chromebook Plus 515
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 in our testing. The 15-inch 1920 x 1080-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 Display: 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080, LCD CPU: Intel Core i3-1215U RAM: 8 GB Storage: 256 GB
Best Chromebook Upgrade
Chromebook Plus Spin 714
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 less 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 Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 comes with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of SSD storage. 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 Display: 14-inch, 1920 x 1200, LCD CPU: Intel Core Ultra 5 115 RAM: 8 GB Storage: 256 GB Thinnest and Lightest Chromebook
Galaxy Chromebook Plus
If you're looking for portability in a Chromebook, look no further. The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is the thinnest Chromebook we've ever reviewed, measuring in at an insane 0.47-inch thick and 2.58 pounds. Aside from the MacBook Air, this is one of the thinnest laptops you can buy. Despite its portable bona fides, Samsung manages to pack the Galaxy Chromebook Plus full of impressive hardware, too. 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.
The Galaxy Chromebook Plus was among the first Chromebooks to offer an OLED screen, which has fortunately caught on with newer devices like the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14. The screen technology makes everything pop, with vibrant colors and great contrast. The only problem is that the large 15.6-inch screen is only 1080p and in a 16:9 aspect ratio. The taller 16:10 shape is more modern, and a sharper resolution would have been great to see for a Chromebook like this.
Specs Display: 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080, AMOLED CPU: Intel Core 3 100U RAM: 8 GB Storage: 256 GB
Best 2-in-1 Chromebook
Chromebook Duet Gen 9 (11 Inch, MediaTek)
The Lenovo Chromebook Duet Gen 9 (8/10, WIRED recommends) is one of my favorite 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 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 upgrading 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 Display: 11-inch, 1920 x 1200, LCD CPU: MediaTek Kompanio 838 RAM: 8 GB Storage: 128 GB (eMMC) Another Good 2-in-1 Chromebook
Chromebook Plus x360
I've had an excellent time using this 2-in-1 Chromebook Plus as my go-to laptop when 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 1920 X 1200-pixel resolution is sharp on this 14-inch IPS LCD panel. The touchscreen is a nice option when I need to make a quick adjustment, though I wish ChromeOS had slightly larger touch targets. I'm quite happy with the keyboard's key travel, 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 were 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 Display: 14-inch, 1920 x 1200, LCD CPU: Intel Core i3-N305 RAM: 8 GB Storage: 128 GB
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Best Chromebook for Gaming
Chromebook Plus 516 GE
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. A faster refresh rate makes all the animations on-screen feel smoother, which is a boon for gaming. 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 flashy as the RGB lighting on dedicated gaming keyboards.
Specs Display: 16-inch, 2560 x 1600, LCD CPU: Intel Core 5 120U RAM: 8 GB Storage: 256 GB Best-Looking Chromebook
Chromebook Plus CX34
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 Display: 14-inch, 1920 x 1200 CPU: Intel Core i3-1215U RAM: 8 GB Storage: 256 GB
Other Good Chromebooks We've Tested
Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 for $500: 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.
Acer Chromebook Plus 514 for $332: As the slightly smaller sibling to 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 $165: 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 $299: 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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