The best Chromebooks of 2025, tested and reviewed by us

Read Mashable's full review of the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus.

The Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus is a sturdy, speedy hybrid that's not too expensive. I think it's the best Chromebook for most people, including college students who might want a cheap secondary laptop for note-taking.

The Flex 5i Chromebook Plus finds a happy medium between premium features, strong performance, and affordability. Put another way, it goes above Google's "Chromebook Plus" category minimums without feeling superfluous.

For starters, this bad boy might get confused for a regular Windows laptop if it weren't for the Chromebook Plus logo in the corner of its lid. "I would’ve guessed [it] was a $1,000 laptop if I didn’t already know its price," said Mashable contributor Sarah Chaney. "The build quality is superb." Its hinge isn't wiggly or creaky, and its aluminum lid isn't a fingerprint magnet, either. It has a bouncy, comfy keyboard and a good mix of ports, including a nice-for-creatives microSD card reader.

The speakers on the Flex 5i Chromebook Plus are also surprisingly good. Most laptops' speakers are generally pretty lousy, but Chaney found them to be on par with those on her daily driver, the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 (Gen 9), which has a snazzy rotating Bowers & Wilkins soundbar.

The Flex 5i Chromebook Plus' 1200p touchscreen display isn't the most vibrant or smoothest one we've ever encountered, but it's sufficiently crisp and totally respectable for everyday use.

The Flex 5i Chromebook Plus is the third-fastest Chromebook we've tried by a slim margin. Its Intel Core i5-1334U CPU earned a multi-core score of 7,024 in Geekbench 6's CPU benchmark. It's only 8 percent slower than the $650 Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE, our top performer, and a mere 2 percent slower than the splurge-worthy $699 Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514, which has a much newer processor. You'll get just over 12 hours of battery life from it, too. (The cheaper Acer Chromebook Plus 516 lasts two hours longer but runs 24 percent slower.)

While the fan on the Flex 5i Chromebook Plus ran almost constantly during our testing, it's very quiet and good at keeping the chassis cool.

As a final note, the Flex 5i Chromebook Plus we tested is a Costco exclusive that you can buy online without a membership; it costs $15 to ship. Another configuration is available at Best Buy with a less powerful Intel processor and half the storage (128GB versus 256GB), but it's often on sale for just $350.

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This 16-inch Acer clamshell model delivers the primo Chromebook Plus experience under $500 (and as little as $300 when it's on sale), making it the best Chromebook for budget shoppers. If you want a good amount of screen real estate for multitasking and watching movies, I also think it's the best big-screen Chromebook for most people.

Out of all the Chromebook Plus models under $500, the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 has the best specs by far. It's powered by an Intel Core i3-1315U processor that earned a Geekbench 6 multi-core score of 5,670 in our testing, affording it mid-range power despite its entry-level price tag. It's 24 percent slower than the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus, which is $120 more, but 21 percent faster than the Acer Chromebook 312, which is $30 less. On the low end, that's a notable performance jump for a small chunk of cash.

Acer has also equipped this Chromebook Plus with a 1200p display that looks brighter than its 300 nits in person. For reference, the three other Plus-tier models that retail for less than $500 as of late 2025 have older, less powerful CPUs and 1080p displays that just meet the category's minimums.

The battery life of the Chromebook Plus 516 is excellent: It held out for 14 hours and 7 minutes in our testing, making it the second-longest-lasting Chromebook we've ever tried.

There are a few notable differences between this Chromebook and the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE, the version that's optimized for cloud gaming (see below). The GE model has a nicer 120Hz 1600p display, a backlit keyboard, a couple of extra ports, and a newer, more powerful CPU, but it doesn't last as long and costs $170 more at full price. (On sale, I've seen the standard model fall to $299 and the GE version dip to $449.)

Size-wise, the regular Chromebook Plus 516 is about a 10th of an inch thinner, but it weighs the same at 3.75 pounds. While that's heavy for a Chromebook, it's light for a device this big. Most 16-inch Windows laptops we've tried have weighed at least four pounds.

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Read Mashable's hands-on impressions of the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514.

The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514 is the best, most well-made Chromebook I've ever tested. However, it's also the most expensive Chromebook I've ever tested and overkill for most people needing a simple, web-based laptop. As such, I've reserved it for splurgers (unless you can find it on sale — then it's my top pick).

TL;DR: This is the Chromebook that will convert any remaining Chromebook skeptics among us.

The Chromebook Plus Spin 514 is a hybrid laptop fueled by an ultra-efficient new MediaTek Kompanio Ultra 910 processor. (It's only found in one other model, the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14, which we're in the process of reviewing.) It's technically not the fastest Chromebook we've ever tried, but with a Geekbench 6 multi-core score of 7,187, it's right up there with the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE, which beats it by just 6 percent.

The Chromebook Plus Spin 514 doesn't have any competition when it comes to battery life. It survives for over 18 hours per charge, making it the longest-lasting Chromebook we've ever tried. In fact, it outlasts 87 percent of the laptops in our entire testing database, including the 14-inch M4 Apple MacBook Pro. That's bonkers.

The Chromebook Plus Spin 514 looks and feels nicer than a Chromebook has any right to. It has a polished aluminum exterior that comes in a pretty platinum silver finish with subtle holographic accents. At 0.61 inches thin, it's sleeker than all of the other models on this list. Its smooth touchpad and clicky keyboard are both satisfying to use (minus the hollow-sounding space bar). Its hinge does wiggle a bit when you adjust it, but it holds sturdy when you flip its 1200p touchscreen around into tent mode. Nothing about it screams "cheap."

Notably, that touchscreen has a premium 120Hz refresh rate. I haven't encountered that spec on any other Chromebooks save for the aforementioned Chromebook Plus 516 GE. It makes fast-moving graphics in games and videos look buttery smooth.

While I recognize that $699 is expensive for a Chromebook, I do think the Chromebook Plus Spin 514 is priced fairly for all it offers, including its future-proofing. It comes with that fresh processor, a generous 12GB of RAM, and it supports WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 (the latest wireless connectivity technologies). If you can make the investment or find it on sale, it'll make a fantastic daily driver for years to come.

Lastly, I should add that the Chromebook Plus Spin 514 comes with two exclusive features: a tab-sorting tool called "smart grouping" and an AI image editor in the Gallery app. I wouldn't buy it for those alone, but I did find smart grouping useful in testing. (The image editor's results were very crude and fake-looking.)

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Acer's Chromebook Spin 312 is portable, durable, long-lasting, scant on AI, and capable of doing double-duty as a tablet. Its $450 MSRP makes it the cheapest Chromebook I recommend, but know that you'll probably pay even less: I've seen it on sale for just $299 at Best Buy. For all these reasons, I think it's the ideal Chromebook for kids and younger students (grades K-8).

The compact Chromebook Spin 312 is only 12.2 inches wide, making it the perfect size for small hands. It's also lightweight despite having an aluminum chassis, which gives it a premium vibe to boot. (Plastic chassis, while cheaper-feeling, usually equate to lighter Chromebooks than metal builds.) Former lead shopping reporter Dylan Haas said it felt "sturdy and durable for its size."

The Chromebook Spin 312 is a convertible laptop, which means it can flip into tent mode for movie watching or turn into a tablet for doodling and writing practice. It doesn't include a stylus, but its 1200p (better-than-HD) touchscreen is plenty responsive when tapped or swiped with a fingertip. The screen itself is made from scratch-resistant antimicrobial Corning Gorilla Glass. The thick bezels surrounding its display aren't super attractive, but I'm prioritizing toughness over looks for this use case.

The Chromebook Spin 312's mediocre speakers and webcam are non-concerns for the same reason. I really don't think little Timmy or Susie will care if their laptop can't play "Golden" as clearly as an Apple MacBook Pro, or if Grandma looks a little fuzzy on a video call.

Let's talk performance. The Chromebook Plus 312 earned a Geekbench 6 multi-core score of 4,477, making it 36 percent slower than the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus. That's not a great score if you need a Chromebook that can handle light multimedia editing or gaming, but it's more than fine for a kiddo's everyday browsing purposes. They'll definitely get a full day's use out of it, too: It lasted nearly 13 hours in our battery life test — more than twice as long as the cheapest iPad.

I also want to call out the fact that this Chromebook lacks the AI features supported by its Plus-tier peers, which I consider a huge... well, plus. At best, tools like a Gemini chatbot, generative wallpapers, and AI image editors would only be distractions. You can manage your child's app access on any Chromebook or Chromebook Plus using Google Family Link, but for kids, those features don't really need to be there to begin with. It just makes more sense to go with a cheaper, more pared-down Chromebook from the jump.

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Read Mashable's full review of the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE.

The Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE ("gaming edition") is a great pick for casual, frugal PC gamers who don't want to invest in a full-fledged rig that requires regular hardware upgrades. It doesn't support every major AAA title — your games need to be available on cloud streaming services — but I can still see on-the-go gamers and kids getting a lot of use out of it. It's not for anyone who lacks access to a strong internet connection.

All newer Chromebooks support cloud gaming services like Xbox Game Pass and Nvidia GeForce Now. (In fact, they once came with a free trial of the latter, though that perk has since expired.) However, Acer's well-built Chromebook Plus 516 GE elevates the experience with special gamer-oriented features, like an anti-ghosting RGB keyboard and a crisp 16-inch display with a premium 120Hz refresh rate. The latter is especially impressive, said Mashable's Alex Perry: "I started a new game in Control, jacked the settings up all the way, turned on ray tracing, and was a little blown away."

Performance-wise, the Chromebook Plus 516 GE doesn't disappoint. Its mid-range Intel Core 5 120U processor earned it a Geekbench 6 multi-core score of 7,660, making it the fastest Chromebook we've ever tried. It's even faster than Acer's pricier Chromebook Plus Spin 514, which has that new, high-end MediaTek CPU.

Perry didn't notice any video buffering or stuttering while he was testing it, though he did experience some input lag. That's a given for cloud gaming, unfortunately, but it boils down to the strength of the user's internet connection, not the device itself. (That's because cloud gaming involves streaming a game from a powerful remote server to your Chromebook's screen; there can be a slight delay while the data travels.)

I'll also mention that the Chromebook Plus 516 GE held out for just over 10 hours in our battery life benchmark. Perry wished it had an adjustable refresh rate — a lower setting for everyday tasks would help it last even longer — but that's still a great number for a