Best Chromebooks in Every Size
If you have your heart set on one, here's a wide range of options, all approved by Consumer Reports testers
By Nicholas De Leon
Similar to Mac and PC laptops, Chromebooks come in a variety of sizes, from models small enough to fit in a travel backpack to those so large you might not want to move them from your desk.
Models under 14 inches are easy to transport to the local Starbucks for an iced coffee. They also help you make the best of a bad situation in the middle seat in coach. But like their Mac and PC counterparts, you’ll find that they’re generally less powerful and have a shorter battery life than, say, a 15.6-inch model.
Chromebooks as large as 15.6 inches can be quite powerful, crunching through spreadsheets with ease, but they might be a little tricky to carry around.
Regardless of your needs, the odds are good that there’s a Chromebook that suits your lifestyle, not to mention your budget. For consumers willing to master Chrome OS—as opposed to Windows or macOS—it’s not hard to find a solid model for $500 or less.
For this article, we dove deep into our Chromebook ratings to find the best options in a range of sizes. If you’re looking for a 14-inch Chromebook, the one you see here ranks right up there, combining performance and portability in a winning combo.
We test Chromebooks like we test everything else: rigorously and without outside influence. We buy each model at retail to ensure that we’re testing the same product you find at stores and remove any chance that a manufacturer sends us a cherry-picked unit to tip the scales.
Our in-house experts run each Chromebook through a battery of tests, measuring performance, battery life, display quality, and more.
Below you’ll find our picks for the best Chromebooks at every size, ordered from smallest to largest.
Best 12.4-Inch Chromebook
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 360
This is a 2-in-1 convertible, which means you can bend the keyboard behind the display via a 360-degree hinge to use the device like a tablet. That can be useful for watching streaming video on the couch or flicking through social media feeds.
The Galaxy Chromebook 2 360 has an Intel Celeron processor, 4GB of memory, and 128GB of flash storage, which is similar to but slower than solid-state storage. That may not seem like a lot of storage space if you’re used to macOS or Windows, but it’s actually generous for a device with Chrome OS, which leans heavily on web apps and cloud storage.
Our testers had mostly good things to say about this model, noting its bright and color-accurate display and comfortable keyboard with large, high-contrast keys. The performance and battery life (10.5 hours under a light load of basic web browsing) are not going to dazzle you, but it’s hard to complain when the model sells for less than $400 and weighs less than 3 pounds.
The Acer Chromebook Spin 512, which measures exactly 12 inches, has a much longer battery life (around 16 hours), but it’s about $100 more.
Best 13.3-Inch Chromebook
Google Pixelbook Go (Core m3)
“Go” here implies an emphasis on portability and that mostly gibes with our test results. The 13.3-inch model has an Intel Core m3 processor, 8GB of memory, and 64GB of solid-state storage. That means middle-of-the-road performance: nothing terribly impressive, but nothing too slow, either.
But the model weighs just 2.3 pounds and the battery lasts nearly 16 hours for web browsing. And if you try to push things, say, by watching high-res video, you still get about 10 hours of battery life.
Technically speaking, the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 outranks the PixelBook Go by a few points, but it’s hard to overlook the value offered by the Go, which costs roughly half as much.
Best 14-Inch Chromebook
HP Chromebook 14B-NA0010WM
If you’re looking for a midsized Chromebook, this model scored well across the board in our tests. It has an AMD Ryzen 3 processor (roughly analogous to an Intel Core i3), 4GB of memory, and 128GB of solid-state storage. Whether you’re editing text in Google Docs, performing triage on your Gmail inbox, or merely watching a YouTube video (or 10, in my case), you’ll find zippy performance.
And if you decide to hit the road, the nearly 14-hour battery life under a light load will keep you working without the need for a power outlet. The model weighs a bit more than 3 pounds.
Acer makes a 14-inch Chromebook Spin with about 3 more hours of battery life, but it costs a few hundred dollars more.
Best 15.6-Inch Chromebook
Asus Chromebook C536EA-BI3T3
There aren’t many Chromebooks larger than 15 inches in our ratings, but you’re not settling with this 2-in-1 convertible. The model has an Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB of memory, and 128GB of solid-state storage. And our testers report top-notch performance; a big, comfy keyboard; and a Very Good 15.6-inch touch-screen display.
It doesn’t quite match the display on the Acer Chromebook Spin, but it’s more than adequate for office work and watching videos.
At nearly 4.5 pounds, with a battery life that ranges between 6 and 10 hours depending on the load, this isn’t the best choice for those on the go a lot. But if you want to place it in your home office or on the kitchen counter as a big-screen recipe machine, it’s a solid option.
Acer has a 15.6-inch Chromebook that also did quite well in our ratings, but it retails for more than twice the price of this Asus.
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