Chromebooks have quietly become some of the most useful laptops for everyday tasks. They boot fast, stay secure with automatic updates and often cost far less than traditional Windows or Mac machines. Modern Chromebooks also look and feel better than ever, with brighter screens, stronger processors and designs that range from simple clamshells to flexible 2-in-1s.
Whether you need a laptop for school, streaming or a portable option for travel, there is likely a Chromebook that fits your routine. After testing the top models, we picked the best Chromebooks you can buy today to help you find something that balances performance, price and reliability.
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Best Chromebooks in 2026
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget Best Chromebook overall Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-6H/T) Screen size: 14 inches | Screen resolution: 1,920 x 1,200 | Installed memory: 8GB | Weight: 3.09 lbs | Available ports: 2 x USB-A 3.2, 2 x USB-C 3.2, HDMI 1.4, Headphone jack, Kensington Nano security slot | Drive capacity: 512GB | Battery life: 8 hours as tested Acer has reliably produced some of my favorite Chromebooks for years now, and with the latest Chromebook Plus 514 model, they’re really hitting the sweet spot of price and performance. At only $350, it’s cheaper than my previous pick for the best Chromebook (Lenovo’s IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus) and improves on it in several ways. The big spec improvements are a newer processor (Intel’s Core 3-N355 chip) and a spacious 512GB solid-state drive. It’s also lighter than Lenovo’s machine and has a pretty impressive array of ports, including two USB-A and an HDMI port in addition to the expected USB-C jacks. The 14-inch touchscreen is bright and clear and has the slightly taller 16:10 aspect ratio that you don’t often find in laptops at this price point – they’re usually stuck with narrower 1080p displays. One thing the Acer gives up in comparison to the Lenovo is a 360-degree hinge, but I’ve always found that to be a rather niche feature that isn’t a compelling selling point. Design-wise, this is a utilitarian slab of a laptop, but it’s just thin (0.71 inches) and light (3.1 pounds) enough to feel compact and easy to travel with. The keyboard and trackpad, meanwhile, feel much better than I’d expect on a laptop at this price. The backlit keys are large and have satisfying travel, making it great to type away on for hours at a time. And the glass-covered trackpad is smooth and large; my only complaint is that it occasionally was activated by the side of my palm while typing. The main downsides are that the speakers and webcam are pretty mediocre. Audio is tinny and lacks depth, while video calls showed a distinct lack of dynamic range in the camera. They’ll certainly do in a pinch, and they are expected corners to be cut on a fairly budget-priced laptop – but if you take a lot of video calls or want better onboard audio output, look elsewhere. Battery life is about what I expected for an Intel-powered Chromebook. It lasted over eight hours while playing back a locally-stored video file, and I got a little under seven hours while going through my normal workday (lots of Chrome tabs, a handful of web and Android apps like Keep, Google Chat, YouTube Music, Lightroom and Todoist). That’s not exceptional, but unless you really need to be away from power for long periods on a regular basis it should be good enough (especially at this price). As this Chromebook was just released this summer, Google is promising software and security updates until June of 2035. (If you’re still using this laptop 10 years from now, I applaud you.) Given the combo of performance and capability at this price point, Acer’s latest Chromebook Plus 514 is easy to recommend for anyone who wants a no-nonsense laptop. But if you’re the kind of person who plans to use their Chromebook all day, every day, you might want to consider our upgrade picks. Pros Relatively compact and light
Decent performance and battery life for the price
Large storage cap
Solid keyboard, trackpad and display Cons Tinny speakers
Mediocre webcam $350 at Costco
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