10 Greatest Chromebooks of 2025, Examined and Reviewed

The value for Chromebooks can vary wildly, from $150 as much as $800, and subsequently the specs also can differ.

Processor: For one of the best expertise, it’s best to keep away from older Chromebooks with Intel Celeron processors. The Chromebook Plus specs provide a great baseline to ensure speedy efficiency, and I’d advocate going with a minimum of an Intel Core i3, Core i5, or AMD Ryzen 3 7000 processor. Simply be careful for overspending on configurations with Intel Core i7 processors except you want the additional horsepower for multitasking, Android video games, Linux apps, and dozens of Chrome tabs. Whereas Intel and AMD dominate the processor scene, you’ll sometimes discover Chromebooks utilizing ARM processors just like the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 within the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 above. These may be advantageous for very fundamental duties, however they gained’t fare as properly beneath sustained, intense hundreds. That mentioned, a brand new era of ARM chips are on the way in which, just like the MediaTek Kompanio Extremely 910 powering the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14.

RAM: At all times go for a minimum of 8 GB of RAM should you can afford it. You gained’t discover 4 GB of RAM in something apart from fundamental, super-budget Chromebooks, but it surely severely limits your means to multitask. If you wish to keep away from slowdowns, 8 GB of RAM is the usual it’s best to goal for, although should you’re funds is beneath $300, which may be troublesome.

Storage: In contrast to a Mac or Home windows PC, loads of your Chromebook work will stay on the internet. This implies you’ll be able to sometimes get away with much less storage, however I wouldn’t advocate going under 128 GB. If you happen to can afford it, you’ll be rather more snug with a minimum of 256 GB. You’ll get one of the best velocity out of an NVMe strong state drive, so look out for that on the spec sheet whenever you’re evaluating fashions.

Display: The overwhelming majority of Chromebook shows you’ll discover shall be IPS LCD panels, and that’s simply advantageous. OLED shows are lastly beginning to present up on Chromebooks, although IPS LCD screens are extra frequent and provide a great stability of brightness, distinction, and coloration accuracy. If you happen to’re procuring within the excessive funds vary, be careful for TN LCD panels, as they’re typically decrease high quality and provide worse viewing angles. For decision, a 1920 x 1080-pixel decision (or 1200p for 16:10 side ratio) ought to be your customary. You’ll get crisp visuals at 13- and 14-inch display screen sizes, and it’s satisfactory at 15 inches. Greater resolutions will look even higher, however they’re pretty unusual in Chromebooks.

Ports: USB-C ports have change into commonplace on Chromebooks, so there’s not any excuse to purchase one with out them. Attempt to get one which fees over USB-C so you’ll be able to recharge with a transportable energy financial institution whenever you’re on the go. A microSD card slot may also be useful if you need a simple method to develop your storage on the fly. You’ll discover that some Chromebooks assist Thunderbolt 4 over their USB-C ports as properly. Whereas that’s a superb choice to have should you plan to plug your Chromebook into some high-end screens, it isn’t crucial for most individuals. As an alternative, you will get related exterior monitor assist (and spend rather a lot much less) with an HDMI port or DisplayPort over USB-C assist.