The best Chromebooks for students in 2025: Expert tested and reviewed
If that five-year-old laptop that keeps freezing during class is killing your back-to-school mood, it’s time for an upgrade. Students have many options for laptops that are great for studying, but lightweight and speedy Chromebooks are some of the best. They typically cost far less than Windows PCs or Apple MacBooks, and are streamlined with ChromeOS, a lightweight operating system.
ChromeOS makes it easy to navigate to popular apps like Google Docs, Google Drive, and Gmail so you can stay on task and in touch with teachers and classmates. They’re also perfect for submitting work online.
What is the best Chromebook for students right now?
ZDNET staff have extensive hands-on experience with PC hardware, including our top laptop choices and a variety of Chromebooks. While deciding on the best Chromebooks for students, I took into account this experience as well as customer feedback and pricing.
My favorite Chromebook for students is the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE. This mid-range Chromebook has enough power and resources for study, plus a solid display suitable for entertainment purposes. Expect to pay $600 with a promotional coupon available at the time of writing.
Also: The best laptops under $1,000
Find out how each model from brands like Lenovo and HP stack up to determine which Chromebook is best for your school and study needs.
The best Chromebooks for students in 2025
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My top pick for a Chromebook suitable for a student is the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE.
Why we like it: Recent Chromebook Plus models are equipped with more robust processors, sleeker builds, and huge leaps forward in battery life. The 516 GE is no exception. Acer’s latest top-tier Chromebook Plus is equipped with all the tools needed for studying and resource-intensive applications.
Review: Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE
I reviewed Acer’s 516 GE Chromebook Plus, and praised its 120Hz display, noting that cloud gaming felt surprisingly smooth — something that gamer students will love during downtime. With minimal local storage, you don’t have to worry about installing huge game files on the laptop. School-related tasks stay front and center.
Who it’s for: Chromebook users who want extra power. Many Chromebooks come with 4GB of RAM, for example, while the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE offers 8GB. The device also sports pretty strong graphics.
It’s not just gaming that this laptop excels at. The slick display works well for any kind of media, and its great battery life means that this machine will be fine for long days on campus.
Who should look elsewhere: If $600 is more than you’re willing to pay for a Chromebook, check out one of my more affordable options instead.
Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE specs: Display size: 16 inches | Refresh rate: 120Hz | Resolution: 2560 x 1600 | Touchscreen: No | RAM: 8GB | GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics | CPU: Intel Core 5 Series 1 | Storage: 256GB SSD | Battery life: 10+ hours
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If you’re moving around a huge campus, then an ultraportable, lightweight Chromebook may serve you best like the Lenovo Flex 3i.
Why we like it: The laptop weighs about 2.75 pounds, has a sizable 12.2-inch display that supports touchscreen input. It can also be folded into a tented display or tablet. Lenovo is also equipped the new Flex 3i with an Intel Processor N100. When paired with the 4GB of RAM, this should be more than capable of powering most student tasks.
Review: Lenovo Flex 3i Chromebook
ZDNET tested the Lenovo Flex 3i and found it efficient enough to stream hours of content, write and edit documents, as well as have multiple tabs open at once.
The cherry on top is the lack of noise typically found in fan-powered laptops. That makes this a distraction-free Chromebook, especially if you’re churning out last-second papers in the library.
Who it’s for: Most of the Chromebooks on this buying list make the cut as far as portability is concerned, but the Lenovo Flex 3i arguably gives you the most functionality for its size.
It’s also reasonably priced at $358.
Who should look elsewhere: If you need more power than the Intel processor and rather low RAM can provide, check out my other top picks.
Lenovo Flex 3i specs: Display size: 12.2 inches | Refresh rate: 60Hz | Resolution: 1920 x 1200 | Touchscreen: Yes | RAM: 4GB | GPU: Intel UHD Graphics | CPU: Intel Processor N100 | Storage: 64GB eMMC | Battery life: 12 hours
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One of my favorite hybrid options is the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus because it can be used in a variety of positions.
Why we like it: Lenovo’s flexible Chromebook Plus has all the hallmarks of a solid student laptop, with features that creatives will also appreciate.
First, you have the 14-inch touchscreen display that can be flipped a full 180 degrees, turning the Chromebook into a tablet or other forms. Images look great on the screen as it can output a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 pixels.
Google Assistant is built in, and you can easily use this device for video streaming and meetings.
Review: Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus
Who it’s for: For students who want a Chromebook capable of also acting as a tablet, this works well as a lightweight, cost-effective laptop with a respectable set of hardware that’s versatile enough to be used in a variety of applications.
Who should look elsewhere: This Chromebook typically costs $500, and so the price point — although fair in my opinion, considering its versatility — might be a deciding factor for some to research alternative Chromebooks.
Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus specs: Display size: 14 inches | Refresh rate: 60Hz | Resolution: 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA) | Touchscreen: Yes | RAM: 8GB | GPU: Intel UHD Graphics | CPU: Intel 13th Generation Core i3 | Storage: 256GB SSD | Battery life: 10 hours
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The HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook stands apart as a model that’s built differently than the majority of Google-powered laptops I’ve encountered, and I mean that in a good way.
Why we like it: Instead of focusing on compromises, HP offers one of the best, premium-tier Chromebooks available on the market. It also shows with the Elite Dragonfly Pro’s professional and flexible design, B&O speakers, enterprise-grade security, and solid display.
The Chromebook’s B&O speakers are notable in the same way as its full-sized keyboard, range of ports, and fingerprint sensor.
Who it’s for: Any student willing to spend more on a premium Chromebook that will last them for years to come. The HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook costs $1,379. This isn’t the cheapest laptop on this list, but it still undercuts many alternatives like Apple’s MacBooks with style.
Who should look elsewhere: The price point is somewhat eye-watering. If you need something more affordable, there are plenty of other recommendations you can check out.
HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook specs: Display size: 13.5 inches | Refresh rate: 60Hz | Resolution: 2256 x 1504 | Touchscreen: Yes | RAM: 8GB | GPU: Intel UHD Graphics | CPU: Intel Core i3 (up to 4.4 GHz) | Storage: 256GB SSD | Battery life: Reported 6 – 8 hours
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Looking for an affordable Chromebook? The Acer Chromebook 311 should be on your radar.
Why we like it: As a laptop that will work in the interim or one that will last a high school student, the $129 Acer Chromebook 311 is a supremely affordable choice.
It’s not the most powerful Chromebook available by a long margin. To keep costs down, this Chromebook doesn’t have fancy features like a touchscreen or a backlit keyboard. It does provide users with an 11.6-inch display, 64GB of eMMC storage, and up to eight hours of battery life if you are not running resource-intensive apps.
Who it’s for: Students who need an entry-level, affordable Chromebook for basic educational tasks and daily online surfing.
If you enable some parental controls, this Chromebook could also suit younger learners.
Who should look elsewhere: Students who need more power or a larger screen. This model will not be able to handle many creative apps or anything that requires a high level of computing power, and so you’ll need to spend a little more if this is why you need a Chromebook.
Acer Chromebook 311 Chromebook specs: Display size: 11.6 inches | Refresh rate: 60Hz | Resolution: 1366 x 768 | Touchscreen: No | RAM: 4GB | GPU: Intel UHD Graphics | CPU: Intel Celeron N4500 | Storage: 64GB eMMC | Battery life: Up to 8 hours
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What are the tariffs in the U.S.?
The recent U.S. tariffs on imports from countries like China, Vietnam, and India aim to boost domestic manufacturing but are likely to drive up prices on consumer electronics. Products like smartphones, laptops, and TVs may become more expensive as companies rethink global supply chains and weigh the cost of shifting production.
CNET: Tariff Pricing Tracker: We’re Watching 11 Products You Might Need to Buy
Laptops and PCs are also hit hard by the new U.S. tariffs, with import duties potentially increasing prices by up to 35%. Many major brands still rely on Chinese and Vietnamese factories for assembly, meaning consumers could soon pay significantly more for everything from budget Chromebooks to high-end gaming rigs.
These tariffs may accelerate efforts to move production to regions like Mexico or India, but shoppers can expect higher costs and fewer discounts in the short term.
Right now, it looks like some tech may be exempt from the issued tariffs, but since it’s always changing and developing, we are keeping an eye on it and will update you on the latest.
Also: Tariff exemptions for electronics offer a break for tech – but not for long
|
Chromebook |
Starting Price |
Storage |
Display |
Camera |
Battery life |
|
Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE |
$600 |
256GB |
16-inch |
1080p |
10 hours |
|
Lenovo Flex 3i |
$358 |
64GB |
12.2-inch touchscreen |
720p |
12 hours |
|
Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus |
$380 |
256GB |
14-inch touchscreen |
1080p |
10 hours |
|
HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook |
$1,379 |
256GB |
13.5-inch touchscreen |
5MP |
6 – 8 hours |
|
Acer Chromebook 311 |
$129 |
64GB |
11.6-inch |
720p |
8 hours |
|
Choose this Chromebook… |
If you want.. |
|
Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE |
A Chromebook that’s ideal for classwork and resource-intensive applications, making it my top pick overall. It’s packed with hardware and a wide display that works well with the usual responsibilities of school while also catering to entertainment. |
|
Lenovo Flex 3i |
A Chromebook that delivers the most features for the money. It also supports touch inputs, and the 2-in-1 form factor lets you streamline your workflow by eliminating the need for a separate tablet. |
|
Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus |
A Chromebook with a flexible form factor that comes with a solid set of hardware designed for creatives. It is powerful enough to handle some more resource-intensive apps. |
|
HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook |
The best premium option for students. The HP Elite Dragonfly capitalizes on the ChromeOS platform by pairing the clean software with premium hardware, including a powerful processor and a crystal-clear touchscreen. |
|
Acer Chromebook 311 |
A budget-friendly Chromebook. Available for only $129, this option will ensure that students can study online without a problem, although it won’t be suitable for more than basic tasks. |
ZDNET thoroughly researches and stays up to date with the Chromebook marketplace. We narrow down our searches for the best Chromebooks for students by examining customer feedback, technical specifications, and price changes.
Along with selecting based on hands-on, expert testing, ZDNET also selected these Chromebooks for students based on CrXRPT 2.0 benchmarks. This test tells you how fast a Chromebook handles things you do every day, including playing video games, watching movies, and editing photos and provides an overall score. The higher the score, the better.
This benchmark consists of six scenario tests: photo effects, face detection, offline notes, stock portfolio dashboard, DNA sequence analysis, 3D shapes with WebGL and three additional video, music, and game player tests.
- Photo Effects: Applies three effects — Sharpen, Emboss, and Glow — to two photos each, a set of six photos total.
- Face Detection: Checks for human faces in a set of five photos in low resolution.
- Offline Notes: Measures the time to encrypt, store, and display notes from local storage.
- Stock Portfolio Dashboard: Calculates and displays different graphical views of a stock portfolio.
- DNA Sequence Analysis: Measures the time it takes to process eight DNA sequences for open reading frames and amino acids.
- 3D Shapes with WebGL: Generates equation-based 3D shapes and displays them with WebGL.
- Video Player: Plays a two-minute 1080p H.264 video clip in a browser from the local system.
- Music Player: Plays an audio clip for three minutes.
- HTML5-based game: Runs an impact.js-based game for about two minutes.
All tests were run using ChromeOS 89. Wi-Fi was on, but Bluetooth was disabled during the benchmarking. The screens were set to 80% brightness.
We use a combination of methods to test laptops here at ZDNET. First, we acquire data from benchmarking software to analyze a system’s metrics under the hood and compare those to advertised numbers. Then, we spend about a week or two with the laptop using it the same way a normal consumer would. This lets us analyze its portability, form factor, and how well the battery actually holds up, among others. For an extensive breakdown, check out our comprehensive laptop testing methodology.
- Benchmarking: First, we run a series of tests to put the computer’s hardware through the wringer in order to see what it’s capable of. Cinebench is one of the most commonly-used hardware testing suites, which tests the laptop’s rendering performance on single and multiple CPU cores. PCMark 10 is another powerful program that covers a wide variety of tasks performed in the workplace, and there are many others that we use in tandem to gather as much data as we can. Some components we run tests on include:
- Processor: The “brain” of the laptop, and one of the most important factors that determines performance. The four biggest manufacturers that make most of the CPUs found in laptops today are Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, and Apple — in their own machines only. This is tested in benchmarking software.
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The display: The size of the display is measured diagonally from corner to corner. This is also what dictates the laptop’s overall size and play a big role in the laptop’s cost. Brightness is measured in “nits”, and color spectrums are tested in benchmarking software.
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The graphics processor (GPU): Whether it’s integrated into the CPU or a dedicated graphics card, how well the machine handles graphics is a key factor when it comes to demanding visual tasks like video editing, rendering, and of course, gaming. We test the GPU with a combination of benchmarking software, gaming, and media playback.
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Physical form factor: Finally, the laptop’s overall appearance and physical form factor encompasses its weight, thickness, how the keyboard and trackpad feel, and whether or not it has a display that can be folded back to form a tablet. We carry the laptop around for at least a week and note how well it commutes.
- Battery testing: We test a unit’s battery in a few ways. A handful of benchmarking programs have their own battery testing components, but we also will just let the laptop run for as long as it can under a medium load. We ensure screensavers and hibernation mode are turned off, set the display’s brightness and audio at 50%, load up a livestream on YouTube in Chrome, and wait ’til the end.
- The human element: As we mentioned earlier, metrics and system data is important, but numbers alone don’t give you the full picture. This is where we weave in our personal experience with the device and tap into the practical use cases that consumers actually care about.
Ultimately, our goal is to break down the capabilities of each and every laptop we test into digestible terms that real people can find useful. There is a lot of noise and confusion when it comes to navigating the laptop and computer consumer market, so we hope to bring an intuitive element to the whole process by leveraging our team’s decades of experience.
Chromebooks are good for almost any job, but they’re great for students. If a student can use a web browser, they can use a Chromebook. They are easy to navigate and do not have the complexity or the same learning curves as a Windows, Mac, or Linux-based machine may have.
For teachers and school administrators, Google also provides G Suite for Education and Google Classroom to help them make remote learning as easy as possible.
A Chromebook can be a great laptop choice for students of all ages. They’re more basic than their Windows counterparts, which means even very young children will be able to use them. They also have less powerful processors and graphics capabilities, reducing the temptation to play games all night rather than finish up homework.
A Chromebook’s battery life is its biggest selling point, with many models sporting at least 10 hours of use on a full charge. This means your kids won’t have to keep track of charging cables in order to use their Chromebook throughout the school day.
Chromebooks are excellent for casual, daily use and tasks such as using email, surfing the web, and completing homework assignments. However, they tend to lack the processing power and storage of many Windows and Mac laptops, and they are not suitable for tasks that require a lot of computing power.
If you need a PC capable of handling creative applications, video editing, or gaming, a Chromebook probably isn’t the right choice.
It is possible, and there may even be a few advantages. Chromebooks often have great battery life, so they’re perfect for taking notes in lectures or completing assignments.
However, if a college course requires the installation of specific software apps typically available on Windows or Mac, it might not be compatible with ChromeOS. In addition, the machine might not have the power to handle them anyway.
Are there alternative Chromebooks for students worth considering?
There are lots of options out there if you’re looking for a Chromebook geared towards students of all ages. Here’s a short list of alternate Chromebooks:
- In ZDNET’s May update, we made guide layout changes and updated our top picks with the latest news and pricing. We also replaced several discontinued options.
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