These Are The Best Cheap Chromebooks, According To Consumer Reports

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Chromebooks are ubiquitous in educational institutions, mainly because they're lightweight and affordable — the perfect laptop for students. However, they often have limited capabilities, that's why you rarely see them for enterprise use. People who also have more advanced needs, like photo and video editing and gaming, also don't buy them. But if you only need something for watching movies, checking your emails, surfing the internet, and maybe some light office work, a cheap Chromebook is more than enough for most individuals.

Of course, you'd still want to get value for your money, even if you're getting an affordable unit. Because of this, we're going to look at the best cheap Chromebooks that Consumer Reports says are worth looking at. Of course, you won't get ultra-fast performance, premium finishes, or giant storage space with these models. Instead, these laptops focus on things that are more important for the average casual user — excellent battery life, a usable display, maybe touchscreen functionality, and, most importantly, an affordable price.

The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 is the most powerful laptop in the list, and, as such, it's also the most expensive, costing $399.99 on Asus (although it's on sale for just $299.99 at the moment). But for the price, you're getting relatively good specifications — a 12th-generation Intel Core i3-1215U processor, 8 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of UFS storage. It also has a 14-inch 1080p monitor that can fully lie flat, allowing you to watch your content in full HD and making it easier to share what you're looking at with the people beside you.

The laptop has WiFi 6, offering a fast wireless connection, and Bluetooth 5.4, making it easier to pair with your favorite Bluetooth gadgets. It also comes with two high-speed USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 and USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, plus an HDMI port and a 3.5 audio jack, making it easier to attach wired peripherals and an external display to the laptop. And if you're concerned about privacy, this laptop has a built-in retractable webcam cover, ensuring you can physically close it when it's not in use.

You will also find this Chromebook Plus convenient to use, as it can last up to 10 hours on a single charge. While this may vary depending on your use case, that's still a long battery life and should be enough to get you through a work or school day. It weighs just around 3.17 pounds, too, making it competitive with the lightest Windows laptop alternatives to the MacBook Air at much less than what you'd typically pay.

Consumer Reports rates the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook just behind the Asus laptop. But despite that, it's also the most affordable option it recommends, with a list price of $219.99 and a sale price of $178 at the time of writing (though this can change anytime). What makes this unique is that it isn't powered by the usual Intel or AMD processor we find in laptops — instead, it uses a MediaTek Kompanio 520 chip with 4 GB of memory and 64 GB of eMMC storage.

The Kompanio 520 is an entry-level chip designed for Chromebooks, so it's not as powerful compared to other Intel chips. However, this also means that it's extra efficient, with the IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook capable of hitting more than 13.5 hours on a single charge, based on the Google Power Load Test Tool, making it one of the Chromebooks with the longest battery life. And at just 2.87 pounds, it should be light enough for you to carry around all day without feeling the weight too much.

You get great wireless connectivity with this device through WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1. Although 64 GB of storage is quite small, especially if you like downloading movies, it has a MicroSD card slot to expand your storage. You also get a USB-C and a USB-A port for your peripherals, which should be enough for a wireless mouse and an external drive. Another thing that both kids and adults alike would appreciate with this laptop is its touchscreen 1080p display, making it so much more convenient for those used to smartphones. If you're concerned about privacy, its built-in webcam shutter and mute key ensure that you're always in control of what it sees and hears.

The last, but not least, recommendation is the HP Chromebook x360. Consumer Reports prefers the $267 option (which is on sale at $249.95 at the time of writing), although we also suggest looking at the $268 model, which offers a higher resolution. Both laptops offer an Intel N100 processor, which is far more powerful than the MediaTek chip. On the other hand, they feature the same 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of eMMC storage, which is useful for lighter tasks.

The highlight of this laptop is its touchscreen display and 360-degree hinge, meaning you can open the screen completely outward, turning it from a laptop into a giant 14-inch tablet. The CR-recommended model only has a high-definition display, with a maximum resolution of 1366 x 768. So, even if you download a 4K movie, you'll only watch it at that lower resolution. That's why we also recommend checking out the 1080p version of this laptop, which is just a dollar more expensive. They also both have two USB-C ports and a single USB-A port, plus a 3.5 mm headphone jack for attaching your wired headphones.

This is the best option for those who want a device that can be both a laptop and a tablet, and at less than $270, it's so much cheaper than the Apple iPad. Since it's a 2-in-1 device, you also don't have to purchase a separate mouse and keyboard, making it great for both creativity and productivity.