The best Chromebooks for 2026

If you're looking for an exceptional hybrid Chromebook that doubles as a tablet, the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514 is my top pick. It's especially good for anyone who wants to do some light gaming on their Chromebook, and for folks who often forget their charger at home. (Its battery life is incredible.) This one is also a splurge, so I recommend waiting to buy it on sale.

Read Mashable's hands-on impressions of the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514.

The Chromebook Plus Spin 514 is technically the third-fastest Chromebook we've tried, but it's neck-and-neck with Nos. 1 and 2. Its Geekbench 6 multi-core score of 7,187 makes it only seven percent slower than the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 (7,680), which has the same processor, and just six percent slower than the now-discontinued Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (7,660). You won't notice those discrepancies in practice.

This model does have a fan, but I struggled to get it to turn on in our multi-app/tab stress test. When it finally kicks on, it's very quiet.

The Chromebook Plus Spin 514 doesn't have any competition when it comes to battery life. It survives for over 18 hours per charge, making it the longest-lasting Chromebook we've ever tried. In fact, it outlasts over 80 percent of the laptops in our current testing database, including the 14-inch M4 Apple MacBook Pro. That's bonkers.

The Chromebook Plus Spin 514 looks and feels nicer than a Chromebook has any right to. It has a polished aluminum exterior that comes in a pretty platinum silver finish with subtle holographic accents. At 0.61 inches thick, it's thinner than all of the other models on this list (beating out the Chromebook Plus 14 by one hundredth of an inch). Its smooth touchpad and clicky keyboard are both satisfying to use, minus the hollow-sounding space bar. Its hinge does wiggle a bit when you adjust it, but it holds sturdy when you flip its 2K touchscreen around into tent mode. Nothing about it screams "cheap."

Perhaps most notably, that touchscreen has an elite 120Hz refresh rate. (I haven't encountered that spec on any other Chromebooks except for the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE.) It's super easy on the eyes and ideal for cloud gaming. It makes fast-moving graphics in games and videos look buttery smooth.

As with Lenovo's Chromebook Plus 14, you get a ton of future-proofing for your money here. The Chromebook Plus Spin 514 comes with a newer processor, 12GB of RAM, a 5MP webcam, and support for WiFi 7.

My review unit is a $699 Best Buy exclusive, by the way. A second configuration with 16GB of RAM, an added fingerprint reader, a backlit keyboard, and a 2.8K display is available on Acer's website, but it'll cost you $799.99 (ah!) and bump its refresh rate down to 60Hz. You're more than fine with the cheaper (relatively speaking) variant.

This 16-inch Acer clamshell model delivers the primo Chromebook Plus experience under $500 (and as little as $300 when it's on sale), making it the best Chromebook for budget shoppers. If you want a good amount of screen real estate for multitasking and watching movies, I also think it's the best big-screen Chromebook for most people.

Out of all the Chromebook Plus models under $500, the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 has the best specs by far. It's powered by an Intel Core i3-1315U processor that earned a Geekbench 6 multi-core score of 5,670 in our testing, affording it mid-range power despite its entry-level price tag. It's 26 percent slower than the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14, which is $270 more, but 21 percent faster than the Acer Chromebook 312, which is $30 less. On the low end, that's a notable performance jump for a small chunk of cash.

Acer has also equipped this Chromebook Plus with a 1200p display that looks brighter than its 300 nits in person. For reference, the three other Plus-tier models that retail for less than $500 as of early 2026 have older, less powerful CPUs and 1080p displays that just meet the category's minimums.

The battery life of the Chromebook Plus 516 is excellent: It held out for 14 hours and 7 minutes in our testing, making it the third-longest-lasting Chromebook we've tried.

The Chromebook Plus 516 weighs in at 3.75 pounds. While that's heavy for a Chromebook, it's on the lighter side for a device this big. Over half of the 16-inch Windows laptops we've reviewed in the past year have weighed at least four pounds.

Acer's Chromebook Spin 312 is portable, durable, long-lasting, scant on AI, and capable of doing double-duty as a tablet. Its $450 MSRP makes it the cheapest Chromebook I recommend, but know that you'll probably pay even less: I've seen it on sale for just $299 at Best Buy. For all these reasons, I think it's the ideal Chromebook for kids and younger students (grades K-8).

The compact Chromebook Spin 312 is only 12.2 inches wide, making it the perfect size for small hands. It has a plastic chassis that keeps it lightweight, but it doesn't feel too cheap. Former lead shopping reporter Dylan Haas said it felt "sturdy and durable for its size."

The Chromebook Spin 312 is a convertible laptop, which means it can flip into tent mode for movie watching or turn into a tablet for doodling and writing practice. It doesn't include a stylus, but its 1200p (better-than-HD) touchscreen is plenty responsive when tapped or swiped with a fingertip. The screen itself is made from scratch-resistant antimicrobial Corning Gorilla Glass. The thick bezels surrounding its display aren't super attractive, but I'm prioritizing toughness over looks for this use case.

The Chromebook Spin 312's mediocre speakers and webcam are non-concerns for the same reason. I really don't think little Timmy or Susie will care if their laptop can't play "Golden" as clearly as an Apple MacBook Pro, or if Grandma looks a little fuzzy on a video call.

Let's talk performance. The Chromebook Plus 312 earned a Geekbench 6 multi-core score of 4,477, making it 42 percent slower than the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14. That's not a great score if you need a Chromebook that can handle light multimedia editing or gaming, but it's more than fine for a kiddo's everyday browsing purposes. They'll definitely get a full day's use out of it, too: It lasted nearly 13 hours in our battery life test — more than twice as long as the cheapest iPad.

I also want to call out the fact that this Chromebook lacks the AI features supported by its Plus-tier peers, which I consider a huge... well, plus. At best, tools like a Gemini chatbot, generative wallpapers, and AI image editors would only be distractions. You can manage your child's app access on any Chromebook or Chromebook Plus using Google Family Link, but for kids, those features don't really need to be there to begin with. It just makes more sense to go with a cheaper, more pared-down Chromebook from the jump.