Chromebook vs. laptop computer variations: Which one do you have to purchase?

In Mashable’s 2011 assessment of one of many first Chromebooks, our author stated it “may change the world of computing.” And you recognize what? They have been type of proper: Most present lists of the most effective laptops underneath $500 to $700 are Chromebooks all the way in which down.

Should you solely consider Chromebooks as crude laptops geared towards college students, it is time to meet up with the occasions. Newer fashions have largely shed the class’s popularity for fugly clunkers, for one factor, discovering a happier medium between sturdiness, practicality, and premium options.

Sure, Chromebooks nonetheless have some software program quirks that cap their worth for sure use circumstances. However except your workload revolves round demanding specialty apps, or your laptop is your major gaming gadget, a Chromebook most likely makes extra sense than an affordable Home windows laptop computer or Apple MacBook.

I’ve extensively examined some fashionable Chromebooks, having written about the most effective laptops for Mashable since 2023, so belief me once I say that they’re certainly value it for a lot of customers. Should you’re undecided which taste of laptop computer is a wiser choose for you, learn on for my primer on what makes Chromebooks completely different from common PCs.

First off: What’s a Chromebook, precisely?

Chromebooks are laptops that run on Google’s ChromeOS as an alternative of Microsoft’s Home windows 11 or Apple’s macOS. They assist Android apps from the Google Play Retailer in addition to cloud-based apps (which means apps you entry over the net). Google choices like Gmail, Drive, Meet, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and YouTube come pre-installed on all Chromebook fashions.

ChromeOS is principally simply the Chrome internet browser, so Chromebooks work finest once they’re related to the web. Nevertheless, you possibly can change your Google Drive settings to allow offline use of Docs, Sheets, and Slides information and folders.

Google rolled out an preliminary batch of Chromebooks in 2010 as a part of a college pilot program, and the primary consumer-facing fashions made by Acer and Samsung hit cabinets a 12 months later. (We reviewed the latter.) Further producers entered the fray quickly after, together with Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Google itself. Google now now not makes its personal Chromebooks, referred to as “Pixelbooks,” having discontinued the road in 2022.

What’s a Chromebook Plus?

In late 2023, Google expanded the Chromebook class to incorporate Chromebook Plus laptops. These fashions are assured to fulfill sure upgraded {hardware} and efficiency necessities, they usually assist some unique software program options. Extra on these momentarily.

Chromebook vs. laptop computer: Specs

When most individuals consider Chromebooks, they most likely image the cumbersome, thick-bezeled schooling fashions that colleges typically challenge to Ok-12 graders, that are designed to be rugged above all. However most consumer-ready Chromebooks appear like some other finances laptops, save for an figuring out emblem within the corners of their lids.

Chromebooks vary in dimension from 11 to 16 inches and are available each clamshell and convertible designs. (Convertible/hybrid laptops have touchscreens and 360-degree hinges to allow them to double as tablets.) Chromebooks’ chassis are normally comprised of plastic in boring shades of silver and grey. Due to their plastic builds, and since they lack heavy-duty {hardware}, they skew lighter than different low cost laptops.

Chromebooks and conventional finances laptops are additionally very comparable on the within. Each are designed for fundamental on a regular basis duties, resembling looking, phrase processing, and streaming, so their specs are equally fundamental. You will typically get a small quantity of RAM (both 4GB or 8GB), an entry-level processor, built-in graphics, and a teeny chunk of onboard storage — wherever from 64GB to 256GB. Some low-end Home windows laptops have 512GB of native storage, however that is not mandatory in a Chromebook, which stashes most of its information within the cloud.

Chromebook Plus fashions have to fulfill some spec minimums that assure better-than-baseline efficiency. These embrace:

• A minimum of a Twelfth-generation Intel Core i3 or AMD Ryzen 3 7000 sequence processor

• A minimum of 8GB of RAM

• A minimum of 128GB of storage

• A 1080p webcam with temporal noise discount

• An IPS show with a decision of no less than 1080p (Full HD)

Once more, these are simply minimums. Google’s most up-to-date Chromebook Plus units blow previous them with OLED and a pair of.8K touchscreens, 256GB of quick SSD storage, 5MP webcams, 12 to 16GB of RAM, and high-end chips with neural processing items (NPUs) for dealing with AI duties.

What are the benefits of a Chromebook?

Cheapness is a Chromebook’s most evident enchantment. Costs vary from the low $200s for essentially the most primitive configurations and prime out round $800 with the most recent, most superior Plus fashions. As with every form of laptop computer, specs and construct high quality enhance the extra you spend.

Affordability apart, there are a number of different causes to contemplate shopping for a Chromebook.

Simplicity and ease of use

Should you’ve ever used Chrome, you’ve got low-key used a Chromebook. Between their easy OS and their pre-installed Google apps, Chromebooks will make individuals embedded within the Google ecosystem really feel proper at house.

Organising a Chromebook is as simple as selecting a WiFi community and signing right into a Google account. Android smartphone customers can get began even sooner by scanning a QR code that kicks off a knowledge switch.

Chromebook customers even have the choice of syncing their Google account exercise to the gadget for an much more seamless setup expertise. Chrome tabs, bookmarks, passwords, themes, and looking from earlier classes will populate mechanically, so you possibly can choose up proper the place you left off on one other laptop or telephone.

Constructed-in safety

Chromebooks have a number of layers of built-in safety towards malware, viruses, and different safety assaults, together with computerized software program updates each 4 weeks. All fashions launched since 2021 get 10 years of those updates.

Nice battery life

Current-gen Chromebooks examined by me and different Mashable writers are slower than most inexpensive Home windows laptops and MacBooks. Nevertheless, they’re very robust opponents on battery life.

Google charges Chromebooks at as much as 10 hours of use per cost, however the median battery life for our testing pool is 12 hours and 47 minutes. One new Chromebook Plus we tried lasted simply over 18 hours, placing it on par with M4 MacBooks and Qualcomm-powered Home windows laptops. Now that is spectacular.

Gaming is workable

Chromebooks can run the Android variations of video games like Roblox, Minecraft, Stardew Valley, and Amongst Us domestically, however they lack the mandatory {hardware} to assist extra graphically intensive PC video games (i.e., devoted GPUs). Luckily, cloud gaming providers like Nvidia GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming provide a straightforward workaround: They allow you to stream video games from highly effective distant servers proper onto your Chromebook’s display.

All Chromebooks assist cloud gaming, however a few of them are higher at it than others. One such mannequin is the $649 Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (brief for “Gaming Version”), which options a big 120Hz show, an RGB keyboard, and a mid-range Intel processor.

Chromebook Plus is AI- and creator-ready

Chromebook Plus fashions have unique AI options that you simply will not discover on commonplace Chromebooks. These embrace a built-in Gemini chatbot, custom-generated wallpapers, Stay Translate, Assist me learn, and webcam enhancements. Two of the most recent, priciest Plus fashions throw in a further tab-sorting software and an on-device picture editor throughout the Gallery app. (They’re the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 and Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514.)

Chromebook Plus homeowners additionally get complimentary trials of Adobe Categorical Premium, a photograph enhancing app referred to as Luminar, and Google’s AI Professional service, which unlocks instruments like Veo 3 Quick and Gemini 2.5 Professional. These perks are supposed to spotlight the machines’ potential to deal with gentle multimedia enhancing and AI duties.

What can a traditional laptop computer do {that a} Chromebook cannot?

The largest distinction between Chromebooks and common finances laptops actually boils right down to the form of software program they will run.

Strong desktop apps

Some fashionable productiveness and artistic apps are solely accessible for Home windows 11 and macOS. Two fashionable examples are the Microsoft 365 apps and the Adobe Artistic Cloud suite. Free, pared-down internet variations of them work on Chromebooks, however the full-featured desktop variations don’t.

Most prime public universities actively discourage their college students from utilizing Chromebooks as their major computer systems for comparable causes: They do not assist the packages wanted to finish some school coursework. (Conversely, Chromebooks make nice laptops for youthful college students as a result of they are not very strong.)

I am going to additionally add that Android apps can look funky on Chromebooks in the event that they’re solely designed for cell view. You will not be capable of make their home windows any greater than the dimensions of a telephone or pill display. They nonetheless run, however you will not get the complete, laptop-y desktop expertise.

Full-fledged PC gaming

As talked about earlier, Chromebooks haven’t got the brawn to obtain and run AAA PC video games domestically (and beginning in January 2026, they will not assist Steam). You are additionally restricted to the video games in cloud streaming providers’ libraries, so titles like Elden Ring, The Final of Us, and Pink Useless Redemption 2 are all off limits.

Moreover, the standard of a cloud gaming session is closely depending on the power of your web connection. You may run into points with enter lag.

Remaining ideas: Which is healthier, a Chromebook or a daily laptop computer?

I believe lots of people may be stunned to seek out out that the most effective low cost laptop computer for them is definitely a Chromebook.

In 2025, Chromebook {hardware} is healthier than ever. Certain, most conventional laptops nonetheless outpace them, and choices with devoted graphics are nonexistent. However lots of fashionable Chromebooks translate to essentially good offers on nicer specs within the finances market.

Take the newer Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14, which begins at $649.99 with a 2K OLED show. The most affordable OLED Home windows laptops are no less than $50 to $100 pricier except you discover them on sale. The $699 Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514, one other 2025 launch, has a 120Hz touchscreen, 12GB of RAM, and a 5MP webcam. It is solely $50 dearer than the most affordable MacBook you should purchase nowadays, the 13-inch M1 MacBook Air, which has a crappier 60Hz show, 8GB of RAM, and a 720p webcam.

This continues at cheaper price factors. You will not discover a 2-in-1 Home windows laptop computer that is cheaper than the $399.99 Lenovo Chromebook Duet 11, for instance.

I encourage any Chromebook skeptics to assume laborious about what sorts of apps they really, actually use regularly. Is the flexibility of a conventional laptop computer a necessity or a glut? Are you positive the net variations of Microsoft 365 and Adobe Photoshop do not have already got what you want? Would a Chromebook restrict your workload, or would it not truly streamline it?

Our reviewer stated the unique 2011 Chromebook was nice at “something most individuals would need to do with a small laptop computer,” and I nonetheless assume that is true. Should you’re somebody with a chill electronic mail job who’s simply bopping between Chrome, Gmail, and YouTube all day, a Chromebook is completely as much as the duty.

Between the 2 Chromebook tiers, I like commonplace Chromebooks for teenagers and for adults who desire a secondary gadget they’re going to use often when touring or working remotely. (These begin at $229.) If you’d like a peppier, premium-feeling Chromebook that is comparatively future-proofed and appropriate to be used as a each day driver, improve to a Chromebook Plus mannequin. They begin at solely $369.

Full-time creatives, hardcore PC avid gamers, and school college students ought to consider Chromebooks as fallback plans. They tick lots of your bins, however they make some essential compromises that reduce their long-term viability on your explicit use circumstances. You will miss the software program flexibility of an affordable Home windows laptop computer or MacBook. You’d additionally profit from the extra onboard storage they provide.

As of late 2025, I believe the most effective Chromebook for most individuals is the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus, a pretty mid-range convertible that retails for $599.99. Should you can splurge a bit, I am obsessive about the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514 ($699 to $799.99). Should you’re on a stricter finances, I like to recommend the Acer Chromebook Spin 312 ($449.99). Take a look at my full information to the most effective Chromebooks for extra shopping for steering.