The best Chromebook for 2024: tested and reviewed

How we tested

Mashable staff have field tested all of the Chromebooks featured in this guide, using them for work and entertainment for several weeks straight. This involved inspecting the quality of their construction, working on different types of documents, checking their emails, watching videos, taking photos on their webcams, participating in video calls, listening to music (via Spotify), play games, and experiment with unique software features or use cases they claimed to support.

Additionally, we conducted two benchmark tests on HP loans. (We didn’t have a chance to put the Acer Chromebook 516 GE through the same paces during our limited testing period.) One of those tests was the Android version of Geekbench 6 from Primate Labs, which measures processor performance in a handful of common tasks. We recorded each of the HP Chromebooks’ multi-core scores in our tests. The higher the score, the better.

We also had each of our HP test units run the battery life portion of CrXPRT2, a specific reference to the Chromebook. (To measure the Acer Chromebook 516 GE’s battery life, we simply played games and monitored its duration.) We’re looking at getting about nine to ten hours of battery life in the Chromebooks we review , eight hours being our benchmark.

After evaluating how each model performed in these real-world and benchmark tests, we made our final recommendations based on whether we thought they offered good overall value for money.

It’s worth mentioning that the HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch, HP Chromebook Plus x360 14c, and Acer Chromebook 516 GE are the only Chromebooks we’ve tested so far in 2024. Although we think all three are very solid buys, we know there is a lot of competition. As mentioned above, expect this guide to evolve over the coming months as we test many more models. (Coming soon: ASUS Chromebook Plus CX34.)