3 Best Chromebooks You Can Pick Up In 2017
1. Acer Chromebook 14 review: A standout Chrome OS laptop
Acer's "MacBook Air" Chromebook is an exquisitely made Chrome OS laptop
Chromebooks are typically small and basic laptops that sacrifice looks for affordability, but Acer’s new Chromebook 14 looks to shake up that trend. In an effort to prove it’s possible to build a cheap laptop without the usual trade-offs, it's treading an unusual path with its latest Chrome OS portable.
In fact, you could be forgiven for mistaking the Chromebook 14 for a MacBook Air at first glance. The Chromebook 14’s wedged shape and gold or silver aluminium chassis, black plastic hinge at the rear and sunken keyboard are all reminiscent of Apple’s classic laptop; only the brushed finish on the lid and Acer logo give the game away.
Still, the whole thing feels reassuringly expensive and barely flexes a millimetre if you try to twist and bend it. It’s as chunky as a MacBook at 17mm thick, yet isn’t quite as lightweight, with a 1.6kg heft.
There’s only one model available in the UK right now and for £200 you get a 14in 1,366 x 768 resolution display, an Intel Celeron processor and 2GB of RAM. This being a Chromebook, there’s only 16GB of flash storage, so you’ll be reliant on cloud-based storage solutions for most of your files.
If you’re after something a bit speedier, there’ll be a higher spec version launching soon, with a full HD screen, twice the RAM and storage, and a speedier quad-core processor. Acer has remained tight-lipped about pricing for the time being.
Keyboard and touchpad
The Scrabble-tile keys are another aspect of the design that seems to pay homage to the MacBook Air, and the keyboard is also similar in layout. Critically, the keys are all nicely spaced out and large, with decent travel resulting in comfortable typing.
The sizeable touchpad is responsive, too, but since it’s running Chrome OS, there aren’t as many multi-touch gestures to take advantage of when compared with other operating systems.
Display
Sadly, as is the case with most Chromebooks I've reviewed, the display isn’t quite up to scratch. It’s a decent size at 14in, but quality-wise it’s a letdown. It’s not particularly sharp at 1,366 x 766, peak brightness is merely acceptable at 213cd/m2, but it’s the contrast ratio of 287:1 that really lets it down.
It’s the same sorry case with colour accuracy, too, with the TN panel displaying only 54% of the sRGB colour gamut. It all leads to a washed-out, dull display, with a clear lack of richness and vibrancy. While this is largely par for the course with entry-level Chromebooks, there have been a few exceptions over the years, such as the Toshiba Chromebook 2 with its impressive full HD IPS display, and Acer’s own Chromebook R11, which has a smaller, far better quality touchscreen.
Acer's "MacBook Air" Chromebook is an exquisitely made Chrome OS laptop
Performance and battery life
Tear open the basic £200 model and you’ll find a dual-core Intel Celeron N3060 processor clocked to 1.6GHz that Turbo Boosts up to 2.48GHz. Paired with only 2GB of RAM, it’s a little bit behind the pack, but not by much.
A JetStream score of 47.7 isn’t exemplary, with the HP Chromebook 14 scoring a higher 52.9. Surprisingly, though, in the WebGL 3D Cubes test it achieved an average result of 22fps, bringing it roughly in line with Acer’s Chromebook R11, and is double that of the HP. In general use, it felt responsive and reasonably fast for the most part. Just don’t expect it run as fast with multiple Chrome tabs open - the 2GB of RAM will see to that.
The good news is that battery life is excellent. In our video rundown test, it beats the HP's Chromebook by over an hour, lasting 10hrs 22mins, and it beats many "more serious" laptops along the way. It’s more than enough to get you through a full working day.
Ports, connections and audio
In terms of connectivity, there’s a good selection of ports and sockets. It has two USB 3 ports and an HDMI output for connecting external displays and there’s a 3.5mm headset output for your headphones. Wireless support extends to dual-band 802.11ac wireless and Bluetooth 4.2, too.
On the flipside, there’s no Ethernet port and, perhaps more significantly, no SD card slot, so you’re stuck with the 16GB of onboard storage and whatever allocation you have in the cloud.
The built-in speakers are reasonable, but nothing out of the ordinary. They’re clear, reasonably loud and mostly distortion free (this only kicks in at very high volume levels). But, as with most laptops and tablets, the sound doesn’t have much weight to it or any bass to speak of. If you want that, plug in your headphones.
Conclusion
Acer’s latest stab at the Chromebook game is a bit of a mixed bag. Its metal-clad chassis is excellent, the keyboard is great, and for a sub £200 device, you’re getting superb build quality. The display, however, is a big let-down, as is the lack of SD card slot and limited internal storage allocation.
If you don’t mind something a little smaller, you’d be better off choosing Acer’s Chromebook R11, which has a similar price and has a better quality screen that’s touch sensitive to boot.
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2. Acer Chromebook R11 review - quality design in a bargain package
Minor touchpad issues aside, the Chromebook R11 is a well-built, bargain laptop
Chromebooks have never been what you could call 'premium'. At least not with a straight face. The two Chromebook Pixels Google launched over the last couple of years are the expensive exceptions that prove the rule. Here in the UK, on the other hand, you won't find many Chromebooks costing more than £300. With so little budget to work with, it's no surprise that Chromebook manufacturers do everything possible to help drive down costs.The Chromebook's outer design is most often the biggest casualty, but Acer's R11 Chromebook happily bucks this trend with a genuinely attractive and robust-feeling laptop. Amazingly it also packs in a 360-degree hinge and a touchscreen, to transform it into a makeshift tablet.
Design and build
The 11.6in chassis is about as refined as budget laptops come, with sharp edges, matt white plastic and an expensive-feeling textured lid pattern which elevates the R11 far above its Chrome OS-powered rivals. It's also a world away from the chunky Acer Aspire R11 Windows laptop I reviewed last year. Not only is the R11 the most attractive budget laptop you can buy, but it's also one of the most portable. At just 1.2kg, it's light enough to hold comfortably with one hand, which makes its tablet-like ambitions seem very reasonable. It's thin, too, at just 20mm thick.
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It's a bit wanting in terms of ports, with just single examples of both USB2 and USB3 available. There's an HDMI port for connecting it to an external display, an SD card reader and a 3.5mm headset jack. There's no Ethernet port but it is kitted out with 802.11ac Wi-Fi for a faster, more reliable connection if your Wi-Fi network is up to the task.
The keyboard spans nearly the full width of chassis, meaning it's plenty big enough for my normal-sized hands. Some users may take issue with the slightly slimmer return key on the far right of the keyboard, but I didn't have any issues with its layout. The key press action has lots of travel, too, and the keys have a friendly, chunky feel that prevents lengthy typing stints from becoming too arduous.
As this isn't a Windows laptop, the top row of keys lose their 'F' status and instead get the standard row of Chromebook function symbols, including Back, Forward, and volume and brightness controls. The Task View button is particularly useful if you have multiple windows open, although it's slightly galling that this button doesn't also split up the tabs you currently have open for easier access. This is a laptop built for the web, after all.
The touchpad is a mixed bag. It's responsive for standard swipes, multi-fingered scrolling and taps, but physical clicks require a little too much force to fire into action. If you tend to opt for a physical click instead of tapping, you will take issue with the R11 Chromebook.
Performance and battery life
The laptop runs cool and quiet thanks to its fanless design and low-power 1.6GHz Intel Celeron N3050 processor. It's a dual-core chip paired with just 2GB of RAM, so it's hardly a powerhouse, but it can handle opening media-heavy web pages such as Expert Reviews or The Guardian without too much fuss, although if you wait a few seconds for everything to slot into place you'll be rewarded with reasonably smooth scrolling and a decent-looking page.
I used this laptop mainly for emails, using Spotify, document writing and a spot of YouTube and didn't find myself too hamstrung by its speed. Even the photo editing software Polarr, which runs in your Chrome browser, worked a treat, and I was able to tweak high-resolution photos without any frustrating stalls and stutters. It was only when I began opening lots of Chrome tabs with advertising and multimedia present that it started to show its limitations. As a result, I was forced to close a few tabs, but this shouldn't be a problem for lighter users.
Running the Sunspider web-based benchmark it scored a middling score of 636.5ms, and when tasked with the demanding WebGL 3D Cubes benchmark it managed 22fps, which is respectable for a budget laptop. In JetStream, the challenging web-based benchmark, it managed a score of 47, which is a reasonable result.
As is always the case with Chrome OS, you'll have to commit to a life of cloud-based storage and web-based applications to get the most out of the R11. The very limited 16GB of onboard storage means you'll be transferring photos from your camera straight into the cloud, bypassing local storage entirely, which is something else to get used to.
There's a strong lineup of basic apps, though: Google Drive and its various productivity tools along with Gmail, Polarr, YouTube, Spotify's web app and Netflix make working on the web almost incidental as long as you have a consistent internet connection, but Google's offline Drive apps are always on hand if you do happen to be working in a Wi-Fi deadspot.
The R11 can also be trusted to go all day on a single charge, too. It lasted 8 hours 42 minutes in our looping video playback test, which is a great result for such a small laptop and certainly more than enough to get you through a working day without access to mains power.
Screen and audio
Like Lenovo's Windows-based Yoga laptops, such as the Yoga 700, the Acer Chromebook R11's bendy hinge design may have limited appeal depending on whether you want a standard laptop or one that can double up as a tablet.
I rarely found myself tempted to switch to the tablet-style mode, but that's largely because I simply prefer having a precise cursor and keyboard when they're available. Folded all the way back, the entire assembly becomes rather weighty and unwieldy, too. In addition, Chrome OS isn't really optimised for touch, though with most major websites now easily navigable with a prod of the finger you shouldn't have any problems online, there's an onscreen keyboard for entering passwords and the like.
Even in laptop mode it's sometimes it's easier to reach out and prod the screen to scroll down a web page, for instance, instead of manoeuvring the cursor over to a tiny button. The 'tent' mode does come in handy when space is at a premium as well, such as on a plane or train, and you fancy watching some videos with the screen front-and-centre.
The 11.6in screen itself is nice and bright at 226cd/m2, and its 1,366x768 resolution is acceptable for both its screen size and price. Everything is a comfortable size and text is easily legible, while icons are easy to tap on the touchscreen. Admittedly, it's not capable of serving up the most vibrant, deepest colours, but it holds its own pretty well, all the same, thanks in part to its 1,210:1 contrast ratio and its IPS panel.
Even the speakers are good. Turn them up to maximum volume and they'll certainly fill a room with reasonably crisp and bright sound. There's no bass whatsoever, but at this size I'm happy to sacrifice bass for overall clarity. With the laptop folded over in tablet mode, music becomes slightly muddier, however, as half the speaker grills are covered by the folded screen.
Conclusion
The Acer Chromebook R11 is the most attractive and practical budget Chromebook you can buy today. It may not have the power or the screen suitable for the most hardcore multi-taskers, but it's a seriously good piece of kit for the money.
Your alternative choice here is the Asus C201 Chromebook, which is a similar 11in device for around £40 less and can last a few more hours away from the mains. However, with that reduction in price you do lose the IPS screen and a bit of processing grunt to boot, so you certainly do get what you pay for.
If you decide that Chrome OS isn't for you, after all, Acer's Aspire One Cloudbook 14 is just as inexpensive as the Chromebook R11 but is a fully-fledged Windows 10 laptop. As such you likely won't have to adapt the way you use your laptop quite as much but with 32GB of storage, and even less than that after you consider the space taken by Windows 10, you've still got the same reliance on cloud storage unless you add in an SD card for storage.
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3. Google Chromebook Pixel (2015) review: Still the best Chromebook?
The Chromebook Pixel was once the best Chromebook available, but is it still a worth Windows replacement?
Update: Is the Chromebook Pixel still top dog?
It was still early days for those humble Chromebooks way back in 2015. They hardly made a decent impression to begin with, with cheap, plastic-ridden devices leading the way, so it wasn't too difficult for something flashier - say - Google's Chromebook Pixel, to stand out from the crowd. Two years ago, the Pixel was the best Chromebook around, but is that still the case in 2017?
Now, two years is a long time where tech is concerned. Since then, we've seen a wealth of Chrome OS-powered devices pop up on shelves and thus, have seen some pretty nifty little things since. Google's Chromebook Pixel has been left out in the dirt. Without a doubt, HP's Chromebook 13 is top dog at the moment, equipped with a proper Core-m3 chip, Quad HD screen and enough USB-C ports you can shake a stick at. It's a beast, and at just shy of £600, it should be.
Obviously, a two-year-old Chromebook wouldn't come close. But that humble Chromebook Pixel still ain't no slouch. With an i5 processor and 8GB of RAM, performance is still exceptional but the thing is, you'll struggle to pick one up box fresh. Only available on third-party reseller sites, the Chromebook Pixel reaches exorbitant prices. If you can miraculously, pick one up on the cheap, it'll still prove to be a wonderfully capable device. But if you can't, HP's Chromebook 13 is well worth your hard-earned cash.
That being said, here's my original review of Google's Chromebook Pixel.
Google Chromebook Pixel review
The Chromebook Pixel is the torchbearer for all Chromebooks, a shining example of how stunning Chrome OS-powered laptops can be. Yet it's only available directly from Google, as if the company knows it doesn’t really fit with the typical barebones Chromebook mantra. The follow-up builds upon many things that made the first Pixel such a desirable piece of technology, and while you still can't head to a shop to try before you buy, it tackles many of the issues we had with the original model.
While it’s not the thinnest laptop at 15.3mm, the Pixel is still reasonably svelte, and 1mm thinner than its predecessor. Weight has remained the same at a shoulder-friendly 1.5kg, making it comfortable enough to carry around. The sharp edges and corners might look a little utilitarian, but we were quite fond of the clean design – you'll need to look inside before you see any Chrome logos.
Comparisons with Apple's MacBook are hard to avoid, particularly because both use the new USB Type-C connector, although where Apple makes do with a single port, the Pixel has two. With one on each side of the laptop, you can choose which side to run your power cable. The multipurpose Type-C connection can also carry video, but you’ll need an optional Type-C to DisplayPort or HDMI adaptor.
The Pixel also has two USB ports, so your existing devices are supported as well. An SD card reader lets you expand the 32GB of onboard storage, in case you need local storage in addition to the 1TB of free cloud storage on offer through Google Drive for buying the Pixel. SD cards sit flush to the chassis when inserted, so you can leave it permanently attached.
Google Chromebook Pixel review: Touchscreen Display
The 12.9in, 2,560x1,700 resolution touchscreen display is undeniably the Pixel's crowning feature. Google has retained the slightly unorthodox 3:2 aspect ratio, which is distinctly boxier than the widescreen 16:9 laptop screens we're used to, although it's very well suited to web browsing. The high resolution is at its best when displaying highly detailed images, but you may need to experiment with Chrome OS' internal resolution settings to find a level that is comfortable. We found 1,440x956 a happy compromise, and because this only affects the UI text and menus are still perfectly smooth.
Image quality was impressive, for the most part. An sRGB colour accuracy coverage score of 91.6% is fantastic, and we measured black levels at a very low 0.24cd/m2. A contrast ratio of 800:1 is above average, too.
The reflective Corning Gorilla Glass also didn't help, although it does protect the display from scrapes and scratches when you're using multi-touch touchscreen gestures. The coating is pleasant to the touch and the screen's piano hinge was rigid enough to withstand all of our prodding.
Google Chromebook Pixel review: Touchpad and Keyboard
The large touchpad is just as delightful to use, with a glass-coated surface that has just the right level of resistance. The gesture shortcuts built in to Chrome OS make great use of the touchpad, letting you navigate backwards and forwards in Chrome with a two-finger horizontal swipe or change tabs with a three-fingered swipe. A fun animation even appears as you drag between two web pages as though they were two physical pages on a stack. You rarely have to take your fingers away from the touchpad except, oddly, to zoom in and out. Pinch to zoom only works when you use the touchscreen.
The keyboard is also fantastic, with Chiclet keys that are sensibly spaced apart and comfortable to type on for long periods. By default, the Caps Lock key is replaced with a search shortcut. You can change it back to Caps Lock through the settings menu, but the physical marking on the keyboard will always be a magnifying glass.
The backlit keys only illuminate when you're actually using the keyboard, then fade away when you remove your hands, meaning you aren't distracted when you're watching videos. It’s a feature you suddenly miss when moving to other backlit keyboards.
The Chromebook Pixel was once the best Chromebook available, but is it still a worth Windows replacement?
Google Chromebook Pixel review: Processor, Performance and Chrome OS
The Pixel is available with either a 2.2GHz Intel Core i5-5500U and 8GB of memory (£799), or a 2.4GHz Intel i7-5500U with 16GB of memory (£999). We reviewed the former, but at no point did the Pixel feel sluggish enough to warrant the added expense of the i7 model. Chrome OS’ plethora of animations and flourishes were delivered smoothly and even media-heavy web pages filled with animated GIFs and videos loaded swiftly. The Pixel also managed a SunSpider browser test speed of 196ms, which is the fastest we’ve seen from a Chromebook.
The real question is whether you need this much power given the limits of the operating system. Chrome OS is lightweight and runs almost entirely through the Chrome web browser. There is a Desktop of sorts, but apart from the file manager (useful for transferring photos from USB flash drives and SD cards) almost all the shortcuts open web apps rather than standalone programs. It's perfectly suited to web browsing, editing Google documents and other basic tasks, but most of the software you're familiar with simply isn't available. Many services are now adopting web-based alternatives, but you might find these still don't work; Skype reported that its audio and video services were incompatible with Chrome OS.
Google Chromebook Pixel review: Battery Life
At least the processor isn't a drain on the battery. We managed an impressive 10 hours 53 minutes of video playback, but stick to web browsing and it will last even longer. Plugging in for just 15 minutes will provide up to two hours of battery, thanks to the USB3 Type-C connection.
Keeping an eye on the Pixel’s charge level is also strangely pleasing. LEDs integrated into the lid glow in Google’s familiar colours when the Pixel is turned on, but with the lid shut it becomes a battery gauge. A simple double tap on the lid makes the LEDs glow in 25% increments. It’s a simple yet delightful design flourish.
Google Chromebook Pixel review: Conclusion
There’s an awful lot to like about the Chromebook Pixel, with excellent design and long battery life making it a joy to use. Yet while Chrome OS feels slick and responsive, it’s also the Pixel’s greatest weakness. You’ll likely find yourself forced to work within the limitations of what’s available on Chrome OS, and for £799 this is likely too great a sacrifice.
The Pixel is by far the best Chromebook to date, but you’ll have to be able to live harmoniously with the operating system before parting with your cash.
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