Best Chromebooks 2021 By TechRadar

Welcome back to tech radar, I'm Matt Phillips joined today by our senior computing, editor Matt Hansen. How do Matt yeah I'm good thanks? How are you fantastic stuff? I'm perfect Matt, because today we are talking about the top five Chromebooks that you can buy right now, very quickly, though, before we begin. Let me just give you the rigmarole if you're watching here on the YouTube channel, tech radars YouTube channel. Congratulations, you have the best experience for this video that first link in the description you're going to find there is to Matt's full buying guide list. I think there are 10 Chromebooks that he lists out there, but we're just going to talk about the top five today. So if none of the Chromebooks that we talk about today suit your needs head to that list and see if you can find something in there, that do I'm sure you will also with those links in the description you're going to find buying links to all the laptops that we talk about.

They are affiliate commission links, and we are supported at tech radar by you our audience. We very much appreciate you for that. Uh, but also those buying links update automatically depending on where you are in the world and where the best deal you can currently find on that laptop is in the world. So uh check out those links and see what deals you can find, obviously, depending on where you are in the world and when you're watching this video prices may vary from what we're going to talk about today, but without further ado, let's jump into the laptops we're going to talk about today or Chromebooks, I should say: actually maybe we should start there Matt. What is the difference between a laptop and a Chromebook? Why might somebody want a Chromebook over a laptop, potentially yeah? That's a good question I mean basically, Chromebooks are laptops, so you've got the've got the screen.

You've got the keyboards, the trackpad, their computers to you. You do a lot of the work that you would do on a laptop, but Chromebooks are special because they run chrome OS, which is an operating system developed by google, which is based on their chrome. Web browser and chrome is by far the most popular web browser in the world. So I think a lot of people probably use this and when Chromebooks first came out, they were very basic. It was basically just a big chrome.

You know full screen window with chrome running nowadays. Chrome OS is a lot more advanced. You've got a desktop. You can resize windows, you can have apps, you can install android apps, and you can even install a version of Linux onto it as well, so, but they're just really versatile devices now. But one of the best things about chrome OS is that it remains pretty lightweight with windows.10, it's a big complicated operating system, which means you need powerful components. Those powerful components are expensive, so it ups the price they drain power, so it cuts the battery life, and it can make for a bigger bulkier device with a Chromebook.

You don't need that kind of power to still get an excellent performance, so they are less less powerful components are needed, so they're often a lot cheaper than windows.10 laptops their battery lives be a lot longer as well, and that's the main selling point really. You can have a know, Chromebooks, which last you know a couple of days of work without really needing to charge, so why you would go with a Chromebook is if you're on a budget. If you want to do some word, processing you've got Google Docs. You can also have Microsoft. Word apps.

If you want to do some web browsing. Of course, you know they're great for that and if you want something which is affordable and has plenty of battery life, Chromebooks are really, really good choice, and they're excellent for children and students, because of all of those reasons, and also they've got quite a lot of good parental controls built in, and they're, not as susceptible to viruses, for example, um, so good choices for that yeah, fantastic stuff, all right, brilliant! Well, with that all in mind, then, let's jump onto our number five pick. The ASUS Chromebook Flip, currently 799 pounds based on everything you just said, seems like we're at the top end kind of more expensive end of these Chromebooks uh. But what cements this in at that number five spot map yeah. I think that's that's! One of the most expensive, Chromebooks you're you're, going to really get, and I think the most important thing is: if you compare the performance of the Zeus, Chromebook Flip to a similar, you know a Windows 10 laptop of the same price.

The Zeus will probably perform better because they might have similar hardware, but chrome OS is so much more um efficient to running on lower powered hardware that you're getting a perfect experience, but I think the azure Chromebook Flip also shows that Chromebooks aren't necessarily always budget devices. They can be really premium, they can have beautiful designs, it's a flip. So if the flip brand means that you can turn the screen backwards and use it as a tablet-like device and as I said earlier, you can now install android apps in chrome OS, so you know it. It then becomes an android tablet, almost whilst then being able to be used as a laptop as well. It's got.

You know a 1080p screen really nice for watching Netflix. It does a really great job at that. It's just. Furthermore, it feels good, it's comfortable to type on and work on. Furthermore, it's got a fantastic battery life and yeah.

Furthermore, it's good. Its good value when compared to windows, 10 laptops of that same price bracket, absolutely I'm assuming then sort of that lighter weight. Os, like you were chatting about, maybe makes battery life a little better on a machine like this than sort of its windows, 10 counterparts. Am I right in thinking that yeah definitely absolutely fantastic stuff? Well, like we said, Chromebooks tend to be on the cheaper side. Maybe the ASUS is a bad example of that, but our next one certainly isn't the hp.

Chromebook 14 is 239 pounds currently uh, which is an absolute bargain. So tell us a little about this one man. Why deserves to be in the number four spot? Yeah? You won't get a Windows 10 laptop this good for 240 pounds. You just you know, there'll, be too many cut corners and, to be honest like so, this hp, Chromebook 14, it has like an intel, Cameron processor. It comes with two gigabytes of ram or four gigabytes of ram.

You know that's the specs, where, if you're looking at windows, 10 laptops I'd say don't buy, it does not buy it, because Windows 10 will not run well. Chrome OS, however, runs well on this stuff. It's also got 32 gigabytes of storage. Again, that doesn't sound like a lot, but you're only going to be really using these machines for doing document creation and because of their integration with Google Drive. It means a lot of your stuff is just kept stored in the cloud, so you don't really need that huge amount of space, but it is considerations, but if you're looking for a budget laptop, maybe the first laptop for your child or for a student um just for if you just want something which is cheap and dependable, and you can just when you're sat on your sofa, and you want to type away.

This is a really great choice. It's so cheap! It's just. I've been nicely designed as well. Good build quality, hp uh, you know a trusted name in laptops and Chromebooks, and I think it's a perfect example of just how good Chromebooks can be at this sort of very low price yeah. Absolutely.

I think it's kind of a nice halfway house between almost a tablet and a laptop right in that, like a lot of people like the idea of a tablet, something that's easy to save the web with and that kind of thing, and it's lightweight, but they want that tactile keyboard, and so this is kind of the area you want to be looking in for that kind of product right, absolutely so then, moving on then to another flip Chromebook, where you can use it as a laptop or a Chromebook. The Lenovo ThinkPad c13 yoga, Chromebook uh, tell us a little about this one that why it deserves to be in that number three slot yeah. So, like the Chromebook Flip, this is a convertible Chromebook, so you could, you can flip it back, use it like a tablet, but it's um. It's got some really. Nice features perfect.

Build quality um the ThinkPads they're aimed more at sort of like professionals, so this is something which, if you want to do some work on, it's a perfect choice. It's got some really powerful configurations as well. It can come with an AMD Ryzen 7 uh 3700c processor, which for a Chromebook, that's that's, that's pretty high end up to eight gigabytes of ram. So again, you know, even though chrome OS works really well on lower powered, cheaper Chromebooks, it does scale very well, so it just works really smoothly when, when you go for a bit more power- and it's just combines everything that we like about Chromebooks so long battery life, good flexibility, you know dependable great, build quality. I think this is for like people who are looking for maybe like a business Chromebook or a Chromebook way, they're going to do a lot of work on then.

This is a perfect choice. Absolutely and I'll hurry you along because we're going from the high end of Lenovo now down to the low end of Lenovo, with the Lenovo IdeaPad duet, Chromebook. So Matt tell us a little about this. One and obviously we know what sets the two apart right: the specs and the price tag uh, but Lenovo dropping in here again. What makes this one special in the number two slot yeah.

This really blew us away when we reviewed it. It is a very cheap Chromebook. Once again, unlike the some others, we've talked about, which you know are two-in-one devices where the keyboard flips backwards. Yes, this actually has a detachable keyboard, so it actually really does turn into a tablet, and that is quite important difference because it, when you fold back a laptop's keyboard to turn it into a laptop uh, tablet-like device. It's still quite bulky.

You can feel the keyboard underneath to actually remove it. You've got this light device, and it's just so it's its a really nice compact Chromebook, which can just do everything you really wanted to do when it comes to day-to-day stuff, but also doubles up as a tablet, and so in a way, it's actually maybe like more for people who are looking for a tablet but want something which they can boost and turn into a productivity machine more so than just a normal, cheap android tablet. So it's a fascinating form factor. You don't often see Chromebooks like this, but Lenovo have really done some great things with it, and it's just really nicely put together dependable great battery life. It's a perfect choice for someone who really is stuck between choosing between a tablet and a laptop.

This does both pretty well yeah. Absolutely- and you know it's in that price point where, if you were gonna, buy a laptop or wanted that keyboard, and so we're thinking. Oh, do I buy an accessory like some sort of Bluetooth thing that attaches to my tablet, to turn it into this kind of device, we're kind of already in that same ballpark figure right, so this could very easily solve that dilemma for you, if that's the kind of thing you're looking for and then finally, we will move then on to the Google Pixel book go and obviously all the way we've been chatting through saying you know: chrome OS, obviously built by google, so does have the device itself built by google. Is that what really sets this one? Apart from all the others, Matt yeah? I suppose in the same way that, like Microsoft, Surface Pro products and service products designed by Microsoft, to showcase Microsoft's windows, 10. , the Google Pixel book go and um the older pixel book, oh yeah, once again they're supposed to be showcases for chrome OS.

These are supposed to be aspirational, Chromebooks, which show consumers what's possible with Chromebooks, but also to show Chromebook makers. You know that hey look we're doing these great things. You know take some inspiration from us, perhaps unlike the pixel book, which it been very expensive, and I think, maybe a bit overpriced for a Chromebook, and it came with hugely. I think uh overpowered specs really with the Pixelbook, though google kind of toned things down a little. So it's still got some amazing specs.

You know you can get up to a core i7 processor. You can get up to 16 gigabytes of ram, so you know powerful, powerful, chrome. Furthermore, you know that'll be a powerful window, 10 laptops there's, a very powerful sort of um Chromebook, but it's it just runs chrome OS. So well, it is really nicely designed it's integrated if you've got an android phone, it connects up really well with that, and it's light and comfortable to carry around, and it's called one of the best keyboards I've actually ever used on any laptop, especially Chromebooks. It's really comfortable to use it's actually the laptop that I use the most day to day.

I've got one, and I just think it's brilliant. I just really- and it's got very long battery life once again, you can close it leave it for a couple of days open it up, you've still got battery life, and you can work on it for hours and still have plenty of battery life at the end of it. It's just overall a great example of the possibility and the potential of Chromebooks. It is expensive compared to some other Chromebooks, not hugely so, and once again it will outperform a Windows 10 laptop of the same kind of price. Really, I think if you want a Chromebook, and you want something which is going to last you for quite a few years and will just be a great performer, but you can work on it for hours, not just because of the battery life, but because of the comfortable keyboard.

This is really the one to get it's its great yeah. We keep coming back to right, who are Chromebooks for, and we keep coming back to, students and writers and this kind of things, and that's exactly all the things you're. Looking for right, the comfortable keyboard, the battery life, the sort of ease ability, the ease of use and kind of not having to worry too much about the device itself is exactly what you want from a machine like this. So it's good to hear. That's all in their Matt before we close out, I just want to cover.

Is there anything coming up on the horizon that you think could shake this list up anything you're, keeping an eye on um? No, I think we've we've seen quite a few new Chromebooks get announced to CES 2021, so um they're kind of like coming through um. I think the Pixelbook go is probably due a sequel or something else, so I'll, be sure too interesting to see what google does if it does have any plans um for a successor, yeah, it's an exciting time for um Chromebooks. I think because they're just so popular with students in classrooms around the world- and I think more and more laptop makers- are now thinking yeah. We can make some really nice Chromebooks, not just knock off a budget one, but actually make some really cool. Useful ones which are going to help people if they're working from home learning from home and so yeah, it's I'm really excited to see what comes next with Chromebooks yeah and I think you're, absolutely right.

In the past 12 months, we've seen this obviously massive increase of people, learning from home students working from home and so needing that sort of cheap and cheerful laptop, and so maybe companies now are looking at Chromebooks and saying. Oh,, actually. This is a really viable space now, because people need this ability to work from home on the cheaper side, um, so it'll be interesting to see what happens in 2021 with Chromebooks. It's worth mentioning guys, obviously that first link in the description once again by the time you're watching this video Matt may well have updated this article. Something may have been announced.

Something may have come out, and this article may look very different so worth checking that out to see the latest and greatest Chromebooks, but I think that covers everything right Matt was there anything else you wanted to chat about before we leave here? No, I think, uh. The only other interesting thing with Chromebooks, which I should mention, is that goo google GeForce google NVIDIA GeForce now um, which is um. The GPU makers, um cloud streaming service has now come to Chromebook, so you can actually play PC games in an on a Chromebook. It does it by streaming from the internet um, but it's quite cool actually and with some games it's pretty novel. Having you know you can even fire up like cyberpunk 2077 and have a little never play of that um? It works really well with real-time strategy games, but it's just an extra sort of like string in the bow actually, which shows that Chromebooks are more versatile than people.

Think and now you can use them without an internet connection as well, which is one of my biggest complaints back when Chromebooks first were announced, you had to always be online. Luckily, that's not that's not a case anymore, fantastic stuff and, like you say you know, GeForce now is one way. Google Stadia obviously as well: google own their own sort of game streaming service and yeah. Like you say it's difficult right now, you have to have a good internet connection for those kinds of things, but this was the same when Netflix started way back in the day right people saying you can't stream HD video way back in the day when everybody was on super slow internet speeds in 5 10 years time. I think it's just going to be the norm right to stream video games at least some of them, so um yeah, so yeah there's definitely a possibility to game on these things as well or be it in a slightly different manner.

Uh thanks for joining me Matt. We do appreciate it guys. Thank you so much for watching. If you enjoyed the video, please do drop a like subscribe to tech radar on YouTube, so you don't miss any of our future the best laptops list. I think we've got a few coming your way, so I'm excited for it.

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Source : TechRadar