Best Overall Value
Start with the screen, because at this price it's rare. A 15.6in Full HD panel on a Chromebook that lands around £272 is unusual company, and it's what makes this the pick of the pack for anyone who lives in a browser. Most cheap Chromebooks give you a cramped 11in or a washed-out 14in. This one gives you room to have two windows side by side without squinting.
The engine matters just as much. The Intel Core 3 N355 is a step up from the Celeron and N100 chips that power most of the Chromebooks below it, and paired with 8GB of RAM it handles a proper stack of tabs plus a couple of Android apps. The 256GB SSD is the other headline. That's actual solid-state storage, not the 64GB of slow eMMC you'll find on the ASUS Chromebook 14 and Chromebook 11 further down. You can keep files locally, cache Spotify, install Android games, and not spend your life clearing space.
The Chromebook Plus badge isn't decoration. It's Google's spec floor (8GB RAM, decent storage, a good webcam) and it unlocks extra AI features and offline capability the base Chromebooks miss. Against the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus, which is faster on paper with its Core i5, this ASUS saves you the best part of £180 and gives you a bigger screen. You lose the slim aluminium shell and the Gemini key, but for most buyers that trade is a no-brainer.
One checkable detail from the listing worth flagging: this is a plastic-bodied 15.6in machine, so it's larger and heavier than the 11in and 13in options here. It's lightweight for a 15in laptop, not lightweight in absolute terms. If you want the smallest bag-filler, look at the MacBook Air. If you want the most usable screen and storage for the money, this is it. Owners consistently report long battery life and quick wake from sleep, which is the Chrome OS advantage over the Windows machines here. For a first family laptop, a student's coursework machine or a sofa browser, nothing else on this list balances screen, storage and price this well. See our full ASUS Chromebook Plus 15 review for the full breakdown.
Pros
- 256GB SSD, not slow eMMC, so local storage is genuinely usable
- Chromebook Plus badge unlocks offline AI features and a better webcam floor
- Automatic updates promised for years past most rivals here
Cons
- Plastic chassis and 15.6in footprint make it the least portable Chromebook here
- Chrome OS still leans on web apps, so no full desktop software
Buy on AmazonRead full review
Best Build Quality
At just under £500 the M1 Air is the only machine here that feels like a proper premium laptop rather than a budget one wearing a nice colour. The aluminium unibody, the Retina display, the Magic Keyboard and Touch ID all come from Apple's flagship line, and years on from launch the M1 chip still outruns every Windows CPU on this list for real work per watt.
Battery is where it embarrasses the field. Apple rates it at around 18 hours of video playback, and it does that with no fan at all, so it's silent under load. The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 with the i5-12450H is quicker in short bursts, but it'll spin fans and drain in a fraction of the time. If you want lightweight in the true sense (1.29kg, all-day battery, cool and quiet), this is the answer.
The catch is the 256GB SSD and 8GB of unified memory, both soldered and non-upgradeable. macOS handles 8GB better than Windows does, but if you're a heavy multitasker the Lenovo IdeaPad 1 gives you 16GB and a 512GB SSD for over £70 less. That's the real fork here: Apple polish and battery, or double the RAM and storage on Windows. For students, writers and anyone who values the trackpad and screen over raw spec numbers, the Air wins. We covered the trade-offs in our MacBook Air M1 review.
Pros
- Fanless and silent, with a battery rating no other machine here approaches
- Best-in-class trackpad and Retina display at this price
- Touch ID and the M1's efficiency keep it relevant years after launch
Cons
- Only two Thunderbolt ports and no card reader, so dongles are likely
- 8GB RAM and 256GB storage are soldered, no upgrade path ever
Buy on Amazon£499.97Read full review
Best Windows Value
The spec sheet does the talking. 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD on a modern Ryzen 5 7520U, all for around £429. Nothing else on this list gives you that much Windows machine for the money. If you need full desktop software and want it to still feel quick in three years, this is the sensible buy.
The Ryzen 5 7520U is a four-core, eight-thread mobile chip that sits comfortably above the Celeron and N-series parts in the cheaper Windows and Chrome machines here. It won't game seriously (integrated Radeon graphics only), but for Office, browsing, video calls and light photo work the 16GB of headroom means you won't be babysitting your tab count. The 512GB SSD is double the storage of the M1 Air and four times some Chromebooks here.
It ships in Windows 11 S mode, which locks you to Microsoft Store apps. Don't panic: switching out is free and permanent, a two-click job, and once done you've got a normal Windows laptop. Against the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 14in with the i5-12450H, this IdeaPad 1 is slower under sustained load but cheaper and 15in rather than 14in. Owners consistently praise the value; the trade is a plastic build and a fairly average FHD panel. Full details in our Lenovo IdeaPad 1 review.
Pros
- 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD, the best storage-and-memory value on the list
- S mode can be left for free, turning it into a full Windows 11 machine
- Modern Ryzen 5 keeps it usable well beyond the cheaper Intel N-series here
Cons
- Battery life trails the Chromebooks and the MacBook Air badly
- Plastic chassis and a middling FHD panel, no premium feel
Buy on Amazon£469.99Read full review
Best for Performance
The i5-12450H is the reason to buy this. It's an H-series chip, the kind you normally find in bigger performance laptops, with eight cores and twelve threads. In a 14in shell that's a lot of raw grunt for the money, comfortably the most powerful Windows machine here for heavier multitasking or the odd Lightroom export.
You also get 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, matching the IdeaPad 1 on memory and storage but with far more CPU behind them. And crucially it ships in full Windows 11 Home, not S mode, so no unlocking step. Against the IdeaPad 1, you're paying about £70 more for a much stronger chip and a smaller, more portable 14in body.
The compromise is heat and battery. An H-series chip works hardest and drains fastest, so owners report shorter runtimes than the M1 Air manages by a mile. If you want power and portability and you'll usually be near a plug, this is the one. If you want all-day battery, look elsewhere on the list.
Pros
- H-series i5 gives it the strongest sustained CPU of any Windows laptop here
- Ships in full Windows 11 Home, no S mode unlock needed
- 14in body is more portable than the 15in IdeaPads
Cons
- H-series chip means shorter battery life and warmer running
- Integrated graphics only, so no real gaming
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Best Premium Chromebook
This is the Chromebook for people who want Chrome OS but refuse to carry plastic. Samsung has built it slim and light with a proper metal feel, a Core i5 inside, 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage. There's a dedicated Gemini Quick Insert key too, a physical button for Google's AI assistant, which is a first for the category.
The i5 makes it the quickest Chromebook here on paper, ahead of the Core 3 N355 in our top pick. But here's the honest maths: at around £449 it costs roughly £180 more than the ASUS Chromebook Plus 15, and both are Chromebook Plus machines with 8GB and 256GB. You're paying that premium for the build, the thinner profile and the Gemini key, not for a night-and-day performance jump in a browser.
For most people the ASUS wins on value. But if you want the nicest-feeling Chromebook under £500, one you'd happily carry into a meeting, this is it. Owners rate the screen and the slim chassis highly. More in our Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus review.
Pros
- Genuinely slim, premium build, the best-feeling Chromebook here
- Core i5 makes it the fastest Chrome OS machine on the list
- Dedicated Gemini key for one-tap AI access
Cons
- Around £180 dearer than the ASUS Chromebook Plus 15 for similar core specs
- Same Chrome OS limits apply, so you pay premium money for a web-first OS
Buy on Amazon£449.00Read full review
Best for Sustained Load
Same M1 chip as the Air, same 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD, but with one key difference: a fan. That active cooling lets the Pro hold peak clocks longer, so for a long export or a sustained compile it edges the fanless Air. It also carries a slightly brighter display and the divisive Touch Bar strip along the top of the keyboard.
At around £480 it sits just below the Air on price, which is unusual for a Pro. The question is whether you need the fan. For most people the Air is the better buy: lighter, silent, newer in feel and no Touch Bar. But if your work runs the chip flat out for minutes at a time and you'd rather have the extra thermal headroom, the Pro justifies itself.
Battery is still excellent, if a touch behind the Air. It's heavier at just over 1.4kg. Against every Windows machine here it's a different class for efficiency and build. See our MacBook Pro M1 review for the finer points.
Pros
- Active cooling holds M1 performance longer than the fanless Air
- Brighter display and excellent battery life
- Same efficient M1 silicon that beats every Windows chip here per watt
Cons
- Heavier than the Air with the polarising Touch Bar
- Only 8GB/256GB, soldered, so no upgrades and dongle life for ports
Buy on Amazon£462.25Read full review
Best Under £200
Under £200 and it still has 8GB of RAM. That's the headline, because most sub-£200 laptops cut memory to 4GB and choke the moment you open a few tabs. The N100 chip is modest but efficient, and paired with 8GB it keeps Chrome OS moving nicely for browsing, email and streaming.
HP rates the battery at up to 12.25 hours, and the 14in Full HD panel is a step above the low-res screens you often get at this price. There's 128GB of flash storage too, double what the ASUS Chromebook 14 and Chromebook 11 offer. For a first laptop, a spare, or a kid's homework machine, this is a lot of sensible spec for the money.
Against the plain HP Chromebook 14 lower down, this N100 model is the one to pick: more RAM, more storage, a stated battery figure. It's the best value on the entire list if your budget is tight. Dual speakers and a decent keyboard round it off. See our HP Chromebook 14 N100 review.
Pros
- 8GB RAM at under £200, rare at this price
- 128GB storage doubles the cheaper Chromebooks here
- Rated 12.25h battery and a Full HD 14in panel
Cons
- N100 is fine for basics but not for heavy multitasking
- Flash storage, not a fast SSD like the ASUS Chromebook Plus 15
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Best Build for Students
This one is built to survive a school bag. The CR1100 is a rugged 11.6in Chromebook designed for the classroom, with a spill-resistant keyboard and reinforced corners, and crucially a 3-year ASUS warranty in the box. That warranty length beats almost everything here and it's the reason to buy: peace of mind for a device that'll get dropped.
The specs are modest. A Celeron N4500, 4GB RAM and 64GB eMMC put it firmly in light-use territory: a handful of tabs, Google Docs, YouTube. Push it harder and it'll stutter, and the small HD screen isn't for long working sessions. Against the HP Chromebook 14 N100, that machine is faster and roomier for similar money, so buy the ASUS specifically for the toughness and the warranty, not the performance.
Pros
- 3-year warranty included, far longer than most rivals
- Rugged, spill-resistant build made for rough handling
- Compact 11.6in size suits small hands and small bags
Cons
- 4GB RAM and 64GB eMMC limit it to light tasks
- Small HD screen isn't for long sessions
Buy on Amazon£299.99Read full review
Best 15in Windows Basics
A tidy 15in Windows machine for around £299. The Core i3-N305 is an eight-core efficiency chip, decent for browsing, Office and streaming, and 8GB of RAM is the sensible Windows floor. The full-size 15in Full HD screen gives you room to work, which the smaller Chromebooks here don't.
The weak spot is storage: just 128GB of UFS. That's fine for a light user who keeps files in the cloud, but Windows itself eats a chunk of it, so you'll be managing space sooner than you'd like. For roughly £130 more the IdeaPad 1 gives you 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD, which is the smarter buy if you can stretch. Like the IdeaPad 1 it ships in S mode, free to leave. Buy this if you want a full-size Windows laptop and £300 is a firm ceiling.
Pros
- 8-core i3-N305 and 8GB RAM cover everyday Windows tasks well
- Full 15in FHD screen at a low price
- S mode can be switched off for free
Cons
- Only 128GB storage, tight once Windows takes its share
- The IdeaPad 1 offers far more storage and RAM for a bit more
Buy on Amazon£321.00Read full review
Best for Beginners
A no-frills 14in Chromebook at a fair £250, and about as simple as computing gets. Chrome OS boots in seconds, updates itself, and needs almost no maintenance, which makes this an easy first laptop for someone nervous about tech. The 14in screen is comfortable for browsing and video.
Trouble is, the HP Chromebook 14 N100 at rank 7 undercuts it and states more: 8GB RAM, 128GB storage and a 12-hour battery figure for under £200. Unless this one is discounted hard, that cheaper HP is the better pick. Buy it for pure simplicity. Our HP Chromebook 14 review has the detail.
Pros
- Dead simple Chrome OS, ideal for a first-timer
- Comfortable 14in screen for browsing and video
Cons
- The N100 HP Chromebook 14 states more spec for less money
Buy on Amazon£249.99Read full review
Best Cheap FHD Screen
At around £174 this is one of the cheapest ways to get a 14in Full HD screen, which is its one real draw over the 11in Chromebooks. But the internals are basic: a Celeron N50, just 4GB RAM and 64GB eMMC. That's fine for a couple of tabs and Docs, no more.
The HP N100 Chromebook 14 costs only a little extra and doubles the RAM and storage, which makes it the smarter buy for nearly everyone. Get this only if the very lowest price and a big screen are what matter.
Pros
- 14in Full HD screen at one of the lowest prices here
- Very cheap entry into Chrome OS
Cons
- 4GB RAM and 64GB eMMC bottleneck it fast
- HP's N100 model gives far more for a little more
Buy on Amazon£159.99Read full review
Best Spec-per-Pound Gamble
On paper it looks tempting: 16GB RAM, a 512GB SSD and a Full HD IPS screen for around £480. But the Intel 4425Y chip is the catch. It's a low-power dual-core part that trails even the Celeron and N-series chips elsewhere here, so all that RAM sits behind a slow engine.
The Lenovo IdeaPad 1 costs less and pairs the same 16GB/512GB with a far quicker Ryzen 5, from a brand with real support. Buy the MITUNTUN only if brand and CPU speed genuinely don't matter to you.
Pros
- 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD on the cheap
- Full HD IPS panel
Cons
- Slow 4425Y chip undercuts all that memory
- Little-known brand with limited support versus Lenovo
Buy on Amazon£479.99Read full review
