Best Chromebooks 2016 - Top Rated Chromebooks (Review: Dell 11-3120, Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 11E, Toshi
- Steve Avery
- Dec 2, 2016
- 4 min read
The major manufacturers don't just sell Windows-based laptops, but have the rather inexpensive and frequently more portable Chromebooks with Google's Chrome OS in their portfolio. This particular operating system is based on the idea that most of the work a user encounters can be done using the browser. Chromebooks run a version of Linux with a very small footprint and utilize the Chrome browser running on top of the OS. Even though local web applications can be installed as well, the focus is clearly on cloud-based services accessed via the browser.
The notebooks in this category don't require a lot of processing power or hard drive space, so they are pretty stripped-down and carry a low price tag. Of course there are drawbacks as well: popular applications like Office or Skype won't run on Chrome. The only choice here is to use Google's own applications. Printing and hooking up USB devices can be a bit of a headache as well.
Dell's Chromebook 11-3120 earned the coveted first place in our list. The notebook is quite light at only 1.2 kg and comes with a matte display with HD-resolution. The Chromebook 11 costs $340 and offers a sturdy chassis, good battery life, a solid keyboard and also remains inaudible during use. Some buyers might be turned off somewhat by the dark-gray plastic and the ho-hum styling. Dell's offering is solid all around though and deservedly ranks at the top.
The ThinkPad Yoga 11e is a very good choice as well. As part of the Yoga-family it features the 360-degree hinge, which allows it to be used in different modes. Despite the added functionality, it still retails for an affordable $348. The glossy display requires some getting used to, however. 1.7 kg is also a little heavy for an 11.6-inch notebook and it's thicker than the competitors as well. Highlights are the touchscreen, the decent input devices and the long battery life. The design makes use of a fan, but remains pretty quiet overall. The ThinkPad Yoga 11e is one of the most distinct and adaptable Chromebook-designs and offers a lot for the money.
"Think big" seems to be Acer's motto with the 15.6-inch Chromebook 15 CB5. A surprise was the very decent battery life of over 9 hours in day-to-day operation. Heat and noise are very well controlled and the performance is up to par as well. The notebook is quite stylish, but the keyboard is less impressive.
Lenovo is the king of bargain pricing and the Chromebook Lenovo N20 is a good example, as it carries an MSRP of only $260. The Lenovo N20p is the same model equipped with a touchscreen. The battery lasts for almost 9 hours, the notebook is completely silent and the matte display is decent, although not overly bright. The lid could be more sturdy, but from a pure price-to-value ratio, it's hard to beat the N20.
A Chromebook selling for almost 400 Euro (~$450) is already too expensive - or is it? Case in point is the Toshiba CB30-B-104, which tries to appeal to potential customers with its Full-HD display despite its fairly steep price of $430. The display is actually one of the highlights, since it's very vivid and offers very good viewing angle stability. Drawbacks are the glossy display surface and the battery life, which trails the competitors somewhat. Taking the higher purchase price into consideration as well, the CB30-B-104 comes in at third place.
Users who after the best battery life should look at the Asus C200MA, which lasted over 10 hours during our WLAN test. The other specs are typical Chromebook-fare: 11.6-inch display, 1366 x 768 pixels resolution, Intel Celeron CPU and 32 GB eMMC flash storage. At least there's a USB 3.0 port and the price $280 seems appropriate as well.
HP's Chromebook 14 G1 is a 14-inch notebook retailing for just under $425. The design is very appealing and we like the build quality, the system performance, as well as the input devices. The battery life is OK as well and we can't find any major flaws, although the viewing angle stability could be better and the touchpad should recognize inputs all the way to the edges. HP's offering as a good choice for users who are looking for a larger Chromebook.
Acer's Chromebook 11 sells for less than $230. The build quality is decent but the materials aren't exactly high-end. The keyboard works well and the battery life is good, but the screen isn't nearly bright enough. Performance isn't top-notch, either, but should suffice for daily tasks like web surfing. The Chromebook 11 should appeal to users looking for a bargain.
All the other Chromebooks in our Top 10 list come equipped with Intel processors, but Acer's Chromebook 13 uses the Nvidia Tegra K1 instead. Performance is good enough for everyday use and the WLAN battery life of 10 hours is pretty impressive. We also like the matte display and the fact that the Chromebook 13 is completely silent and doesn't heat up much. At the time of writing, the notebook sells for around $285, which makes it a good deal.
Legend
Dell Chromebook 11-3120Intel Celeron N2840, Intel HD Graphics (Bay Trail), 16 GB eMMC Flash
Acer Chromebook 15 CB5-571-C9GRIntel Celeron 3205U, Intel HD Graphics (Broadwell),
HP Chromebook 14 G1Intel Celeron 2955U, Intel HD Graphics (Haswell),
Lenovo N20 ChromebookIntel Celeron N2830, Intel HD Graphics (Bay Trail), 16 GB eMMC Flash
Acer CB3-111Intel Celeron N2840, Intel HD Graphics (Bay Trail),
Acer Chromebook 13 CB5-311-T0B2Nvidia Tegra K1, NVIDIA Tegra K1 Kepler GPU, 32 GB eMMC Flash
Toshiba Chromebook CB30-102Intel Celeron 2955U, Intel HD Graphics (Haswell), 16 GB eMMC Flash
Asus C200MA-KX003Intel Celeron N2830, Intel HD Graphics (Bay Trail), 32 GB eMMC Flash
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 11eIntel Celeron N2930, Intel HD Graphics (Bay Trail), 16 GB eMMC Flash
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