The best Chromebook for 2024: Tested and reviewed
How we tested
Mashable staff hands-on tested all of the Chromebooks featured in this guide, using them for work and entertainment for several weeks at a time. This involved inspecting their build quality, working in different kinds of documents, checking emails, watching videos, taking photos on their webcams, participating in video calls, listening to music (via Spotify), playing games, and experimenting with any unique software features or use cases they claimed to support.
Additionally, we ran two benchmark tests on the HP loaners. (We didn’t get 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 Primate Labs’ Geekbench 6, which measures processor performance in a handful of common tasks. We recorded each of the HP Chromebooks’ multi-core scores in our reviews. The higher the score, the better.
We also had each of our HP testing units run the battery life portion of CrXPRT 2, a Chromebook-specific benchmark. (To measure the Acer Chromebook 516 GE’s battery life, we simply played games on it and monitored how long it lasted.) We look to see about nine to ten hours of battery life in the Chromebooks we review, with eight hours being our baseline.
After evaluating each model’s performance in these real-world and benchmark tests, we made our final recommendations based on whether we thought they offered a good overall value for the money.
It’s worth mentioning that the HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch, the HP Chromebook Plus x360 14c, and the Acer Chromebook 516 GE are the only Chromebooks we’ve tested so far in 2024. While we believe all three of them are very solid purchases, we know there’s plenty of competition out there. As mentioned up top, expect this guide to evolve over the coming months as we test lots more models. (Next up: the ASUS Chromebook Plus CX34.)
