If you buy a Chromebook on Prime Day, it needs to be this one
For the vast majority of users, this is the best Chromebook around, with the best price ever.
Ah, I love the smell of Prime Day Chromebook deals in the morning - it smells like freshly-saved Benjamins and the sweetness of never having to troubleshoot your mom's computer ever again. There are quite a few deals out there to sift through, but one stands above the rest, giving you plenty of power and portability at its best price ever: the Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook.
This Chromebook has led our Best Chromebooks roundup since it arrived last spring, and now that it's a year old, we're finally starting to see some real discounts on it. Of course, it was already a great deal at $430 - usually $400-$410 - with its 10th Gen i3 processor, 1080p touchscreen, and all-day battery life, but getting that for $310 - the same price most compact Chromebooks run for - is amazing. Whether you're buying a Chromebook for your mother, your grandfather, or your middle school kids, this Chromebook is reliable, smooth, and works wonderfully.
Simply unbeatableLenovo Chromebook Flex 5 | $120 off at Amazon
The best overall Chromebook on the market is finally seeing its first major sale, and it drops it down into budget Chromebook prices for a mid-range masterpiece. I used the Flex 5 for most of the last year, and it's never let me down - the touchscreen is great, and the backlit keyboard is handy for my late-night writing sessions.
The Lenovo Flex 5 is the Chromebook I spent most of the pandemic on, and it was a great companion. The 13.3-inch screen is big enough to comfortably split-screen windows on, the touchscreen was nice and responsive when I ignored my work for a few rounds of Microsoft Solitaire (it's so good on a touchscreen, you will be instantly addicted), and the i3 processor kept up with my usual workload with ease. That touchscreen is also compatible with USI stylus pens, so you can use it for artwork or for signing documents that look like an actual adult signed them.
This is a 13-inch Chromebook that's almost the same size as 11.6-inch Chromebooks thanks to thin bezels, and it's light enough that it won't weigh down your backpack or sling bag when taking it to the coffee shop or your next class. The battery here usually lasts me about 8-11 hours, depending on how much of that time I spent bouncing between spotty Wi-Fi nodes at Walt Disney World and how bright I kept the screen, but the included 45W charger makes quick work of topping off the battery whenever I come back to a desk.
Most Chromebooks have down-facing speakers, even premium Chromebooks like the Acer Chromebook Spin 713, but the Flex 5 has stereo up-facing speakers that sit to the sides of the keyboard. This means you can actually hear your music or YouTube videos while you're using your Chromebook on the couch. The backlighting on the keyboard is even and easy to read late at night, though the Lenovo ThinkPad C13's caps-letter keyboard might be a better fit for older users with trouble focusing on small text. (If that's true, you'll also probably want to head into Settings and increase the Display size, making the dock icons and webpages bigger and easier to read.)
I will confess that if you're a tab hoarder, you might want to opt for a Chromebook with 8GB of RAM. The more tabs and apps you have open, the more memory you're using, and this goes double for any video calls you have open, so extra RAM is greatly appreciated. The 4GB in the Flex 5 is perfectly fine, but more RAM is always better, especially when 8GB RAM Chromebooks are on sale today, too!
Prime Day Deals on Chromebooks with 8GB RAMAcer Chromebook Spin 713 | $200 off at Best Buy
The Spin 713 is runner-up in Best Chromebooks because of its higher price, but it's down to $429 and offers a big boost in power for that extra $100 over the Flex 5. You'll get double the RAM, an i5 processor, a brighter 2K touchscreen with a 3:2 aspect ratio so you can see more on the screen at one time, and it's got more ports, too.
ASUS Chromebook Flip C433 | $90 off at Amazon
This 14-inch 2-in-1 is a couple of years old now, but it's still quick as a whip and built well. The backlit keyboard is easy to type on late into the evening, and the screen is vibrant and perfect for split-screening work and play. This model also has 8GB of RAM, so it's great for tab hoarders.