Chromebooks have become great alternatives to Windows laptops, but also to MacBooks. With the start of the school year, we've chosen the best Chromebooks of the moment for you

Top 3 of the Best Chromebooks

From somewhat cheap "  netbooks  " intended for students, Chromebooks have come a long way over the past ten years. If Google's high-end adventures (who still remembers the Google Chromebook Pixel  ?) Have been a failure, third chromebook backlit keyboard-party manufacturers have learned from these experiences.

Today's Chromebooks are more powerful and much better finished than their ancestors. Beyond their often attractive price, their great strength is Chrome OS. The fast, easy-to-use, virus-free operating system. Perfect for children or grandparents, but not only! They can be a great machine for a student or a telecommuter.

Nowadays, most of them use entry-level processors from Intel. To see if the slap put to the industry by Apple with its Apple M1 processor, however, pushed Google to take an interest once again in ARM chips.

But if the hardware has made progress, it is especially on the software side that things have improved. From a glorified browser unable to run an offline word processor at launch, we have moved on to a real OS. Google has even moved ahead of Apple since it has been possible for several years to launch Android applications on your Chromebook. These aren't always ideal for laptop use , but the vast majority of Chromebooks use a touchscreen.

Windows on a  Chromebook?

Even more interesting, Google is now working with Parallels to virtualize Windows directly in ChromeOS . However, this function remains limited to high-end business models, but it suggests much more flexibility in the future for the OS.

That said, think carefully about your uses: Chromebooks are excellent machines for light office or media consumption, but you shouldn't ask them for much more. If you have essential software or peripherals. If so, an entry-level Windows PC will probably be a better choice.

Very popular in the United States, especially in education, Chromebooks remain confidential in our regions.best chromebook with backlit keyboard The brands are therefore cautious and do not launch their entire range with us. Thus it is Acer which dominates this selection, being with Asus one of the few to push Chromebooks into France.

We've sorted it out to bring you the best Chromebooks around. For the best laptops around, read our dedicated guide 

The Choice of The Moment

ACER CHROMEBOOK SPIN 514

Until now, the vast majority of Chromebooks have used Intel processors, most often very underpowered Pentiums. This is why seeing models arriving with AMD Ryzen chips that are otherwise more efficient is particularly interesting. In terms of form, this Acer Spin 514 is very classic, with a 14-inch screen with fairly thin edges. If the machine is compact, its weight (1.6 kg) limits use in tablet mode.

On the other hand, we are very pleasantly surprised by the quality of manufacture, the metal frame really exudes solidity. The connection is complete with 4 USB ports (including 2 USB-C), an HDMI socket and a microSD card reader . If we appreciate the presence of a Full HD IPS panel, it lacks brightness. There is therefore no question of working in direct sunlight.

But the big highlight of this machine is clearly its Ryzen 5 3500U processor. Accompanied by 8 GB of RAM, the chip offers excellent performance and especially ten hours of autonomy. Enough to start a full day without needing a charger. The latter is also in USB-C format, always practical if you want to minimize the number of cables to carry with you

The icing on the cake, the Acer Spin 514 is offered at an extremely attractive price. We have here one of the best value for money in the Chromebook universe

With its all-metal construction, this Chromebook offers a surprisingly good finish at this price point. If the colors of the screen lack accuracy, on the other hand we greatly appreciate the Full HD definition and the matte touch finish which greatly improves readability

The setup surprises me in a good way. If the Pentium N4200 processor is very classic on this kind of machine, the 8 GB of RAM and the 128 of SSDs are less so. This allows very comfortable everyday use. Not to spoil anything, the autonomy reaches ten hours. Connectivity aside, it's very classic with a headphone jack, two USB ports and a USB-C connector. Sold for 499 euros, this Acer C514 is no longer very young, but is distinguished by solid performance and an attractive price.