Best Chromebook deals: Get a new laptop from $99

Chromebooks have seen a popularity surge over the past couple of years with many more people from ever before working from home or remotely. That’s because Chrome-powered laptops are affordable, resource-light, and the perfect choice for those who are always connected, thanks to the cloud-based software. If you’re shopping for a new Chromebook, you’ll find everything from simple, budget-friendly netbooks to featherweight ultrabooks packed with features like 4K touchscreens, so there are plenty of options for every budget. Sounds good, right? Keep reading and we’ll take you through this week’s best Chromebook deals.

Today’s best Chromebook deals

Lenovo Flex 3 2-in-1 Chromebook — $99, was $189

Why Buy

If you’re in the market for a new Chromebook, why not grab one of the best laptop deals around? The Lenovo Chromebook Flex 3 2-in-1 is ultra-light and portable, making it a great choice for younger students looking for a portable, affordable device for typing up notes and completing assignments. It has a spacious keyboard for its size, so it’s comfortable to type on.

No surprises here — this Chromebook runs Chrome OS, so there are plenty of different games, productivity apps, and hands-on learning tools available. The 11.6-inch Touch display with HD resolution is ideal for productivity or watching your favorite shows, with integrated Intel graphics allowing you to stream 4K content or play games in up to 720p. Under the hood, the Intel Celeron processor and 4GB of memory mean this Chromebook can handle most basic activities and multitasking, and there’s 64GB of eMMC storage, which can easily be upgraded with a MicroSD card. Add in a built-in front-facing HD webcam with mic for online classes and video calls, plus solid battery life of up to 10 hours to see students through classes and study sessions, and it’s easy to see why this Chromebook is so popular.

The Lenovo Chromebook Flex 3 2-in-1 weighs just 2.64lb, making it lightweight and portable, while its slim format ensures it slips easily into a bag or backpack. It even comes with built-in virus protection.

Asus Chromebook C425 — $119, was $329

Why Buy

They say “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” — well, with this Chromebook you can enjoy both work and play. With its 14-inch Full HD display, everything from your emails to your favorite movies looks crisp and vibrant, while the Intel Core m3 processor makes multitasking for work a breeze. This Chromebook’s compact clamshell design can be used in four modes: laptop, audience, tabletop, or presentation, and it’s ultra-thin and ultra-lightweight, too, weighing just 3.09lbs and measuring 0.65 inches thick.

With all-day battery life, you won’t find yourself rushing to charge this every few hours, and there’s 64GB of eMMc storage, which boots up fast and supports HD video playback. The integrated Intel UHD graphics are great for casual gaming and photo editing, and there’s an SD card reader onboard too. For video calls and Zoom meetings, there’s an HD webcam and mic, plus a handy headphone/mic combo jack. With this deal, you also get a six-month virus protection subscription and three months of YouTube Premium for free, if you’re a new subscriber.

HP 15.6-inch Chromebook — $249, was $349

Why Buy

This HP Chromebook boasts a 15.6-inch 1366 x 768 display with anti-glare, so you can use it outdoors even in bright sunlight. Its Intel processor and Chrome OS ensure reliable, speedy performance, with 8GB of memory for multitasking and 64GB of eMMC storage for all your files and photos.

The highlight of this Chromebook is its oversized trackpad, which is much larger than you’d find on most Chromebooks and supports four finger gestures. There’s a numeric keypad too, great if you spend your days working with numbers or spreadsheets. The HP Wide Vision camera and dual-stero speakers ensure crystal clear video calls and team meetings, and you can expect all-day battery life, so you won’t be tied to a charger. Should your battery die, you’ll be up and running quickly, with fast charge taking you from 0 to 50% in around 45 minutes.

The HP 15.6-inch Chromebook is not only a reliable choice, it’s a conscious one too, as it contains ocean-bound and post-consumer recycled plastic, so you can get your work done and feel like you’re doing your bit for the planet, too.

Acer Chromebook 516 GE — $549, was $649

Why Buy

Gaming PCs don’t have to break the budget, as proven by this Acer Chromebook 516 GE. Immerse yourself in cloud gaming, with access to thousands of the latest games. They’ll all look stunning on the 16-inch 2560 x 1600 display with 120Hz refresh rate. The display feels larger than it is, too, thanks to narrow bezels and a 16:10 aspect ratio.

Power through even the most demanding games with the 12th-gen Intel Core i5 processor, backed by 8GB of LPDDR4 RAM, for smooth multitasking and cloud gaming. There’s a 256GB solid-state drive (SSD) on board too, which loads faster and runs faster than other hard drives, so your gaming doesn’t need to slow down for a second.

You can personalize your key colors with preset backlight modes, adjustable through Chrome, and use more key combos than ever before in your favorite games with anti-ghosting tech. For those MMORPG days or streaming to Twitch or YouTube, there’s an FHD webcam, quad upward speakers, and a dual-mic array, plus all the ports you could ever need, and, most importantly, long battery life.

When are the best Chromebook deals?

The biggest sales are fairly easy to spot. Think of a major holiday and there’s probably going to be a sale around then. The brightest highlights are Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Both are major sales events which means retailers cut the price of highly sought-after technology significantly during those times. It’s likely we’ll see some of the best Chromebook deals of the year then, but you’ll need to be quick. Black Friday and Cyber Monday stock tend to be strictly limited which means once it’s gone, it’s gone, and you might miss out.

Alternatively, Prime Day is a key time for sales, too. It’s Amazon’s exclusive sales event, but often other retailers get in on the act and cut their own prices around the same time. Again, technology is some of the most highly sought-after stuff so discounts are pretty deep.

However, there’s a big catch to all of this — timing. Prime Day is not until the summer and Black Friday and Cyber Monday aren’t until near the end of the year. In all cases, you’re going to need to wait to snag one of the best Chromebook deals. There’s not even any guarantee that the deals will be better, though; if you need a Chromebook now, you probably won’t want to wait that long to get one. For one thing, if your existing setup has died, can you last months without a laptop or Chromebook? It’s unlikely, so you’ll need to look for the best offers going right now instead.

If for some reason you can wait it out then do so, but we won’t blame you if you have to dive right in. If nothing else, sales events can be stressful as stock flies out faster so by buying now, you don’t have to worry about stressing over your plans and beating the rush that comes around these big sales events. Plus, you get the benefit of your new Chromebook straight away rather than having to wait for months.

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