If that five-year-old laptop that runs at a turtle's speed is killing your back-to-school mood, it might be time for an upgrade. Students have tons of options when it comes to how to study and get their work done with affordable laptop options that include Windows and ChromeOS and cost significantly less than Apple's Mac offerings.

Also:The best Chromebooks for work

The streamlined Chrome OS makes it easy to navigate to popular apps like Google Docs, Google Drive, and email so students can stay on task and in touch with teachers and classmates. Chromebooks also have tons of security features, too, like mic mute, camera shutters, and data encryption to keep students safe from digital spying and to prevent theft or misuse of their personal information or classwork. 

went hands on with many of our top choices, including our pick for best Chromebook overall -- theHP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook -- to help you decide which laptop ranks supreme. Find out how each model from brands like Lenovo, HP, and more stack up to decide which Chromebook is best for your classroom needs. 

The best Chromebooks for students in 2023

HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook

Best Chromebook for students overall

June Wan/ Pros & Cons Pros

• The best hardware you'll find in this price class
• Brightest touchscreen on a Chromebook
• 8MP front-facing camera is exceptional
• RGB keyboard

Cons

• Priced higher than typical Chromebooks
• Availability is limited

More Details

HP Draongfly Pro Chromebook specs: Display size:14 inchesRefresh rate:60HzResolution:2560 x 1600Touchscreen:YesRAM:16GBGPU:Intel Iris X Graphics CPU:Intel Core i5-1235UStorage:256GB SSD Battery life:Up to 11 hours and 30 minutes

Chromebooks have come a long way since the early years of prioritizing value above all else. That's not to say that the HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook doesn't pack a lot of value; it's just built differently than any other Google-powered laptop we've tested to date...in a good way. 

Instead of focusing on compromises, HP partnered with Google to create the best, premium-tier Chromebook available on the market, and that shows through the industrial design of the Dragonfly Pro, the fantastic dual-firing speakers, RGB keyboard, and display that's best described as pure eye candy. 

In fact, if you often find yourself working outdoors -- maybe on the campus quad or at a local coffee shop -- the Dragonfly Pro has the brightest touchscreen display out of all Chromebooks. It's also the first to feature an 8MP front-facing camera that's been tuned by the team behind Google's own Pixel cameras.

Review: HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook

As quoted from 's full review, "With 16GB of RAM and a 12th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, there's little to worry about when it comes to performance and day-to-day operations. Not to mention, consistent updates over the past years have given ChromeOS a more leveled playing field between it and competing operating systems. Thanks to that maturity, HP had every opportunity to capitalize on the Dragonfly Pro's hardware -- and it most certainly did."

The HP Dragonfly Chromebook costs$999, which doesn't make it a bargain of a laptop by Chromebook means, but it still undercuts alternatives like Apple's MacBooks and does so with some superior (and flashy) features.

View now at HP

Lenovo Flex 3i

Best compact Chromebook for students

June Wan/ Pros & Cons Pros

• Flexible viewing and interactive experience
• Compact and durable enough to lug around in a backpack
• Fanless design is both surprisingly cool and quiet

Cons

• Exterior design is plasticky
• Trackpad is naturally smaller
• Top-firing speakers are not as clear when laptop is folded

More Details

Lenovo Flex 3i specs: Display size:12.2 inches Refresh rate:60HzResolution:1920 x 1200Touchscreen:YesRAM:4GBGPU:Intel UHD Graphics  CPU:Intel Processor N100 Storage:64GB eMMC Battery life:12 hours

If you're often moving from building to building, floor to floor, then an ultraportable, lightweight Chromebook may serve you best. To be clear, most of the Chromebooks on this buying list make the cut as far as portability is concerned, but the Lenovo Flex 3i arguably gives you the most functionality for its size.

The laptop weighs about 2.75 pounds, has a sizable 12.2-inch display that supports touchscreen input, and can be folded all around to transform itself into a tented display or tablet. Lenovo equipped the new Flex 3i with an Intel Processor N100, too, which, when paired with the 4GB of RAM, should be more than capable of powering most student tasks.

Review: Lenovo Flex 3i Chromebook

tested the Chromebook and found it both performant and efficient enough to stream hours of content, write and edit documents, and have multiple tabs open at once. The cherry on top is the lack of hissing noises typically found in fan-powered laptops. That makes this a distraction-free Chromebook, especially if you're churning out last-second papers in the library.

View now at Best Buy

Framework Chromebook

Best sustainable Chromebook for students

June Wan/ Pros & Cons Pros

• Fully modular design gives you freedom of ports and power
• Rigid build quality even with all the moving parts
• Extensive software support with ChromeOS

Cons

• Speakers can sound muffled
• Doesn't have a touchscreen display (or option for one)
• Have to buy the laptop and its parts