Contrary to popular belief, Chromebooks are well-equipped to handle several tasks and are particularly handy for schoolwork. In fact, you can edit documents, take notes, make video calls, and much more on a Chromebook. That said, it can be tricky to find a Chromebook that doesn’t break the bank. Well, don’t sweat it, as we have narrowed down the best affordable Chromebooks for students under $300.
While we had a tight budget to work with, we’ve picked the best of the bunch from the available options. So, without any further ado, let’s take a look at some affordable Chromebooks for students and college-goers under $300.
However, before you scroll through the list, you might also want to read about-
- The best Chromebooks you can buy for under $500.
- The best USB-C hubs to boost your Chromebook’s connectivity options.
- The best wireless mice you can use with your Chromebook.
Now, let’s get on with the article.
1. Acer Spin X360 2-in-1 Chromebook
- Weight: 2.65 lbs | Display Size: 11-inch
- Display resolution: 1,366 x 768 | Processor: MediaTek MT8183C
- Touch Screen: Yes | Storage: 32GB eMMC
- Battery Life: Up to 16 hours | Auto Update Expiration: 2027 / 2028
Acer is no stranger to affordable notebooks, and the company has quite a few budget-friendly Windows laptops. That said, the brand’s Spin X360 Chromebook personifies a VFM gadget to the tee. We say this, as the device sports a compact footprint and takes little to no space in a backpack. In fact, at just 2.65 lbs, you can comfortably carry the laptop and your study material without weighing your shoulders down.
That’s not all, as the laptop gets a touchscreen display too. In particular, the device comes with an 11-inch, 1,366 x 768 pixels, IPS HD touchscreen panel. While not a Full HD screen, the panel will seem plenty sharp, especially at that size. What’s more, the laptop can be comfortably used as a tablet, thanks to its 2-in-1 form factor. To that end, the laptop’s display can be flipped at a 180-degree angle, allowing users to use the device as a tablet, or prop it in tent mode to watch videos from afar.
Moving on, the laptop comes with an octa-core, MT8183C processor from MediaTek. The SoC comprises four ‘big’ Cortex A73 cores and four ‘little’ Cortex A53 cores. The performance cores can turbo up to 2GHz, which is ideal for single-threaded workloads. You’ll also get 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 32GB of eMMC storage with the device. While it’s not the quickest laptop on this list, it should perform adequately for simpler tasks like browsing the web or editing documents online.
The Spin X360 comes with two USB Type-A ports, a USB Type-C connector, and a headphone jack. If anything, buyers have cited that the unit’s speaker setup could’ve been a tad louder. Regardless, the Acer Spin X360 is an affordable Chromebook for students or distance learning for under $300.
Why you should buy it:
The Acer Spin X360 is superbly lightweight and versatile. It also comes with a slurry of connectors, making it a good option for students.
2. HP Chromebook x360
- Weight: 3.28 lbs | Display Size: 14-inch
- Display resolution: 1,366 x 768 | Processor: Intel Celeron N4120
- Touch Screen: Yes | Storage: 64GB eMMC
- Battery Life: Up to 13 hours | Auto Update Expiration: 2027
HP has a 2-in-1 Chromebook for the masses too. To wit, the company’s x360 Chromebook features a 14-inch articulating display with an HD resolution. The panel gets reasonably bright at 220 nits as well, so you should be able to use the Chromebook under the sun, which is great.
More notably, the device comes with a quad-core Celeron N4120 processor. For the uninitiated, the processor is a reliable entry-level chipset that can turbo up to 2.6GHz. That’s not all, as the chipset works alongside 4GB of LPDDR4 memory and 64GB of eMMC storage. Pool everything together, and the laptop brings enough horsepower to breeze through your schoolwork. At the same time, the unit’s low TDP of just six watts should translate into excellent battery life.
The laptop comes with a healthy assortment of ports too. To that end, the device gets two USB Type-C connectors, a USB Type-A port, and a headphone/mic combo. As for the rest of the I/O, the device comes with a side-mounted power button and volume rocker, which should come in handy when you’re using the laptop in tablet mode.
The laptop also gets an HD webcam, so you can attend lectures without any hassles either. All said and done, the HP x360 is a cheap and feature-rich Chromebook for students.
Why you should buy it:
The HP x360 Chromebook brings a sizeable HD display to the mix. It also comes with an HD webcam that should pave the way for crystal-clear zoom calls.
3. Lenovo ThinkPad C13 Yoga
- Weight: 3.3 lbs | Display Size: 13.3-inch
- Display resolution: 1,920 x 1,080 | Processor: AMD Athlon Gold 3150C
- Touch Screen: Yes | Storage: 32GB eMMC
- Battery Life: Up to 12.5 hours | Auto Update Expiration: 2029
Lenovo has hit the ball out of the ballpark with the ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook. For starters, the Chromebook comes with a crisp, 1080p display that gets superbly bright at 300 nits. Consequently, the screen should be legible even when you’re using it in broad daylight. That’s not all, as the panel can be flipped completely, you can use the ThinkPad C13 Yoga as a laptop or a tablet.
To no one’s surprise, the laptop’s design and display have impressed both buyers and reviewers alike. Moving on, the Chromebook is backed by AMD’s entry-level Athlon Gold 3150C processor. The SoC comes with two cores and four threads and can turbo up to 2.4GHz. Understandably, the laptop should be able to crunch through your school work and perform adequately when taking zoom calls too.
What’s more, while the device only gets 32GB of eMMC storage, you can further expand it via a microSD card. The icing on the cake is that the laptop comes with a 64GB microSD card, so you need not worry about running out of space on the ThinkPad C13 Yoga any time soon.
In terms of connectivity, the device features two USB Type-A ports and a USB Type-C connector. As such, you should be able to connect a number of peripherals to the machine without requiring a dock.
That’s not all, as the laptop also gets a backlit keyboard, which should make finishing work at night a lot easier. Add to that a fingerprint sensor for biometric authentication, and the Lenovo ThinkPad C13 Yoga is one of the best Chromebooks for students.
Why you should buy it:
The Lenovo ThinkPad C13 Yoga brings a full-HD, touchscreen display to the table. It also gets a competent AMD chipset, along with a healthy amount of storage.
4. ASUS CX1 Chromebook
- Weight: 5 lbs | Display Size: 17.3-inch
- Display resolution: 1,920 x 1,080 | Processor: Intel Celeron N4500
- Touch Screen: No | Storage: 64GB eMMC
- Battery Life: Up to 17 hours | Auto Update Expiration: 2030
If you want an affordable workstation that offers an immersive viewing experience, then you can’t go wrong with the ASUS CX1 Chromebook. In fact, while the unit has a good heft at 5 lbs, it also sports the biggest display out of any laptop on the list. To that end, the machine gets a 17.3-inch, Full HD panel with a 250 nits peak brightness. The panel is quite accommodating, and you can comfortably open multiple apps in split-screen and multitask efficiently on the notebook.
That’s not all, the device is backed by the Intel Celeron N4500 CPU. While the dual-core processor won’t set any benchmarks on fire, it should suffice for light, office, or school work. In fact, a lot of buyers have had a good experience with the laptop too. In particular, users speak highly of the laptop’s performance, with many claiming the notebook offers enough grunt under the hood to tackle web browsing, etc.
Moving on, the laptop gets 4GB of LPDDR4 memory and 64GB of eMMC storage. You’ll also get an HD webcam for video calls and Wi-Fi 6 compatibility. Correspondingly, you should be able to leverage higher download and upload speeds on the machine. Lastly, you should know that the laptop gets a beefy battery backup and per the brand, can last up to 17 hours off a single charge.
If anything, we would’ve liked to see the company add backlit support for the keyboard. Other than that, however, the ASUS CX1 is one of the top Chromebooks for students.
Why you should buy it:
The ASUS CX1 offers a spacious display that can accommodate multiple apps at once. It also comes with Wi-Fi 6 compatibility.
5. Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i
- Weight: 2.98 lbs | Display Size: 13.3-inch
- Display resolution: 1,920 x 1,080 | Processor: Intel Core i3-1115G4
- Touch Screen: Yes | Storage: 128GB SSD
- Battery Life: Up to 10 hours | Auto Update Expiration: 2030
The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i is a tad expensive and doesn’t quite fit under the $300 mark. But before you get your pitchforks out, you’ll want to hear what we have to say. You see, the IdeaPad Flex 5i is the fastest Chromebook on the list. In fact, the device punches way above its weight in the performance department, which can be accredited to the laptop’s Core i3-1115G4 processor.
For those unaware, the 11th Gen i3, albeit a dual-core chipset, will outperform every other processor on the list by a solid margin. That’s not all, as the laptop also comes with 8GB of RAM, thereby ensuring you can multitask efficiently without running into any performance bottlenecks.
Furthermore, the IdeaPad Flex 5i comes with a 128GB SSD too. Ergo, the laptop should offer speedier boot / app-load times and more storage from the word go. Unsurprisingly, the laptop impressed reviewers just as much, with many lauding its snappy performance.
You’ll also get an articulating touch screen with the unit. Spec-wise, the display measures 13.3 inches and comes with a 1080p resolution, thereby making it plenty sharp for watching movies or consuming content on the fly.
The port selection is decent, and this affordable Chromebook gets two USB Type-C ports, a USB Type-A connector, and a headphone jack. All things considered, the Flex 5i, albeit a bit pricey, is among the best Chromebooks for students.
Why you should buy it:
The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i is a stupendously fast Chromebook and is backed by a Core i3-1115G4 processor. It also gets a PCIe SSD, which should keep boot times to a minimum.
FAQs About Chromebooks
Chromebooks are reasonably priced and lightweight computing devices. As such, they are ideal for younger kids and students.
Chromebooks rely on a working Internet connection heavily. While you can run some apps in offline mode, the majority work when you’re connected to the Internet. They are also not geared for demanding workloads, like video or photo editing.
For the most part, you can use a Chromebook instead of a laptop to complete a task. You will have to temper your expectations when working on a Chromebook, though. For instance, it might not be able to run your favorite game.
A Laptop for Everyone
These were some of the best Chromebooks for students under $300. Chromebooks can be used to accomplish a range of tasks. While they’re not as powerful as a full-fledged Windows machine, you can still use them to browse the web, take notes, or edit documents.
Unsurprisingly, these value-oriented machines make for a fantastic laptop to aid students with their schoolwork. So, if you were looking to get a machine and don’t quite have the budget for a Windows laptop, you’ll find plenty to like about these Chromebooks for students.
Last updated on 24 January, 2023
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