So, you want to buy one of the best Chromebooks for business.
Well, you’ve come to the right place.
With my half-decade years of experience messing around with these laptops, I’ll be happy to deliver some awesome value to you by offering firsthand experience with my time spent using Chromebooks.
In this buyer’s guide, I’ll list my personal top 4 Chromebooks that are the best for business- whether it be for a work professional, freelancer, or even a CEO who’s always on the go!
Nonetheless, let’s get started. You’re not here to hear me ramble (or, are you?), but rather get a list of the best Chromebooks for professionals so you can narrow down your search to finding the best of the best. Right?
Okay, let’s roll. Here’s my updated personal list.
Last updated: 2/24/23. Updated for 2023with an emphasis for the work at home employee. Remote work is still a thing.
Top 4 best Chromebooks for business professionals
A personal note about Chromebooks (feel free to skip this if you’re already familiar with Chrome OS):
As you probably know Chromebooks run Chrome OS, which is Google’s own operating system. They’re built for security, speed, and stability, so by nature, they can’t install third-party programs and executables. This means you can’t install some software that you may be already using.
However, the workaround is to use the software’s app or a web-based version. The majority of software used in business these days are cloud or web-based, meaning you just log in to their site and use the software over the internet- in your browser.
You can alternatively get their app, should one be available, in the Chrome Web Store or Google Play Store. All the popular software already have an app available, which then makes it easy to download to your Chromebook. Companies like Skype, Trello, Slack, Gmail, Evernote, DocuSign, Todoist, Asana, Microsoft Office Online, Evernote, and tons more have web apps available.
Everything you do online probably has some cloud based version by now.
This is just something to consider so you know exactly what you’re getting. If you’re used to using software and you plan to get a Chromebook for business, be sure that it’s available on the Chrome Web Store or Google Play Store first.
Nonetheless, Chromebooks are affordable laptops with a very decent performance curve for business needs. They’re cheap, versatile, and you can customize them to whatever kind of lifestyle you have.
So, without further ado, let’s get started and pick you out an awesome machine for your business.
With most people working in a remote environment these days, a Chromebook is often consider for a cheap workstation. It’s portable, compatible with most online software, and easily affordable for people just looking for cheap computer exclusively for work.
It does everything from Zoom meetings to collaboration in Excel, Docs, PowerPoint, etc. Plus, with the cheap entry price, it can be a burner laptop rather than shelling out hundreds more for the same usage scenarios, right?
1. Acer 11.6’’ (CB3-131-C3SZ)
This is first on my list because it’s the Chromebook I use myself. Call me biased, but it’s also the fastest-selling Chromebook on Amazon at the time of this writing. Backed by thousands of reviews, this is probably the most popular Chromebook in existence.
Update: Even in 2020, this is still my go-to laptop for nearly everything. Even after 3 years of using it, it still runs like new and lets me do all my basic research, note-taking, and word processing without having to resort to my Windows device.
Update: In 2021, with the majority of workers working remotely, this is an affordable budget Chromebook. It can handle Zoom meetings, Skype conferences, GoToMeetings, or whatever other online software you use for video calling.
Although the screen is on the small side, it’s good for handling basic audio/video calls and meetings.
As for spreadsheets and other work that require a larger screen, you can connect it to a TV or bigger external screen to handle that.
For the price point, it’s got all the basics down in a cheap, reliable package.
Basic display that just works
It’s your basic 11.6’’ setup with all the basics and then some. For a professional, you’ll get a nice IPS 11.6’’ display with a 1366 x 768 resolution anti-glare screen. This isn’t the best, but it’s enough for productivity, task management, email, games, social media, and whatever other business needs you may encounter.
Fast processor
It’s powered by an Intel Celeron CPU clocked at 2.16GHz and has 4GB of RAM and 16GB SSD for storage. To be fair, these are the base specs to meet the criteria of being considered a Chromebook- as set by Google, I think.
But it’s plenty fast and performs tasks well. It can handle all the basics- web conferences, meetings, spreadsheets, docs, email, calendars, schedules, productivity apps, videos, web browsing, email, and pretty much all the common things required from typical office setups nowadays.
Upgradeable Chromebook
The only time it really suffers from a performance problem is when too many applications are running at once. But this isn’t really an issue. The Chromebook has enough power for multitasking at moderate to light usage, so there should be no problem- unless they’re trying to slow it down!
For any professional businessman or woman, this Chromebook will be suitable for the majority of entry-level positions. It’s affordable, durable, and does all the typical tasks you need it to- Skype meetings, Google Hangouts, calendars, word processing, email, and even split-screen multitasking. This laptop is a perfect entry-level business Chromebook.
This comes in two different models- a 2GB and 4GB setup. Get the one that suits your needs. If you do some demanding things that require processing power, get the 4GB version over the 2GB. The price difference is barely anything for double the multitasking power.
Basic laptop for the humble professional
The build is a basic and durable clamshell design. No touchscreen or anything fancy. Just your basic keyboard and a large keypad. My favorite thing about this laptop is the keyboard. The keys are wide enough and have just enough travel for fast typing and provide excellent feedback for productivity.
The display is also very nice. It’s a LED-lit screen with a nice widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio and plenty of real estate for splitting windows and multitasking. It’s easy to work on two things at once with the widescreen setup. The majority of Chromebooks have this setup, so don’t use that as a selling point. I’m just happy with the basic display because it works. And it’s cheap and affordable.
Plenty of ports
For connectivity, the CB3 comes with a single USB 2.0 and 3.0 port, WiFi, SD card reader, a single HDMI out port, and an 8.5-hour battery. This is more than enough for the typical professional’s day at work followed by burning some midnight oil at home, then some light gaming, web-browsing, entertainment, before it needs a recharge.
Light and portable
The CB3-1111-C670 weighs about 2.43 pounds and measures 11.8 x 8.0 x 0.7’’ all around. It’s small enough to fit into any standard 11.6’’ Chromebook protective sleeve or case and light enough to carry around all day.
The white finish also adds a nice touch. It makes it look a lot more expensive than it really is, heh. This Chromebook is also eligible for Chrome Web apps and Play Store apps. This means you can run Google Play Store apps on your Chromebook. That’s awesome, no?
Perfect entry-level Chromebook for business
Overall the Acer 11.6 is one my favorite Chromebooks and I’d highly recommend it for business settings and professional purposes.
The build quality is excellent and the computer is powerful enough to handle any basic to moderate tasks required by the majority of offices in the United States. I personally use it to handle word processing, scheduling appointments, and to use some productivity apps like Evernote, Trello, and Todoist.
In fact, I’m typing this buyer’s guide on it right now via Google Docs. From my bed. How cool is that?
This is the perfect entry-level Chromebook and works well for typical business settings. It’s cheap, affordable, and just works out of the box.
This Chromebook is suitable for any of the following business professions:
- Financial Analyst
- Sales Representative
- Human Resources
- Marketing Coordinator
- Assistant Buyer
- Brand Marketing
- Operations Research Analyst
But I wouldn’t limit the list to that. You can expand into pretty much any entry-level profession and this thing will rock. It’s the perfect companion. This is the Chromebook I use daily, and I have no regrets and only praise. This thing will even run Android apps from the Google Play Store eventually.
In 2019, I’m still using this particular model for my work. I type, play games, and research the web using this as my go-to machine and it still hasn’t let me down yet. If you’re still hunting for a good entry-level Chromebook that won’t cost you a ton and has a proven track record, this is it. Look no further and save yourself some time.
Check out the raving reviews for the Acer CB3 on Amazon.
ASUS Chromebook Flip 12.5’’ (C302CA-DHM4)
Up next is the ASUS Chromebook Flip 12.5’’. This is one of the most popular convertible (2-in-1) Chromebooks on the market right now- and for good reason.
It’s a convertible, which means you can “flip” it into one of four different modes:
- Tent mode
- Laptop mode
- Tablet mode
- Flat mode
In a business setting, this can be extremely handy when you’re trying to give a presentation or share collaborative group work with your colleagues.
For example, if you’re all at the meeting table looking up stats on last quarter’s sales, you can find some hidden gem to impress your boss, but you have to turn your laptop around so your boss can see it. How uncool is that?
Perfect for business professionals, the Flip can handle all your online conferences with both tent and tablet mode. In a world where remote meetings are now more important than ever, you’ll find yourself playing around with the different functions the Flip offers.
Tablet mode is perfect for chatting while being mobile (such as presentations or sales pitches). Tent mode is good for sitting on a desk and leaning back for long periods.
Flip and convert
With the ASUS Flip, you just flip it over so it lays flat on the table and then everyone can get up and see- at the same time!
Okay, maybe that was a horrible example to sweet talk this beast of a laptop (it was). But you get my point (I hope).
Powerful processor
This thing is powerful and super fast because it’s powered by an Intel Core m3 CPU running at 2.2GHz. This is one of the most powerful and fastest processors ever used in a Chromebook and puts it on-par with the Samsung Pro and Plus Chromebooks, which often are thought of as the holy grail of Chromebook design and performance.
You can also choose to upgrade to a Core m5 CPU if you really want maximum performance, but from my taste, I did fine with just an m3.
The Chromebook performs fast, smooth, and starts up under 7 seconds.
Of course, I only did simple things like run Evernote and some business conferences over Skype, but if you’re the type that demands the most from their computer and can’t have it slow down during a PowerPoint presentation in front of the regionals, then the m5 may be your better option.
The price difference doesn’t justify a hiccup in performance during a critical presentation!
Sharp, full HD display
And to make sure your presentation looks sharp, it uses a gorgeous 12.5’’ LED-lit 1920 x 1080 display with multi-touch capacity. This is crisp, clear, full HD resolution to play back videos, images, and present whatever with ease.
The screen is anti-glare with a light sensor to reduce light in darker areas and brighten up in brighter areas just like a mobile phone. This Chromebook’s feature set relieves eye strain and fatigue. You can also use a stylus pen with this Chromebook.
For added durability, the screen uses Corning Gorilla Glass to reduce scratches, stains, and other damages.
Plenty of storage space
The ASUS Flip has 64GB of storage for storing all your important documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, reports, presentations, scans, copies, and other files all within a blazing-fast SSD that’s ultra-reliable.
64GB is enough to get through one business project, but you’ll have to either back up your stuff to a cloud provider (like Google Drive or Dropbox) or simply buy an external USB drive or hard drive. I find that 64GB is plenty and I would never go over 40GB even for big projects (web design for clients).
(Need an external hard drive that works with ChromeOS? Check out this list of the best storage drives for Chromebooks.)
But it all depends on what you do and your business practices and tasks. I mean, there are millions of jobs out there so it really depends on you.
Multitasking on the fly
Powered by 4GB of RAM, this thing will let you do some pretty decent multitasking. You can easily fly in and out of different apps and tabs without any slowdown. 4GB isn’t the best and is definitely what hinders this thing from performing its best, but you can still do plenty at the same time.
You won’t slow it down unless you’re intentionally trying to.
Light, thin, and all metal
The construction is also super lightweight and thin, with just 2.65 pounds of total weight and measuring 8.3 x 12.0 x 0.5’’ in dimensions.
You can carry this thing anywhere and it fits in a small Chromebook sleeve or case that you can buy for cheap. With just 2-and-a-half pounds of weight, it really doesn’t drag you down.
The keyboard is a full-size one-piece chiclet keyboard with 1.4mm of key travel and minimal key float. This ensures proper feedback for fast typing and it also offers a generously-sized, large touchpad (104.5mm x 61mm) with palm rejection so you don’t accidentally swipe the touchpad with your palm.
Plenty of modern connectivity
As for connectivity, the ASUS C302 has USB 3.1 Type-C ports, which allows you to connect, charge, and stream everything in one port.
You can also use regular USB 2.0 and 3.0 cables and peripherals with this port and it offers speedy data transfer so you can get more done.
It also has a MicroSD card reader, standard audio/mic jack, WiFi 802.11ac, and an HD webcam for conferences.
With an all-day battery at 10 hours, a powerful chipset, and a foldable display with an all-metal finish, this Chromebook is suited for the business professional. It looks way more expensive than it costs and will surely turn some heads and get some double-takes in the meeting room.
Check out the flashy ASUS C302 on Amazon.
Samsung Chromebook Pro (XE510C24-K01US)
This is one of the most exquisite and powerful Chromebooks on the market today that basically revolutionized Chromebook design. If you’re a business professional and you’ll looking for something to impress your co-workers, this is it.
Speedy, fast computing
The Samsung Chromebook Pro is a fully-featured Chromebook complete with an Intel Core M3 6Y30 CPU at 2.2GHz with 4GB LPDDR3 RAM and a 32GB SSD. These components combined make this laptop blazing fast and adaptable to any business or work task.
One of the best screens on the market – super high-resolution display
The most prominent feature of this laptop is easily the display. It’s a 12.3’’ convertible screen with anti-glare IPS technology rotating at 360 degrees packed with a 2400 x 1600 resolution display.
Compared to other Chromebooks, this is one of the sharpest ones on the market. If you want a Chromebook with the best screen you can possibly buy, the Samsung Pro should be on your list.
This is one display I’d recommend using a screen protector on.
Fully convertible
With a fully-rotatable display, you can set it to any mode and convert between tablet and laptop whenever you want. The sleek metal body houses the powerful components and the whole things just scream fancy. You get the power and productivity of a laptop into a convertible machine that you can switch depending on the situation.
Extremely portable and lightweight
The design is lightweight with only 2.38 pounds of metal and measures 11.1 x 8.7 x 0.5’’ all around.
The Samsung Pro also comes with an all-day battery, built-in digital pen, and enough juice to handle anything- email, web conferences, spreadsheets, docs, customer service, productivity apps, video editing programs, sketching, photo editing programs, and even Google Play integration to run Android apps on your Chromebook.
The Samsung Pro is built for business professionals and is one of the best Chromebooks for business- hands down.
Check out the Samsung Pro in all its glory on Amazon.
(Don’t say I didn’t warn you about the cost. It’s on the more expensive side.)
4. ASUS Chromebook Flip (C213SA)
Here we have another ASUS Chromebook, but this one is significantly cheaper than the ASUS C302 because it’s a little less fancy (no metal body and slightly weaker specs), but it still offers excellent bang for the buck that any business can appreciate.
Decent processor
It’s powered by a Dual-Core Apollo Lake N3350 CPU with 32GB of SSD and 4GB DDR4 RAM. This is an upgrade over many other laptops that only offer DDR3 RAM. DDR4 is faster and more efficient which allows for more multitasking, which any office employee will understand can be very beneficial.
Gorgeous display
The display is a foldable, 360-degree 1366 x 768 pixel 11.6’’ IPS display with touchscreen support. The entire thing is very light and extremely portable. It only weighs 2.7 pounds and measures 12.1 x 7.8 x 0.8’’ all around.
With its matte gray finish, it looks stylish and capable in any work setting without drawing too much attention (for the humble). Though the display isn’t full HD, it’s still HD and works wonderfully showing off images and videos up to 720P.
All the basics – Type-C, Android apps, and even two webcams
Packed with all the connectivity you need and a 12-hour battery, this thing is built for work. You get a stylus pen, Bluetooth connectivity, Type-C USB, Google Play apps, WiFi 802.11ac, and even dual webcams. That’s right. Two webcams for any position you need to have a web conference in.
Whether you’re in tablet or laptop mode, you can continue the presentation to impress your boss.
But there’s something special about the C213SA. Can you guess what makes this one of the best Chromebooks for business? It’s super durable.
Spill-proof, drop-proof, rugged, and durable Chromebook for business use
It has a zinc alloy hinge connecting the body to the screen for reinforced durability from constant conversion between the display modes.
The construction also allows protection from drops, spills, bumps and more. The keyboard is spill-proof and funnels all the liquid to a built-in “gutter” which guides the liquid away from hardware.
The construction is rated to MIL-STD-810G standards so you can rest assured that this thing will last you if you work in a hazardous environment that’s prone to damage your equipment.
And the C213SA is very affordable. This Chromebook is well-suited for work environments and any professional (or even student) can benefit from it.
Check out the durable, rugged ASUS C213SA on Amazon.
Did you find the perfect Chromebook for your business needs?
Well, there you have it.
If none of these laptops fit the bill, you can check out all Chromebooks on Amazon here.
If you had to ask me for a list of the best Chromebooks for business, this would be it. Sure, there may be a few Chromebooks you may be wondering why they didn’t make the list, but this is a personal list based on what I’ve read and all my years of experience with Chromebooks.
Readers often ask these kinds of questions, so that’s why I compile these lists. I have more if you’re interested:
You may also need a printer to go along with your laptop, and I have a list for that too:
If you have any good business-focused Chromebooks for work to suggest, leave them in the comment section and I’ll check them out.
And if this list has (even slightly) helped you out, let me know as well =]! I hope my random ramblings can get you a better purchasing decision!
Thanks for reading!
