When shopping on a tight budget for a laptop, you need something reliable that does the basic tasks well and won’t crumble under pressure. Luckily, large brands still keep older models available that deliver on this front with great performance and features.
Two-in-ones can also make for excellent choices at this price point, like Lenovo Duet 3 (11/10, WIRED Review), which features detachable Chrome tablet hardware with decent specs.
1. Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3
The Duet 3 is an impressive 2-in-1 available at this price point, featuring a faster processor, additional USB-C ports (one on each side of the tablet), better webcam quality and smaller but more ergonomic keyboard with Lenovo’s scalloped keycaps. While still using its original display resolution and screen ratios, its panel offers superior viewing angles and pixel density for greater productivity.
While this screen may not be ideal for high-resolution gaming or demanding video editing, it should provide sufficient viewing experience for most general users. Furthermore, its battery life and small footprint make it convenient to transport.
Geekbench 5.4 multicore CPU benchmark results were below average compared to laptops equipped with Intel or AMD processors, yet sufficient for casual use and light gaming. Furthermore, its Snapdragon SoC should handle most apps and games easily; it just isn’t suitable for heavy gaming.
Duet 3’s main drawback lies in its incompatibility with the latest Universal Stylus Initiative standard for stylus compatibility, which may prove challenging if you wish to do a lot of work with it and utilize multiple styli at once.
2. Acer Chromebook 516 GE
The Acer Chromebook 516 GE is a versatile device capable of handling virtually every task you put before it. Although larger than some 2 in one laptops on this list, its solid build feels sturdy rather than weighty or fragile when picked up. With upward-facing speakers powerful enough for audio productivity and media consumption and its Core 5-120U processor offering cloud gaming capability – not to mention an impressive port selection and sleek, matte black chassis; all make this model stand out as professional looking solution.
As with the HP Chromebook 14 (2021), this Acer device is a clamshell with full keyboard and touchpad, but features more ports. In particular, its more portable Ethernet port helps control latency during gaming sessions while its 120Hz display offers significantly brighter color accuracy than that found on previous models.
Its high-resolution IPS 16:10 screen boasts a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels – WQXGA for more immersive detail and gaming responsiveness than lower resolution panels. Furthermore, its 120Hz refresh rate helps reduce motion blur and gaming responsiveness; however, please keep in mind this laptop was not designed to support Android games that support higher frame-rate limits.
3. Acer Chromebook Plus x260
Acer’s upgraded Chromebook Plus x260 builds on their original model by upgrading its hardware, software and features with an emphasis on improved processing power and memory capacity. In addition, its improved displays and cameras offer better displays and cameras than regular Chromebooks; there are also AI-driven productivity and creativity features available which help users get more done with less effort.
In practice, the X260’s zippy performance makes it easy to keep browsers with multiple tabs open and Workspace applications running smoothly, as well as playing games on cloud gaming platforms like NVIDIA GeForce NOW, Amazon Luna, and Xbox Cloud Gaming simultaneously.
The slim and dynamic chassis feels premium, featuring an effortless hinge mechanism that opens the lid all the way back 180 degrees. Its WUXGA resolution boasts crisp images with impressively high brightness levels and contrast ratio. Color reproduction also remains vibrant but may not match up to that seen on some of the best laptop displays.
Acer has packed plenty of ports into this machine, including two USB-A and two USB-C connectors as well as a 3.5mm audio jack, HDMI port and no SD card slot – my only real complaint being its lack of an SD card slot.
4. Acer Chromebook Spin
The Acer Chromebook Spin is tailored for hybrid workers, students and teachers requiring extra power for productivity. Featuring antimicrobial Gorilla Glass on its 13.5-inch screen and constructed of reinforced aluminum construction that meets MIL-STD-810H standards to withstand minor drops, vibration, rain, dust, high and low temperatures as well as humidity – this model stands up against even its cheaper competitors with ease.
The laptop offers an outstanding keyboard and trackpad experience, featuring large flat-topped keys that feel fantastic to type on and a responsive trackpad that has ample size, accuracy and accuracy for use when multitasking. While ideal for Chrome OS apps and services like G Suite or Google Docs, I would have preferred more responsiveness from multitasking during multitasking sessions.
Returning to the screen, I found it to be among the finest I’ve seen on any 2-in-1. Its brightness and crispness is impressive; wide viewing angle with excellent color accuracy (Delta E is under 1.8). As such, it was used for work and leisure without any issues in either light image editing or streaming video streaming.
The battery is also impressively strong, delivering up to 13 hours of playback when equipped with the Intel N305 processor and 8GB of RAM included as standard. Connectivity options are solid as well: one USB-C, two USB-A and a 3.5mm headphone/speaker port are provided for convenient connectivity.
