Best Plus Chromebooks to Study from Home: Powerful laptops for home schooling

Samuel J Tan Laptops, Personal Technology, Technology 0

Yes, studying at home is a thing now with the pandemic, and we don’t mean for homeschoolers. It now applies to the population at large. If you can’t attend classes physically, the next best thing is to work from home (WFH)… I mean study from home (SFH). These Plus Chromebooks will keep you learning, staying safe and connected to your teachers and friends.

Performance and value does not always go hand-in-hand, but Plus Chromebooks aim to offer fast performance, best streaming and smooth video calls without the premium price tag. The new classification, introduced by Google is now quickly adopted by retailers. In getting one of these Plus Chromebooks, you not only enjoy great value, granted that these are not the cheapest, but in the long term, you will be glad you made the decision.

NOTE: As these are Plus or performance models, they are based mainly on Intel Pentium, Intel Core i3 and Intel Core 5 processors. None of that Intel Celeron processors or Qualcomm chips. A clear indication on the selection process employed by Google, to identify a powerful machine over the standard run of the mill ones.

Table of Contents

The Best Plus Chromebooks for Studying from Home

In this article, we look at the best Plus Chromebooks as the perfect companion to study from home. If your school is Google centric, there is no better laptop to have than these Plus Chromebooks. Here are reasons for going with Plus vs ultra budget Chromebooks.

Faster processor options: Starting with Intel Pentium Gold going up to Intel Core i5 processor.
More memory: 4GB or 8GB system memory
Bigger storage: 64GB or 128GB eMMC storage going up to faster 128GB SSD storage.
More processing headroom: with faster processor, more memory and bigger storage, there is more processing headroom to take on complex computing tasks and multitasking
Better support for streaming and video calls including group chats
Bigger display starting from 13.3-inch to 15.6-inch for a more user friendly experience
Sharper images with all panels in our line-up at Full HD 1920 x 1080p resolution
All day battery life up to 10 hours or more with some models going up to 14 hours

You are here because you know the merits and have made you mind up regarding the choice of operating system, in this case ChromeOS. We won’t go into the advantages (and disadvantages) of choosing ChromeOS. Just know that these machines will get you through your school work and homework, quickly and effortlessly with plenty of processing power and battery life to spare.

1. Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook 13.3-inch – CONVERTIBLE

We start with a reasonably priced Chromebook that also happens to be a convertible. The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook may have an oversized bottom bezel which can be a turn off when devices are going super sleek with ultra slim bezels but it does have one advantage over all the other Chromebooks on our list. The use of SSD storage instead of eMMC. This gives it an edge with SSD storage being faster. Besides you will find those chunky bezels handy when using the device as a tablet.

The backlit keys are well spaced apart and offer a responsive and fast typing experience. It is also quiet and has sufficient pitch for that tactile feel. As for the trackpad, it is one of the biggest ones around so you can glide around effortlessly. Finally, with that all day battery life, you can go about getting work done and when you need to charge it, use one of the USB-C charging ports (available on either sides) to top it up.

The choice of processors and configurations are shown below:

Intel® Core™ i5-10210U Processor
RAM: 8 GB / Storage: 128 GB SSD
13.3-inch Full HD touchscreen
Battery life: Up to 10 hours

Intel® Core™ i3-10110U Processor
RAM: 4 GB / Storage: 128 GB SSD
13.3-inch Full HD touchscreen
Battery life: Up to 10 hours

3. HP x360 14-inch 2 in 1 Chromebook – CONVERTIBLE

The clue is in its name. HP x360 comes with 360-degree hinges, making it a versatile convertible laptop. It also has a mid-size display at 14-inch although overall, the chassis isn’t any bigger than the 13.3-inch Lenovo above. Thanks to its micro-edge bezels, edge-to-edge Corning Gorilla Glass covered display and premium metal design, it looks every bit like a high-end device and gets our vote in the design department.

Our only misgiving is the middling 250 nit brightness. If you can overlook that, the soft touch backlit keyboard which is centred and flanked by upward firing B&O tuned speakers offers an amazing typing experience. To complete the interface, an equally user friendly and large trackpad and touchscreen makes it even easier to drive the machine. Lastly, the choice of processors from the super fast Intel Core i5 to moderately priced Pentium Silver N6000, see configuration choices below, means you can pick one that fits you budget.

Intel® Core™ i5-10210U Processor
RAM: 8 GB / Storage: 128 GB eMMC
14-inch Full HD touchscreen 250nits Corning Gorilla Glass

Intel® Core™ i3-10110U Processor
RAM: 8 GB / Storage: 128 GB eMMC
14-inch Full HD touchscreen 250nits Corning Gorilla Glass
17.9 x 206 x 321.5 mm (H x W x D), 1.65kg

Intel® Pentium® Gold 6405U Processor
RAM: 4 GB / Storage: 64 GB eMMC
14-inch Full HD touchscreen 250nits Corning Gorilla Glass

Intel® Pentium® Silver N6000 processor
RAM: 8 GB / Storage: 128 GB eMMC
14-inch Full HD touchscreen 250nits Corning Gorilla Glass
Battery life: Up to 11 hours
18.5 x 326.3 x 219.6 mm (H x W x D), 1.65kg

2. Acer Chromebook 715 15.6-inch – LARGE DISPLAY

So far, we have seen a 13.3-inch and 14-inch Chromebooks. If those are not being enough, here is a full size Chromebook, the Acer Chromebook 715. The only large Chromebook in our list, this is a laptop only model, no fancy 360-degree hinge or convertible profile. This also means that there is no touch interface. All you get is a full 15.6-inc Full HD resolution IPS display.

But, as with all the Plus Chromebooks on our list, the focus here is performance and the 715 does not disappoint. Starting with Pentium Gold 4417U processor, it delivers fast startup and app loading speed. The big screen size and full backlit keyboard with number pad and big touchpad makes this a productivity beast. Not exactly portable given its size and weight (1.8kg) but if you have to work remotely, a fully charged battery will last up to a whooping 12 hours.

Intel® Pentium® Gold 4417U Processor
RAM: 4 GB / Storage: 128 GB eMMC
15.6-inch Full HD screen
Battery life: Up to 12 hours

Intel® Core™ i3-8130U Processor
RAM: 8 GB / Storage: 128 GB eMMC
15.6-inch Full HD screen
Battery life: Up to 12 hours

For an idea of the difference in performance, choosing between the Pentium or Core i3 model, here is a quick comparison base the average scores by cpubenchmarks. Given that the Core i3-8130U is four generation behind it can still perform well with an average 62% performance lead.

	Average CPU Mark	single thread	cross platform
Intel Pentium 4417U @ 2.30GHz	2252	1331	4513
Intel Core i3-8130U @ 2.20GHz	3670	1967	6762

4. Acer Chromebook 714 14-inch

If you are still after a laptop profile, but prefers a small chassis then the smaller 14-inch Acer Chromebook 714 and the HP Chromebook 14 below are your options. Let’s start with the Acer Chromebook 714. Design wise, it is not very different to the 715. Being smaller means losing the number pad and being lighter at 1.5kg. However, it still manages up to 12 hours and is powered by the Pentium trumping Intel Core i3-8130U albeit an 8th generation processor.

Intel® Core™ i3-8130U Processor
RAM: 8 GB / Storage: 128 GB eMMC
Full HD screen
Battery life: Up to 12 hours

Alternatively, pick up the Acer Chromebook Spin 13 with Intel Pentium Gold 6405U. It comes with 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC and a slightly bigger 13.5-inch QHD touchscreen. This particular model is exclusive to Amazon.

5. HP Chromebook 14a

Based on Pentium Silver N5030 processor, this is an energy efficient machine with a typical thermal design power (TDP) of 6W. A quad core processor, it is around 17% faster than the Pentium Gold 6405U, a dual core processor. So don’t let the word Silver fool you. Even with that extra performance gain it still manages up to 12.5 hours of battery life. Then there is the choice of memory and storage. Naturally, we would opt for the larger 8GB memory and 128GB eMMC storage. Other useful features include USB Type-C port for data and power delivery, full size keyboard, wide angle HD web cam and touchpad that supports gesture, all wrapped in a chassis 17.8mm thin weighing no more than 1.46kg.

The HP 14 is not short in the style and design department. It looks every bit the part, starts up quality and is both compact and lightweight.

Intel® Pentium® Silver N5030 processor
RAM: 4 GB / 8GB Storage: 64GB/128GB eMMC
14-inch Full HD screen
Battery life: Up to 12.5 hours

Premium Chromebooks

While not within the scope of this article, the following are what Google deems as Premium Chromebooks, marrying style and performance and the inevitable hefty price tag. These are mainly laptops powered by 10th and 11th generation Intel Core i3 and Intel Core i5 processors except for the ASUS Chromebook Flip C434 at the bottom of the list.