Best Chromebook deals: Top picks ahead of October Prime Day

Amazon’s October Prime Day sale, the Amazon Prime Early Access sale, will run through October 12th. We’ve curated Prime Early Access sales from Amazon and other online retailers. Now is really the time to trigger a great Chromebook deal.

Please note that you need to sign up for Amazon Prime (free) to take advantage of Amazon’s Early Access Chromebook sale.

Best Prime Early Access Sale Chromebook Deals

You’ll probably find a good Chromebook deal somewhere , but usually It’s hard to tell which Chromebook is the best value for money. Manufacturers may take advantage of consumer ignorance about processor generations and support lifecycles to sell older Chromebooks at deep discounts. Not these. We’ve factored the Chromebook support window into the recommendations below, which tend to be extended by two to five years on discounted Chromebooks. We’re also focusing on more powerful modern Chromebook processors.

Lenovo 14e Chromebook, AMD A-Series/4GB RAM/32GB SSD, 14″ 1080p Display, $104.99 (65% off at Amazon) Acer Chromebook 512, Celeron N4020/4GB RAM/32GB SSD, 12″ 912p Display, $79.99 (60% off on Amazon)

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i, Core 13 -115G4/8GB RAM/128GB SSD, 13.3″ 1080p Display, $279.99 (35% off Amazon)

• Acer 317, Celeron N4500/4GB RAM/64GB SSD, 17.3-inch 1080p display, $169.00 (54% off at Walmart)
• Lenovo 3 Chromebook, Celeron N4020/4GB RAM/64GB SSD, 11.6″ 768p Display, $109.99 (12% off at Newegg)

Acer 15.6 inch ACB315-3HT -C5D3, Celeron N4020/ 4GB RAM/64GB SSD, 15.6″ Touch 1080p Display, $169.99 (32% off at Target)

Samsung Chromebook 4+, Celeron N4000/4GB RAM/64GB SSD, 15.6″ 1080p Display, $199.99 (38% off Amazon)

Lenovo Chromebook S330, MediaTek MT8173C/4GB RAM/64GB SSD, 14″ 1080p Display, $194.98 (30% off Amazon)

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5, Snapdragon SC7180/4GB RAM/64GB SSD, 13.3″ 1080p Display, $361.94 (Amazon Deals) 17%)

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook, Intel Core i5-10210U/8GB RAM/256GB SSD, 13.3″ 4K Display, $829.90 (17% off at Amazon)

Special reason for the October Prime Day sale? There are a staggering number of 1080p Chromebooks on sale (compared to Chromebooks with 768​​​​p displays), and it’s easier on the eyes of you and your kids. The Lenovo Flex 5i 13 is an absolute steal, and the 14e below it is also solid. In fact, you can’t go wrong with the top five on our list.

Walmart is selling the Samsung Chromebook 4 with a 768p 11.6-inch screen for $109.99, or 63% off. But the specs (Celeron N4020/4GB RAM/32GB SSD) call the N4020 Celeron processor in the title and the older N3450 in the specs. Make sure it has what you want before buying it.

What to Consider When Buying a Chromebook

Generally speaking, Chromebooks tend to fall into three categories: Ultra-cheap models around $100 that offer solid discounts, but can hide trap screens like subpar; $200- $350 mid-range Chromebook, typical price; $500 and up premium Chromebook. These expensive laptops are essentially PC laptops with Google Chrome OS, and they’re probably too expensive. Our laptop vs Chromebook story might help you decide, as might our 2022 Best Chromebook recommendations.

Typically, we recommend buying a Chromebook with a resolution of 1080p or higher, but a 768p display will work just fine, especially on smaller screens. Consider using a USB-C dongle to connect to an external display. Intel Core chips almost guarantee solid performance, but they can also be more expensive. Celerons are more common, as are Snapdragon or Arm (MediaTek) chips.

Updated at 9pm: Amazon Prime Early Access Sale on October 11th at 32am PT with additional discount .