Amazon Prime Day is nearly upon us, and retailers are already launching their Prime Day Chromebook sales. While there are more Chromebook deals to come on Tuesday, July 11, we’ve already curated some of the early Prime Day Chromebook deals from Amazon as well as other retailers. We also explain why you should buy our recommendations.
Based on what we saw at last year’s Prime Day, many of Amazon’s deals were exclusive to Prime members. You may want to sign up for Amazon Prime (for free) to take advantage of all of Amazon’s Prime Day Chromebook deals. We’ll update this page frequently through July 11 and 12, when Amazon’s Prime Day ends.
Best Prime Day Chromebook deals
- Samsung Chromebook 4+, Celeron N4000/4GB RAM/64GB SSD, 15.6-inch 1080p display, $219.00 (32% off at Amazon)
- Acer Chromebook 516 GE Cloud Gaming Chromebook, Core i5 1240P/8GB RAM/256GB SSD, 16-inch 2560×1600 120Hz display, $499.00 (23% off at Best Buy)
- Lenovo Slim 3 Chromebook, MediaTek Kompanio 500/4GB RAM/64GB SSD, 14-inch 1080p, $169.00 (47% off at Best Buy)
- Acer Chromebook 315, Celeron N5100/8GB RAM/64GB SSD, 15.6-inch 1080p display, $299.99 (21% off at Newegg)
We generally expect Chromebook deals to be priced between $170 and $250 or so, depending on the configuration. Keep in mind that retailers will dump older Chromebooks for less than $100 — we take a close look at these to determine whether they’re trash or treasure. We’ve factored in the Chromebook support window to our recommendations, which tends to extend between two and five years on discounted Chromebooks. We prioritize modern, more powerful Chromebook processors, too.
Acer’s Chromebook 516 is one of the few times we’ve seen a gaming Chromebook go on sale, especially one with such a nice display. That might be worth a purchase all its own. The Lenovo Slim 3’s memory is a little skimpy, but we like Lenovo’s Chromebooks and the price seems like a good one for the other specs. You may see this HP Chromebook at Best Buy for almost half off, but we’re steering clear: It just feels like a 15.6-inch screen with 768p resolution is going to unnecessarily fatigue your eyes.
What to think about when buying a Chromebook
Generally, Chromebooks tend to fall into three categories: ultracheap models at about $100, which can offer solid discounts but can hide gotchas like a subpar screen; midrange $200-$350 Chromebooks, the typical price point; and premium Chromebooks at $500 and above. The latter are essentially PC laptops with Google’s Chrome OS on top, and might be too expensive for your tastes. Our story recommending Chromebooks over laptops may help you decide, as might our recommendations for the best Chromebook. We have a more detailed comparison of laptops versus Chromebooks, too.
Discounted Chromebooks used to cut corners, like using 768p screens. We try to highlight more eye-pleasing 1080p screens, but smaller Chromebooks may look just fine with an older screen instead. Unlike a laptop, you should worry less about the processor: an Intel Core chip guarantees solid performance, but Celerons are much more common. Don’t snub either a Qualcomm Snapdragon or Mediatek Arm chip, either. Instead, Chromebooks with more memory generally perform a bit better. Consider a USB-C dongle to connect to an external display, if it doesn’t already come with an HDMI port.
FAQ
How much should I pay for a Chromebook during Prime Day?
Expect to pay between $170 to $250 or so, depending on the configuration. You’ll see bargain-basement options below $100, and more premium versions will cost $300 and above.
How will I know a good deal on a Prime Day Chromebook?
Look first at the screen: a large 1080p display is a good starting point. If the system memory is 8GB, that’s also signals a quality Chromebook. Don’t be so concerned about the microprocessor, as they tend to vary between Intel Pentium and Celeron processors and Arm (Qualcomm and Mediatek) processors. Anything powered by an Intel Core chip or AMD Ryzen (not an A-series) chip should deliver solid performance.
Does a Chromebook’s brand matter?
Virtually all Chromebooks are manufactured by name brands: HP, Samsung, Asus, and so on. If you trust a laptop brand, its Chromebooks should be equally trustworthy.
Are the best Chromebook deals during Prime Day at Amazon?
Amazon hopes so. We check other retailers, though, because we often find aggressive pricing from Best Buy and Target during the week of Prime Day. If we find a Chromebook deal from another retailer, we’ll include it.
Updated on July 10, 2023 to reflect early Amazon Prime Day 2023 sales.