Black Friday isn't here yet, but deals are already starting to pop up. Chromebooks see some of the best prices during Black Friday because $100 or $200 off an already-low cost makes for some really great price points. Now is a great time to spring for a Chromebook or Chromebook Plus device, as we've seen lots of upgrades and new features in ChromeOS this year.
With manufacturers rushing to adopt AI-powered features, Chromebooks have the upper hand with their lean and snappy operating system. Our top five devices listed here represent some of the best bang for your buck on the market today. If you're looking for a new light-and-lean Chromebook, we pulled together the best sales from HP, Acer, Lenovo, Asus, and more.
Lenovo's IdeaPad 3i is a staple Chromebook that couldn't be more affordable for basic tasks. Whether you're a student looking for a note-taking device, or a hybrid worker that needs a portable machine for checking emails and work messages, the IdeaPad 3i is durable, lightweight, and great bang for the buck.
Best Buy has a great deal on HP's 15-inch Chromebook Plus right now, bringing all the new features in ChromeOS to a mid-sized laptop with a Full HD display. The Intel Core i3 processor and 8GB of memory keeps the price point low, and right now it's $100 off.
Asus is known for its great displays, and this Chromebook is no exception for the price. The 14-inch anti-glare display and lightweight form factor comes with an HD webcam for videoconferencing, while the 4GB of RAM is sufficient to handle basic tasks.
If you're looking for a mid-range Chromebook Plus with a convertible form factor, Acer's Spin 714 has an Intel Core Ultra 5 processor paired with 8GB of RAM for snappy performance in ChromeOS. This is a device you could definitely do some cloud gaming on, and the touchscreen display opens up a handful of use cases.
With the release of Lenovo's Duet Chromebook Generation 9, previous models are seeing some big price reductions -- and they're still great Chromebooks, especially for these prices. The Duet is famous for its ultraportable form factor and detachable keyboard, making the swap from laptop to tablet a breeze.
Black Friday occurs the day after Thanksgiving. This year, it's on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024.
Cyber Monday falls on the Monday immediately after Black Friday. This year, it's on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024.
Absolutely! Amazon has added tons of devices from all the big brands over the past few years to hype up their Black Friday sales events, and they've gotten quite good. For example, when Amazon first started selling Apple's MacBooks and MacBook Pros at discounted rates, it was one of the first online retail outlets to do so.
Black Friday has traditionally been a more general sale day to kick off the holiday shopping season. Cyber Monday specifically refers to sales offered by online retailers that aren't available in physical brick-and-mortar stores. These deals are often sharply discounted, as retailers can adjust prices far more easily online than on physical products on a shelf.
There are tons of Chromebook deals out there, but we only highlight products we've either gone hands-on with personally or would consider ourselves. For example, laptops and Chromebooks come in a myriad of configurations and versions. If we've tested one model that we recommend, but a lower- or higher-end configuration is on sale, we'd still feel confident recommending it.
We also looked over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the deals we're recommending. Our recommendations may also be based on our own testing -- in addition to extensive research and comparison shopping. The goal is to deliver the most accurate advice to help you shop smarter.
The biggest retailers for laptops (that also have the best sales) are Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon, and B&H Photo Video, and many of our top-rated sales come from these destinations.
ZDNET's experts have been searching through Black Friday sales live now to find the best discounts by category. These are the best Black Friday deals so far, by category:
You can also find the best Black Friday deals by price:
And the best Black Friday deals by retailer: