The 5 Top Chromebooks for Gaming
It’s no secret that the gaming industry has metastasized over the past decade. Long gone are the days of having to decide between a discrete selection of predominantly RPGs on your PC, triple-A games on your current Microsoft/Nintendo/Sony console, or timeless hand-helds on the trusty GameBoy. New operating systems, browser-based games and distribution services like Steam have opened the floodgates and made some of the highest-end games available to anyone with a powerful PC and the right controller. One of the more interesting developments to come out of gaming and computing in general over the last several years is the Chromebook. These machines have ridiculously quick startup times and respectable RAM, but are somewhat lacking in the graphics and hard drive department. Nonetheless, Chromebooks can be suitable for your specific gaming needs. After thorough research, we have gathered 5 of the best Chromebooks for gaming available today.
Acer Chromebook Spin 13
Speed to Make Your Head Spin
Acer has outdone itself with the Spin 13. This one is a perfect combination of business and pleasure for the young professional that wants to try their hand at overclocking, installing Linux and trying to play that old Xbox 360 game or run Photoshop without crashing the darn thing. With a 128GB hard drive, it’s hard to expect anything bigger from a Chromebook, and 8GB of RAM simply blows away the competition. Its 8th Gen Intel i5 processor can be found just as frequently in Windows machines of a much pricier variety, and as such, is the primary driving force for the higher price point.
The real stand-out feature that we loved about this product is the 2K screen resolution and its industry-standard 3:2 aspect ratio. Whether you’re Netflix’ing on the go, engaged in some serious multi-tab research, or trying to push the envelope with some lower end AAA games, the Spin 13 should be your jumping-off point.
Pros:
- Stylus Included
- 2-in-1 Design
- Gorilla Glass NBT touchscreen to prevent wear & tear
Cons:
- Underbelly speakers may occasionally distort
- Tablet mode not particularly user-friendly
Lenovo Chromebook C330 2-in-1
A Convertible Without the Midlife Crisis
Lenovo’s products can be found at just about every price point, and they seldom disappoint. In keeping with Chromebooks’ primary schtick, the C330 boots in mere seconds, and so long as you don’t have a horrible habit of leaving more than 50 tabs open at once, performance shouldn’t be an issue whatsoever.
Unfortunately, a recurring theme of this article will be the limitations of Chromebook CPUs when it comes to your “AAA” games (think Call of Duty, Fortnite, PUBG, Apex Legends, Red Dead 2). In short, these machines simply were not intended to contend with the physics your traditional console or higher-end PC can tackle in its sleep. It’s MediaTek MT8173C processor and 4 gigs of RAM will most certainly allow you to play any retro game under the sun as well as most mobile games out of the Google Play Store, but for this price, it’s hard to expect much more from a glorified web browser.
Pros:
- 2-in-1 tablet mode is a great touch
- Near impossible to beat the price
- Impressive 10-hour battery life
Cons:
- Outdated SD slot
- Resolution could be better
ASUS Chromebook Flip C213SA-YS02
Save Your Rice with this Spill-Proof Design
While the name might be a mouthful, the ASUS Chromebook Flip C213SA-YS02 won’t become an expensive paperweight if you empty the contents of your mouth onto the keyboard. It touts the Mil-STD 810G standard, which translates into English as such: this beast can survive several drops from approximately 4 feet. Simply put, you would be hard-pressed to find a more child-proof (or clumsy-adult-proof) laptop at a price so close to our budget recommendation.
You may have to work out your upper body a bit more as the ASUS flip comes in at around 3lbs, but this design is with good reason: it has a stronger battery and an industry-leading intel processor as opposed to off-brand CPUs. This, too, contributes to this Chromebook’s edge over its competition.
Pros:
- 2 standard USB 3 AND USB-C ports
- Front- and rear-facing camera
- Comfortable keyboard prevents accidental palm contact
Cons:
- Stylus add-on is absurdly expensive
- Bulky and not particularly eye-catching design
Acer Chromebook 514
Ace(r) Your Research Paper & Blast Your Competitors Simultaneously
The 514 adds all the bells and whistles you’d love to see in a personal computer but hate to pay for. Unlike some of its competitors on this list, Acer’s 514 boasts high definition resolution, a beautiful backlit keyboard for those late-night “study” binges with your clan-er classmates, and comes with a slightly more powerful N3450 Intel CPU.
Though this one strays away from the 2-in-1 Chromebook prototype, the 514 more than makes up for this with a full-IPS touch screen display for all of your aspiring fruit ninjas or angry fowls. What’s more, with double the processors of most of our prior suggestions, you will have no trouble multi-tasking from the battlefield to the classroom seamlessly with this formidable device.
Pros:
- High Definition Webcam
- Beautiful 14” HD screen with minimal bezel
- 64 GB of storage for more substantial offline storage
Cons:
- Trackpad feels loose and not particularly responsive
- Short bezel length gives a sharp and fragile feel
Google Pixelbook Go i7
Who Knew a Monster Could Be So Miniscule?
The Pixelbook comes in at #1 in quality on our list of Chromebooks. True, it flaunts a startling price for the category, but it boasts ever-more startling specs. Were it not for Chrome OS, this i7 processor could demolish any game you could throw at it, and it very well can with a little software expertise (though this is not for the faint of heart). Short of this, there is no doubt that the Pixelbook will handle anything the Google Play store offers.
An HD touchscreen, shocking 16 gigabytes of RAM and bountiful battery life of 12 hours make this the best portable machine you’ll find on the market without using that dinosaur from long ago known as a “laptop”.
Pros:
- 2 Hours of battery life in only 20 mins of charging
- Easily portable
- Incredibly lightweight at just over 2&1/4 pounds
Cons:
- Surprisingly not a 2-in-1
- No USB 3 ports for older devices
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I keep my Chromebook functioning like new?
A golden rule we may have forgotten after a couple of decades in the Digital Age is that we should be mindful of our computer usage and its effect on performance. As Chromebooks are on the lowest-end of technically-savvy users and PCs are on the opposite end (with laptops and Macbooks somewhere in the middle), it goes without saying that replacing parts or upgrading components as they wear down is almost out of the question. In order to keep your new Chromebook running like new, try to keep the number of apps and/or tabs to a minimum, always unplug your Chromebook when it’s fully charged, and try to wait until the battery is almost drained before starting the charging process
Why can’t I play AAA games on a Chromebook?
As video games have evolved, so too have the means of distribution. Any AAA gamer is surely familiar with the software package Steam (as well as its up-and-coming competitors like EPIC Games) as the equivalent of the streaming wars heats up in the video game realm. Very few (if any) AAA games are made to run on Chrome OS, and that’s basically the end of the discussion if you’re not tech savvy. For those not afraid of delving a little deeper than click & play, it might be possible to install and run Linux with your limited hard drive on top of downloading heavier AAA games. Services like Parsec allow you to stream games from your more powerful personal computer to a mobile Chromebook with minimal loss of latency. Short of this, or buying the most powerful Chromebook on the market, Android & web browser media is the name of the game with these machines.
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With the constantly shifting landscape in the world of technology, GameRevolution seeks to provide gamers and tech-enthusiasts with the information they need to select the right products for their needs. Since 1996, our experts have used their knowledge on all the latest gadgets – everything from headphones to standing desks – to help millions of people navigate specs and answer common questions.