Best Chromebooks for Back-to-School or Distance Learning 2022

If you are looking for affordable Chromebooks for Back to school or distance learning, or virtual learning, I am going to put a list of top Chromebooks.

This list will see affordable options, and help you pick the best one without spending arms and legs.

 I really don’t like the way people recommend expensive laptops and Chromebooks for schools and college students for their virtual or regular studies, just because they earn a little commission.

This Cheap Chromebook list will surely help students with their studies. Browsing, taking notes, making assignments, and many other casual operations can easily be done using these Chromebooks.

Plus, these Chromebooks can be used at home, for zoom meetings, senior citizens, webcamming or face timing, and for many other purposes.

I will try to add touchscreen Chromebooks as well as backlit keyboard Chromebooks with SD Card readers, HDMI ports, and Fingerprint readers to help you enjoy all the benefits of the latest technology.

But these extra nuts and bolts especially the fingerprint scanner and dedicated numpad come at a price. But most of the Chromebooks we are going to add here are extremely affordable.

Top 5 Best Affordable Chromebooks for Back-to-School or Distance Learning (2022)

1. Samsung Chromebook Plus
2. Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5
3. HP Chromebook x360
4. Samsung Chromebook 4
5. Google PixelBook Go

Top 3 Picks: Affordable Back To School Chromebooks

Best Affordable Chromebooks for Back-to-School (2022)

These are some top Affordable Chromebooks Options, hand-picked models, going to help in your regular and online studies.

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Review:

If you are looking for the thinnest and lightest Chromebook for back to school or distance learning, I highly recommend Samsung Chromebook Plus.

This Samsung Chromebook checks all the boxes right for a great Chromebook. It has a great keyboard with amazing clicky feedback, it is a backlit keyboard Chromebook, you can change the colours as well as the brightness of the keys.

One of the top advantages of buying the Samsung Chromebook Plus is its 13.3 inches 4K AMOLED touchscreen. I have seen many people saying Chromebooks are not that great for binge-watching, maybe they haven’t used any good Chromebook likes of Samsung Chromebook Plus.

Samsung Chromebook Plus supports touchscreen and comes with a Digital Pen. The digital Pen support is as good as the Apple generation 1 pencil and great to help you draw on the screen, or take notes on the screen.

Well, I would not say that these are superb for professional digital artists, but for drawing enthusiasts or beginners they are more than just good.

This Chromebook is not just about thin construction or smart looks, it got the power to help you handle your tasks.

It bolsters your performance with its Core i5-10210U, you know that the intel i5 processor in Chromebooks is the latest development, and very few brands are doing this and Samsung is among the top of them.

It has 8GB RAM, and 256GB SSD storage, going to help you handle multiple operations at one time smoothly.

It is an Android App running a Chromebook, Android apps run better than web apps. You can run GeForce games such as Fortnite here, play Roblox, or any other Android games that you love to play on your laptop or PC.

It also has 2 USB Type-C ports, to help you transfer data at the highest speed or connect to external high-res monitors. This Chromebook has an SD card reader, you can insert a 512GB SD card for instant photo or data transfer, especially for a photographer to edit photos or photos storage.

Don’t forget that with Samsung Chromebook Plus you also get 200 GB of Google Cloud Storage. You can use that too, upload your files there, and access it in offline mode too.

I find this Chromebook sturdily constructed; it feels very robust, unlike its first impression. The only downside is it runs a little hot sometimes when you play games for an extended period of time.

Its battery too does not last long compare to modern-day ultrabooks, it lasts only 3-5 hours, at good brightness.

Bottom Line:

For students as well as regular users, I find Samsung Galaxy Chromebook the finest computer. It has everything you can ask for. Such as it has a Fingerprint scanner, two USB Type-C, an SD card reader, and especially a UHD 4K touchscreen display with a Digital Pen.

Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 Review:

If you can’t afford expensive Chromebooks for your studies and other tasks and looking for an affordable yet powerful option, go with Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5.

It comes with all features that you can ask from expensive Chromebooks, it has a backlit keyboard, touchscreen display, an HD Webcam, convertible 360-degree FHD display, and a powerful processor.

Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 comes with a 13.3-inches FHD screen. The screen is enough large and provides a good functional workspace to help you play Android games, take notes on the screen, binge watch movies, or do other tasks.

It got slim bezels, not a bezeless display though, but I personally prefer little bezels which makes me comfortable using a tablet.

If you are a writer or a student who has to type more than regular, this laptop is a go-to option. It comes with an extremely responsive and fast Keyboard, keys are perfectly spaced, and quiet, and comes with backlighting. The clicky feedback is not noisy, but lets you know when you typed a letter.

 The brightness can be adjusted, and backlights go off if not touchscreen for a few seconds but turn on when you move your fingers near the keyboard.

It is a powerful Chromebooks; that lets you go through multiple tasks at one time. It comes powered by an Intel 10th Gen Core i3 processor, and comes with 4GB RAM, and 64GB Storage.

Google also offers 100-GB cloud storage as well, you got a pretty good storage option here. Plus, this Chromebook supports an SD Card reader too, extend storage if you like.

I am the happiest person using this Chromebook, as I have to take it with me along. It lasts battery for around one working day, amazing to see this range battery for an affordable Chromebook.

It comes with two USB Type-C ports on either side, one SD card reader, and one USB Type-A port making it good for connecting more than one peripheral.

If you are interested in connecting external monitors, you can use the Type-C port, and use a Type-C to HDMI modem.

The only drawback I could find, which does not matter for most of us, is, that you can’t open the screen with one hand unlike Google Pixelbook Go, and many other premium Chromebooks.

Bottom Line

I find this laptop extremely useful for students, business users, digital nomads, professionals, and many more. It has everything you can ask for in a Chromebook at an affordable price, it looks great too, and showcases an aesthetic statement.

HP Chromebook X360 14b-ca0010nr Review:

If you are a student and looking for a computer for your basic surfing, streaming, binge-watching, and many other tasks, I highly recommend this Cheap HP Chromebook.

It is a 2 in 1 design Chromebook, which means, you can convert it into a tablet and use it for reading books, docs, blogs, or taking notes on the screen during online class, or zoom meetings.

This HP Chromebook comes in many variations, and specs range. The one we are recommending, the one that comes under $300 price, shares an Intel Celeron N4000 processor.

It is a dual-core processor, that shares a 1.1 GHz base clock speed which goes up to 2.6 GHz in burst frequency. That means, it can easily handle anything and everything you have purchased a Chromebook for.

HP Spectre X360 Chromebook comes with a 14.0 Diagonal HD micro-edge WLED backlit multi-touched display, it is not an FHD display though, but it looks as good as an FHD display and is sharp too.

The display also supports convertibility, its 360-degree hinges support make you transform it into a tablet, and use it for binge-watching in tent mode, reading books in tablet mode, and working in laptop mode.

HP convertible Chromebook shares 4GB RAM, and 32GB eMMC storage, RAM can be upgraded, you can upgrade the RAM with 8GB RAM, it is not soldered to the motherboard.

It comes with a metal keyboard, keys got good travel and feedback and help you type for long hours typing to meet your assignment deadlines, or write a book.

Its battery lasts for almost 10-hours, yes, a 300 dollar Chromebook can last for this much, and you can rely it on for your outdoor computing operations.

Bottom Line:

If you are a student, or a parent looking for a cheaper laptop for your kid’s virtual learning, or distance learning class, HP Spectre X360 is a perfect option.

It comes at a cheaper price, the screen is touch supported, and the convertible helps you convert it into a tablet.

Samsung Chromebook 4 Plus XE350XBA-K03US: 

Samsung designed Chromebook 4 is another affordable Chromebook for back to school or distance learning.

It is a great Chromebook, but don’t compare it with a 1000 dollar Chromebook, obviously, there is a difference in quality as well as performance.

But, for the purpose we are looking for a Chromebook, this Chromebook is perfect and helps you handle anything and everything, such as Docs, streaming, surfing, binge-watching, note-taking, assignment preparations, and more others in the row.

Chromebooks usually come with a smaller 13 inches screen, but Samsung Chromebook 4 shares a 15.6 inches Full HD Display with touchscreen support.

But the compact frame and tiny bezels make it as compact and portable as a 13 inches laptop.

Samsung Chromebook 4 shares a sturdy metal case, military-grade construction, and durability making it one of the great laptops for students and kids, it can endure bumps and drops and this is what we want from our laptop for kids learning in online mode.

As long as the overall performance is concerned, I find it more than just acceptable for the price. It comes powered by an Intel Celeron processor, 64GB eMMC storage, and 6GB RAM.

It comes with 4GB RAM support too in a different variant, if the requirements of your task are different, you can go with a 4GB RAM Chromebook.

It comes with a full-sized keyboard; the keys are perfectly responsive and provide a fantastic typing experience.

Keep in mind, it is not a convertible Chromebooks, neither does the keyboard detaches from the laptop, overall, it works great and provides a seamless typing experience.

Looking at the size of the laptop, the brand could have easily managed a dedicated number pad, to make it greater to use for those handles numeric streams of data.

Its battery backup is as good as any other premium Chromebook. It shares 11-hours of runtime, which means you can take it outdoor for your work, as well as in colleges, schools, or universities.

I have seen many medical students, as well as PA schools taking this Samsung Chromebook Plus for their everyday computing.

It comes with two USB Type-C ports, to help you multitask as well as charge. You can transfer your files quickly, without slowing down your Chromebook.

It also comes powered by a micro-SD Card reader too, which helps you transfer your files easily.

Bottom Line:

For kids, students taking online classes, and attending classes on Google Classroom, can use this Chromebook for their distance learning.

It comes in hands at a cheaper price range, its running hours are amazing, with Full HD screen support, and great keyboard it is going to provide you all without spending a lot.

If you ask me to suggest the best affordable Chromebook for distance learning or regular use, I recommend you buy Google PixelBook Go.

It is a little more expensive than the other Chromebooks we reviewed here, but it is really worth the price.

Its biggest advantage is its FHD panel which you hardly find in affordable Chromebooks. It comes powered by a 13.3 inches FHD IPS touchscreen display to help you do anything you like on a regular Windows laptop.

Use it for browsing, docs handling, streaming, Netflix, and many more others in the row.

It got slim bezels, the speakers are great, got a backlit keyboard and hush keys which makes it comfortable to type on without making any noise.

It is a fanless design Chromebook, so you don’t have to worry about the fan running and disrupting your peace at night when someone near you is trying to sleep.

I love its power, it comes powered with 8Th Gen intel core i5 processor, among very few i5 Chromebooks. The processor helps it wake up in seconds, and provides quick responsive browsing, and streaming experience without any big trouble or issue.

It Lasts for around 12-hours in battery, which means you charge it once and take it for a day-long for doing your casual to professional tasks.

Don’t forget it’s FHD Webcam, you will hardly see a Chromebook with FHD Webcam, which makes it super comfortable or ready for video chatting, and Facetime.

Bottom Line:

I highly recommend Google PixelBook Go for online classes, or as a back-to-school laptop. Its build quality is more than just amazing, it is compact, lightweight, and helps you do just anything a Chromebook laptop is designed for.

The only concern I have about this is its price, it is a little more expensive than the other laptops we mentioned above.

FAQs ( Affordable Chromebooks For Back-to-School )

What is the Cheapest Chromebook For Back to School or Distance Learning?

Although you can buy a Chromebook for under $100 price, to get a seamless and error-free performance for docs handling, android apps running, and playing games, it is good that you at least spend $400.

You can buy an affordable Chromebook for back to school under the mentioned price, in our detailed guide too, you easily have Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5.

What is the best Chromebook for seniors?

Seniors, mostly use their Chromebooks for FaceTime, webcamming, and zooming. If you are going to buy a Chromebook for seniors, especially pay attention to this aspect.

And obviously, they like to watch movies on YouTube, Binge watch on Netflix and other streaming platforms, so the display of that Chromebooks should be good.

What is the good RAM size for a Chromebook?

For a Good Chromebook, if you use your Chromebook for home use, zooming, browsing, and many other tasks like that, 4GB RAM is good. But, if you like to hand in multiple operations at one time, you should go with an 8GB RAM Chromebook.

Chromebooks don’t require too bulky RAM size, as they come with light ChromeOS, so it does not require too much RAM for smooth performance.

Are Chromebooks good for FaceTime and Zooming?

Yes, as you might have already learned, the sales of Chromebooks were on the top in 2020 due to Covid. People relied on them for their Facetime, Business meetings, online classes, and many other tasks.

Chromebooks have many advantages over regular windows or without Windows laptops, that’s why in covid-19, people purchased Chromebooks more than laptops.

What are the best Chromebooks for students?

For students, the best Chromebook would be the one that comes with good battery backup. It should have a good HD Webcam, it must not be bulky, it should be light enough to carry around.

For Chromebooks, you don’t require too much hardware, like the way you want for a regular laptop. Here due to ChromeOS, it handles apps and programs swifter and quicker.

Can Professionals too use Chromebook?

Yes, if you don’t use your Chromebooks for running heavy windows Apps and programs. Chromebooks are great for you; you can install any Android apps and games.

Professionals can take their laptops for browsing, docs handling notes taking, and many more other tasks like that without any big trouble or issue.

Chromebooks are great, they can easily handle tasks greatly for professionals and regular users alike.

Should I buy a convertible Chromebook?

If you have to use your laptop for note-taking, binge-watching, reading e-books, blogs, or docs, you must go with a convertible Chromebooks.

Go with a 2-in-1 Chromebook, and let it used for you’re regular notebook, or convert it into a tablet and use it for doing anything.

Final Thoughts:

Back to school time is about to come, if you were looking for an affordable Chromebook for back to school or distance learning, you can have a view of the list and pick the one that suits you the most.

We tried to pick the most affordable options, if you can afford a little high price, I would strongly recommend Google PixelBook Go, if you want a convertible Chromebook to go with HP designed X360 Chromebook or Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook.