Table of Contents
At a glance
Top Chromebook picks:
- Refurbished: Acer Chromebook 315, $99. Only 4GB of RAM, but that’s a small compromise.
- Budget: Lenovo IdeaPad 3i, $149.00. Absolutely stellar deal. This is my preferred deal.
- Midrange: Asus CX14, $249.00. Faster processor, more storage.
Black Friday deals on Chromebooks have begun at Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers the week of Thanksgiving. I’ve collected the best Chromebook deals for PCWorld over the past several years (including Black Friday and Prime Day) and these are usually the best deals of the year.
I’m seeing a killer Lenovo IdeaPad 3i deal that I’d recommend you buy right now. Check out our list of the best Chromebooks for more ideas.
I’ve been tracking Chromebook deals for the past several years, so I have a good idea of what to buy and how much you should pay. Our deals include refurbished Chromebooks, budget Chromebooks with low-end specifications, then midrange Chromebooks which include Google’s premium “Chromebook Plus” devices. In each category, I’ve listed the best Chromebook deals that I can find, followed by an explanation of why I think you should buy them.
How I pick deals
I lean hard on price, and for this year I’ve added a “refurbished” category that includes Chromebooks that have been returned and inspected, then resold at a lower price. I also believe that the most important features of a Chromebook are its memory (4GB tolerated, 8GB preferred) and its screen resolution and size, with a 1080p screen as a preferred resolution for minimizing eye strain. I care a bit less about the processor type in a Chromebook versus a laptop, but I want one that’s fairly modern. Chromebooks are now supported for several years, so I check the support window but downplay it more than I used to.
Deals checked and updated as of 12:19 AM on Nov. 28.
Best Black Friday refurbished Chromebook deals
- Acer Chromebook 315 (Renewed) (Celeron N4500/4GB RAM/64GB SSD, 15.6-inch 1080p display), $99.99 (11% off at Amazon)
- Acer Chromebook Plus 515 (Restored), (Core i3-1215U/8GB RAM/128GB SSD/15.6-inch 1080p display), $166.99 (11% off at Walmart)
- Acer Chromebook Spin 512 (Refurbished) (Celeron N5030/8GB RAM/64GB SSD, 12-inch 1366×912 display), $99.99 at Newegg
For this Black Friday, I’m trying something different: adding the option for previously owned, refurbished Chromebooks from Amazon’s Renewed program, which carry a 90-day return period and possibly longer depending upon the item. (Walmart Restored has a 90-day return window.) Use it if you need to!
I recommend that you buy the Acer Chromebook Plus 315 as my top pick for a refurbished PC. Amazon offers an unbeatable price, and the only compromise is the 4GB of RAM.
Otherwise, the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 looks pretty solid — it’s a midrange Chromebook Plus device at a price that’s just a hair above budget. From a specification standpoint, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about here.
Best Black Friday budget Chromebook deals
- Lenovo IdeaPad 3i, (Celeron N4500, 8GB RAM, 64GB SSD, 15.6-inch 1080p display), $149.00 (19% off at Amazon)
- Acer Chromebook 315 (Celeron N4500/4GB RAM/64GB SSD, 15.6-inch 1080p display), $119.00 (60% off at Best Buy)
- Asus CX15 (Celeron N4500/4GB RAM/128GB SSD, 15.6-inch 1080p display), $139.00 (37% off at Walmart)
- Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 (MediaTek Kompanio 520, 4GB RAM, 64GB SSD, 14-inch 1080p display), $149.00 (63% off at Best Buy)
- HP 14-inch Chromebook (Celeron N4500/4GB RAM/64GB SSD, 14-inch 768p display), $119.00 (64% off at Best Buy)
The Lenovo IdeaPad 3i is your ideal deal: There are no compromises here, at a fantastic price. My recommendation is to buy this Chromebook now, and not worry if some other better deal pops up.
Normally, budget Chromebooks are all about the tradeoffs. The other deals listed here typically don’t include 8GB of RAM, which is what I’d prefer — they offer 4GB instead. That limits the number of open tabs at any one time.
These entries are very similar, but I’m recommending the Asus CX15 as my second choice because it offers more storage and a three-month trial to Google’s Gemini subscription, which gives it a bit of an edge. But the Acer Chromebook 315 has made a new appearance on the list: $119 is a terrific deal, and that might sway you. The drawback is the 4GB of RAM, which will allow you to open fewer tabs than an 8GB machine, but it’s not an enormous drawback.
Don’t be afraid of the Mediatek Kompanio chips — these are just Arm processors, and the Chrome OS runs perfectly well on them. In fact, the Kompanio is a markedly better processor, with lower power consumption (better battery life!) and better performance, too.
Why include the Lenovo 14-inch Chromebook at the end? Because the price is actually lower than previous deals I’ve seen. Put another way, Amazon is offering a sale on a sale, though it’s not really advertising it as such.
Best Black Friday midrange Chromebook deals
- Asus CX14 (Intel Core 3 N355/8GB RAM/128GB SSD/14-inch 1080p display), $249.00 (42% off at Best Buy)
- Asus CM30 (Kompanio 520/8GB RAM/128GB SSD, 10.5-inch 1920×1200 display), $279.00 (18% off at Walmart)
- Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (Intel Core i3-N305/8GB RAM/128GB SSD, 14-inch 1080p display), $287.99 at Amazon
- Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus (Core i3-1315U/8GB RAM/128GB SSD, 14-inch 1920×1200 display), $349.00 (42% off at Best Buy)
- HP 14-inch x360 Chromebook Plus (Core i3-N305, 8GB RAM/128GB UFS, 14-inch 1080p display), $379.00, (32% off at Walmart)
- Asus Chromebook Plus CX5601, (Core i3-1215U/8GB RAM/128GB SSD/16-inch 1920×1200 display), $479.99 (32% off at Best Buy)
A good midrange or premium Chromebook includes at least 8GB of RAM, a sturdy processor, and a 1080p screen or better. These all qualify.
Right now, I’d recommend that you buy the Asus CX14 at the top of the list. In my mind, it offers the best value: It checks all the hardware boxes without asking you to splurge. If you do want to buy up to a Chromebook Plus, the Acer Chromebook Plus 514 is the best bet. Weirdly, it’s not marked as a sale, but the “base” price is simply better than other sales on competing devices.
Otherwise, either the Lenovo Flex 5i or the HP x360 are good bets for a Chromebook Plus device. (Do you need a Chromebook Plus? This article helps you answer that question.) The Flex 5i ships with a Gemini Advanced subscription from Google, which includes 2TB of cloud storage and Google’s latest AI model.
The Asus CM30 is a tablet, not a clamshell Chromebook, but if you don’t mind that then the specifications are excellent.
If you’ve decided that a Chromebook isn’t for you and you’d prefer a laptop instead, check out our Black Friday laptop deals and our Black Friday deals shopping page.
Black Friday: The best PC deals around
Check out our roundups for the best PC-related deals in a wide variety of categories!
- Best Amazon Black Friday tech deals
- Best Black Friday laptop deals
- Best Black Friday Chromebook deals
- Best Black Friday mini PC deals
- Best Black Friday desktop computer deals
- Best Black Friday monitor deals
- Best Black Friday USB flash drive deals
- Best Black Friday SSD and storage deals
- Best Black Friday Thunderbolt dock deals
- Best Black Friday power bank deals
- Best Black Friday office chair and desk deals
- Best Black Friday VPN deals
FAQ
When is Black Friday?
Officially, this year’s Black Friday takes place on Friday, Nov. 28 2025. Cyber Monday is the following Monday, or Dec. 1, 2025. Amazon’s “Black Week” kicks off Nov. 20.
What should you pay for a Black Friday / Cyber Monday Chromebook deal?
Watch out for the “sneaky season,” where retailers add sales, then raise prices, and then discount again for Black Friday.
Budget Chromebooks should be about $150 or so, perhaps less — but that can mean compromising on some of the features we think you’ll like. We try to include some of these models, though, in case you’re just looking for absolute bottom prices. (Refurbished models can cost even less, and we’ve included them to save you even more money.)
Good mainstream Chromebooks now cost about $250 to $350, as noted above — that’s the floor for a Chromebook we’d recommend. A Black Friday or Cyber Monday steal could push prices down even further.
What features should I look for in a Black Friday / Cyber Monday Chromebook?
We still prioritize three things when looking for a Chromebook deal: memory, the size and resolution of the screen, and the CPU. There’s also one big wrinkle for this year’s Black Friday, and that’s the Chromebook support window.
You will still find retailers trying to unload Chromebooks with 4GB of RAM, a 768p screen, and an ancient processor. We will still list products with those specs, if justified, as budget Chromebooks. But we really feel that you deserve a Chromebook with 8GB of RAM, a 1080p screen or better (with screen sizes above 13 inches if possible), and a relatively modern CPU. We don’t put a lot of weight on the CPU, if only because a Chromebook doesn’t need a lot of horsepower behind it.
Be aware that “HD” does not mean 1080p! It basically means 768p, which is going to be a bit hard on your eyes. “Full HD” or “FHD” equates to the 1080p display you should get.
Our recommended CPUs include Intel Celerons, Intel Pentiums, Intel’s Core chips, AMD’s Ryzen processors, and Arm chips from Mediatek or Qualcomm. All of those have their pros and cons, though the performance differences probably won’t matter as much as additional memory.
More memory (8GB rather 4GB of RAM) will allow for more browser tabs and a smoother browser experience. A 1080p screen will offer a comfortable laptop-like viewing experience. Onboard storage really doesn’t matter all that much, though an SSD of at least 32GB is preferable for storing apps, screenshots, and the like.
If you’re familiar with our lengthy laptops versus Chromebooks explainer, you know that one of the potential gotchas is buying a Chromebook whose support window expires soon. Google now supports new Chromebooks for up to 10 years, so this is less of a concern. We think this might push prices down, but for very old hardware. We’re trying to watch this.
Which Chromebooks does PCWorld rate highest?
Our editors regularly review Chromebooks, so make sure to check our rankings of the best Chromebooks. We recommend a wide range of price points, and the article offers a great primer on Chromebook shopping. What’s more, some of our top picks will likely go on sale before or during Black Friday.