Chrome OS

For folks who work and play online, Chromebooks generally offer pretty good bang for buck. While most come in laptop form, the Chromebook Detachable CM3 from Asus offers a laptop, digital sketchpad and a tablet experience in one device.

Asus has announced three new Chromebooks that has been ruggedized for students and its first Chrome OS tablet. The Education Series is made up of two 11.6 inch Chromebooks – one a clamshell laptop and the other a convertible – and a 14 inch version, together with a toughened up 9.7 inch tablet.

After Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft (among others), today it was Google's turn to show off its new hardware for the next 12 months. Leading the way were the new flagship Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL phones, with mobile photography and phone AI once again to the fore.

​Samsung has announced the second version of its premium Chromebook Plus convertible laptop/tablet. The V2 sees the ARM processor of old swapped out for an Intel CPU, and it gains a second camera.​

Just days after we saw the first Chrome OS tablet arrive, there's another new form factor for Google's desktop operating system. Enter the HP Chromebook x2, a detachable Chromebook that follows the template laid down by Microsoft's Surface Book and gives Chrome OS fans another option to pick from.

Acer and Google have unveiled the first tablet device running Chrome OS, the Chromebook Tab 10. It's aimed primarily at the education market but it marks the end of the Android tablet era for Google, as it focuses its attention on Chrome OS across both laptops and tablet devices.

Dell has launched three new laptops made with kids (and their parents and teachers) in mind. Capable of running Windows or Chrome OS, the laptops are all built to survive the rigors of the classroom and beyond, with rugged designs and all-day battery life.

Windows devices like the Surface basically have a monopoly on the 2-in-1 form factor. That may change soon, as Samsung is launching a couple of Chromebook 2-in-1s​ that include Google Play for running Android apps.

Chromebooks – low-priced, Wi-Fi-dependent, long-lasting laptops that run on Chrome OS – make more sense than ever. They lend themselves to both student and professional use and offer easy access to cloud-based media and documents. Here's a close comparison of our top picks.

If you've got a good memory then you might be able to remember back to the summer of 2011 and the first Chromebooks, which appeared to less-than-universal acclaim. Despite a slow start, in the five years since these laptops have become a much more viable proposition – so what's happened?

Another day, another new Chrome OS device. Or rather four. Alongside the standard (but very affordable) Haier Chromebook 11 and Hisense Chromebook, and the ultra-portable Asus Chromebook Flip, Google has unveiled the Chromebit, a computer on a stick which can be used with any HDMI display.

Two years ago, Google launched the Chromebook Pixel, a premium Chrome OS device designed to show off its cloud-based operating system in the best light possible. Now the second generation Pixel is here, bringing better performance at a lower cost.