How we test

Our regular benchmarks don’t run on Chrome OS devices, so we put each Chromebook through a battery of benchmarks that simulate performance in web-based applications along with synthetic tests.

Geekbench 6 falls into the latter category. We use the Android app version of this excellent cross-platform benchmark, which pushes the CPU inside each Chromebook to its maximum, particularly in the multicore test.

WebXPRT, Basemark and JetStream are all web-based benchmarks, giving you an indication of how the Chromebooks will perform when faced with more demanding websites.

We test multitasking by playing a 4K video while running Basemark and Jetstream. The figures you see are the Jetstream scores under these harsh conditions.

We use GFXBench, Geekbench Compute and 3DMark Mobile to assess the GPU’s performance in Android apps. The latter two benchmarks are synthetic, while GFXBench uses a dummy game to produce frame rates. Although we test on-screen and off-screen performance, we only print the off-screen results here for a fairer comparison.

We also check screen quality, brightness and contrast using a colorimeter. The higher the colour coverage the better, while ideally we’re looking for an average Delta-E under 1 to indicate near-perfect colour accuracy.

Our final objective test runs down the battery while looping a 1080p video file at 150cd/m2 screen brightness.

Beyond these tests, we also use each Chromebook across a range of scenarios, including light office work, streaming music and video and streaming games from Xbox Games Pass Ultimate and GeForce Now, in order to see how the screen, keyboard, trackpad and audio system hold up in real-world use.