Lenovo Flex 5i is the best Chromebook Plus value at an all-time-low price

Chromebook Plus devices – specifically the newer, branded ones – are an easy answer to the common question: which Chromebook should I buy? They were built with this exact question in mind, giving us a nice starting group of solid Chromebooks that offer a bit of everything across the board. We have larger Chromebook Plus models, smaller ones, clamshells and convertibles: likely something that fits the bill for your needs.

But we still get asked which one we think is the best of the new crop. I’m on the fence about that most days, but when one of the front runners like the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus goes on sale for $150 off, the conversation shifts a bit.

At this sort of price, the Flex 5i quickly jumps to the top of the list for me. And that is precisely because it is so good at so many of the things that make Chromebook Plus fun to use. Where many models have a few severe trade-offs, the Flex 5i sits in the middle: not the absolute best at anything, but good enough at nearly everything that the experience feels balanced and assured.

The chassis is nice, but not the best or most firm I’ve ever picked up. The 16:10 screen is nice, bright (300 nits) and sharp at 1080p, but it’s not the best screen I’ve used. And the same goes for the keyboard and trackpad: good, not exceptional. But when you take the parts together with the Chromebook Plus internals, you get a Chromebook that simply manages to stay out of its own way. It gets the job done and does so in an extremely competent way.

When you take all of that together and wrap it up in a $349 package, it’s really tough to resist. At this sort of price, the value proposition is so high with the Flex 5i that there’s no way it doesn’t rocket to the top of the Chromebook Plus list. While I feel much the same way about the Slim 3i Chromebook Plus when it is down to $349, that device is still 16:9 and not convertible; both traits the Flex 5i can confidently claim. And when it hits this sort of price reduction, the time is now to go snag one.