Samsung Chromebook 11.6" XE310XBA-K03US 2023, Celeron N4000, 6GB, 64GB eMMC

A tough little Chromebook that'll survive a backpack but won't win any speed awards. Buy it for durability and battery life, not for the screen or performance.

The Celeron N4000 is a 1-core processor from 2017, and it shows. With 6GB of RAM and 64GB of eMMC storage, this thing sits in the bottom 4th percentile for both RAM and storage, and dead last for CPU and screen. That said, ChromeOS is light enough that basic tasks like Google Docs, email, and web browsing won't make you want to throw it out a window. Just don't open 20 tabs. Or 10. Honestly, keep it under 5 and you'll be fine. The Gigabit Wi-Fi is a nice touch for a budget machine, but the single USB-A port is rough.

The MacBook Air M4 and Lenovo Slim 7 are in a completely different universe, both in price and performance. If you're comparing this to those, you're confused about what you need. The real competition is other budget Chromebooks. The HP OmniBook X Flip and ASUS Zenbook are also way more expensive. For $384, you're getting exactly what you pay for: a durable, basic machine that won't win any speed tests but will survive a drop off a desk.

At $384, this is a tough sell when you can find better Chromebooks with 1080p screens and faster processors for not much more. But if you need something durable for a kid or a classroom and you find it on sale, it's not a terrible buy. Just don't pay full price.

The Samsung Chromebook 4 is a cheap, tough little machine built for one thing: surviving a backpack and getting you through a school day. The 11.6-inch HD display and Celeron N4000 won't impress anyone, but at $384 with military-grade durability and 12.5 hours of battery, it's a tool, not a toy. The one thing to know? This is a Chromebook for students who need something light, durable, and cheap, not for anyone who wants to actually enjoy using it.

If you're looking for a laptop to watch movies, edit photos, or do any real work, this isn't it. Go get a Chromebook with a 1080p screen and at least an Intel i3 or a MediaTek Kompanio processor instead. Your eyes and your patience will thank you.

If you need a cheap, durable Chromebook for a student and you can live with a mediocre screen and slow processor, this will get the job done. But if you have any flexibility in budget, spend a little more and get something with a 1080p screen and a faster CPU. This is a survival machine, not a productivity machine.