You don't need to buy an iPad or an Android tablet if you're an artist. Many newer Chromebooks are great for drawing, too, and come with support for what's known as a USI stylus that attaches externally to the device or is often garaged inside the chassis of the device. Some Chromebooks also use proprietary pen technology, like Samsung's S Pen for the Galaxy Chromebook series, while others are straight-up tablets. These are our favorite touchcreen Chromebooks for drawing.

Our picks for the best Chromebooks for drawing in 2023

The Chromebook Duet 5 is one of the best Chromebooks for drawing due to its detailed, high-quality display. The OLED panel has deeper blacks, and still gets a bit brighter than some of the other picks on my list. It was definitely a highlight when my colleague reviewed the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5 here at XDA.

Compared to some of the other picks here, this is a fairly large tablet, so it might be awkward to use this tablet for reading or for extensive handheld use. On the other hand, if you need to get some work done on your tablet, the screen will have plenty of real estate for using the detachable keyboard with a touchpad. You should be able to fit in a couple of windows for multitasking easily. With the incredibly bright panel, working outside will also be enjoyable on the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5.

Lenovo also packed in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Generation 2 processor which is smooth for running Android drawing apps and getting superior battery life. One downside of this tablet is the lack of a USI pen in the retail box which I know artists usually look for. Indeed, for the price, it would have been nice if Lenovo included the pen. Still, if you want a larger canvas for drawing, it’s worth buying the USI pen to pair with the new Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5.

You can find USI pens for very cheap on Amazon and the screen and processor make this great for drawing. Just the port selection is bad since you're limited to a single USB-C port. And, for personal audio, you'll need to buy Bluetooth headphones or use a USB-C to 3.5mm headphone adapter since there is no headphone jack.

The IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook is really a trio of sorts, if you count its main components. The one-pound aluminum alloy tablet is the first (and most important) piece. The second is a gray fabric stand cover, a magnetically attached back panel that has a kickstand you can fold out to prop up the tablet on a desk. The third bit is a magnetically attached keyboard with a touchpad, which can flip up to cover the screen. With all three pieces combined, the Duet trio forms a convertible altogether which is great for drawing. It's compact, portable, and great.

These detachable laptops differ from 2-in-1s, wherein you can entirely remove them from their keyboard and use them as a tablet. They tend to be a lot less bulky, although they may compromise on specifications. The IdeaPad Duet 3 is one of the best budget detachable Chromebooks on the market, though it features a Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 under the hood and 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of eMMC storage. That's not the fastest SoC, but the tablet has a 2000x1200 resolution screen too, so it’s a perfect media streaming machine when it’s engaged in tablet mode. It should also run most Android-based drawing apps without issue since this is an Arm-based chip, similar to what's in Android phones.

If you want to use it for work, all you have to do is reconnect the keyboard, and it turns back into a laptop. It’s not going to be the fastest or the best, but it’ll get the job done. It’ll do it without breaking the bank too, as it starts at $379 at Best Buy. The great value on offer makes this one of the best Chromebooks under $400 for drawing.

The Galaxy Chromebook 2 is a great Chromebook for drawing because it's the first Chromebook with a QLED display. It's actually a follow-up to the original Samsung Galaxy Chromebook with an OLED, which I've used, but the display on the newer model improves on an already great screen. It produces over 100% volume and is very color accurate for creating content in creative apps like LumaFusion.

The processor options are not quite as high-end as what was in the original Galaxy Chromebook, but the Intel Core i3 should do the job for most users. Storage on this device tops out at 128GB, but this is still ultra-fast SSD storage that I'm talking about. You also retain 8GB of RAM and get improved battery life.

While the S Pen is still supported, it’s not bundled with the laptop, so you’ll need to buy it separately. This also means there’s no slot for storing the S Pen in the body of the Chromebook.

Design is another strong point for the Galaxy Chromebook 2, particularly in the Fiesta Red color. If you’re looking for a Chromebook that matches your personal style, then this is an excellent option to consider. Friends and family will definitely be impressed with how this Chromebook stands out in the crowd. The chassis is also durable and doesn’t have too much give when pressing on the screen with an SPen while drawing.

Beyond the look, the device is functionally designed as well. Samsung kept the profile slim and rigid, opting for only two USB-C ports (one on each side) and a micro SD slot. This is a bit concerning if you use older peripherals, but USB-C is pretty much the standard these days.

There's a lot that an artist or a creative professional might like about this Chromebook. It has an amazing display, support for an included stylus, as well as a great keyboard and trackpad. And let's not forget the overall specifications, either.

Starting first with the display, this is a fully convertible Chromebook. Someone who is an artist can use it in so many ways. It can be used as a laptop for more serious tasks like web browsing or scrolling through files. Then, when they need to, an artist can convert the device over into a tablet or stand and tent mode and get drawing. Do note the display also supports the included HP Stylus. It snaps to the side of the device to recharge. It also feels great in the hands. My colleague spent a lot of time talking about his experience with the pen and other parts of the device in his review.

Moving along, this Chromebook uses a haptic trackpad. If you're an artist, you know that you'll have to browse for files and search for files. This haptic trackpad makes that easy, as you'll be able to click anywhere on the surface when in menus, or looking for files. You'll also get slight feedback when you drag and drop items. Other than that, the keyboard is excellent, too. It has great key travel and is very responsive.

And what about specs? Well, this Chromebook has 12th-generation Intel Core U-series processors. For artists, this processor is great. Juggling lots of files and large-sized pictures won't be an issue. When my colleague tested the processor during his review, he found it was super fast when compared to an AMD Ryzen 5 Chromebook, even when photo editing with the Linux version of GIMP.

A lot of the Chromebooks I have mentioned so far have external pen support, but the Acer Chromebook Spin 714 has a garaged stylus. It's a lot smaller than a separate pen and might work for every artist, but it sits safely inside the device for charging and storage.

Under the hood of this Chromebook is a 12th-generation Intel Core i5-1235U CPU. It benefits from performance cores and efficient cores. This means that an artist using this device will have a little extra boost when opening multiple files and juggling through various drawing apps.

Moving back to the stylus, though, it has some of the same features as dedicated external styli. It has up to 4,096 different levels of pressure sensitivity. That means a bit more natural feel for precise strokes and movements, and there's a lot less delay when you tap the stylus on the screen. Note that when docked, the stylus charges quickly, with 15 minutes giving you 4 hours of use, so you never have to worry about it running dead on you.

The other thing an artist might like about this Chromebook is the screen. The display is tuned to the newer 16:10 aspect ratio. If you're not familiar, that is a much taller aspect ratio letting you fit more content on the screen at once. The resolution is also 1920x1200, so anything you look at on the screen will look crisp

The final note I have to mention here has to do with the portability and ports. An artist can take this machine on the go. It measures 0.70 inches thick and is about 3 pounds in weight. As for ports, there's one USB-A, two Thunderbolt ports, a headphone jack, and HDMI.

This next Chromebook tablet is a great starting tablet for kids and education because it's specifically built for that task. It even has a unique vertical and horizontal stand which is what makes it good for education. You can detach the keyboard, flip out the stand and use the tablet vertically to scroll through a list of images. Other than that, a student can attach the keyboard cover and take notes or browse the web.

And the stylus? It is garaged right into the side of the tablet. When in class or at home, a student won't have to worry about losing it. The stylus is the USI type, and it charges pretty quickly. A 15-second charge is good enough for a quick drawing session of 15 seconds. That's ideal for sitting through a half-hour class.

Of course, the display is what matters most here for drawing, and you should be happy to know that this won't disappoint. It's 1920x1200 resolution, and while the screen is small at 10.5 inches, the high resolution will help your drawings look sharp. Combine that with the 16:10 aspect ratio, and artists or students will be able to multitask. And if your drawing is done with a lot of Android apps, then the Asus Chromebook Detachable is powered by an ARM-based SoC, the MediaTek 8183. Arm-based Chromebooks are known to run Android apps better since Android apps are coded for smartphones that have Arm chips

One thing that I don't like about this tablet, though, is the ports. There's just a headphone jack and a USB-C port onboard. Students will likely need to use a dongle from home or from school to transfer their creations to a USB drive. And artists who opt to buy this device will probably be annoyed with having a dongle hanging out the side of the device when inking.

If you're looking for a Chromebook for drawing that has an AMD CPU under the hood then that's what the Asus Chromebook FLip CM34 is for. This Chromebook is great for people of all ages, as it has plenty of features that premium Chromebooks tend to have, but for under $500. Unfortunately, though, there is no USI stylus included with this Chromebook, and you'll have to buy one separately if you're hoping to draw on the screen or use it for taking notes.

Anyway, this Chromebook has the AMD Ryzen 3 7520C under the hood. This is a pretty modern CPU as it has 4 cores and 8 threads, and runs at up to 4.1 GHz. That's also backed by up to 8GB RAM and a traditional 128 GB NVMe SSD. These specs help ensure that your Chromebook will speed through most tasks without any worries. It's a mid-range CPU, but you should still be able to multitask in Chrome and run Android apps without worry since this CPU has 4 total cores.

Other than that CPU, this Chromebook is a fan favorite because of its design. It has a backlit chiclet keyboard that's spill-resistant. It also has a 1080p webcam, with a privacy shutter. And since it's a convertible you can use it in more ways than one. Even the display is great since it's a 16:10 aspect ratio display with a 1920x1200 resolution, great for multitasking. You also get a lot of ports, including USB-C, USB-A, and HDMI, and a microSD card reader, so no dongles are needed. And the entire Chromebook is durable since it meets US MIL-STD 810H military-grade standards for bumps, drops, extreme temperatures, and other conditions.

Capping out our list will be the Asus Chromebook Vibe CX34 Flip. This Chromebook has a garaged stylus like one of the other picks on our list, but there's something that still sets it apart from the rest. The Asus Chromebook VIbe CX34 Flip can double down as a machine for both drawing and gaming. It has a fantastic 16:10 aspect ratio display, runs an efficient Intel CPU, and it has a great design.

Starting first with the display, this Chromebook is one of the rarer ones that has a 16:10 aspect ratio and a 1920x1200 screen with a 144Hz refresh rate. That high refresh rate is ideal for both gaming and drawing. When you take out the integrated stylus and rub it on the screen, you're going to get more accurate lines and smoother lines. The 144Hz refresh rate is faster than other Chromebooks which usually cap out at 60Hz. The tall ratio suits multitasking, too.

Other than the display, this Chromebook has a 12th-generation Intel CPU under the hood. It's the Intel Core i5-1235U CPU, along with 8GB or 16GB of RAM. You even get up to a 512GB SSD. Specs like these mean you can run games on Steam in beta, flip the screen around and enjoy Android games with zero lag. And when it comes to running Linux photo editing apps like GIMP, there should be no slowdowns even when you use that stylus, either. This is a CPU that's more than capable for any tasks you might have on this Chromebook.

Finally, with the design, this Chromebook is colored white, but it has orange buttons and WASD keys, giving it a unique look. The keyboard is RGB, too, though only it only has four zones of lighting. Port selection is also solid, including HDMI, USB-C, and USB-A.

The best Chromebooks for drawing in 2023: The bottom line

And those are our picks for the best Chromebooks for drawing. Right now, the best you can buy is definitely the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5 thanks to the amazing OLED display, but the second best, the Galaxy Chromebook 2 is still great since it has an equally great QLED display. Even a cheaper device like the IdeaPad Duet 3 will get the job done for most people who are into drawing but have a much smaller budget.

Other than those devices, you'll certainly want to splurge on the HP Dragonfly Chromebook for a solid business experience, or an Acer Chromebook Spin 714 if you want a Chromebook with a garaged pen. There's no doubt a lot of Chromebooks come with touch screens now, and even USI pens, so I am sure that there's a device out there for you. If you didn't find what you liked, though, then don't worry. XDA has a guide with a bunch of other Chromebooks you can choose from.