Kids' First Laptops: Chromebook vs Windows 11 (Real Battery Test)

I bought two laptops for two 3-year-olds and tracked battery life across six months of actual toddler use. The results were less close than the spec sheets suggested.

Both kids got the same allowance (30 minutes a day, supervised, educational apps and Khan Academy Kids primarily). Same Wi-Fi, same charger habits. The Lenovo Chromebook ran $200, the Microsoft Surface Go Windows 11 ran $400. Here's what six months looked like.

Battery life — real-world

Chromebook: 9.5 hours of mixed light use. Charge it Sunday night, runs through Thursday. Spec sheet promised 12 hours, real-world delivered 9.5. Acceptable margin.

Surface Go: 6.2 hours. Spec sheet promised 11. Reality was significantly worse than advertised. The Windows 11 background processes eat battery in a way Chrome OS just doesn't.

Software for 3-year-olds

Chromebook had every educational app I wanted in the Play Store. Setup took 12 minutes. Parental controls via Family Link work and are easy to manage.

Surface Go was harder. The Microsoft Family Safety controls work but feel less integrated. Some of the Android-first kids apps don't have great Windows ports. ABCmouse and Khan Academy Kids work fine; some smaller publishers don't.

Durability

Both got dropped multiple times in six months. Both survived. The Chromebook has a slightly more robust hinge in my experience; the Surface Go is more solid in the lap but the screen is exposed in a way the Chromebook clamshell isn't.

What I'd buy for a 3-year-old

The Chromebook, by a wide margin. Better battery, simpler software, half the price, no meaningful loss in capability for this age. A standing desk at kid height for the supervised sessions reduces neck strain (yes, even at 3). A pair of toddler-fit noise cancelling headphones ($25, not the adult-grade ones) if the kid is using the laptop near other people.

The setup that minimized friction

Family Link controls set up before handing it over. Bookmark bar with the 4 apps they're allowed to use. A physical timer on the table (a kid-friendly visual one) so they can see when the session ends. Atomic Habits-style: the structure prevents the daily argument.

What I'd skip

iPads at this age unless you have a strong reason. The screen-time controls are no better than Chromebook. Price is 3x. The lock-in to Apple's ecosystem comes early.

Tablets marketed specifically as "kid tablets." Most are terrible hardware at high prices. A real Chromebook with Family Link delivers more for less.

The honest answer

For a 3-year-old's first computer, the Chromebook wins on every dimension that matters. The Surface Go is a fine laptop for a 12-year-old; it's overkill and underperforms for the toddler use case.