ChromeOS Flex Review

Reviewed by Howard Fosdick © 2026, first posted at RexxInfo.org, under open license CC BY-ND 4.0.

I've reviewed Linux Mint, antiX, and Puppy Linux as tools you can use to refurbish older computers and restore them to usefulness.

If you have an ancient dual core computer, antiX or Puppy can restore it into a useful rig.

For multicore computers, I choose Linux Mint with the Xfce user interface. It's fast, reliable, and runs well on mature machines. Most important, even those new to Linux find it very easy to use. You don't have to train a Windows user to use it.

Now there's another alternative to consider: Google's ChromeOS Flex.

What I'll call "Flex" is the counterpart to the Chrome OS that comes pre-installed on Chromebooks. Whereas Chromebooks give you the entire hardware/software package, Flex just gives you the software. The idea is that you can install it on older or low-end machines and make them fast and useful.

(There are, though, some differences between ChromeOS and Flex that I'll point out in this article.)

This article reviews ChromeOS Flex and compares it to Linux Mint/Xce.

What Flex Offers

So how does the Flex desktop look? It's like an Android cellphone, which makes it very easy to use. You won't have to train neophytes to use it --

You see a lot of useful apps there. But you'll also notice that all of them run in the browser. That's because Flex is a browser-only OS. It only runs web apps in a browser.

You can't install Android apps, or anything from the Google Play Store. Nor can you run Windows apps.

Benefits

So, Google's Flex is basically a locked-down system. You have to accept it "as is". I'd call it a "locked box."

Given that Google controls the software (and your user experience), that offers some great benefits --

Drawbacks

1. One downside is that you can't install apps. This OS is not extensible. You can't run Android, Windows, or Linux apps.

However, you can use Flex's included developer tool to install Linux on a virtual machine. (The default is Debian.) Then you can install Linux apps.

This is not hard to do. But it requires the user to set up and administer the VM and Linux, which obviates the main argument for Flex's ease of use via its simple Android interface.

Of course, if you refurbish a computer for the end user and do this work for them, it's probably not an issue.

2. Another downside to Flex is that it is a proprietary OS run by Google. Google ensures their control of "your" computer by requiring you to log into your Google account to use it. You'll use Google online apps, and store all your data on Google's servers.

Thus, Google watches everything you do. It sees all the websites you visit, all the images you view, all the documents you create, all the emails you send, and everything else you do.

(For more detail, this article explains the data Google collects. Google's My Activity gives you some degree of control over their data collection, while Google Take-Out allows you to download the data Google has collected about you.)

If your privacy is a concern, Flex is not a good choice.

Comparison

This chart compares Flex and Linux Mint (with the Xfce user interface) --

Conclusion

So here's the bottom line.

Flex provides a free, fast, secure, reliable system that requires no user administration or support. It runs on many older computers and is an easy way to give them new life and restore them to usefulness.

However, you must be able to accept two big limitations --

If you choose to use ChromeOS Flex, here's what to do --

Here are the install instructions at the Google website. Enjoy!

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