Acer Chromebook 14 Review

PC Manufacturers have positioned chromebooks like the Acer Chromebook 14 (CB3-431-C5FM) (starts at $279.99; $299.99 as tested) as prime choices for budget laptops. While they have attractively low pricing, the majority of top-rated examples have been compact models like the Asus Chromebook Flip( at Amazon) or the Acer Chromebook R 11($299.00 at Walmart), our recent top picks. But instead of a 10- or 11-inch screen, the Acer Chromebook 14($287.88 at Amazon) has an expansive 14-inch screen that's easier on the eyes and likely to serve a wider audience. Add to this sturdy all-metal construction, almost 12 hours of battery life, a full HD screen, and above all that competitive price, and you have our top recommendation for chromebooks.

Design and Features
The Chromebook 14 measures 0.67 by 13.43 by 9.31 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.32 pounds, which is average for a 14-inch laptop. Its styling is modern, with a fancy brushed aluminum finish (and Google Chrome roundel) on the lid; that and the all-aluminum body help the system look and feel more like a $1,000 laptop than other relatively plain-looking models like the Asus Chromebook C202SA-YS02($264.98 at Amazon), the Dell Chromebook 11 Non-Touch($299.00 at Dell Technologies), and the Toshiba Chromebook 2.

The 14-inch IPS screen is sharp and bright, with a 1,920-by-1,080 (full HD) resolution. This is a big improvement over the 1,366-by-768 resolution common to smaller chromebooks like the CTL J5 Chromebook($259.00 at Amazon) and the Asus C202. The extra space is nice if you're working on a large spreadsheet or word processing document, and it lets you view YouTube and other online videos at a sharper resolution with greater levels of detail. It's also a good size to share among two or three friends, so you can watch the same program or participate in a group webcam session using the built-in HD webcam. Viewing angles are good, with only a little dimming in off-center picture quality. The screen has a matte antiglare coating, so it works well in a brightly lit room. Some touch-equipped laptops like the CTL J5 have glossy glass over their displays, which can show annoying reflections.

The keyboard has full-size keys, though they are a little slippery and have a stiffer keystroke than those on the Lenovo Thinkpad 11e( at Amazon); you may have to spend some time getting used to how the keys feel. The one-piece touchpad is wide enough for everyday use and responds quickly to multitouch inputs. Downward-firing stereo speakers sound clear and are loud enough for a small-to-medium-size room.

Connectivity is good, including an HDMI jack, a Kensington lock port, and a pair of USB 3.0 ports on the left side of the laptop. A headset jack is situated next to the Power connector on the right side. Notably absent is any type of SD card slot, which would let you add to the system's 32GB of eMMC flash storage. That's not a lot, though for the most part Google encourages you to store everything online. To that end, you also get 100GB of Google Drive storage service for two years. In a perfect world, we'd want an SD card to supplement this, but we understand that Acer left it out to reduce complexity and cut costs. At least the Chromebook 14 has dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 for wireless connections. You're likely to spend most of your time with the laptop connected to your home wireless router or a public hotspot, anyway. Acer covers the laptop with a standard one-year warranty.

Performance
The laptop is equipped with an Intel Celeron N3160 quad-core processor (with integrated Intel HD Graphics 400) and 4GB of system memory, and was snappy booting up and loading multiple Web apps and sites over the course of our testing. We were able to open at least six to seven websites with full HD videos and ads simultaneously, with nary a hiccup. The processor and memory also help in multitasking situations, for example, when you're copying and pasting text from a website and citing it in a paper you're working on in Google Docs, while monitoring a live stream on Facebook and listening to music on Spotify in the background. The Chromebook 14 is certainly capable enough for the home user for entertainment and school use.

See How We Test Laptops

Battery life is a definite highlight. For most large laptops, you'd be expected to keep the AC adapter handy during the day. The Chromebook 14 lasted 11 hours, 50 minutes, on our battery rundown test. That's enough for a full day's work, along with a few hours of relaxation time. That's much longer than the Toshiba Chromebook 2 (5:32), Acer Chromebook R 11 (10:35), Lenovo Thinkpad 11e (7:35), CTL Chromebook J2( at Amazon) (8:55), and Dell Chromebook 11 Non-Touch (10:37). The Asus Chromebook C202SA (12:05) and CTL J5 (12:21) were able to outlast the Acer Chromebook 14, but not by a significant margin.

The Acer Chromebook 14 has a 14-inch 1080p HD IPS screen, premium-feeling aluminum construction, a quad-core processor, better-than-average system memory and storage, good connectivity, and a sweet $300 price tag to top it off. Its only drawbacks are a lack of SD card expansion and a slightly stiff keyboard. We think this chromebook is close to the ideal for the category, and a viable alternative to a "traditional" Windows or Mac laptop with a $500 or higher price tag. That makes it our new Editors' Choice. If you want a Windows laptop that costs even less than the Chromebook 14, consider our budget ultraportable Editors' Choice, the $180 Dell Inspiron 11 3000 Series (3162) ($179.99 at Dell) .

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