Visit our corporate site. You get the same thin-feeling plastic keycaps here, with the same low travel and relatively low spring action – typing on the Acer Chromebook 514 is fine, but it’s not exactly snappy. The microSD card reader is a nice touch. More recently, we found the Asus Chromebook Flip to exceed expectations of what a premium Chromebook should be, while HP’s Chromebook 13 is no slouch either. On the left side, you'll find a USB-C port, a USB 3.0 port, a microSD card reader and a headphone jack. It’s nicely priced and aimed primarily at buyers on a shoestring budget who want a laptop for word processing, spreadsheets, and the usual kind of PC tasks on the go. TechRadar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. The Acer Chromebook 514’s 14-inch touchscreen display is not one of the brightest I’ve seen, meaning that Netflix and YouTube streams, particularly night-time/interior scenes, can sometimes look gloomy. The biggest difference between the UK and US versions comes down to memory and storage. As for the keyboard, it’s smooth and the keys are responsive. That’s far below what you need if you’re looking to do photo editing of any kind. The Acer Chromebook 514 I tested featured an Intel Celeron N3350 dual-core processor with a 1.10GHz base clock speed. With such limited storage space, it’s unlikely that you’re going to be installing many apps on the Acer Chromebook 514 anyway. Acer's Chromebook 514 (starts at $349; $499 as tested) is an upscale Chromebook with a 14-inch screen. If you throw lots of work at it at once – multiple tabs and YouTube streams, while trying to download several things from Google Play – it’ll falter. The keyboard layout is slightly different to a typical Windows laptop, but it won’t take long to get acquainted. The model I tested is priced at £370 and is absolutely fine for basic PC work, and the metal chassis means it’s resilient and doesn’t look like a cheap laptop. We may earn a commission if you click a deal and buy an item. While the display isn’t perfect, it’s good enough for writing essays, and, at a push, streaming video. In short, video streams will look good enough, but you’ll want to crank that brightness all the way up. It’s compact and light enough to throw in a backpack or bag without thinking twice. Weight: 3.31 pounds (1.5kg) But if you need an inexpensive laptop for word processing and you don’t want to shell out for Microsoft Office, then the Acer Chromebook 514 is an excellent option. The silver housing is broken up only by the Chrome logo on the lid, and four black feet on the bottom of the laptop. I also ran Google’s defunct Octane 2.0 benchmark and got 10,703 – again, this doesn’t compare that well with the Dell Inspiron Chromebook 14 7000 2-in-1, which gave me 31,575. In the US, you get 8GB and 64GB, respectively. The touchscreen makes up for what the trackpad lacks. One of the two USB A and USB C ports on the Acer Chromebook 514. As Google continues to push Chrome OS beyond what most of us had ever imagined it would become, Chromebooks continue to gain meaningful software features. If you're using an ad-blocker you might miss out on seeing the deals. Current page: If your computing needs don’t really extend much beyond writing and filing copy, spreadsheet maintenance and a spot of Netflix on the side, then the Acer Chromebook 514 will meet your needs, for less than a Windows-equivalent device. We can’t think of a use case for this orientation, but hey, having options is always nice. Things aren’t so bad that they’re not viewable but the brightness, paired with not-fantastic viewing angles, limits the Acer Chromebook 514’s usability as a Netflix and chill companion. The 514 model I’ve been sent for review is the CB514-1HT model, which features an Intel Celeron N3350 processor, 4GB of RAM, and internal storage of just 32GB – only 21GB of which is available to the user. Ports: 2 x USB-C (3.1 Gen 1), 2 x USB 3.0, microSD card reader Excellent battery life. Having the option to add more storage to a Chrome OS device is always welcome, though not always needed. The Chromebook 514 lineup isn’t available in Australia, with the Acer Chromebook 14 doing a decent job of filling in for it. Performance, battery life features and verdict. If you only need a laptop for writing, spreadsheets and email, and you’re looking to save money, this is an ideal choice. Size: 12.7 x 9.1 x 0.7 inches (323 x 232 x 17mm; W x D x H). You can use either USB-C port for charging, a feature we appreciate. The Chromebook 514 falls short of that promise, though, with one exception: battery life. The Chromebook 514 as configured is currently sold for $499 (about £380, AU$710). Paint job aside, the Acer Chromebook 514 weighs a very spry 1.5kg and, as it measures a slim 17mm when closed, it will slip nicely into your bag and take up very little space. The individually lit keys take very little pressure to activate, which is a dream for touch-typists or those who prefer chiclet-style keys. Storage: 64GB eMMC There’s a subtle, yet premium look, that the more we use it, the more we like it. Acer tucked a 14-inch display in the Chromebook 514’s housing that more closely resembles a 13-inch laptop. The Acer Chromebook 514 is light, nice-looking and good value for money. New York, The 14-inch IPS display isn’t super impressive. Tell us what you think - send your emails to the Editor. I also recorded a colour temperature of 6212K, which, again, is very good, and close to the 6500K ideal. That’s very much in line with what I observed day-to-day. A nicely priced laptop in a metal case that’ll do the basics (and only the basics). It consistently fails to recognize gestures that involve multiple fingers. Until recently, Chromebooks have also been fashioned from rather naff-feeling flexy plastic and there hasn’t been much consideration on the aesthetics front. With the same device and software, I recorded a maximum brightness of 257.9 nits. We never, ever accept money to review a product. Running the Geekbench 4 battery benchmark, which simulates basic PC use in the background with the display’s brightness locked at 150 nits, I got a result of seven hours and 21 minutes. Even with a touchscreen, the hinge doesn’t allow the screen to rotate all the way around, turning the Chromebook 514 into a tablet. We’ll always tell you what we find. That’s pretty good, and about what you’d expect from a decent laptop. Running Geekbench 4 gave me single and multi-core scores of 1391 and 2733 respectively, a little under the Dell Chromebook 3100 2-in-1 (1769 and 3327), and far lower than what I saw when I benched the Dell Inspiron Chromebook 14, which gave me 4436 and 8763. With cyberattacks through the roof, endpoint protection is more important than ever, FIFA 21 on PS5 sounds way more fun than the Xbox Series X version, Sony WH-1000XM4, le migliori cuffie del mondo a un prezzo mai visto, Sony sold more PS5s during launch week than the Xbox Series X/S combined, 5 amazing Black Friday gaming accessory deals from Currys PC World. You will receive a verification email shortly.