Review of the Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-3HT)

Just like Windows laptops, Chromebooks are divided into different categories with different equipment and prices. Recently, we reviewed a representative of the budget chromebooks Acer Chromebook 315 with a basic set of features. And now we’ll take a look at the more interesting Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-3HT). Google itself has decided to systematize its chromebooks a bit and has defined certain specific requirements for a laptop under the general name Chromebook Plus. Among them are 12th-generation Intel Core i3 or AMD Ryzen 3 7000-series processors, 8 GB of RAM, 128 GB of storage, and a FullHD IPS display. The laptop in this review fully meets these requirements, and we’ll find out what it can really do.

Specifications Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-3HT)

Package contents

The packaging and delivery package of the Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-3HT) are similar to what we have seen in other laptops from the company. A box with a minimum of printing, made from recycled paper. Inside is a laptop, a 65W power supply, a power cable, a manual, and all the additional documentation needed.

Design and construction

Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-3HT) looks a bit more expensive than it actually is. At first glance, it may seem that the case is made of metal. Although at the first touch it becomes clear that this is not the case. Externally, we have a fairly typical modern office laptop with a neutral, practical design.

The case is made entirely of high-quality plastic of a pleasant dark gray color with a matte texture. The coating is very good and does not collect fingerprints, the laptop always looks neat. The plastic is quite thick, almost does not bend and does not lend itself to twisting. Most of the top cover has a texture that resembles brushed metal. On top are the Acer and Chromebook Plus logos. Unlike the younger model, there is no colored Google logo.

Another Acer logo is located under the Chromebook Plus 514’s screen. The keyboard is quite standard for modern laptops, but does not occupy the entire width of the topcase. Stereo speakers are placed on the sides of the keyboard.

The laptop can be opened up to 180°, and the display unit locks well in the desired position. At the same time, Chromebook Plus 514 can be opened with one hand. The display unit is attached with two hinges, near which there are two small rubber feet on the back, which support the laptop in the open position. The design slightly raises the back of the main unit, so there is more space for cold air from below. This is a fairly common design.

The frame around the screen is made of black plastic, and there are rubber bumpers around the perimeter. The width of the bezel is quite standard for modern inexpensive models: narrower on the sides, slightly wider on top. Above the screen there are microphones, a webcam with a work indicator, and a physical curtain.

The bottom of the Acer Chromebook Plus 514 has active cooling vents and four rubber feet. The bottom lid is secured with 10 screws. By removing it, the user will have access to the cooling system, as well as the SSD drive and network card, which are used for M.2 connectivity and can therefore be replaced.

The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-3HT) is hardly an ultra-compact model, but there will be no problems with transportation: its dimensions are 319×227×19.9 mm and it weighs 1.45 kg. The laptop is well-made and certified according to the military standard MIL-STD 810H. This means protection against vibrations, adverse temperatures, and shocks. But this is basic level protection, so you shouldn’t drop the laptop.

Роз’єми

Acer Chromebook Plus 514’s ports are located on the sides. On the left, there is one USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 1, one full-size USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, a video output for connecting an external HDMI monitor, and an LED indicator.

On the opposite side there is another USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 1, a 3.5 mm audio jack and a Kensington lock port.

The set of connectors is quite sufficient for a laptop of this class. It is possible to connect a monitor and mouse. Perhaps a card reader would also come in handy. Although it is doubtful that anyone will use a chromebook to work with photos or videos.

Display

The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-3HT) uses a 14-inch IPS touchscreen display. The resolution is 1920×1200 pixels, and the aspect ratio is 16:10. Interestingly, the same model with Intel processors received a standard 16:9 screen. The refresh rate is the usual 60 Hz. Thedisplay is covered with ComfyView matte anti-reflective coating. The color coverage is only 45% of the NTSC color space.

The screen is quite good quality: the viewing angles are maximized. But I would like to see a more saturated picture, as the color gamut is rather narrow. Hardware measurements showed that the maximum brightness is 229.563 cd/m². It is far from a record figure, but it should be enough for the room. Static contrast ratio is 989:1. The color gamut is noticeably narrower than the sRGB space. But the color accuracy is quite accurate. The color temperature is close to the reference value of 6500K, and the color error ∆E does not exceed 6, which is very good for an inexpensive model.

Platform and performance

Unlike basic budget chromebooks, the Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-3HT) has a more powerful AMD Ryzen 5 7520C processor. The C at the end of the marking indicates the designation for Chrome OS. A similar model for Windows has a U at the end. The processor is manufactured using the TSMC 6nm FinFET process, is based on the Zen 2 architecture and contains 4 cores. The frequency is 2.8 GHz, with a boost of up to 4.3 GHz. It supports 8 threads of computing, with a standard TDP level of 15 watts.

The video accelerator is an integrated AMD Radeon 610M solution with a frequency of up to 1.9 GHz. The laptop has 16 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and a 512 GB NVMe M.2 (2280) PCIe 4.0 SSD. Wireless capabilities: Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.2. Like the younger model, the Chromebook Plus 514 does not have any means of biometric identification of the owner, so you will have to enter a password or PIN to log in.

Speaking of my own impressions, the Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-3HT) is very fast. Waking up is instantaneous, and turning it on takes a matter of seconds. Most applications also launch quickly. It is quite difficult to speak unequivocally about the power of hromadskis, because the vast majority of available synthetic tests are designed for Android. Some more are focused on web performance:

Now a few words about games. As we wrote in our review of the Acer Chromebook 315, Chromebooks support the vast majority of games from the Play Market, although it is still more convenient to use a smartphone or tablet for this. For more serious games, there are cloud services such as Boosteroid or GeForce Now, which have native clients for Chromebooks.

Але у випадку Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-3HT) was interesting to try to run full-fledged games from a PC. There has been an official Steam client for Chrome OS for some time now, although it is still in Beta. Chrome OS is a variant of Linux and uses the Proton compatibility layer to run games and applications from Windows, like the Steam Deck portable console.

Of course, not all games will launch and work correctly, but you’ll be able to play some of them. Spec Ops The Line with the minimum settings and a resolution of 1366×768 pixels runs at a frame rate just above 30 FPS. Tomb Raider is also slightly above 30 FPS, but in the native resolution of 1920×1200 pixels.

Blender also launched from Steam, and it works relatively well, but heavy scenes will take a long time to render.

Heating and stability of operation

The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-3HT) is equipped with an active cooling system with one fan and one heat pipe. The laptop is absolutely quiet most of the time. At maximum loads (benchmarks, games), the fan is already audible, but the noise level is minimal. The case practically does not heat up.

The built-in diagnostic utility shows that the processor only heats up to about 51° under load. And in the 3DMark stress test, performance doesn’t drop at all and remains stable throughout the test.

Функціональні можливості

We have already reviewed the features of Chrome OS in the Acer Chromebook 315 review. Chrome OS is based onLinux. The operating system is very lightweight and requires minimal resources. It is web-oriented, and interaction with it resembles a cross between Windows and Android. It has a very convenient interaction with Android smartphones, including file transfer, notification display, and a lot more.

The interface is simple and straightforward: desktops, a quick launcher, a menu with all installed applications, a quick settings panel (brightness, volume, connection, etc.), quick access to notifications, different spaces for different users, etc. Applications are installed from the Play Market, some are optimized for Chrome OS, although the vast majority for Android work fine.

In addition to the set of applications that are familiar to Android smartphones (Google Drive, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, notes, Google Photos, etc.), several are preinstalled for Chrome OS: analogs of Notepad and Paint and a tool for creating screenshots. Additional useful applications include Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype, Office 365, Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Netflix, Spotify, and Canva.

The difference from Chromebook 315 is the presence of Google’s Gemini AI chatbot. It works like any similar analogues. Ask a question or request in the chat and get a detailed answer, including a YouTube video. Owners of the Acer Chromebook Plus 514 get 12 months of Gemini Advanced with extended functionality.

When considering a possible purchase of a laptop running Chrome OS, it is important to clearly define your requirements and understand the main features of the operating system. If you plan to do basic document work, video conferencing, presentations, studying, or watching movies or listening to music, then this is a good option. The operating system is very fast and easy to use. If you need more specific software, Windows or Mac are still better options.

Webcamera

Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-3HT) has a pretty good webcam for an affordable model. It has a 1080p resolution and additional AI-enabled video calling tools to improve clarity, lighting, noise and background blur. For those who appreciate privacy, there is a mechanical curtain.

Keyboard and touchpad

The keyboard of the Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-3HT) is a little different from those we’re used to seeing in the company’s low-cost models. The keys are not black, but the same dark gray color as the body. Subjectively, it seemed that the keys became just a little bit larger, and the gaps between them decreased. The key travel has increased, the keyboard is very comfortable. The keystrokes are soft and absolutely quiet. At the same time, the response feels good. Unlike more affordable models, Chromebook Plus 514 has a white backlit keyboard.

The layout is almost standard full-size without an additional digital block. Taking into account the peculiarities of Chrome OS, it will still be somewhat unusual after Windows. The top functional row is reduced. It includes buttons for controlling brightness, volume, mute, back up, refresh, switch to full screen, switch desktops and take screenshots, the power button, and Esc. There are no Lock buttons, instead of Caps Lock there is a button that opens the application menu.

To make the transition more comfortable, Chrome OS settings have a separate section that contains all the keyboard shortcuts.

The vast majority of Acer’s available models use the OceanGlass touchpad. It is made of eco-friendly ABS polymer and recycled plastic from the oceans. It is medium-sized, has good positioning accuracy and good sensitivity. It is sufficient for working with documents, browsing, and generally simple tasks.

Speakers

The audio system of Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-3HT) consists of two speakers located on the sides of the keyboard. This arrangement has a positive effect on quality and volume. The sound is quite good, and they are well suited for watching movies or video conferencing. There are not enough bass, so listening to music will not bring much pleasure. There is support for virtual surround sound DTS Audio.

Battery life

Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-3HT) has a 53 Wh battery. The company says that this is enough for 12 hours of operation. This usually means working with a minimum load, 50% brightness, Wi-Fi connected, but without active downloads.

Unfortunately, the PC Mark battery test crashed twice in the process. In real life, when working with a browser, documents, instant messengers, and occasionally watching videos on YouTube, the laptop lasts a little over 8 hours. That is, formally enough for a standard working day.