As a model aimed as much at business users as home office, the Chromebook 714 also has a fingerprint reader, though this can only be used to login to the laptop rather than verify online services. But aside from the innovative design, it's also an excellent Chromebook, thanks to an Intel Core i5-1240P processor, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD storage, and battery life that gets you through a day of work or school. The Acer Chromebook 714 is certainly solid, but it’s also a little dated, with big bezels top and bottom. This, plus an impressive full HD screen and 11-hour battery life, make it a great choice for working on the move and, in tablet mode, it’s also brilliant for streaming video or playing games.

Chromebooks with Extended AUE/EOL | AGParts Education Chromebooks with Extended AUE/EOL | AGParts Education

Extra touches like Wi-Fi 6E and a 1080p webcam are just icing on the cake, making it the best Chromebook to get when you need a bigger screen. Acer's Chromebook Vero 514 is one of the fastest Chromebooks we've tested, complete with a sturdy build and an HDMI port we're always happy to see—especially since its dim screen will have you reaching for an external monitor. These stripped-down, simplified laptops use Google’s Chrome OS instead of Windows, with more of an emphasis on online work and play. This is an Arm-based chip like the ones used in phones and tablets, but designed for PCs, which means you get superior battery life (Acer claims you’ll get 14 hours of use from a single charge) but still decent performance from its eight processor cores.Nevertheless, it remains a brilliant Chromebook for basic everyday use; just look elsewhere if you need more. Xbox, PlayStation and Nvidia all have subscription services that allow you to stream games through apps or web pages, the heavy processing happening in a data centre somewhere and sent to you via the internet. I had no trouble playing casual games like Cut The Rope and streaming 1080p video from YouTube on the Acer Chromebook 14, but again, synthetic tests favor its competitors.

Acer Chromebook Vero 514 - Review 2023 - PCMag UK Acer Chromebook Vero 514 - Review 2023 - PCMag UK

Anyone in the market for the best Chromebook 2021 has to offer, expecting excellent battery life, reliability, a crisp screen, and small yet not-too-small package – it has a 14-inch screen, after all – will appreciate this portable.

The first batch of purpose-built gaming Chromebooks are still fresh, so keep an eye on the best Chromebooks for gaming for our latest reviews. Basic performance complements the low demands of Google’s operating system, while also boosting the battery life.

Acer Chromebook 14, Aluminum, 14-inch Full HD, Intel Celeron Acer Chromebook 14, Aluminum, 14-inch Full HD, Intel Celeron

The ability to upgrade memory, storage, ports, and even the display—as well as the option to replace the motherboard for CPU upgrades—makes it unique in the Chromebook world. The laptop-esque size will appeal to many people, particularly those looking to keep their Chromebook looking and feeling familiar. We've noted that Chromebooks with ARM processors, though adequate, tend to be slower than systems with Intel or AMD x86 chips, but the Asus is one of the peppier ARM systems we've tested. Speaking of which, the overall aesthetic inevitably owes a little to ye olde Apple MacBook, what with the grey anodised chassis finish and black backlit keyboard. If you're watching a lot of HD video or performing more advanced tasks – like performing frequent image editing in a tool like Pixlr Editor – maybe you'll want to spring for a more powerful Chromebook.ChromeOS is designed to run on relatively low-powered hardware, so you don’t need a super-fast Core i7 or Ryzen 7 processor to get a smooth experience; even a lowly Pentium or Core i3 processor will do the job. I didn’t have any trouble slipping the Chromebook 14 into my backpack, but smaller satchels will obviously struggle to accomodate. It’s a little larger and heavier than the Surface Go 3, but that means a bigger 11in screen and keyboard and, while it’s also more expensive, the premium version gives you 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage and the keyboard cover in the box.

Acer 314 14in Celeron 4GB 64GB FHD Chromebook - Silver

ARM-based Chromebooks are nothing new, but the Spin 513 is the first we’ve looked at to use Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 7c chipset. This Chromebook's 2-in-1 design matches any Windows machine for style, with an appealing all-aluminum chassis and a sharp 14-inch touch screen that looks pleasing as both a laptop and a tablet. GHz Intel Celeron N3160 CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 32GB eMMC drive, which provide enough pep for multitasking. Acer's Chromebooks are some of the most readily available in the world, and as a result, at the time of writing - and to be expected - the Chromebook 314 is available globally. If you’re only interested in browsing and using Google’s Workspace apps, you’ll probably get by, but for anything else you’re going to wish you had splashed out a little more on something faster.We test performance and speed using a selection of browser-based benchmarking tools, and test storage performance using an app-based tool. We test Chromebooks with three overall performance benchmark suites—one ChromeOS, one Android, and one online. I was later the editor in chief of Home Office Computing, a magazine that promoted using tech to work from home two decades before a pandemic made it standard practice. The high-resolution webcam, top-notch performance, and beautiful display make it an excellent choice for video conferencing, lightweight content creation, and other productivity tasks.