Tested using Methodology v0.8.2
Reviewed Jul 10, 2024 at 10:56 am
By Alexander Tozzi, Ryan Lim, and Yannick Khong
7.4
School
4.0
Gaming
6.9
Multimedia
5.2
Workstation
6.9
Business
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overview test results deals 7 comments
Size
Operating System
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (2023) is a budget Chrome OS laptop. It's configurable with an AMD Ryzen 3 7320C or Ryzen 5 7520C CPU, paired with 8GB or 16GB of memory and up to 512GB of storage. It has an FHD+ IPS display (with or without touch input), a 1080p webcam, Wi-Fi 6E wireless connectivity, and a 50Wh battery. Ports include one USB-A, two USB-Cs, an HDMI 1.4, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
See our unit's specifications and the available configuration options in the Differences Between Variants section.
Our Verdict
7.4 School
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 is decent for school use. It's very portable, and its battery lasts a little over 10 hours of light use. The display looks sharp, the keyboard feels comfortable to type on (albeit slightly mushy), and the touchpad is responsive. Its AMD CPU can only handle general productivity tasks like web browsing and text processing, so it isn't ideal for students in more specialized fields like engineering or 3D modeling.
Pros
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Easy to carry around.
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Battery lasts around 10 hours in light uses.
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Good 1080p webcam.
Cons
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CPU and integrated GPU can't handle demanding tasks.
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Screen looks dim and washed out.
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Can't run specialized x86 programs on Chrome OS.
4.0 Gaming
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 is bad for gaming. You can't install DirectX games on Chrome OS, and while you can play Android-based games from the Google Play Store, some might not run properly, as they're games designed for Android smartphones and tablets. Also, its low-power CPU and GPU can't handle demanding games. The display is limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, and its response time is rather slow, resulting in a blurry image with visible ghosting in fast-moving scenes.
Pros
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Doesn't get hot or loud under load.
Cons
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CPU and integrated GPU can't handle demanding tasks.
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Most games don't run on Chrome OS.
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60Hz display with slow response time.
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Can only get up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
6.9 Multimedia
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 is okay for media consumption. It's a relatively compact device that's easy to carry around, and its battery lasts over nine hours of video playback. Its FHD+ display looks pretty sharp but slightly washed out due to its narrow color gamut. It's also on the dim side, which means visibility might be an issue in well-lit environments. Like all IPS panels, it isn't the best for dark room viewing, as its low contrast makes blacks look gray. As for the speakers, while the speakers get very loud with minimal compression, they sound unnatural, with no bass whatsoever.
Pros
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Easy to carry around.
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Battery lasts over nine hours of video playback.
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Speakers get very loud with minimal compression.
Cons
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Speakers sound unnatural, with no bass and very little treble.
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Screen looks dim and washed out.
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Not ideal for dark room viewing due to display's low contrast.
5.2 Workstation
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 isn't designed for use as a workstation. Its low-power CPU and integrated graphics aren't powerful enough to handle demanding tasks, and you can only get up to 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage. Also, most professional applications don't run on Chrome OS. While sharp, the display's narrow color gamut makes it unsuitable for color-correction work.
Pros
-
Doesn't get hot or loud under load.
Cons
-
CPU and integrated GPU can't handle demanding tasks.
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Most professional programs lack Chrome OS support.
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Can only get up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
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Display isn't suitable for color-critical work.
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No thunderbolt 4 or USB4 support.
6.9 Business
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 is okay for business use. It's very portable, and its battery lasts easily through a typical eight-hour workday. While it doesn't feel particularly well-built, it'll likely survive a few business trips with no major issues. The overall user experience is good; however, the screen is on the dim side, meaning you may have visibility issues in well-lit settings. Performance-wise, its AMD CPU can handle general productivity tasks like text processing, spreadsheets, and presentations; just don't expect to do any heavy multitasking.
Pros
-
Easy to carry around.
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Battery lasts around 10 hours in light uses.
-
Good 1080p webcam.
Cons
-
Screen looks dim and washed out.
-
Can't run specialized x86 programs on Chrome OS.
- 7.4 School
- 4.0 Gaming
- 6.9 Multimedia
- 5.2 Workstation
- 6.9 Business
+ Create your own
- Updated Jul 10, 2024: Review published.
- Updated Jul 05, 2024: Early access published.
- Updated Jun 27, 2024: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated May 24, 2024: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated May 14, 2024: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested theAcer Chromebook Plus 514 (model CB514-3HT-R8RB) with an FHD+ touchscreen, an AMD Ryzen 3 7320C CPU, 8GB of memory, and 128GB of storage. The display, CPU, memory, and storage are configurable; the available options are in the table below.
| Screen |
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|---|---|
| CPU |
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| GPU |
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| Memory |
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| Storage |
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| Color |
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See our unit's label here.
Compared To Other Laptops
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 is a decent budget Chromebook. There isn't a single feature that makes it stand out amongst the competition; however, the laptop as a wholedelivers agood experience for the price. It's a great option for younger students who only need a simple device to access the web.
See our recommendations for the best Chromebooks, the best laptops for college, and the best budget and cheap laptops.
Acer Chromebook Spin 714 (2022)
The Acer Chromebook Spin 714 (2022) is much better than the Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (2023). The Spin 714 is a higher-end device with a sturdier build and significantly more processing power. It's more versatile since it's a 2-in-1 convertible with pen input support. Overall, it provides a better user experience with a nicer, brighter display, a more tactile keyboard, a better webcam, and longer battery life.
Compare Side-by-Side
SEE OUR REVIEW
Acer Chromebook Plus 515 (2023)
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (2023) and the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 (2023) are both budget Chromebooks that provide a similar user experience overall. The 515 feels snappier and more responsive becauseits Intel CPUs are faster than the 514's AMD Ryzen processors; however,it has shorter battery life, lasting around eight hours of light use, almost two hours shorter than the 514. The 514 has arguably a better display—although both laptops have an FHD panel, the 514 looks sharper since it's a smaller screen. Also, the 514has a 16:10 aspect ratio, which is better suited for productivity than the 515's standard 16:9 format, as you can see more information at once when reading a document or website.
Compare Side-by-Side
SEE OUR REVIEW
ASUS Chromebook Plus CX34 (2023)
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (2023) and the ASUS Chromebook Plus CX34 (2023) are very similar overall. The ASUS feels a bit sturdier build-wise, and it provides a snappier desktop experience, as its Intel CPUs are noticeably faster than the Acer's AMD Ryzen processors. However, the Acer's battery lasts a little over ten hours of light use, which is enough to get you through a typical day, whereas the ASUS lasts only seven hours on a full charge.
Compare Side-by-Side
SEE OUR REVIEW
Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i Chromebook 14 (2023)
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (2023) and the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i Chromebook 14 (2023) are both budget 14-inch Chrome OS laptops. The Acer is slightly more compact, making it easier to carry around, and it provides a better user experience overall, with a snappier performance, a more comfortable keyboard, a larger touchpad, and a 16:10 display. However, the Lenovo might be a better option if you mainly use the device for media consumption, as its top-end IPS panellooks more vibrant and gets brighter to combat glare. As for battery life, while the Lenovo lasts three hours longer, both laptops can easily get you through a typical 8-hour day.
Compare Side-by-Side
SEE OUR REVIEW
Test Results
Design
Form Factor
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 is available in a Silver or Steel Gray color. See the bottom of the laptop here.
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6.5 Design
The build quality is passable. The laptop is entirely plastic and feels cheap. There's a fair amount of flex on the lid and keyboard deck, and the display twists when manipulating it. Its overall construction feels pretty rough; there's a gap between the display and the bezel on one side of the screen, and some parts creak when handling the laptop. The feet feel reasonably sturdy, though there's a high chance they'll fall off in the future as they're glued on.
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5.8 Design
Range
Stability
One Finger Lift
The hinge is sub-par. It's quite stiff, making it impossible to open the laptop with one hand. It doesn't wobble much when typing heavily, though it moves a bit when touching the screen, which isn't great if you want to use touch input.
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8.4 Design
Size
Thickness
Width
Depth
Volume
Weight
Charger Size
Charger Weight 0.6 lbs (0.3 kg)
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4.8 Design
Ease Of Access 7.5
RAM Slots
Storage Slots
Replaceable Battery
Replaceable Wireless Adapter
Accessing the internals is straightforward; you need to remove 10 screws and undo the latches holding the bottom panel with a prying tool. The service guide indicates that the SSD is user-replaceable; however, our 128GB unit has a soldered eMMC drive. The 256GB and 512GB likely have a user-replaceable M.2 PCIe Gen 3 NVMe SSD, though we can't confirm.
Get the service guide here.
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Design
- 65W power adapter and cord
- Documentation
- Laptop sleeve
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Display
Resolution
Aspect Ratio
Pixel Density
Panel Type
Touch Screen
Screen-To-Body Ratio
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 is available with the following displays:
- 14" IPS 1920 x 1200 60Hz (45% NTSC)
- 14" IPS 1920 x 1200 60Hz (Touchscreen, 45% NTSC)
The two available displays are visually identical; the only difference between them is the support for touch input. Configurations without touch input have a model number starting with CB514-3H, while those with touch input have a model number starting with CB514-3HT. In terms of sharpness, although a FHD+ (1920 x 1200) resolution isn't particularly impressive, it looks fairly sharp on a 14-inch display. The 16:10 aspect ratio is great for productivity; it gives you slightly more vertical space than a standard 16:9 display, allowing you to see more information at once when reading a document or website.
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5.9 Display
Refresh Rate
Variable Refresh Rate
The ASUS Chromebook Plus 514 is only available with 60Hz displays. This panel has a fairly slow response time, resulting in some ghosting behind fast-moving objects.
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7.1 Display
Native Contrast
The display's contrast ratio is decent and within the typical range for most IPS panels; however, it's still relatively low compared to other display technologies like VA and OLED. This contrast level makes blacks look gray in dim settings. The non-touch panel has the same advertised contrast ratio.
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6.2 Display
Maximum Brightness
Minimum Brightness
The touch-sensitive IPS display's maximum brightness is acceptable. It's fine for most indoor settings but isn't ideal for sunny rooms or outdoors in broad daylight. It gets very dim at the lowest brightness setting, which is great for dark room viewing as it causes less eye strain. The non-touchscreen has the same advertised brightness.
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7.1 Display
Screen Finish
Total Reflections
Indirect Reflections
Calculated Direct Reflections
The display's reflection handling is decent. While its coating is technically matte, it behaves like a cross between a matte and a glossy display. Direct reflections look more defined than most matte finishes, but there's less halo effect around bright light sources. For the most part, reflections aren't a problem when viewing light-color content with the screen at maximum brightness, but you may still have trouble sometimes because the screen just doesn't get very bright.
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8.4 Display
Uniformity (Std. Dev.)
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6.9 Display
Color Washout From Left
Color Washout From Right
Color Shift From Left
Color Shift From Right
Brightness Loss From Left
Brightness Loss From Right
Black Level Raise From Left
Black Level Raise From Right
Gamma Shift From Left
Gamma Shift From Right
The display's horizontal viewing angle is okay. The image dims and washes out quickly as you move to the side. You can still share the screen with someone else for text documents and other casual content; however, it's best to be directly in front of the screen if you need perfect accuracy for color-critical work.
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6.3 Display
Color Washout From Below
Color Washout From Above
Color Shift From Below
Color Shift From Above
Brightness Loss From Below
Brightness Loss From Above
Black Level Raise From Below
Black Level Raise From Above
Gamma Shift From Below
Gamma Shift From Above
The display's vertical viewing angle is okay. Like the horizontal viewing angle, the image dims and washes when viewing from above and below, so you need to look at the screen more or less straight on to see an accurate image, which can be challenging in tight places where you have little room to tilt the screen, like on a bus or airplane.
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3.8 Display
Avg. White Balance dE
Avg. Gamma
Avg. Color dE
Avg. Color Temperature
The display's accuracy is bad out of the box. Most colors are inaccurate because the panel has a narrow color gamut, and the white balance is noticeably off, especially at mid-brightness. The color temperature is on the warmer side, giving the image a slight reddish tint. As for the gamma, almost all scenes are too bright.
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3.9 Display
sRGB xy
sRGB uv
Adobe RGB xy 47.04%
Adobe RGB uv
DCI P3 xy
DCI P3 uv
Rec. 2020 xy
Rec. 2020 uv
The 1080p IPS display has a poor color gamut. It doesn't even have full sRGB coverage, so most content, like websites and YouTube videos, will look slightly washed out. Its coverage of the wider Adobe RGB and DCI P3 color spaces is too low for color-critical work like photo and video editing. The non-touch panel has the same color gamut.
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10 Display
Flicker-Free
Flicker Frequency
Flicker Active Below
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6.3 Interface
Typing Quality 7.5
Numpad
Backlighting
Operating Force
Actuation Force
Pre-Travel
Total Travel
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514's keyboard feels good to type on. Its layout is easy to adapt to; it just feels a little cramped, which can cause some fatigue if you aren't used to it. The keys have a good amount of travel and require little force to actuate; however, they're on the mushy side, and many keys on the second and third rows aren't stable. Backlighting is optional, so check the specifications if it's important to you.
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7.7 Interface
Tracking Quality 7.5
Size
Material
Dedicated Buttons
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 has a good touchpad. It's reasonably large, and except for the left and right edges, where it seems less responsive, it tracks movements and gestures well. Palm detection works as intended. You can only click in the bottom half of the touchpad; the buttons feel fairly tactile.
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5.8 Interface
Max Volume
Standard Error @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
Slope @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
Bass Extension (Low-Frequency Ext.)
Treble Extension (High-Frequency Ext.)
Dynamic Range Compression @ Max Vol.
The speakers get pretty loud with minimal compression at high volume levels. Unfortunately, they sound tinny and unnatural, with no bass and very little treble.
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7.5 Interface
Video Quality 7.0
Resolution
Position
Privacy Cover
Face Unlock
The webcam's video quality is decent. Although the webcam has a 1080p resolution, the image looks soft, with fine details lacking definition. The colors are a little off, but not enough to be a major issue. Voices come across loud and clear over the microphone with little to no background noise. The privacy cover is only a physical barrier, meaning the system can still record audio with it closed.
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6.5 Connectivity
USB-A Ports
USB-C Ports
Thunderbolt
USB-C Charging
USB-C Display Out
HDMI
DisplayPort
3.5mm Jack
Card Reader
Ethernet
Proprietary Port
Security Lock
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514's port selection is okay. All USB ports (type A and C) support USB 3.2 Gen 1 data transfer speed of up to 5Gbps. The HDMI port can only output at a maximum resolution of 4k at 30Hz.
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Connectivity
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
The wireless adapter is a MediaTek MT7922A22M. Wi-Fi 6E gives access to the 6GHz band, providing faster speeds, lower latency, and less signal interference than previous Wi-Fi standards. However, you need a router that supports Wi-Fi 6E to benefit from these features.
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Configuration
Brand
Model
Core Count
Thread Count
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 is available with the following CPUs:
- AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (4 cores/8 threads, up to 4.1GHz, 4MB L3 Cache)
- AMD Ryzen 5 7520C(4 cores/8 threads, up to 4.3GHz, 4MB L3 Cache)
Based on AMD's older Zen 2 architecture, the Ryzen 3 7320C and Ryzen 7520C are low-power CPUs designed for budget Chromebooks. They can only handle light productivity tasks and media consumption. The Ryzen 5 7520C is only slightly faster than the Ryzen 3 7320C, as it's basically the same as the Ryzen 3 7320C but with faster clock speeds, which typically results in only a small performance boost.
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Configuration
Brand
Model
Dedicated/Integrated
VRAM Size
The AMD Ryzen 3 7320C and Ryzen 5 7520C have the same AMD Radeon 610M integrated GPU. Based on AMD's RDNA 2 micro-architecture, this last-gen graphics processor can only handle light tasks like web browsing, text processing, and video playback. You can play some games from the Google Play Store, but you'll have to play with low settings to get playable frame rates. Also, know that some titles from the Google Play Store might not work, as they're primarily mobile games designed to work on Android smartphones and tablets. Some even lack keyboard, mouse, and controller support.
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Configuration
Capacity
Modules
Type
Speed
You can get this laptop with 8GB or 16GB of RAM. The memory isn't user-replaceable.
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Configuration
Advertised Capacity
Usable Capacity
Drive 1
Drive 1 Type eMMC
Drive 2
Drive 2 Type No 2nd Drive
You can configure this laptop with 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB of storage. Acer's specifications indicate that the storage drive is an M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD, but upon inspection of the internals, we found that the 128GB model has a soldered eMMC drive, which is much slower than SSDs. The 256GB and 512GB models likely have user-replaceable M.2 SSDs, though we can't confirm as we haven't tested those models.
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6.1 Performance
CPU Single-Thread
CPU Multi-Thread
GPU Compute
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 has a mediocre overall score in the Geekbench 5 benchmarks. AMD's Ryzen 3 7320C CPU can only handle light, general productivity tasks like web browsing, text processing, and video playback. The system still feels reasonably snappy and responsive because Chrome OS runs well on low-end hardware; however, you'll likely experience slowdowns and stutters when multitasking with multiple Chrome tabs or applications. The AMD Radeon 610M integrated GPU also performs poorly, so don't expect to do anything remotely intensive.
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LEARN ABOUT GEEKBENCH 5 (SYNTHETICS)
not tested Performance
Single-Thread
Multi-Thread
Cinebench R23 doesn't run on Chrome OS.
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LEARN ABOUT CINEBENCH R23 (CPU RENDERING)
5.7 Performance
CPU Render Time
GPU Render Time
GPU Render Time (Optix)
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 performs poorly in Blender. The CPU is slow to render 3D images, and there's no support for GPU rendering. If you need to render images, it's best to get a Windows laptop with a discrete GPU, like the Dell XPS 16 (2024), or a MacBook Pro with Apple silicon, like the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023).
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LEARN ABOUT BLENDER (3D RENDERING)
2.0 Performance
Overall Score
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514's AMD Radeon 610M integrated GPU performs terribly in the Basemark GPU benchmark, which isn't surprising since it's a low-power graphics processor designed for light productivity tasks. You can play some mobile games from the Google Play Store, but you may have to play with low settings to get smooth gameplay. Even then, performance can vary depending on the game because most titles from the Google Play Store are mobile games designed for Android smartphones and tablets.
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LEARN ABOUT BASEMARK GPU (GAME SCENE)
3.5 Performance
Sequential Write Speed
Sequential Read Speed
Random Write Speed
Random Read Speed
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514's 128GB eMMC drive is slow. However, the system still feels reasonably responsive because Chrome OS is a lightweight operating system that mostly runs web-based applications. The slow read and write speeds mainly affect processes like copying files and installing or launching large apps.
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8.4 Performance
Capacity
Battery Life (Web Browsing)
Battery Life (Video Playback)
Battery Life (Gaming)
Charge Time
—
LEARN ABOUT BATTERY
0 Performance
Avg. FPS
1% Low
0.1% Low
1% Low Delta
0.1% Low Delta
Avg. FPS On Very Low
Borderlands 3 doesn't run on Chrome OS.
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LEARN ABOUT BORDERLANDS 3
0 Performance
Avg. FPS
1% Low
0.1% Low
1% Low Delta
0.1% Low Delta
Avg. FPS On Minimum
Avg. Turn Time
Civilization VI doesn't work on Chrome OS.
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LEARN ABOUT CIVILIZATION VI
0 Performance
Avg. FPS
1% Low
0.1% Low
1% Low Delta
0.1% Low Delta
Avg. FPS On Low
Counter-Strike 2 doesn't work on Chrome OS.
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0 Performance
Avg. FPS
1% Low
0.1% Low
1% Low Delta
0.1% Low Delta
Avg. FPS On Lowest
Shadow of the Tomb Raider doesn't work on Chrome OS.
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LEARN ABOUT SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER
8.8 Performance
Keyboard Temp While Idle
Keyboard Temp Under Load
Fan Noise While Idle
Fan Noise Under Load
Power & Fan Control App
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514's keyboard deck is relatively cool under load, and the heat spot is at the top of the deck, away from where most people rest their hands. The fan is audible under load but isn't distracting at all.
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LEARN ABOUT THERMALS AND NOISE
not tested Performance
CPU Temp (Cinebench)
CPU Perf. Loss (Cinebench)
GPU Temp (Heaven)
GPU Perf. Loss (Heaven)
We can't test the performance over time because UNIGINE Heaven and Cinebench R23 aren't compatible with Chrome OS. There's likely some thermal throttling on the CPU and GPU, as this is a relatively compact laptop with a single fan.
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LEARN ABOUT PERFORMANCE OVER TIME
Additional Features And Software
Additional Features And Software
Operating System
Additional Software
The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 runs on the 64-bit version of Chrome OS. There's no additional pre-installed software other than those that typically come with Chrome OS. Every Chromebook has an 'expiration date' at which it stops receiving software updates, and according to Google's official document, the Chromebook Plus 514's end-of-life is June 2033. Google may extend this date as they have in the past for other Chromebooks; it's best to check their official document for any changes.
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Additional Features And Software
RGB Illumination
Touch Pen
Secondary Display
Biometrics
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