What you need to know
- Acer has announced the Chromebook Plus 514 powered by the Intel Core i3-N305.
- It sports a 14-inch FHD display, while offering up to 11 hours of battery life.
- The Chromebook Plus 514 will retail for $399 and is arriving in May.
Things have been pretty quiet on the Chromebook front this year, at least for the most part. However, that might start to change as Acer is introducing its all-new Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-4H/T).
As the name suggests, the Chromebook Plus 514 features a 14-inch display, sporting a 16:9 aspect ratio and a Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution. Under the hood, we have the Intel Core i3-N305 SoC paired with 8GB of RAM and "up to" 512GB of storage. Unsurprisingly, the base model ships with 128GB of storage, but Acer plans to release additional configurations.
| Category | Acer Chromebook Plus 514 |
|---|---|
| Display | 14-inch, 1920 x 1080, 16:9, 300 nits |
| Processor | Intel Core i3-N305 |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Storage | Up to 512GB, PCIe Gen 3 |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6E |
| MicroSD Card Slot | ✅ |
| Camera | 1080p HD w/ privacy shutter and Temporal Noise Reduction |
| Ports | 2x USB-C, 2x USB-A, 1x microSD card slot |
| Additional features | Dual speakers, backlit keyboard, 360-degree design, USI Stylus support |
| Battery | 3-cell, 53Wh, up to 11 hours, "Fast Charging" |
| Dimensions | 12.87 x 8.86 x 0.81-inches |
| Weight | 3.15 pounds |
Don't expect much in the way of design changes, but that's kind of to be expected when it comes to Acer Chromebooks. What's clear is that this is set to be one of the best Chromebooks for students, namely, thanks to the 11 hours of battery life. While we miss out on Thunderbolt ports, the Chromebook Plus 514 does feature two USB-C ports with DisplayPort support, along with dual USB-A ports and a microSD card slot.
With the Chromebook Plus moniker in tow, this means that you'll enjoy plenty of great features. These include things like Video Controls, allowing you to automatically apply a background blur and noise cancellation for your microphone. You'll also find "enhanced editing features" for Google Photos, such as Magic Eraser and Portrait Blur.
These are all of the same great features that were announced when Google introduced its Chromebook Plus moniker. And while the additional features are to be expected, it's still nice to see Acer adding another Chromebook to the mix.
Acer stopped short of revealing what other configurations will be made available. However, the first models are expected to arrive sometime in May. Pricing for the base model Chromebook Plus 514 will come in at $399, so it will be interesting to see how the other configurations will shake out once they're released.
