Acer has been in the game long enough to become one of the best industry-leading manufacturers. This Taiwanese tech giant has shown versatility in the Chrome OS market by making top-quality Chromebooks like the Acer Chromebook Spin 311 and the Acer Chromebook Spin 514 (2021) that blend affordability and value for money like no other Chrome OS on the market. Now with the Chromebook 714, we’ve yet to gauge whether this shiny new laptop is worth the time and money.
To give you a bit of technical background, the 714 also has a big bad brother called the Acer Chromebook 715. The specs on that machine have been dialed down, however, being the reason for its relatively cheap price tag, but we’ve determined that the 715 is also a deserving affair. The only thing left to wonder is whether the same could be said about the Acer Chromebook 714.
- Read our full review of the 715 here.
In this article, therefore, we’ll take you down on a trip and talk about the specifications, major pros and cons, and the most noteworthy aspects of the Acer Chromebook 714. Read on to find out if this premium piece of tech has a place in your home or not. Let’s begin with the technical specifications.
Acer Chromebook 714 Specifications
- CPU: 8th Gen Intel Core i3 8130U Processor
- Display: 14″ Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS Display
- Hard Drive Size: 64 GB
- RAM: 8 GB
- Camera: 720p HD Webcam
- Ports: 2x USB-C, USB-A, 3.5 mm Headphone Jack, microSD Card Reader Slot
- Weight: 3.5 lbs (1.6 kg)
- Price: $630
Acer Chromebook 714 In-depth Review
Acer Chromebook 714
Design
The Acer Chromebook 714 shares several attributes with the Acer Chromebook 715. The key differences include the inclusion of a number-pad in the 715 along with it sporting a 15.6″ screen. However, when it comes to the design, the 714 is much similar to the Acer Chromebook Spin 514, but it’s safe to say that the 714 boasts an extremely higher build quality. It’s just put together so well, and there’s nothing that can be said bad about it. Picking it up, although it is a bit heavier compared to other Chromebooks, the Acer Chromebook 714 otherwise feels premium and robust, making us have no doubts over its sub $650 price tag. After all, the chassis affords an all-aluminum build which has become somewhat of a staple with all Acer Chromebooks.
One important thing that we should mention beforehand is that the 714 isn’t a convertible Chromebook. It can, however, lay flat at 180°, but that’s just about as far as it can stretch. The 714 is purely a standard clamshell Chrome OS, and it doesn’t try to be anything more than that. One awesome feature of this device is that you can lift the hinge with a single finger. This is something that not all Chromebooks can pull off, making us acknowledge the stellar build quality of the 714.
Opening up this laptop, the screen is what has our attention next. We’re talking about a full-HD (1920 x 1080) anti-glare IPS display that fortunately supports great viewing angles, and rich, vibrant colors. The top and bottom bezels aren’t ultra-thin, however. They are rather moderate in size, but what takes the cake are the side bezels that are actually slim and lean, giving the 714 a modern and stylish look. Apart from all that, one questionable facet about the screen of this Chrome OS is the brightness. At best, you can get about 170-180 nitts off of it, and while that isn’t too horrible, it’s still a downright disappointment. The anti-glare feature does help a bit with the brightness in different lighting environments, but alas. In general, however, the screen is great, but that teeny tiny thing about the brightness is something you should know before buying this device.
Moving down to the keyboard of this Chrome OS, the experience you’re going to get out of it is fairly decent. It isn’t exceedingly remarkable, but you’re not going to hate it anytime soon as well. The key travel is nice, the LED illumination is a sight for sore eyes, but the click mechanism isn’t something to vouch for. Again, it’s not a deal-breaker, and you’re probably going to get used to this keyboard’s mediocrity after some time. The trackpad, however, is a completely different story. It feels exceptionally premium, and the best part about it is its large size. That way, you have enough room for all gestures, clicks, and swipes. The glass trackpad is definitely one of the major plus points of the Acer Chromebook 714.
Port selection is also fairly adequate. There are two USB-C ports for fast charging and quick data transfer, alongside a single USB-A port for legacy devices, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and a microSD card reader slot. Another cool feature that makes us wish every Chromebook is like the 714 in this regard is its minimal yet sleek fingerprint reader that dictates the utmost convenience when logging in. The location where it has been placed is also highly fitting and paves the way to a swift sign-in.
Performance
The Acer Chromebook 714 is loaded with a nice 8th generation Intel Core i3 8130U processor with 8 GBs of RAM and 64 GB eMMC flash storage. To summarize this Chromebook’s performance, whenever there’s an Intel Core i3 or a Core i5 processor involved in Chrome OS, you’re not going to wish for any other processor. That is exactly the case with the 714 as it powers through your day with magnificent workhorse-type nature, and doesn’t let you down, not even once. You can go over a dozen Chrome tabs combined with Google Play Store and Linux applications, and you’ll notice that there’s no slowing down the 714.
This Chromebook has a couple of other models too where the processor is replaced with a more powerful one, but storage and internal memory remain the same. The most premium-end model of the Acer Chromebook 714 comes with an Intel Core i5 8350U quad-core 1.70 GHz processor and costs somewhere around $800. If you’d like the extra horsepower, this model can surely suffice all your hardware requirements, going as far as running Windows on Chrome OS as well. However, we strongly believe that the Intel Core i3 model, the one that is in question with this Chromebook review, is enough considering value for money. If you truly wish to dole out $800 on a high-end Chromebook, there are better options to pursue.
In general, the Acer Chromebook 714 is geared towards being a highly enticing option for enterprises and businesses, and we gauge that it has hit quite home with that prospect in terms of performance.
Battery Life
Battery life is one of the Acer Chromebook 714’s core strengths, being able to dish out no less than 10-12 hours of battery runtime on average. The credit here goes to the 1080p screen combined with the Intel Core i3 processor, allowing the 714 to boast excellent battery life that soars through all day of work, school, or business.
In addition, you’ve got a USB-C port for lightning-fast charging times. In about 30-40 minutes, the 714 charges to a point where it can give you 8 hours of battery life comfortably. All things said and done, you’re not going to have a single issue with this Chromebook in terms of battery.
Final Verdict
At the end of the day, the Acer Chromebook 714 has a handful of tech-forward features, a great trackpad, fantastic build quality, and all-day battery life to make it a worthy competitor in the Chrome OS industry. A small number of downsides do not outweigh the reasons to buy what is otherwise a brilliant Chromebook. In this price range, therefore, the 714 is one worthy affair to get into and has earned Chrome Ready’s nod of approval.
