Acer Chromebook Plus 514
CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 | RAM: 8GB | Graphics: AMD Radeon | Storage: 128GB | Display: 14 inches | Resolution: 1,920 x 1,200 | Refresh rate: 60Hz | Battery: Up to 12 hours | Weight: 4.1 pounds
Pros:
- MIL-STD toughness
- HDMI Port
Cons:
- Low refresh rate
- ChromeOS may not be for you
If you’re a fan of Chromebooks and AMD, this Chromebook is perfect for you. This hardware is pretty thin and relatively light with great connectivity. In addition to a single USB-C port and two USB-A ports, this laptop also has a built-in HDMI port so you can connect your laptop to an external monitor. You can either use the monitor to complement the 14-inch screen on the laptop, or just blow things up with a bigger monitor.
When you need to head out, the 12-hour battery can keep you going all day, too. AMD is becoming more and more popular in Chromebooks and is a treat to use on the hardware. This laptop also has a MIL-STD-810H rating, which means you can put it through a lot. The touchpad is also made of ocean-bound plastic and molded into what Acer calls “OceanGlass” to give you a glass-like feel.
Overall, this laptop is great for studying, writing, research and even some entertainment. ChromeOS is a fun operating system to play with—like if Windows and Android had a baby. You can even enjoy some Android apps if you want.
What our writers say: Forbes contributor Scott Kramer says, “The characteristics squelch all previous concerns about Chromebooks. That is, they run super fast now. You can store a lot of files on the machine itself rather than having to put them in the cloud. They can be used to edit photos and videos inherently rather than users having to find web-based solutions. Folks, it’s a real computer now.”
Best Gaming Acer Laptop
Powerful Machine With A Huge Screen
Acer Nitro 17 Gaming Laptop
CPU: Intel Core i7-14650HX | RAM: 16GB | Graphics: GeForce RTX 4060 | Storage: Up to 1TB | Display: 17.3 inches | Resolution: 1,920 x 1,080 | Refresh rate: 165Hz | Battery: Up to 8 hours | Weight: 6.8 pounds
Pros:
- Discrete GPU
- Huge 17.3-inch display
Cons:
- FHD screen
- Only 16GB of RAM
The Nitro 17 gaming laptop gives you everything you could want in a gaming rig. First of all, there’s the 14th-generation Intel Core-i7 processor, along with 16GB of RAM—a little on the lean side for a gaming laptop. However, the discrete Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU can do quite a bit of heavy lifting in that regard.
This one is heavy with a capital OMG at over six and a half pounds—so don’t carry this around that much. Battery life also suffers, with just eight hours in the tank. But the display is palatial at 17.3 inches. The refresh rate of 165Hz ensures it runs smooth, and the powerhouse GPU keeps your machine fast for your gaming, or even for content creation if that’s your thing.
What the reviews say: Reviews of this laptop are quite positive, averaging 4.3 out of 5 stars on Amazon. Reviewers love the graphics and the sound—both critical needs for a gaming laptop. Most also note that if you want to play games with it, leave it plugged in, because performance is much better.
Best Budget Acer Laptop
A Windows Machine For A Tight Budget
Acer Aspire 3
CPU: AMD Ryzen 3-7320U | RAM: 8GB | Graphics: AMD Radeon | Storage: 128GB | Display: 15.6 inches | Resolution: 1,920 x 1,080 | Refresh rate: 60Hz | Battery: Up to 8 hours | Weight: 3.9 pounds
Pros:
- Big screen
- Lots of I/O
Cons:
- Heavy
- Battery life is not great
Acer calls the Aspire 3 a “ready-to-go” laptop and, by all reports, it’s pretty solid in that department. The Aspire 3 has decent hardware to run the Windows 11 operating system. The AMD Ryzen 3 processor gets good-but-not-amazing speed—keep your multitasking to a minimum. You also have to watch how many windows you have open at a time, lest you use up the 8GB of RAM you have on board.
You get a decent amount of I/O on this laptop: one USB Type-C port, two USB Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port and 3.5mm headphone jack as well. The back cover of the laptop is made with 30% recycled plastic, so it’s pretty eco-friendly as well.
This is a budget laptop with a 15.6-inch FHD display, so it’s a little heavy and the battery life is not great. But if you’re looking for a decent-size budget laptop with a little power, this is a good choice.
What the reviews say: Reviews of this laptop are positive, with a lot more reviews on Best Buy over Amazon. Most call it a great laptop for work and light gaming. Others compliment the value for the specifications.
Best 2-In-1 Acer Chromebook
A Chromebook That Also Turns Into A Tablet
Acer Chromebook Spin 514
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5-5625C | RAM: 8GB | Graphics: AMD Radeon | Storage: 128GB | Display: 14 inches | Resolution: 1,920 x 1,080 | Refresh rate: 60Hz | Battery: Up to 10 hours | Weight: 3.3 pounds
Pros:
- 2-in-1 versatility
- Strong processor
Cons:
- Light on the RAM
- LCD display
On the ChromeOS side of things, you can also live that 2-in-1 life with Acer Chromebook Spin 514. In this case, it’s even closer to being a true tablet, since ChromeOS lets you run Android apps. Add in the touch interface, and you might think you’re actually carrying one of the best Android tablets.
This laptop comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 processor, which is a very respectable mid-range processor, so it can handle ChromeOS with aplomb. The 8GB of RAM is not amazing, but with ChromeOS, you can do a lot with less. When you flip the keyboard around behind the display, you get up to ten hours of battery life, which is pretty solid. The laptop offers two USB Type-C ports and one USB Type-A port along with an HDMI port. There’s 128 GB of onboard storage, which means you’ll rely on the cloud quite a bit.
What the reviews say: Reviews for this 2-in-1 are largely positive, with purchasers calling it a powerful performer and great for students. Most love the 2-in-1 capability and the touchscreen.
- The author of this story, Adam Doud, is a Chicago-based freelance reviewer who has been writing about consumer electronics for over a decade with a focus on mobile phones and cellular technology. He has tested almost every major phone on the market over the past several years, including the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Google Pixel 8 Pro.
- Rebecca Isaacs is Forbes Vetted’s consumer tech editor, and she oversees and approved this article. She’s spent the past several years learning everything there is to know about consumer technology, with a special focus on smart home.
- Since the computing world moves at lightning speed, we regularly review and fact-check our articles to make sure the recommendations are still current and accurate. This article was last updated in June 2024.
How We Chose The Best Acer Laptops
To assemble our best Acer laptop list, we built upon our own expertise shored up with insight from colleagues and online reviews.
- We thoroughly researched the wide variety of laptops available from Acer. We narrowed down our selections for each category based on what specifications would be important for the desired functions.
- We pared down the list by considering such factors as the overall specifications, price, storage, performance and more.
- We whittled down the selections again to choose the best one for each of our categories. In cases where a laptop fits more than one category—such as best budget and best 2-in-1, we put it in the category that made the most sense.
- We pored over online reviews from purchasers and only chose highly rated laptops for our list.
What Should I Look For In A Laptop?
What features your laptop boasts is going to be dictated mostly by your budget. The most important ones are the processor and the screen. You spend the most time working with the screen, and you get things down with the processor. While neither can typically be updated, some laptops allow you to add RAM and storage, so those can be your next priorities.
Do Laptops Always Come With A Touchscreen?
No. Touchscreens are becoming more and more common on laptops, but they’re still not standard. The only exception to that rule is 2-in-1 laptops. Those are designed to be tablets as well as laptops, so a touchscreen is necessary in their case.
What Happens To The Keyboard Of A 2-In-1 Laptop?
When you’re using a 2-in-1 laptop and you flip the keyboard around behind the screen, the keyboard deactivates. This is so you don’t accidentally press keys while you’re holding the laptop in tablet configuration. Once you flip the keyboard back around, it starts working again.
