Chromebooks are the image of dirt cheap laptops that you can get past little on and there are more and more serious Chromebooks for sale. Acer’s Chromebook 314 LTE is aimed at the business market and is equipped with an LTE modem.
Acer Chromebook LTE
price € 649, –
Processor Intel Pentium Silver N5030
Memory 8 GB (DDR 3)
Screen 14 inch IPS touch screen (1920x1080p)
Storage 64 GB eMMC
Dimensions 32.5 x 23.2 x 1.9 cm
Weight 1.7 kilos
Battery 48 Wh
Connections 2x USB-C, USB, 3.5mm jack, card reader
Wireless Wifi 5, LTE
Website www.acer.nl
7 Score 70 
- Pros
- Battery life
- 8 GB ram
- Built-in LTE modem
- 2x USB-C with drawers and video
- Negatives
- No fingerprint scanner
- Little storage capacity
- No key illumination
For this Acer Chromebook 314 LTE in the tested version you pay about 649 euros. For a Chomebook, that is best at the price. Unlike some other laptops in this price range, you don’t get an alloy housing. The Chromebook 314 LTE is made of pleasant-touch plastic in a dark gray color. The strength is in order, although the laptop creaks a bit when you open it. You can also twist it slightly and press it if you put some force. The laptop weighs 1.7 kilograms, nowadays on the heavy side for a 14inch laptop.
With a USB port and two USB-C ports, this is a modern device in terms of connections. All USB ports operate at USB 3.1 Gen1 speed (USB 3.0). It is nice that both USB-C ports support both charging and video output, especially since both sides of the laptop have a USB-C port.
Hardware
Acer has equipped the Chromebook in the tested version (C933lt-p3g5) with an Intel Pentium Silver N5030, an energy-efficient quad-core processor. In terms of performance, this chip is slightly slower than, for example, Core m3-8100Y. The processor is combined with 8 GB of ram and 64 GB of storage. There is also a version with a slower processor and 4 GB ram (C933lt-c6l7) and a version with a slower processor, 4 GB ram and 32 GB storage (C933l-c5xn). We really do not recommend the version with 32 GB storage. While a Chromebook is designed to work in conjunction with the cloud, local storage capacity is still important. Not only for caching your files, but also for installing Android apps and Linux programs, for example. The version that combines 64 GB storage with 4 GB ram has a somewhat slower processor, but you could still consider it. Although 8 GB of ram also helps to keep the device running smoothly under the relatively light Chrome OS if you use multiple tabs at the same time. We would have liked to see more storage capacity in this top model.
Built-in LTE modem
The reason that this Chromebook, which can mainly be described as decent, costs 649 euros, is that an LTE modem is built in. You put a nano SIM card in the SIM tray, enter the PIN code and you are online. LTE works fine in practice. The speed of course depends on the mobile network, but in our house we achieved a maximum download speed of 275 and an upload of 37 Mbit / s via the Vodafone network. Incidentally, it depended on the place in the house, but at a less optimal location the download speed was still 180 Mbit / s. So you always have a fast data connection with this Chromebook without having to tether with a mobile phone. That convenience is probably especially important for business users, especially since the relatively high price is mainly explained by the LTE functionality. This Chromebook is therefore part of Acer’s business offer, but is also easy for consumers to buy.
Comfort
The 14 inch screen has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The IPS panel has good viewing angles and high brightness. Special is that the screen is a touch screen despite the anti-reflective finish. Touch works great and the anti-glare feels smooth when you slide your finger over it. A touch screen is especially useful if you want to use Android apps.
The keyboard has a remarkably fine touch. Unfortunately, the laptop does not appear to be equipped with key lighting, something that we actually expected given the business approach. The touchpad is nice and spacious, but feels a bit rough. Every now and then the cursor seems to shoot a bit. It is sufficient, but I have also seen better touchpads on Chromebooks. What is also unfortunate given the business approach is the lack of a fingerprint scanner. If you have an Android smartphone, you can set it as a ‘key’ and use your smartphone’s fingerprint scanner to quickly unlock it.
Performance
The speed of a Chromebook is difficult to measure, but can be done with, for example, the benchmark CRXPRT. In this benchmark, the laptop scores 162 points. In comparison, in the same benchmark, ASUS ‘recent Chromebook Flip C436, which is equipped with a Core i5 processor, scores 244 points. This Chromebook 314 LTE is not a powerhouse, but on the other hand, Chrome OS is a light operating system. In practice, the processor in combination with 8 GB of ram is fine. You can use multiple tabs at the same time without experiencing delays.
Acer has equipped the Chromebook with a 48 Wh battery. According to Acer, this guarantees an impressive battery life and that turns out to be correct: you can work for almost 13 hours via WiFi. If you mainly use LTE, the impressive battery life will drop to about 8 hours, which is of course still neat.
Conclusion
Both externally and internally, the ChromeBook 314 LTE is not very striking. The housing is made of solid plastic and the processor is sufficient for Chrome OS. The screen and keyboard are also great for working on. It is all solid, but it is not spectacular. The added value of this Chromebook 314 LTE and explanation for the relatively high price is really in the built-in LTE modem. As a result, the Chromebook is always online without tethering it with a smartphone, which can be useful for all kinds of applications.
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