Acer Chromebook 15 (2017) Review

Acer Chromebook 15 is the only 15-inch sized Chromebook on the market. That’s why people tend to ask, “What if it were bigger?” That laptop was ultimately outclassed by more powerful or versatile Chromebooks. But Acer has revised the Chromebook 15 with a more premium aluminum design and better battery life.

There are lots of high-end laptops in the market. With their latest Intel processors, memory, and high-resolution screens that can compete with Windows and Apple laptops out there. Unfortunately, the $399-Chromebook 15 isn’t one of them. Its specs are the 1.1GHz quad-core Intel Premium processor, 4GB RAM and 32GB internal storage.

The company added another $100 dollars for the newest Chromebook 15. With the previous versions of the Chromebook at $299, that means you’re paying a larger amount for its additional specs. So, you’re actually paying for its metal case, extra battery, and bumped up processor.

The aluminum case of the Chromebook 15 is one of the biggest changes to the laptop.

The lid and palm rests are now made from metal instead of plastic. But the bottom of the laptop is a soft, rubber-coated plastic. The Chromebook 15 is somehow heavy and you may have a hard time opening the lid because usually it results to lifting the entire laptop.

Now, as for the screen, it’s just average. The 15.6-inch display is present as promised. But resolution is still stuck 1080p and stretching 1920×1080 pixels across the screen. The large screen makes text look almost blurry and rough around the edges. On top of that, the screen itself is dull in both brightness and color.

The connectivity feature of the Chromebook 15 may put Apple’s Macbook Pro line or Microsoft’s Surface Laptop to shame. It’s because the Chromebook has two USB-C that you may both use to charge the laptop. Two USB 3.0 ports and a MicroSD card slot.

Yes, the Chromebook 15 is much bigger but bigger doesn’t actually mean better. Well, actually all gadgets have flaws. But these tech giants are making sure to give us a new and better gadgets in the future.