Like the majority of laptop producers, Acer has been targeting students and remote workers with many of its recent offerings. An early model of the Chromebook 515, a new series aimed towards distant business customers, has caught my attention. The 515 appears to be a reliable video-conferencing tool, which is maybe most vital for many consumers who work from home. The speakers produce audio that is unexpectedly loud and readily fills a room, louder than the audio of several far more costly Windows laptops I’ve recently evaluated thanks to a built-in clever amplifier.
Additionally, there are two built-in microphones. The laptop’s specifications allow it to handle a variety of workloads. My computer has a competent Core i3-1115G4 processor, but versions can also have Pentium Gold 7505, Core i5, or Core i7 processors (which will be overkill for most consumers). It operated quickly while handling my everyday workload of about a dozen Chrome tabs, and it played YouTube videos without any issues on top. Although Acer hasn’t specified the battery size, they promise up to 10 hours of use. The 15.6-inch display is also spacious for multitasking and matte enough to prevent glare, despite the fact that it isn’t the brightest.
The Chromebook 515’s aesthetic flaw appears to be its biggest drawback. I wouldn’t call it ugly, but the hefty bezels surrounding the panel and the noticeable flex in both the lid and the keyboard deck give it the appearance of something you might take off a school laptop cart. Although it weighs 3.75 pounds, it does have a lovely finish that is easy to grip.
Acer Chromebook 515 review: Design
This is not a cheap Chromebook that you throw away. This is a sleek, professional device that borrows heavily from the MacBook and other high-end business computers in terms of style. The stunning aluminum shell’s edges are machined, allowing light to reflect off them to be captured and intensified. It has a shiny sheen that almost sparkles.
The chiclet-style keyboard has a brilliant backlight and is quite comfortable. Its keys are snappy, and the good key spacing is made possible by the 15-inch design. Full-sized keyboards would have been too cluttered, especially with speakers facing upward on either side of the keys, so this one isn’t. The trackpad is the sole component of the Chromebook 15 that feels out of place; the edge of the device has the same milled-metal effect as the edge of the touchpad. It feels loose and clumsy and lacks the computer’s overall solidity. The trackpad moves somewhat from the simple weight of a finger resting on it, making clicking on it feel mushy and inaccurate.
The Acer Chromebook 15 weighs 4.2 pounds (1.95 kg), which is much more than either the Samsung or Pixelbook, both of which weigh only 2.4 pounds. Despite this, it never feels heaviness. The weight appears to be dispersed by all that screen. Additionally, it is thin and can fit easily in a laptop bag.
Acer Chromebook 515 review: keyboard and touch pad
The inclusion of a number pad on a Chromebook just feels wrong, I said in my review of the Asus Chromebook Flip CX5, as it moves the keyboard away from the center of the screen and disrupts the simplicity that makes Chromebooks so pleasant to use.
The 515 from Acer follows the same strategy, and my initial opinion is unchanged. Aside from my own complaint, I had to get used to the primary keyboard’s sponginess and the fact that it’s not in the center. However, after regaining my bearings for around 30 minutes, I discovered that I could gladly type at speeds close to my typical ones. I did make more mistakes than usual, so if you don’t absolutely need a number pad on your laptop, I recommend trying out an Acer Chromebook 515 before you buy one (the same goes for the Asus).
The number pad itself is very functional, despite having narrow keys that occasionally feel a little crowded. However, if you frequently enter numbers into Google Sheets or other office applications, you’ll find it to be a really useful choice. The Chromebook 515’s lighting also makes it feasible to type in the dark. The fingerprint sensor is housed in a pill-shaped depression that is located beneath the keyboard. Although I’ve never seen one this slim, this is a feature that is increasingly common on Chromebooks lately. It seems to function okay, though greater surface area would be ideal.
Acer Chromebook 515 review: Display
The Acer Chromebook 515’s 15.6-inch screen can only display content in 1080p, which is disappointing but not necessarily a deal-breaker. Colors feel a touch flat and desaturated, but that is only an issue if you’re performing serious photo editing; otherwise, it’s perfect for watching films or doing regular online browsing.
If you prefer using ChromeOS while on the go, the display is bright and easily visible. You are free to lay the display fully flat and contort awkwardly on the couch, as I frequently do, because viewing angles are strong even at unusual angles. When we brought the laptop into our lab, we found that it can produce a maximum brightness of 273 nits in the upper-left corner and an average brightness of 263.4 nits throughout. By the standards of the majority of comparable cost laptops, that isn’t extremely bright, but it is roughly in line with what we anticipate from Chromebooks in this price range.
We recently evaluated the Asus Chromebook Flip CX5500FE ($872 as reviewed), which has an average brightness of 250 nits. The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 offers a stunning 1080p display that gets quite a bit brighter, up to an average brightness of 390 nits, if you want something a little more dazzling.
Acer Chromebook 515 review: Performance
Let’s face it: Chromebooks were never intended to wow with their performance; instead, they were made to do the fundamentals effectively, and the Chromebook 515 accomplishes just that. With an 11th generation Intel Core i3 processor, it has some respectable power for a more mid-range device and outperforms the vast majority of Celerons and Pentiums seen in more inexpensive Chromebooks.
Only half as well as slightly more expensive Windows laptops like the Surface Laptop Go 2 and HP Pavilion 14 do my Geekbench 5 results. The Chromebook 515, which is aided by the 8GB of RAM inside, was nevertheless quick enough in everyday usage to run Google Docs and Spotify without a hitch and to open a lot of Chrome tabs without experiencing any lag. It’s good to see solid state storage inside a Chromebook rather than the slower eMMC because it puts it on par with laptops that are considerably more expensive in terms of storage options. This specific Chromebook has a 128GB SSD. When loading and storing apps on the drive during testing, the SSD functioned ok.
The Chromebook 515’s only drawback is that it runs ChromeOS, which has traditionally been a more restricted operating system than Windows. The inclusion of some excellent specs for the money and the subsequent production of a device that is only useful for online browsing, work, and the occasional casual game bought from the Google Play Store feels like a slight waste of the 515’s skill. The majority of the key productivity apps are present, although some, like Photoshop, are not.
Acer Chromebook 515 review: Battery life
The Acer Chromebook 515 includes a 3-cell, Lithium-Ion battery with a maximum charge supply of 65W, although Acer does not indicate the battery’s capacity. However, as the included charger is only rated at 45W, you won’t get this right out of the box. The battery’s 10-hour battery life is claimed by the manufacturer, but in our looping HD video test, the battery went from 100% to nothing in about eight hours.
Given that the Asus Flip Chromebook CX5 managed an extra hour and forty minutes, this is pretty disappointing. Even if you decide to use the device in the evening, you might need to recharge it in order to finish the workday. This charger can successfully charge your battery from 0% to a respectable 39% in our regular 30-minute test.
Price and competition
Since there are no other 15.6-inch Chromebooks available, we must look to them for competition. The 15.6-inch Asus Chromebook Flip CX5, a convertible device with an 11th generation Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a decent Full HD screen, is the best, in my opinion. However, at £599, it’s somewhat pricey compared to the £349 price of the Chromebook 317. The closest options at that price point are the less expensive but relatively antiquated Asus Chromebook 523 and Acer’s own Chromebook 514 and 515 series.
Conclusion
The Acer Chromebook 15’s high endurance will appeal to Chromebook buyers who want a big-screen laptop with all-day battery life that lasts longer than just a school day’s 7 to 8 hours. Unfortunately, the 15-inch 1080p screen’s output is dark and dreary, and the keyboard is rather stiff. Consider the $460 Asus Chromebook Flip C302A, which bends back to a tablet position, delivers a 1080p panel, and yet offers good battery life, if you can get by with a smaller display. The Acer Chromebook 15 can meet your demands if you want to view online sites and documents in larger sizes, nevertheless.
