Chrome OS and its family of Chromebook laptops continue to chip away at Microsoft’s market lead and it is easy to see why. As more and more consumers look for devices that are affordable and well suited for on-the-go use Chromebooks start to look more and more attractive. Today we are looking at one of the latest of these models to hit store shelves and that is the Acer Chromebook CB3-431-C5CQ which offers a bit more in the way of hardware compared to some of the recent Chromebooks we have reviewed. Below we will tackle some of the benefits and downsides this device has to offer and see just how well it stacks up.
Check out the latest price for the Acer Chromebook CB3-431-C5CQ (NX.GC2EK.007)
Specs
Processor: Intel Celeron
Memory: 4 GB of RAM
Storage: 32 GB eMMC
Screen: 14 Inch display
OS: Chrome OS
Benefits
Many of the recent Chromebook releases that we have reviewed have been very compact devices that while great for on-the-go use have smaller screens than many consumers are looking for. Instead of something like an 11.6-inch display the Acer Chromebook CB3-431-C5CQ offers a nearly full-sized 14 inches. This is great for those who need a decent amount of viewing area but still want to be mobile with their new device.
Acer has upped the expectations in a couple of other areas as well when it comes to competing Chromebook models, such as memory and even processor. The Intel Celeron Quad-Core processor is still on the lower end of Intel’s available options but is superior to what we have seen in other devices and with Chrome OS having lower requirements compared to its competition this processor is very capable of handling higher workloads.
As we mentioned above this device is very mobile-friendly even with its 14-inch display. It has a total weight of 1.6 Kg which is roughly half a Kg lighter than your typical full-sized 15.6-inch device. Half a KG may not seem like much but it can make all the difference in the world when carrying around this device for a good part of the day. Also, for those on the go the almost 12 hours of battery life on a single charge is a huge plus that this device offers.
Downsides
This isn’t a downside for this particular model but Chromebooks in general. With Google pushing consumers to take advantage of online storage they have really limited the amount of storage space within the device. Inside the Acer Chromebook CB3-431-C5CQ, you will find 32 GB of space which is a mere fraction of what you find in a typical laptop and will be a concern to some.
Verdict
When it comes to Chromebooks it is easy to see why the Acer Chromebook CB3-431-C5CQ is currently one of the most popular. It has all the benefits of running Chrome OS but without many of the restrictions, other models have like screen size and processing\memory specifications.
