Acer 156 Chromebook - Intel Celeron - 1080p Review
Let's start on a positive note and list the expert things virtually the Samsung Chromebook 4+ ($299.99 as tested). The keyboard'due south decent, and the 15.6-inch brandish offers full HD (ane,920-by-1,080-pixel) resolution instead of the lowly ane,366 by 768 pixels that'south tolerable but in 11.vi-inch Chromebooks. By that, there's just not much, even if we accomplish: The Chromebook four+ targets buyers who want a big-screen laptop on a rock-bottom upkeep, and while it would be all right at $199, it'southward no fun at $100 more. In terms of functioning, capability, and quality, it'southward only on another planet from our Editors' Choice winner, the $629 Acer Chromebook Spin 713.
The Big Chromebook Brought Low
The $299.99 model XE350XBA-K01US seen here is the humblest of three Chromebook 4+ configurations, all with a 1080p not-touch screen and dual-core, 1.1GHz Intel Celeron N4000 processor. It has 4GB of memory and a puny 32GB of eMMC flash storage. A $349.99 model increases RAM to 6GB and storage to 64GB of flash, while spending $379.99 shrinks memory back to 4GB just hikes storage to 128GB. (Don't confuse the xv.6-inch Samsung Chromebook 4+ with the Samsung Chromebook 4, which has a much smaller 11.6-inch display and volition be reviewed separately before long.)
Our Experts Have Tested 131 Products in the Laptops Category in the Past Yr
Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to assist you brand better ownership decisions. (See how we test.)
The Chromebook 4+ has a silver-gray (Samsung calls it "Platinum Titan") aluminum hat just a sparse plastic bottom. There's moderate flex if you lot grasp the screen corners and quite a bit if yous press the keyboard deck. The system measures 0.65 past 14.two by 9.6 inches, which is bulky but a chip more compact than the Acer Chromebook 315 (0.eight by 15 by 10.1 inches), and is a fraction lighter at 3.75 versus iii.97 pounds.
With merely 32GB of storage, there's less than 19GB available for your downloads and personal files, so presumably yous'll be keeping documents in the cloud. The keyboard follows the standard Chromebook layout (with lowercase messages on the keys, the sign of a consumer or classroom rather than concern model), with browser and organization controls on the pinnacle row and a search/menu key in place of Caps Lock. There's a webcam centered to a higher place the screen and a large buttonless touchpad in the palm rest.
Like Products
The laptop's left edge holds a 5Gbps USB 3.ane Blazon-C port (suitable for the compact Ac adapter) along with a microSD card slot and an audio jack. A second USB-C port, a USB three.0 Blazon-A port, and a security lock slot are on the right. Bluetooth and 802.11ac (Wi-Fi five, not 6) wireless are standard. With no HDMI port, you'll have to plug in a USB-C DisplayPort dongle to connect an external monitor.
You Can't Touch This (You Tin Barely Meet Information technology)
Touch screens have rapidly taken off among Chromebooks since the latter gained access to Android apps, merely the Chromebook 4+ has a non-bear on, anti-glare display. The screen tilts almost all the manner back to flat, and the bezels effectually information technology are relatively thin, simply information technology's one of the worst on the market place I've aid eyes on—the panel uses cheap, antiquarian twisted nematic (TN) instead of in-aeroplane switching (IPS) applied science, so its colors are drab, stake, and washed out, with poor off-centre viewing angles.
The top brightness is fair, but contrast is weak, with white backgrounds actualization dingy. Fine details and the edges of letters are reasonably precipitous. Equally with nearly Chromebooks, you can choose among several "looks similar" scaled resolutions if you want screen elements to seem larger than they practice at 1,920 by ane,080 (upward to a jumbo 960 by 540).
The keyboard is non backlit; it has a vast palm rest and a hollow merely passably snappy typing feel. Don't look for Abode, End, Page Upwardly, or Page Downwards keys or a numeric keypad, though there'southward arguably room for them. The big touchpad glides and taps smoothly; it takes a firm press for a plasticky click.
The 720p webcam captures images that aren't too dark but are soft-focus in the Photographic camera app and downright blurry in Google Duo; its colors appear faint, equally all photos and videos practice on the depression-quality screen. Bottom-mounted speakers produce soft but tolerably articulate sound; there's no bass, but you can make out overlapping tracks.
Plodding Through Functioning Testing
The Chromebook 4+ is a tepid performer, able to open multiple browser tabs and stream videos but taking two or three seconds to launch an app or open an image. For our benchmark charts, I compared it against four other consumer Chromebooks. The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is our favorite in the category, though an outlier hither due to its higher price and more potent Core i5 processor. The Acer Chromebook 315 is a direct competitor as a low-toll 15.6-inch-screened entry, though it uses an AMD A4-9120C instead of Intel CPU.
To see how the Chromebook iv+ fared confronting other Celeron systems, I chose two from Lenovo, the 14-inch IdeaPad 3 Chromebook and the eleven.half dozen-inch Chromebook 3, the group'south most affordable at $169.99. (See more about how we examination laptops.)
The first objective benchmarks we utilise are Principled Technologies' venerable CrXPRT (a suite of simulated Chrome OS productivity apps) and more recent WebXPRT 3 (a browser-based test of HTML and JavaScript throughput).
The Samsung edged out the AMD A4-based Acer 315, but it was the slowest of the iii Celeron laptops and miles backside the Cadre i5-powered Spin 713.
JetStream 2 is another operation examination nosotros apply. Information technology combines 64 JavaScript and WebAssembly benchmarks to measure out a browser'southward (in this example, the default Chrome'south) suitability for advanced web applications.
The outcome was the same with this test, though the Celerons basically finished 3 abreast. The four economy Chromebooks volition get you through everyday productivity and browsing tasks, just they aren't potent picks for Android games or demanding apps.
We've added UL's PCMark for Android Piece of work two.0 test to our Chromebook regimen. This test suite runs in a minor smartphone-style window and mimics productivity operations ranging from text and image editing to information charting and video playback.
We don't have a PCMark score for the Acer 315, but the others performed predictably, with the Core i5 Acer convertible well ahead of the Celeron systems.
Finally, to examination a laptop's bombardment life, we loop a 720p video file with screen brightness set at l%, audio book at 100%, and Wi-Fi and the keyboard backlight disabled until the system quits. If the Chromebook's internal storage isn't big enough to hold the video, we play information technology from an external SSD plugged into a USB-C port.
The 15.half-dozen-inch Chromebooks volition get y'all through or nigh through a day of work or school, merely their unplugged endurance is in a lesser league than the other machines'.
Verdict: Simply Hard to Recommend
The Samsung Chromebook four+ is a laptop you can live with, but frankly you'll be far happier if you lot tin can scrape upwardly the extra greenbacks for a Chromebook in the $500 to $600 range—and if you lot tin't, there are smaller-screened models we rate more highly.
For those who insist on a fifteen.half dozen-inch screen, the Acer Chromebook 315'due south is ameliorate—it'southward definitely economic system class, but information technology'southward a touch on panel with clearer IPS rather than TN technology—and its slightly slower AMD processor is offset past more than storage and a price currently $50 beneath the Samsung's.
Samsung Chromebook 4+
Pros
The Lesser Line
Fifty-fifty if you but must accept a Chromebook with a big fifteen.vi-inch screen, the Samsung Chromebook iv+ is a deadening pick at best—information technology skimps on every component, its subpar screen about of all.
Similar What You lot're Reading?
Sign upwardly for Lab Report to go the latest reviews and meridian product advice delivered correct to your inbox.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
Source: https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/samsung-chromebook-4-plus
0 Response to "Acer 156 Chromebook - Intel Celeron - 1080p Review"
Post a Comment