Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 review: ChromeOS gets luxurious

The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 is a 2-in-1 Chromebook with a touch screen that can rotate 360 degrees to function as a tablet. This is a “Chromebook Plus” model, so you’ll be getting ChromeOS with some extra features, including access to Gemini Advanced for a year (which normally costs $20 per month).

Chromebook Plus features aside, the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 is a capable Chromebook that’s a bit more premium than the average Chromebook — while also being a bit more expensive. Performance and battery life more than match what’s needed for a good Chromebook experience. It’s a decent package, although some things — like the speakers — disappoint.

Further reading: Best Chromebooks 2024: Best overall, best battery life, and more

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714: Specs

The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 includes an Intel Core Ultra 5 115U CPU along with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. This is one of Intel’s Meteor Lake CPUs, and while it’s on the slower end compared to other Meteor Lake chips, it delivers better performance than some even slower CPUs in more budget-level Chromebooks. Day-to-day performance in ChromeOS and assorted web apps was excellent.

• CPU: Intel Core Ultra 5 115U
• Memory: 8 GB LPDDR5X
• Graphics/GPU: Intel graphics
• Display: 14-inch 1920×1200 IPS display with touch screen
• Storage: 256 GB PCIe Gen 4 SSD
• Webcam: 1440p webcam with privacy shutter
• Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 4 / USB Type-C, 1x USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1), 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x combo audio jack
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.1
• Biometrics: None
• Battery capacity: 53 Watt-hours
• Dimensions: 12.36 x 8.86 x 0.74 inches
• Weight: 3.21 pounds
• MSRP: $699 as tested

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714: Design and build quality

The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 is a 2-in-1 machine with a 360-degree hinge. You can rotate it around and use it in tablet form, if you like. Since ChromeOS has built-in support for Android apps, you’ll get access to a larger variety of tablet-optimized experiences than you would on a Windows 2-in-1.

This 14-inch machine is a reasonable size and weight. At 3.21 pounds and 0.74 inches thick, it’s not the lightest or thinnest laptop, but it’s not unusually large either. Like any 2-in-1, it’s certainly much thicker than the average tablet when you rotate it 360 degrees.

The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 has a nice design featuring dark grays on the chassis, black around the screen, and some interesting gold highlights on the lid and hinges. The trackpad is also framed in silver. It’s a good look, and I always appreciate laptops that go for a more rarely seen color scheme. The touch screen uses Gorilla Glass.

The hinge is solid, which is important for the 360-degree action on a 2-in-1 system. When you open the laptop and push the screen back far enough, it lifts the back of the keyboard to let you type at an angle. It’s well thought out.

I’m not a fan of the words at the top-left corner of the laptop. Stickers are one thing, but this machine has the words “Antimicrobial Corning Gorilla Glass” above the display, at the upper-left corner of the laptop. They’re not a sticker, so you can’t remove them. And they’re silver so they tend to shine in the sunlight. Since that’s right in the upper-left corner above the top-left tab in your Chrome browser windows, it can be distracting in certain lighting conditions. I did get used to it, but I wish I didn’t have to. Ideally, this logo could be a sticker users could remove, like the HDMI logo at the bottom-right corner of the display.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714: Keyboard and trackpad

The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 has a keyboard that truly impressed me. It’s reasonably snappy and feels as if it has plenty of travel. Bad keyboards have keys that can bottom out quickly or feel mushy, and this keyboard doesn’t feel like that at all. It also has a white backlight you can turn on and off. It’s an awesome keyboard I was happy to type on, especially for the price point.

The trackpad is also fine. It’s a reasonable size for a machine this size, although I’ve seen larger. It’s not as premium feeling as the haptic touchpads on some newer laptops, but it’s very responsive and the click feels decent.

Acer says the trackpad is made of “OceanGlass,” which isn’t glass at all but is recycled ocean plastic. The surface doesn’t feel quite as smooth as the glass trackpads I’ve used on some higher-end machines, but it feels pretty good. It doesn’t feel plastic-y or rubber-y, as the worst touchpads can, and the click action doesn’t feel mushy.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714: Display and speakers

The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 has a 14-inch IPS display with a 1920×1200 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio, and 340 nits of brightness. It looks good with its glossy screen and it’s a nice resolution. At more than 1080p, it’s great for media streaming.

Still, 340 nits of brightness is on the dimmer side. Combine that with a glossy glass surface and this display has a lot of reflections in direct sunlight. While I was able to use it outside on a sunny day, you’re probably better off going for a laptop with a matte display and higher maximum brightness if that’s important to you.

This 2-in-1 machine has a multi-touch touchscreen that works well. Note that, while it does support stylus input, this machine does not come with a stylus or pen. You’ll have to buy one separately.

Unfortunately, this Chromebook’s speakers aren’t great, even by laptop speaker standards. They’re unusually tinny, and that’s unfortunate considering how polished the rest of this Chromebook’s hardware is. You’ll want a pair of headphones or earbuds for a better audio experience.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 includes a 1440p webcam. That’s unusually good on paper, as many laptops — even higher-end ones — tend to include 1080p webcams. It looks good in a variety of lighting conditions. Also, this being a Chromebook Plus, you get access to AI-powered webcam tricks like background blur and lighting improvements, which can be useful.

Acer included a physical privacy shutter above the webcam, which you can slide to block it. That’s always a nice touch.

This laptop also has a decent microphone that did a good job of picking up my speech without much background noise. Between the webcam and the microphone, this is a great laptop for video meetings. The speakers are the main weak spot there, so you’ll have a better experience if you use a pair of headphones. But they’re certainly usable for an online meeting.

Unfortunately, the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 does not offer a fingerprint reader. Without biometrics, you’ll have to sign into your PC with a PIN or use your Android phone to unlock it. While less expensive machines often skip the biometrics, it would be nice to see a fingerprint reader at a more premium price point.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714: Connectivity

The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 has a decent selection of ports, but many laptops have more.

On the left side, you’ve got two USB Type-C ports and a USB Type-A port. The USB Type-C ports are Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 while the Type-A port is USB 3.2 Gen 1.

On the right side, you’ve got HDMI 2.0 out and a combo audio jack. (There’s also a volume switch on the right side of the laptop, which may be nice for using it in tablet mode).

Bear in mind that you’ll be charging this machine with USB-C — it includes a USB-C charger. In a perfect universe, I’d love to see USB-C on each side of the laptop for more flexibility when charging.

That’s an okay selection of ports, but some people may want a microSD card reader or some extra USB ports. (The less expensive Acer Chromebook Plus 514 provides more ports, for example). There’s always the option of connecting a dongle.

On the wireless radio front, you’ve got Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1. Wi-Fi 7 would be nice to see and it will become standard with Intel’s next generation of CPUs, named Lunar Lake. For now, machines like this one get Wi-Fi 6E. That’s not a big problem as you almost certainly don’t have a Wi-Fi 7 router yet.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714: Performance

The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 includes an Intel Core Ultra 5 115U CPU. This is a newer Meteor Lake-powered CPU, but one of the lower-end models. Still, it’s a good CPU for the price point and the true low-end Chromebooks often have much lower-end CPUs — perhaps an ARM chip from MediaTek. A CPU like this one is more than capable of providing a great Chromebook experience, as ChromeOS and web-based software aren’t the most demanding.

We ran our usual suite of browser-based Chromebook benchmarks and here are the scores:

• CrXPRT 2: 167
• Speedometer 2.0: 294
• Speedometer 3.0: 16.5
• Basemark Web 3.0: 1494.4
• Kraken: 527.5
• Jetstream 2: 235.082

These are good scores, and the Chromebook Plus Spin 714 delivered great performance in day to day use, even while juggling lots of tabs. The ChromeOS experience and the Chrome browser itself always felt snappy and fast. I don’t know if I would have even noticed a much faster CPU while performing the usual web-based tasks.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714: Battery life

The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 has a 53 Watt-hour battery. That’s on the small side for a 14-inch laptop, but ChromeOS is fairly lightweight.

We ran the CrXPT battery life benchmark, and the Chromebook lasted for an impressive 15.1 hours on average. That’s above the “up to 10 hours” of battery life Acer advertises for this system. Acer’s estimate is closer to what I experienced in day-to-day use. As usual with laptop battery life, your mileage may vary, but this Chromebook delivers good battery life.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714: Conclusion

The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 is nicer than the average Chromebook, but it’s also more expensive than the average Chromebook. Still, at $699, it’s still less expensive than many competing Windows laptops.

That’s a great package at a compelling price. But many people will be looking for less-expensive Chromebooks. And, for people who are looking for a more premium Chromebook experience, some aspects of this laptop will give them pause — like the speakers.

Still, this is a great Chromebook that many people would be happy with. As I wrap up typing this review on the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714’s excellent keyboard, that sale price of $599 feels like good value for a mostly great Chromebook experience.