Acer took another shot at a gaming Chromebook — does it hold up?

With so much activity around Windows and macOS when it comes to new chipset and AI, it’s ready to forget that there’s a third platform in Chrome OS that also has its adherents. Google just recently added new premium Chromebook Plus features to its operating system that make the platform a bit more attractive to a variety of users.

Even without the new features, Chrome OS has its advantages, such as easy of administration and lesser hardware requirements. But the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE takes a different tack. It wants to be a bona fide gaming laptop, and in that respect, it’s definitely a standout machine.

Specs and configurations

There’s one configuration of the Chromebook Plus 516 GE available today. It’s $549 with an Intel Core 5 120U, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a 16-inch QHD+ IPS display.

Those might sound like they’re rather low-end specs, but Chrome OS doesn’t demand as much RAM and storage as Windows or macOS. And $549 is a reasonable price for a laptop that will meet typical productivity needs while also offering a different twist on gaming. As we’ll see, there aren’t many laptops for such a low price that can compete with this one.

Design

Like a lot of gaming laptops, the Chromebook Plus 516 GE doesn’t even pretend to be svelte. Its plastic display bezels aren’t huge but they’re not tiny either, contributing to a chassis that’s pretty large in all dimensions. That’s true in width and depth, and also in thickness and weight at 0.84 inches and 3.81 pounds. Of course, some Windows gaming laptops, like the Lenovo Legion Pro 5, are equally thick and even heavier (5.51 pounds), but they also have much more powerful components including very fast CPUs and discrete GPUs.

Also, when you’re paying $549 for a laptop, you don’t necessarily expect the most solid build quality. And you don’t get it with the Chromebook Plus 516 GE. The lid is too flexible, the chassis gives in to light pressure, and typing on the keyboard feels pretty bouncy. All of that’s down to a plastic construction that confirms the budget price. But sure, a laptop like the Razer Blade 15 is a spectacularly built machine, but it’s also upward of six times as expensive.

Aesthetically, things aren’t much better. The mostly all-black chassis has some chrome touches that seem a bit anachronistic today, when most manufacturers avoid such accents. Unlike many other gaming laptops, there’s no external LED lighting to give a gaming vibe, and there also isn’t the usual aggressive venting — but that’s mainly because, again, the components aren’t very powerful and there’s far less reason to implement a powerful cooling system. This laptop focuses on gaming, but it’s not using its internal components to get there.

Keyboard and touchpad

One of the biggest nods to gaming is the keyboard, which offers up 4-zone RGB lighting for a more vibrant gaming experience. It looks like a gaming keyboard, but unfortunately, I’m not sure it feels like one. The switches aren’t terribly deep and they’re not all that clicky, and so there’s not a ton of feedback. For regular typing, I found them less precise than I like. The layout is fine and there’s plenty of spacing, but I’m not a huge fan.

The touchpad is OK. It’s not all that large for a 16-inch machine, and the buttons are a bit hard to press. Again, I’m underwhelmed.

Connectivity and webcam

The Chromebook Plus 516 GE has plenty of connectivity, in keeping with a larger laptop. There’s no Thunderbolt 4, but otherwise most connectivity needs are covered well. The wired Ethernet connectivity will be welcome to anyone who wants rock-solid connectivity to power through the Nvidia GeForce Now cloud gaming that’s highlighted by Acer.

Wireless connectivity is also reasonably up-to-date. And the 1080p webcam meets the new standard.

Performance and gaming

The Chromebook Plus 516 GE uses components that are more than fast enough for Chrome OS. The Intel Core 5 120U processor, a Raptor Lake chipset, has 10 cores (two Performance and eight Efficient) and 12 threads and runs at up to 5GHz. That’s plenty of power to run the relatively lightweight Chrome OS operating system. There’s also 8GB of RAM, which allows opening numerous apps and Chrome tabs.

I can’t test the laptop using our usual suite of benchmarks. It scored 2,001 in the Geekbench 6 single-core test and 7,412 in the multi-core test. That’s well behind the chipsets you’ll find in most Windows 11 and macOS laptops, but again, it’s fast enough for Chrome OS. I also ran Speedometer 2.0 and it scored 156 — a very good result. Subjectively, I notice no slowdowns no matter how hard I pushed the machine.

The bigger question, though, is how well does it work as a gaming laptop? And here, the components are less important because Acer is fully leaning into Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming platform. The service allows you to connect to several gaming accounts, such as Steam and Ubisoft, as well as access a number of games via Geforce Now itself. Some games are free and others require a subscription.

You can also increase performance and quality by upgrading to a paid membership. Nvidia touts RTX 4080 performance, up to 1440p (from 1200p), and increased frame rates up to 120 frames per second (fps). I’m not signed up, but I ran Assassin’s Creed Valhalla via Ubisoft and saw 60 fps at 1200p. Since the Chromebook Plus 516 GE’s QHD+ (2560 x 1600) IPS display runs at up to 120Hz, you’re able to take full advantage of the premium performance.

The bottom line is that as long as you have a fast and stable internet connection and are willing to pay for a subscription, you can enjoy excellent gaming on the Chromebook Plus 516 GE. You’ll be limited in the games you can play, but popular titles like Diablo IV, Baldur’s Gate 3 , Rust, Cyberpunk 2077, and a lot more are available, and they’ll all run at 60 fps or more.

That’s a nice proposition given that the Chromebook Plus 516 GE costs just $549. It’s debatable whether you could accomplish the same thing with a Windows laptop that costs less than $600.

Battery life

If you’re looking for all-day battery life, you won’t get it from the Chromebook Plus 516 GE. It has just a 65 watt-hour battery to power a 16-inch QHD+ display. Chrome OS is efficient, but most 16-inch laptops have much larger batteries.

I saw around 7.25 hours of web browsing and about 10.5 hours of video looping. That’s a little less than Acer suggests in its reviewer’s guide, but it’s close enough.

The bottom line is that you won’t want to rely on the Chromebook Plus 516 GE for eight hours of solid work away from a plug. But those aren’t bad results.

Display and audio

Maybe the most important feature of the Chromebook Plus 516 GE, and the one that pushes it from just an OK budget Chrome OS laptop into something a little more, is the 16.0-inch 16:10 QHD+ (2560 x 1600) IPS display. And it’s not just any IPS display — it also runs at up to 120Hz, as mentioned above, meaning you can take advantage of the performance provided by the GeForce Now platform.

I can’t use my colorimeter to test displays in Chrome OS, but subjectively, this seems like a pretty good panel. It gets plenty bright, and colors seem dynamic enough. Contrast isn’t the best I’ve seen in an IPS display and certainly doesn’t approach OLED’s inky blacks. But I wouldn’t complain if this were the only display I could use.

No matter what, the display does what it’s supposed to do — support pretty good gaming — while punching way above its weight class.

Audio quality is another nice surprise. There are four speakers, two upward-firing and two downward-firing, with force-cancelling woofers. There was a ton of volume with just a little distortion at 100%. Turning it down a couple of notches got rid of it, and it was still plenty loud. Bass was even decent. It’s a better sound system than I expected at its price.

A very good option for gaming on a budget

Chromebooks are usually aimed to be inexpensive and easy-to-manage laptops for people who don’t have the budget or the patience for Windows or macOS laptops. There are premium Chromebooks that cost well over $1,000, but mainly you’re looking for a good enough laptop for not a lot of money.

The Chromebook Plus 516 GE exceeds those exceptions while still coming in at a very attractive $549. I keep stressing that point, because if you’re a gamer who’s will to pay Nvidia a premium subscription fee, then this is one Chrome OS laptop that can let you get your game on without melting your wallet.