Acer's Chromebook 516 GE did a good job of bringing gaming to the Chromebook platform - albeit via subscription-based streaming services such as GeForce Now. Its Chromebook Vero 514 is a more conventional option that simply aims to provide a versatile 14-inch laptop at a competitive price. It succeeds on that score, with a smart, lightweight design, 12th gen Intel processor, and a lower price than the larger, 16-inch Chromebook 516 GE.

You'll need to take care when buying, though, as Acer also sells a model that's simply called the Chromebook 514, while the model that we review here is the Chromebook Vero 514. That means it is part of Acer’s eco-friendly Vero range, and has some green credentials to shout about.

Design and display

• 20.5mm thick, 1.4kg weight
• 14.0-inch display, 1920 x 1080 resolution @ 60Hz
• Ports: 2x USB-C (3.2), 1x USB-A (3.2), 1x HDMI, 1x headphone
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.1

The Vero 514 is smartly designed, with an attractive speckled ‘cobblestone’ finish and - like other models in the Vero range - Acer claims that the main chassis consists of 30% recycled plastic, with 50% also in the keycaps and speakers. It's still solidly built - in fact, Acer states that it meets the US military standard MIL-STD-810H for shock-resistance, and resistance to dust, rain and other environmental mishaps.

The laptop is 20.5mm thick and weighs 1.4kg, so it's not quite in the 'ultra-portable' category, but it's still slim and light enough that you can quickly slip it into a backpack or bag when you're travelling, and sturdy enough to cope with a few bumps along the way. The keyboard could, perhaps, be a little firmer and the individual keys feel a little soft as you're typing - it's fine for quickly tapping out emails, but faster typists who do a lot of writing might prefer something that feels a little firmer and more responsive. That's personal preference of course, but something we enjoy when tapping out our reviews.

We don't have any complaints about the 14-inch display, though. This provides a bright, colourful image, with 1920 x 1080 resolution, and the colour balance and contrast are good for a laptop in this price range. The Vero 514 will be a good option for web browsing and watching video, and Acer states that the screen supports the sRGB colour standard, so it'll be suitable for some simple photo-editing and graphics work if required.

Connectivity is good too, including the latest Wi-Fi 6E, along with Bluetooth 5.1. There's an HDMI port for an external display, and two USB-C ports and one USB-A port for connecting additional devices. It even has a bright, clear webcam with 1920 x 1080 resolution. Our only complaint is that the stereo speakers sound a little thin, so it’s probably worth using headphones or a set of external speakers when listening to music or watching video.

Performance and battery

• 10-core i5 processor provides good performance
• Integrated Iris Xe graphics
• 6.5 hours' battery life

The Vero's i5-1235U processor provides good all-round performance. It includes 10 processor cores, with two 'performance' cores that run at speeds of up to 4.4GHz and eight 'efficiency' cores that run at up to 3.3GHz in order to preserve battery life. Running the GeekBench 5 test, the Vero scores 1480 for single-core performance and 5400 for multi-core performance.

That's a little below the performance of the Chromebook 516 GE, which scored 1400 and 8100 respectively, but the gaming-oriented 516 GE is more expensive and boasts four performance cores in order to speed up your gaming action. The Vero 514 isn't quite that fast but will be perfectly fine for routine tasks such as web browsing, word processing, or streaming music and video. Power users needing intense photo or video editing may not be perfectly serviced here, but those users probably would know that already.

Acer has got a little carried away with its claims of 10 hours battery life. Even with the screen brightness turned down to a (perfectly visible) 50%, we were only able to get six hours and 35 minutes of battery life from the Vero when streaming full-screen video. You can probably stretch that to eight hours and get a full working day out of the Vero if you're not using wi-fi all day long, but there's still room for improvement there.

Price and options

• 14-inch touchscreen display, 1920 x 1080 resolution @ 60Hz
• CPU: Intel i5-1235U; 2 performance cores (4.4GHz); 8 efficiency cores (3.3GHz)
• GPU: Intel Iris Xe (integrated, 1.2GHz)
• Memory: 8GB LPDDR4X
• Storage: 256GB PCIe NVMe solid-state (512GB also available)

Prices for the Vero 514 actually start at just $499.99/£499.00 for a model with an i3 processor although, as mentioned, our review unit had a faster i5-1235U processor. That i5 model costs $599.99 in the US, or $799.99 if you want to add a touchscreen upgrade, while the model on sale in the UK is only available with a touchscreen, with an RRP of £699. That's relatively competitive in the market - and already we are seeing some price drops on those, and with 512GB storage too - but there are some things to consider.

We have some reservations about that 8GB of memory, which is fine for routine web browsing and word processing, but slows things down for more demanding tasks such as photo or video editing. Acer doesn’t offer much in the way of additional upgrade options for the Vero either. The only way to get more memory is to step up to the top-of-the-range model, which includes an i7 processor, 16GB of memory and a touchscreen.

However, that model - which is currently only available in the US - weighs in at $949.99, so it’s no longer offering an affordable alternative to a traditional Windows laptop (which, after all, is what Chromebooks are for). The Vero 514 balances price and performance best at its tested spec, but you'll need to make sure that it'll service your needs from the get go.

Verdict

The Chromebook Vero 514 is a well-built and lightweight Chrome-based laptop that provides a versatile workhorse computer at a competitive price. It can handle a variety of routine tasks with no trouble at, and will certainly appeal to people who are fans of ChromeOS, or simply want to try an alternative to Windows for a change.

Pricing is fairly competitive - although it's getting close to the point where you might want to consider a conventional Windows laptop as well, particularly if you need more memory for more intensive tasks. We'd take a bit more battery life too.

Still, if you're looking for a laptop with some eco credentials to back up a good performance for day-to-day tasks, the Vero 514 is well worth a look.