Acer Chromebook Vero 514 review: An eco-friendly productivity machine

pocket-lint.com:

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.

4/5

The Chromebook Vero 514 is a well-built and lightweight Chrome-based laptop that provides a versatile workhorse computer with some welcome eco-friendly credentials to boot.

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