A lot of what makes the best laptops for Adobe Photoshop also makes the best laptops for video editing: a well-balanced combination of performance, battery life, and a bright and vivid display. Whether you're just learning the ins and outs of editing photos or can wield the lasso tool like a scalpel in the hand of a surgeon, there's no shortage of great options, whatever your skill level.

Laptops with Nvidia's RTX 50-series GPUs are now available for creators with demanding Photoshop needs, as well as all Intel's Core Ultra 200-series and AMD's Max Pro series of processors. Professional editors can benefit from the added performance of a discrete graphics card by enabling Photoshop's hardware acceleration features, which helps power through demanding tasks faster.

A high-resolution OLED display is also something to consider. You'll not only get to enjoy the rich hues and deep contrasts OLEDs are famous for, but some of them also have wide color gamut coverage — wide enough to find colors in between colors.

For beginners or anyone looking to save money, any laptop with last-gen hardware will still provide more than performance to move Photoshop edits along quickly. Even ones without a discrete graphics card. Check out our best laptop deals for the best discounts at various price points.

This page is regularly updated with our latest reviews to reflect Laptop Mag’s top picks for 2025.

Update Log

6/6/25: Updated intro, benchmark comparisons, recently reviewed, and FAQs; added the HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a as the best workstation and the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition as the best 2-in-1.

The Quick List

Best Overall

There's little not to love about the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9. It features a gorgeous display, powerful processor, solid discrete graphics, and enough memory and storage for creators of all skill levels. It even comes with decent battery life and a comfortable, bouncy keyboard.

Rami Tabari said in our review, "I love a display with a little kick. The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i’s 16-inch, 3200 x 2000, 165Hz panel is gorgeous. It’s reasonably bright and offers a vivid wave of color."

The Yoga Pro 9i covers 105.7% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is well above the premium laptop average (91.2%). Its display is far better than similar laptops like the HP Spectre x360 16 (87.1%), Dell XPS 14 OLED (79.9%), and Apple MacBook Air (77.8%).

The Yoga Pro's powerful combination of an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card provide enough power for even the most demanding projects. The Yoga Pro 9i also lasted a respectable 9 hours and 51 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, which is far more than many similarly packaged laptops.

The Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 base model costs just $1,482 for an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. The fully specced $2,043 version provides an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor with an RTX 4060 GPU and a 16-inch, 3.2K, Mini-LED display. Our preferred middle-of-the-road spec costs just $1,784.

See our full Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 review.

Best under $1,000

The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425) is a laptop that can do just about anything. It continuously amazes us how budget-friendly this absolute powerhouse is. With its power performance, solid graphics, and almost 16 hours of battery life, we have good reason to love the Zenbook 14 OLED as much as we do.

In my review, I note that "the display panel on the Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M) looks incredible. The new trailer for Chris Pine's The Poolman showed crisp, vibrant colors, particularly in the scenes shot outdoors in LA during what appears to be a Lunar New Year celebration."

Starting at just $799, this laptop has a powerful Intel Core Ultra 5 135H processor with 8GB of DDR5 memory, 512GB of SSD storage, and a 14-inch FHD OLED panel. But if you can flex your budget just a bit more to the higher-end spec, at just $1,049, you get an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor with 16GB of DDR5 memory and 1TB of SSD storage.

The Zenbook 14 OLED's display could be brighter and more vibrant, but with a DCI-P3 rating of 79.8%, it is comparable to most other laptops in its category, such as the Apple MacBook Air 13 M3 (77.8%) and the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED UX3405M (81.7%).

But the Zenbook 14 OLED is more than its display panel. Surviving a shocking 15 hours and 52 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, it is one of the longest-lasting Intel laptops we've seen this year. Considering how budget-friendly this laptop is and how well it handles Photoshop, you can't go wrong with it.

See our full Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M) review.

Best under $1,500

The Acer Swift X 14 is a powerful, budget-friendly option for Photoshop users who need more 3D rendering capacity. The base model starts at just $1,099. The mid-range model combines a powerful Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor with a workhorse Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU, plus 16 GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. It retails for just $1,299. This mid-range model offers similar performance at a lower cost without sacrificing the display.

In my review, I observe that "the glossy CineCrystal OLED display on the Acer Swift X 14 looks fantastic to the human eye. The colors are bright and vivid, though the display panel does suffer from glare, especially with overhead office lighting."

However, if you'd like more memory, storage, and a more powerful GPU, our preferred Swift X 14 configuration is available for just $1,699. It includes an Nvidia RTX 4070, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage.

Acer rates the CineCrystal display on the Swift X 14 to 100% coverage on the DCI-P3 format. Our lab display test measures OLED panels a bit differently, so our testing indicated that the Swift X 14 covered 79.6% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. The Apple MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro (81.4%) and HP Spectre x360 14 (85.8%) outperformed the Swift X 14 in our lab testing, but the Swift X 14's display looked incredible to the eye. In addition, the Swift X 14 offers a powerful Nvidia RTX 4050 to 4070 GPU, making it a better fit for more in-depth Photoshop work.

Based on the Laptop Mag battery test, the Swift X 14 with an RTX 4070 GPU can last for 7 hours and 33 minutes while surfing the web at 150 nits of brightness. While that isn't the best battery life for a laptop on this list, it's not bad for a laptop packing a discrete GPU and OLED display panel.

See our full Acer Swift X 14 review.

Best 2-in-1

Like some of the other Laptop Mag writers, I'm picky when it comes to convertible laptops — so it's a great day when a highly-rated review of one comes across my desk, and I get to give it a buying guide superlative. The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition is without a doubt a laptop that deserves to be on this list.

This laptop's headlining feature is the display, a 14-inch OLED that's "far superior and even more colorful than most premium laptops overall," as Laptop Mag reviews editor Rami Tabari notes in his review. Covering 149.2% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, it produces vivid and richly saturated, drool-worthy colors. The display averages a maximum of 421 nits of brightness, higher than you'd see on many competing OLED laptops —all major reasons why this Yoga 9i 2-in-1 is also our current pick for the best touchscreen laptop with an OLED display.

When it comes to performance, this laptop takes a leisurely approach to finishing demanding tasks. Compared to the other laptops on this list, it was the slowest to convert a 4K video file to 1080p. Photoshop users may experience some lag when batch-processing dozens of images with numerous layers or working with filters and brush tools.

But if you're not a graphic designer or photographer who uses a lot of advanced features in Photoshop, the Yoga 9i 2-in-1 has a lot of other things going for it: a stellar and responsive keyboard; speakers that can actually handle a baseline; nearly 13 hours of battery life; and it weighs just under 3 pounds. (Other 2-in-1s are much more brick-like.) Also, I would feel comfortable putting it on my bare lap. At its hottest point, this laptop didn't reach 88.3 degrees, well below our 95-degree comfort threshold.

See our full Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition review.

Best MacBook

For Apple users and design enthusiasts, the 2024 MacBook Pro 16-inch with M4 Pro CPU reigns supreme for photo editing. While pricey (starting at $2,499), it offers powerful performance and a seamless experience within the Apple ecosystem. Opting for a 1TB SSD and 32GB RAM configuration delivers ample storage and smooth Photoshop performance, making it a compelling choice for creative professionals though upgrading the memory and storage capacity can get pricey.

Reviewer Sean Riley observes, "The 16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Pro is more laptop than most people need, but that likely won't stop you from wanting one, and after a week with it, I can't blame you."

With any configuration of the M4 chip, you’ll get a brilliant 14-core Apple M4 Pro CPU, a 20-core Apple GPU with a 16-core Neural Engine, and a gorgeous 16.2-inch 3456 x 2234 Liquid Retina XDR display. Our lab benchmarking rated the 16-inch Liquid Retina panel as covering 81.4% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is high for laptops on this list. The MacBook Pro also scored well on the brightness test, with an average of 565 nits, much brighter than the category average of 391.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro (2024) is a smart choice for Photoshop because of its beautiful, bright display and powerfully smooth internal specs. However, there’s another crucial spec to consider: battery life. MacBooks are known for having excellent battery life, which is a fantastic feature for those wanting to use Photoshop on the go. The 16-inch MacBook Pro lasted an amazing 20 hours and 46 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, significantly longer than its workstation laptop competitors.

See our full Apple MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro review.

Best Workstation

At CES 2025, we were so blown away by the HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a that we gave it our best laptop award — and after reviewing it, we're still blown away by it. At 0.71-inches thick and weighing 3.4 pounds, it could easily be mistaken for a productivity laptop. However, with the driving force of an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395 chip, it's anything but.

The great news for Windows users is that it comes "very close to eclipsing the MacBook Pro" in terms of portability and raw CPU power, as Laptop Mag staff writer Madeline Ricchiuto candidly mentions in her review. In some of our real-world testing, it's evenly matched; the ZBook converted a 4K video to 1080p 4 seconds faster than the MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro in our Handbrake transcoding test.

It's OLED display comes in an extremely close second to the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition, covering 139% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. (Many OLED laptop displays don't break 100%!) Its max brightness in on par with other competitors, maxing out at an average 368 nits — but if you're searching for the perfect shade of Pantone-like purple, this could be the workstation you've been looking for.

Being as powerful as they are, Windows workstations usually come with a battery life caveat, and with a run time of 6 hours and 46 minutes, this ZBook is no exception. To be fair, that's typical for a workstation, but it's a key area where this laptop doesn't eclipse the MacBook Pro, as well as other creator-focused laptops like the Asus ProArt PX13.

Ultimately, the ZBook's price tag is where most potential buyers could draw the line. The model we reviewed costs an enormous $4,049, but the base configuration starts at a substantial $2,599. If you're not loyal to a specific operating system, that amount of money can get you a MacBook Pro M4 Pro with better battery life — but it's hard to ignore that the HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a is a marvelous laptop for any creative work.

See our full HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a review.

Benchmark Comparisons

Recent reviews

We review more than 100 laptops annually, and while some simply don't have what it takes to make our buying guides, others are still strong options that came up short for one reason or another. Here are some of our most recently reviewed laptops that didn't make the cut for "Best laptops for Photoshop" but could still be solid machines for your photo editing needs.

How to choose a laptop for Photoshop

CPU: You want a high-performance processor like an Intel Core Ultra 7 or 9, an AMD Ryzen 7 or 9, or an Apple M4 chipset to handle complex filters, large photo files, and multiple project layers.

GPU: For heavy-duty tasks like intricate filters, 3D effects, or AI generation, you may want to consider a laptop with a discrete graphics card like an Nvidia RTX or AMD Radeon RX card.

RAM: You need at least 16GB of memory, but depending on your budget, Photoshop users will certainly benefit from 32 or 64GB of RAM. I'd stress the latter in particular isn't something you need to consider unless money is no object or you are doing this professionally and every second counts.

Storage: 512 GB is the minimum I'd consider if I'm doing a lot of photo work, though splurging for 1TB or more is a good idea. Unlike the CPU, GPU, and RAM, you can always turn to external storage, so if your budget requires you to save somewhere, this is the place to do it. However, I'd still stress that you want 512GB at a minimum to handle at least one project at a time without turning to an external drive.

Display: You want to be picky about the display since photo editing is a visual medium. You'll want a crisp, high-resolution panel in the QHD to 4K range with accurate color reproduction. For the best combination of brightness and vibrancy, we recommend opting for an IPS, OLED, or Apple Liquid Retina XDR display to ensure a high level of color fidelity.

If you're looking to set up a full photo studio workstation and didn't select a laptop with the best display, you could also upgrade with one of our picks for the best monitors or best portable monitors for on-the-go editing.

FAQs

Q: What minimum specs do I need for Photoshop?

A: Lower than you might think! As of October 2024, the minimum system requirements for Adobe Photoshop running on Windows 11 are: an Intel or AMD processor with AVX2 and SSE 4.2 or higher support, or a WinARM processor; 8GB of RAM; 256GB total SSD storage space; and a graphics card that's newer than 7 years with at least 1.5GB of video RAM, and supports DirectX 12; and a 1080p monitor.

All that applies if you have a Mac, except the graphics card, but you'll want to make sure you have macOS v12 or higher.

If you a faster laptop to run Photoshop, we recommend at least: an Intel 13th-gen Core i7 processor or newer, an AMD Ryzen 7 7000 series or newer, or Apple Silicon M2 or newer; at least 16GB of RAM; 512GB or more of total SSD storage space (PCIe Gen 4 or newer); an Nvidia RTX 2050 or newer graphics card with at least 4GB of VRAM; and a 1080p display or higher.

Mac users should be running macOS Sonoma or newer.

Q: Is a laptop that's good for Photoshop also good for video editing?

A: Most laptops that are good for Photoshop will also work for video editing, but you'll also want to be aware of the audio quality of a laptop when choosing a video editing machine. So not all the laptops on this list will be ideal for editing video or audio files.

Video editing can often demand more RAM and GPU resources than photo editing, so you may want to opt for a laptop with a discrete GPU if video editing is going to be a large part of your workflow.

Q: Why don't we recommend a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite laptop for Photoshop?

A: On the hardware-side, a Snapdragon X Elite laptop is an excellent machine for running editing programs like Photoshop — but few native Windows on Arm versions of Adobe programs exist overall.

Currently, only Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom can run natively on Snapdragon X Elite laptops. This might not be an issue if you only use Photoshop, but if you also use Adobe Premiere Pro, InDesign, or Illustrator, those can only run via emulation.

It's a similar concept to running a virtual version of Windows 95 on a Windows 11 PC, but the computer will use more resources running both the emulator and program at the same time, which could slow down various editing tasks. If you don't have enough available RAM or video RAM, the entire program could crash.

How We Test Laptops for Photoshop

Every laptop we test undergoes countless lab tests before a review goes live. We look at how a laptop performs in terms of CPU and GPU-intensive tasks, battery life, speakers, heat management, and display. While each laptop on this list has gone through every test we could run on it; there are a few specific test results we paid close attention to when choosing the best laptops for Photoshop.

When you work with Photoshop, it’s important that the colors you’re working with will translate to other screens when your file is shared. To detect a laptop’s display brightness and DCI-P3 color gamut, we use a Klein K-10A colorimeter, Klein ChromaSurf, and DisplayCal to calculate a laptop's average brightness and color gamut volume. We also pay attention to each laptop’s Delta-E score, showing how accurate a display’s colors are.

Additionally, performance is important in a laptop running Adobe Photoshop. The Geekbench CPU benchmark tests a laptop’s overall performance. To test a laptop’s GPU, the 3DMark benchmarks determine how well a laptop can run graphic-intensive applications. Discrete graphics are ideal when selecting a laptop for Photoshop, but not essential, so you might forgo a discrete GPU for a more budget-friendly laptop.

Why Trust Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag reviews over a hundred different laptops every year, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field, as we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest in gaming.

We are 100% independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. In fact, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades, and we continue to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on.

Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it.

Our editorial trustworthiness is enforced by one of the world's largest technology publishers, Future Publishing. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.

The best business laptops in 2025 will help you get more done faster, whether you work from home, an office, or are often on the road. Modern business laptops can deliver powerfully productive performance in thin-and-light chassis.

I've reviewed laptops for over seven years now, so consider me and the rest of the Laptop Mag staff your outsourced team of dedicated laptop experts. We review and test over 100 laptops annually to help you find the best laptops in a wide variety of categories.

What's different about finding the best business laptops? You can't shortchange security and durability: The best business laptops typically come with fingerprint sensors, IR cameras, and security chips, and many have military-grade durability.

These are key components that differentiate business laptops from typical consumer laptops. We rigorously test the best business laptops from every major manufacturer to judge their blend of portability, performance, battery life, and more.

The Asus ExpertBook P5 (P5405) is our current pick for the best business laptop. It ticks all of the boxes above and offers a bright 144Hz display, solid performance, over 14 hours of battery life, and an excellent 3-year warranty. If you need maximum battery life, the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 is the answer, lasting over 21 hours in our testing. If your work supports macOS, the 13-inch MacBook Air M4 is an intriguing option with solid performance and over 15 hours of battery life in a durable build.

That's just a small sampling, here are my 6 top picks for the best business laptops in 2025.

The Quick List

The best business laptops in 2025

Best Business Laptop Overall

The Asus ExpertBook P5 (P5405) is the best business laptop we've reviewed in 2024, thanks to its unique 144Hz display, long-lasting battery life, included 3-year warranty, and affordable price. It edged just beyond 14 hours in our Laptop Mag Battery test, which should cover even your busiest day at work. This impressive resume earned its placement at the top of the business laptop charts.

Sean Riley reviewed this laptop for us, and he said, "Overall, the ExpertBook P5 is one of the most compelling thin-and-light business laptops that I've reviewed..." After writing and editing hundreds of reviews on Laptop Mag over the last 5 years, some great business laptops have crossed his desk, so that's not to be taken lightly.

With 32GB of RAM and the Intel Core Ultra 258V chipset, performance is good enough for motivated multitaskers. It scored 11,259 on the Geekbench 6 test, which comes in just behind some of its competitors, the HP EliteBook Ultra (Snapdragon X-Elite, 12,717), MacBook Air 13 M3 (Apple M3, 12,087), and HP Elite x360 1040 G11 (Intel Core Ultra 7 165H, 12,857). However, the 32GB of RAM and the outstanding SSD speed of the ExpertBook help to make up the minimal performance gap.

If you run your own business or are in a small business, you'll particularly appreciate the outstanding 3-year warranty and 1-year Accidental Damage Protection plan that comes standard with the ExpertBook P5. It's not that these options aren't available for other laptops, but they are typically upgrades from a 1-year warranty, which is all the more astounding at the sub-$1,300 price point for the ExpertBook. The combination of features and warranty could easily land you above $2,000, which is why our reviewer said, "The pricing on the ExpertBook P5 almost feels like a tax loophole..."

Lest you think Asus skimped to hit this price point, it still features enterprise-grade security from its discrete Trusted Platform Module (TPM) and secure login via its IR camera or fingerprint reader.

A business laptop that is feature-rich and affordable is a rarity, and that's why it earns my pick as the best business laptop in 2025.

See our full Asus ExpertBook P5 (P5405) review.

• ­Back to the top ⤴

Best Budget Business Laptop

The Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 5 delivers fantastic value for a budget-conscious business. I'll get the caveat out of the way right at the top, the battery life is its weakness at 7 hours and 48 minutes in our testing. So regular travelers will need to look elsewhere, but if you are at a desk or typically have access to an outlet this is a worthwhile tradeoff for the rest of what you get.

Our reviewer was particularly impressed by this laptop's laundry list of security features: "the ThinkPad E14 comes with features like a discrete trusted platform module (TPM) 2.0, an optional FHD hybrid IR camera required for Windows Hello, and Smart Power On." In many industries, this level of security is a must, so it's great to see it on a budget business laptop.

The ThinkPad E14 beat out the mainstream laptop average in both our Geekbench 6 testing (8,000 vs. 7,812) and our SSD transfer test (1,257MBps vs. 924.18MBps), a notable feat for a business laptop typically found for around $750. It nearly matched our previous overall pick, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11's Geekbench score, while outscoring the vastly more expensive HP Dragonfly Pro on the SSD transfer test.

As you would expect from Lenovo, the keyboard is a super responsive chiclet style that should allow you to type quickly and comfortably all day. Lenovo also boasts MIL-STD 810H certification on this affordable laptop, so don't worry that you're getting a cheap build due to the low cost.

While you can find a laptop for under $500, most business users will be better served by stretching that budget to reach the ThinkPad E14 Gen 5.

See our full Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 5 review.

• ­Back to the top ⤴

Best Long-Lasting Business Laptop

The Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 is part of a second wave of Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptops this year, and they continue to amaze. This laptop delivers the same incredible performance we saw in the first round of these new ARM-based Windows laptops this summer, but it sets a new high mark for battery life at 21 hours and 3 minutes in our testing.

Microsoft's Copilot+ PC messaging dominated some conversations around the Snapdragon X Elite's initial launch earlier this year, but the combination of performance and battery life remains astounding.

If you are unconvinced by AI right now, that's fine; the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 is a fantastic business laptop, even if you never use a single AI feature. At the start of this year, a business laptop with 12 hours of battery life was doing quite well; now, we're regularly seeing results in the 14-18-hour range. But as our reviewer, Stevie Bonifield, said of its over 21 hours, "The ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 has enough battery life to easily get you through a full day of work, maybe even two."

What's more, it doesn't cost you anything in terms of performance, with the T14s scoring 14,486 in the Geekbench 6 overall performance test. That's almost 4,000 higher than the category average of 10,785. That's enough to outpace a high-performance laptop like Apple's MacBook Pro 14 M3 (11,968). It even did a solid job in the HandBrake video conversion test at 5 minutes and 34 seconds, beating the category average by 40 seconds if you need to do occasional video work.

The ThinkPad T14s display is a slightly mixed bag. Its stellar brightness of 451.8 nits is enough to remain usable in anything but direct sunlight, while its DCI-P3 color gamut of 70.7% is a bit disappointing. If you are doing creative work, that is a dealbreaker, but for typical productivity work, it won't matter.

Lenovo's ThinkShield and hardware security, like the fingerprint reader and IR camera for facial recognition sign-on, all add to the package for the ThinkPad T14s. You also have MIL-STD-810H durability certification to give you and your company peace of mind that the laptop will hold up to commuting, traveling, or just being hauled around your home or office.

As long as you aren't using proprietary software that may not support the ARM-based Qualcomm chip inside the ThinkPad T14s and you aren't reliant on a vivid display, the ThinkPad T14s belongs on the shortlist for your next business laptop. If those are applicable to you, consider something like the HP Spectre x360 14 instead, which is a bit more expensive, but offers a more standard Intel processor and a more creator-focused feature set.

Read our full Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 review.

• ­Back to the top ⤴

Best Work-from-home Laptop

The MacBook Air M4 is a rare 5-star laptop; it's our current choice for the best laptop overall. However, when considering it for work, it takes a backseat to some of the more purpose-built business laptops. That's why it makes an excellent choice for a work-from-home laptop; as long as your business supports macOS, it's the ideal laptop for business and personal use.

In my review, I wrote, "It's an undeniable value that will give you years of excellent performance, even if you pick up the base model." I stand by that statement months later. We've seen strong competition over the last year, but the Air remains tough to beat for overall productivity performance.

The MacBook Air 13 M4 is more than a match for the latest Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processors, with only the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chips outperforming it in some tasks. While Qualcomm and Intel are finally putting up a fight in the battery life department, the Air M4 delivers almost 16 hours in our testing, so it's not something that you'll have to worry about.

Taking a closer look at performance, the Air 13 M4 easily outpaced strong competitors like the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x on Geekbench 6 (14,849 vs. 13,750) for multi-core performance while simultaneously offering over 4 hours of additional battery life. If you want more battery life than the Air M4, you'll need to look at the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6, which delivered over 21 hours in our testing.

One of the only knocks against the MacBook Air is that it only offers a pair of Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports along with the MagSafe charging port. If an HDMI or USB Type-A port is critical to your setup, you will need to pick up a USB-C hub or a docking station. If it's just the HMDI port or an SD card slot, you could also opt for the MacBook Pro 14 (M4, 2024), which adds both, along with a third Thunderbolt 4 port (sadly, still no USB-A).

See our full Apple MacBook 13-inch M4 review.

• ­Back to the top ⤴

Best for Travel

The MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo 2-in-1 is a small and stylish laptop, perfect if you are a frequent business traveler or have a long commute with your laptop daily; its 2.9-pound weight and almost 17-hour battery life may make it sparkle like a diamond in your eyes.

Our reviewer, Madeline Ricchiuto, says, "There are plenty of reasons to recommend the Summit 13 AI+ Evo. It offers almost 17-hours of battery life, dependable performance, a bright display, a satisfying keyboard, sturdy hinges, and it comes with 2TB of storage space and a stylus for just $1,599." That's high praise for a thin-and-light business laptop. Thankfully, it also boasts MIL-STD 810H certification for durability, meaning that if it encounters bumps, drops, cold, heat, and dust as it travels with you, it will continue to power up every time you need it.

The 13.3-inch display has a 16:10 aspect ratio, giving you 120 extra vertical pixels to work with compared to a typical 16:9 display, so you'll get a few extra rows of that spreadsheet or another paragraph of that report you're working on. The display is reasonably bright at 366 nits, which should be enough for most lighting conditions.

It won't replace your gaming laptop or video editing laptop, but performance is sufficient for productivity apps, web browsing, and most typical business applications with a score of 10,895 on the Geekbench 6 overall performance test. That only beats our budget pick, the Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 5 (8,000), but isn't far behind our top choice or the M3 MacBook Air. There's a performance trade-off for portability and battery life, but it's not a massive sacrifice.

Travelers will appreciate the port offerings on the Summit 13 AI+ Evo as a thin-and-light laptop often means scant connectivity options. The TravelMate gives you a full HDMI port, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB Type-A port, and a 3.5mm headphone/mic jack.

Finally, the Summit 13 features a bouncy and responsive Chiclet-style keyboard and a 4.7 x 2.3-inch trackpad. Again, this is a smaller laptop, so if you have large hands, it may feel cramped. You may at least want to consider picking up the best wireless mouse to free up a little space on the deck.

It won't be the perfect match for everyone, but if you are looking for the best business laptop for travel, the MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo 2-in-1 is the right choice in 2025.

See our full MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo A2VM review.

Best for graphic design

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 isn't the most powerful workstation in the world, but that's part of what makes it the best workstation for business users. Its Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and Nvidia RTX 1000 Ada Generation GPU offer solid workstation performance while retaining a reasonably portable form factor and excellent battery life.

Madeline Ricchiuto writes in our review, "While it may not be the most powerful workstation we’ve ever seen here at Laptop Mag, the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 has enough power and performance to handle photo and video editing, 3D rendering, or heavy data analysis you’d want out of a workstation machine."

It's a workstation, so performance can't be ignored. In our lab tests, the ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 has a Geekbench 6 multicore average of 12,974, a file transfer rate of 2,071 MBps, and it compressed a 4K video to a 1080p 30fps format in just 4 minutes and 22 seconds. Those metrics won't beat workstation powerhouses like the HP ZBook Studio 16 G10 or Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024), but it is well beyond the performance of the typical business laptop.

The ThinkPad's display reproduces 78.6% of the DCI-P3 color gamut with a Delta-E color accuracy of 0.29. It would be great to see the DCI-P3 somewhat higher, but the color accuracy is excellent and the more crucial metric for design work. The average brightness of 386 nits is enough to perform well in most lighting conditions.

I mentioned the excellent battery life, but to put a number to it, the ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 lasted 17 hours and 23 minutes on the Laptop Mag web surfing battery test. That's in the conversation with the laptops with the best battery life overall, let alone a workstation.

Now, if you see the retail price of $3,369, you may get scared off, but don't worry, it's virtually always heavily discounted to below $2,000. If you are a business user with high-performance needs, this is the workstation to buy.

See our full Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 review.

^Back to the top

• ­Back to the top ⤴

Benchmark comparisons

Recently Reviewed Laptops

Not every laptop can make the best business laptop page, we wouldn't be doing you that much good if that were the case. We review new laptops every week and over 100 laptops yearly, so here's a look at our most recently reviewed laptops that didn't make this page either due to a fault or simply because it isn't a business laptop.

• ­Back to the top ⤴

How To Choose a Business Laptop

Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing the right model of business laptop for you or your company.

• Do you need Intel vPro or AMD Pro? Many business laptops are available with CPUs that have Intel vPro technology, which lets a support person log in remotely, even if the computer can't boot. However, unless you have a large IT department and a huge fleet of laptops that you need the ability to service remotely, you probably won't use this feature.
• How fast do you need it to be? While the kind of blistering performance you need in a gaming laptop isn't necessary, business users don't want to be bogged down while multitasking. RAM is one concern here, opting for at least 16GB and 32GB isn't ridiculous if you are a power user who likes to keep numerous apps and browser tabs open. For your CPU, most will be fine with an Intel Core Ultra 5 or AMD Ryzen or higher. On the MacBook side, stick to the M3 or higher in 2025.
• Long battery life: Nobody wants to run out of juice in the middle of a long workday or a cross-country flight. Unless you're getting a giant workstation or a budget laptop, look for a laptop that gets at least 11 hours on a charge.
• The right ports: Nobody likes to carry a bag full of dongles. Consider which kinds of connections you or your employees will need the most. If you connect to a wired network a lot, make sure the laptop has an Ethernet port. If photography is a key part of the job, choose a laptop with a memory card reader. No matter what your needs are, a Thunderbolt 4 port is a huge advantage because it will allow you to connect to high-speed peripherals, universal chargers, and powerful laptop docking stations.
• A great keyboard: It almost goes without saying that every laptop should have a good keyboard. However, with business systems, a comfortable typing experience is even more important. Look for snappy feedback, deep travel and absolutely no flex.

• ­Back to the top ⤴

FAQs

• Q: What makes a good business laptop vs. a home laptop?
  A: While there is substantial overlap in the qualities that we look for in the best business laptops as opposed to simply the best laptops, security is one of the biggest features that separates them. We want a fast, reliable, and secure login method, whether it's a fingerprint reader or an IR camera, for Windows Hello support.
  
  Durability is another critical feature for a business laptop; your job may depend on your ability to bring this laptop everywhere with you, and not having it break down at an inopportune moment is mission-critical.
  
• Q: Why are business laptops so expensive?
  A: Some of this comes down to the two features referenced in the answer right above this one: security and durability. Business laptops often feature additional security features at a chip level that aren't included in consumer laptops, which drives up the costs and, in turn, the price. A more durable laptop means more robust components, and the added cost of those pricier parts is passed on to the business laptop buyer.
  
  Another factor to keep in mind is that while retail price listings for business laptops can often sound outlandish, this isn't typically the price you should expect to pay for them. Whether a business gets a discount for purchasing these laptops in bulk or you just have to wait for a discount, you should almost never be paying the original stated MSRP for a business laptop.

How We Test Business Laptops

Every business laptop that comes into our labs is put through extensive benchmark testing — both synthetic and real-world — before they are handed off to our reviewers. We evaluate each aspect of the laptop, including its performance, battery life, display, speakers, and heat management.

Those first two garner particularly high scrutiny for business laptops. Depending on your work, you may need a more vibrant or bright display, but everyone needs solid performance from their laptop to perform at their peak for work. Battery life isn't crucial to every worker, but it's vital for frequent travelers or if you have a long commute and depend on getting work done while making your way to and from the office.

For performance testing, we run the laptop through a gauntlet of benchmarks, including GeekBench 5 and 6 and 3DMark professional graphics tests. To determine real-world performance, we task the laptop to convert a 4K video to 1080p resolution and to duplicate a 25GB multimedia file.

Our battery test consists of continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. For MacBooks and premium Windows 11 laptops, a runtime of over 10 hours is considered a good result, but the latest generation of chips is driving that up, with the longest-lasting laptops now pushing to 16 hours and beyond.

For our display testing, we use a Klein K10 colorimeter to detect the brightness and DCI-P3 color gamut of the laptop's display. Unless you work with graphic design, photos, or video or just use your work laptop to watch content in your downtime, the color gamut likely isn't a big concern for you. Brightness, however, can be crucial if you work in less-than-optimal lighting conditions to ensure you can see your screen.

If you are a regular commuter or traveler, you should also pay careful attention to our heat tests. We play a 15-minute full-screen video and measure temperatures in different areas of the laptop. If you ever truly use your laptop in your lap, you don't want to see it get above our 95-degree comfort threshold in this test.

Following these tests, the laptop is given to our expert reviewers for extensive hands-on testing. Our reviewers will spend days using the laptop as part of their typical workflow to get a sense of the real-world performance and live with the laptop to come away with a thorough understanding of the hardware and software experience. This blended lab testing and hands-on approach allows us to offer you a clear and comprehensive view of every laptop that comes through Laptop Mag.

• ­Back to the top ⤴

Why Trust Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag reviews over a hundred different laptops every year, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field, as we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest in gaming.

We are 100% independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. In fact, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades, and we continue to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on.

Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it.

Our editorial trustworthiness is enforced by one of the world's largest technology publishers, Future Publishing. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.

• ­Back to the top ⤴

It's Memorial Day weekend, and the tech deals are not stopping. There are a lot of sales for laptops, but this one for the Acer Swift Go 14 is probably one of the best for those who want a powerful Windows laptop without spending much money.

B&H Photo has the Acer Swift Go 14 laptop with the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor for $599, which is the lowest price for this laptop we have ever seen. That's a savings of $400 off its $999 regular price. It's one of the best laptop deals you'll find this Memorial Day weekend.

This Acer Swift Go 14 with the Intel Core Ultra 7 processor offers top-tier performance at an affordable price. It also comes with a 14-inch 2.8K OLED display that produces excellent contrast and vivid colors, along with 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and 1TB SSD. Our review of the laptop considered it a great mix of performance and battery life, and at this price, one of the best budget laptops you can buy.

The Memorial Day sale will end Monday night for most retailers, so those interested in saving a lot of money on new tech will need to hurry.

Memorial Day Acer Swift Go 14 deal

One of our favorite creator laptops of 2024 is getting a refresh for a new year.

On Monday, at Computex in Taipei, Acer unveiled multiple refreshed laptop lines, including an updated Swift X 14 creator laptop in Intel and AMD variants.

The new Swift X 14 has been refreshed with the latest Intel and AMD CPUs and an Nvidia RTX 5070 laptop GPU.

While we loved the 2024 Swift X 14, we had difficulty verifying Acer's display claims in our own lab testing. These two new models feature Calman-verified, 100% DCI-P3 OLED displays, which should alleviate that pain point.

But what's actually new about the Swift X 14 (2025)?

Acer Swift X 14 (2025): Specs

Acer Swift X 14 (2025): Design

Acer has kept the Swift X 14's understated design for this generation, including the Titanium gray-colored aluminum chassis. However, the Swift X 14 no longer features a chrome-colored Acer badge on the lid.

Acer has also revamped the keyboard deck to feature a larger, oversized touchpad ideal for use with a stylus for better design control.

The new Swift X 14 is still a light and thin creator machine, but is a little thicker and heavier than the previous model. Measuring 12.69 x 8.95 x 0.38~0.71 inches and weighing 3.48-3.46 pounds, the Swift X 14 is still easily portable, but has a bit more overhead for better leverage over its powerful CPU and GPU combinations.

Acer Swift X 14 (2025): Battery life

Featuring an Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU with Nvidia's new BatteryBoost technology, plus the power-efficient AMD Ryzen AI 300 or Intel Core Ultra 200H chipsets, the Acer Swift X 14 should get better battery life than previous creator laptops with discrete GPUs.

However, most laptops with a discrete GPU will experience a decrease in power efficiency due to the demands of the high-end graphics card.

That said, the previous Swift X 14 model with an Intel Core Ultra 185H and Nvidia RTX 4070 lasted 7 hours and 33 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test. If the 2025 models can beat that battery life, it could make the Swift X 14 one of our longest-lasting creator laptops.

Acer Swift X 14 (2025): Display

The Acer Swift X 14 features a 14.5-inch, 2880 x 1800 OLED display. This panel is similar to the one we saw on the previous Swift X 14, with Calman verification and a rating of 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut.

While Acer only showed the Swift X 14 with a one-page fact sheet on display, the panel is bright and vibrant, which is ideal for a content creation machine.

Acer Swift X 14 (2025): Performance and graphics

Intel's Core Ultra 200H series and the AMD Ryzen AI 300 series are powerful CPUs, and Nvidia's RTX 50 series are powerful graphics cards with strong, AI-powered software scaling for enhanced performance.

We haven't seen any RTX 50-series cards in creator laptops yet, but Nvidia has refreshed its studio drivers for the GeForce RTX graphics lineup for enhanced performance in content creation workloads.

Because we haven't reviewed an RTX 50-series creator laptop yet, we can't quite confirm any early expectations for the performance and graphics capabilities. However, based on our experience with the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 gaming laptops so far, there's definitely reason to be optimistic about these new Swift X 14 laptops.

Acer Swift X 14 (2025): What's next

Acer will launch the Swift X 14 (2025) and Swift X 14 AI (2025) in July in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, with a starting price of €1,799.

Due to constantly shifting US foreign tariffs, Acer has not yet published pricing or release dates for North America.

But, when the Swift X 14 models become available in the US, you can bet we'll be angling to get it into our labs and see if the Swift X 14 (2025) has a place among the best workstation laptops.

More from Laptop Mag

• The HP ZBook Ultra outperforms the MacBook Pro in key areas, but it comes at a price
• Acer's ultra-portable Predator Triton 14 AI gaming laptop could be the coolest thing at Computex
• Unveiled at Computex, HP's new OmniBook 5 could be the next battery life champ

Acer on Friday unveiled an impressive suite of six new Aspire laptops, but an Acer rep tells Laptop Mag that tariffs are among the reasons why they haven’t been priced or made available in the United States yet.

Six new AI PCs — all capable of running the generative AI service Microsoft CoPilot+ — made their debut ahead of Computex, the annual tech industry summit in Taipei that starts next week.

The Aspire range has long been recognized as filled with everyday-quality get-it-done devices. The new laptops, made of lightweight aluminum and boasting powerful processors, come in the popular 14" and 16" sizes. They will be available in Europe and Australia starting in June.

When asked if tariffs had any role in the delay of these laptops arriving in the US and their prices, an Acer rep told Laptop Mag on Friday:

“The pricing impact of the tariffs will vary based on the country where each product is manufactured, the date the product arrives in the U.S., ongoing negotiations with major retailers as well as commercial and education customers, and various other factors.

"Due to this, we are refraining from disclosing U.S./North American pricing for future products and instead, will announce pricing, availability, and configurations closer to market availability in the United States/North America.”

About the new Acer Aspire AI laptops

The six laptops are divided into three categories — those with processors from Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm —and each category offers a 14” and 16” version. Most share a similar price range: between €899 and €999 for the 14” models and between €999 and €1,099 for the 16” models.

A key difference does crop up in display, though. Perhaps to keep the price similar to Intel and AMD models, the Aspire with a Snapdragon X processor doesn’t have an OLED screen — that model has IPS tech instead.

All laptops are expected to go on sale in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa this summer, and this fall in Australia. Notably, the United States and other North American countries are left off the news release.

Tariffs: Acer CEO says customers will pay. The White House says that's "silly."

In February, Acer CEO Jason Chen said that the company had to adjust prices to reflect the tariffs put on goods made in China. In an interview with The Telegraph, Chen said, "We think 10% probably will have to be the default price increase because of the import tax. It's very straightforward."

To borrow a phrase from an earlier political era, U.S. President Donald Trump has been flip-flopping on tariff threats since he began to face pressure over them.

On Friday, Axios reported that Trump said the U.S. will unilaterally set tariff rates in the next few weeks.

Trump has previously walked back tariff threats after the global economy went into a tailspin and stocks sank.

In an interview with CNN earlier this month, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that "We do expect a 10% baseline tariff to be in place for the foreseeable future — but don't buy the silly arguments that the U.S. consumer pays."

Lutnick said then, “The businesses and the countries primarily eat the tariff.” However, that directly contradicts what Acer CEO Chen has said.

Trump’s plan on a tariff rollout has been uncertain above anything else. What is certain is that new Aspire laptops don’t appear to be going on sale in the US anytime soon.

Dig into the specs on these impressive new laptops below — and once they go on sale in the U.S., Laptop will be sure to report the news.

More from Laptop Mag

• Did Tim Cook orchestrate Apple’s tariff break? What we know
• Tariffs and TSMC delays could turn Apple into an Intel Foundry customer
• Jensen Huang says Nvidia will 'continue serving the Chinese market' despite tariffs

Intel's Core Ultra 200V Lunar Lake chipsets were announced last year for ultrathin and light systems. They are intended for use mostly in AI PCs and the MSI Claw 8 AI+ handheld.

These mobile processors weren't expected ever to hit the mainstream gaming laptop market, and Laptop Mag was almost certain you couldn't connect a discrete GPU to the chip.

But as they say, life finds a way.

Acer has managed to connect a discrete Nvidia RTX 50-series gaming GPU to Intel's Lunar Lake to create the Triton 14 AI ultra-portable gaming laptop.

The ultra-slim, ultra-light Triton 14 AI is intended for gaming and content creation, and based on Laptop Mag's recent hands-on demo, it just might be the coolest thing announced for Computex in Taipei next week.

But other than an interesting chip combo, what makes the Triton 14 AI so unique?

Acer Predator Triton 14 AI: Specs

Acer Predator Triton 14 AI: Design

The Triton 14 AI is a slim laptop, measuring just 0.68 inches thick. While not the thinnest laptop we've ever seen with a discrete GPU under the hood, it is incredibly slim for a 14-inch laptop. And at just 3.52 pounds, it'll fit in just about any backpack or laptop bag you own, making it super portable.

Acer managed to slim down the Triton 14 to just 0.68 inches thanks to a combination of ultra-thin sixth-gen AeroBlade fans, a graphene thermal interface, and a new vapor chamber to keep the Triton slim and cool under pressure.

Acer has opted for a fun, steel blue colorway on the Triton 14 AI, which sets it apart from the other black and silver gaming laptops on the market.

The Triton 14 AI has an anti-fingerprint coating to keep it looking sleek even after hours of use.

Acer Predator Triton 14 AI: Battery life

Acer has packed a 76Whr battery in the Triton 14 AI. Because Intel's Core Ultra 200V Lunar Lake chips are super power efficient, the Triton should have good battery life when surfing the web or even when gaming.

While we expect battery life to take a bit of a hit due to the discrete Nvidia GPU and OLED display panel, the Triton 14 AI could easily last for 8+ hours of web surfing on battery thanks to its ultra-efficient CPU.

We have already seen the benefits of an AI PC chip powering a gaming laptop this year, thanks to the Razer Blade 16 (2025). As the Triton 14 AI is a similar combo, just with an Intel CPU instead, it could end up nipping the Asus TUF Gaming A14 off our list as the gaming laptop with the best battery life.

Acer Predator Triton 14 AI: Display

Acer has outfitted the Triton 14 AI with a 14.5-inch, 2880 x 1800, 120Hz OLED panel rated for 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut and sporting Calman verification.

From what we've seen so far, this display looks great and has the potential to be a great tool for content creators.

We saw a similar display on the Acer Swift X 14 (2024) last year. While our lab testing couldn't verify the 100% DCI-P3 rating, the display looked crisp and gorgeous in our hands-on testing.

If Acer is using the same display or a similar OLED panel on the Triton 14 AI, it's guaranteed to be a great option for content creators or for gamers who really want an immersive, cinematic gaming experience.

Acer Predator Triton 14 AI: Performance and graphics

Intel's Lunar Lake platform is not the beefiest Intel CPU out there, that would have to go to the Core Ultra 200HX Arrow Lake chipset.

However, Lunar Lake is certainly powerful enough to handle web browsing, spreadsheet management, video calls, and some light Photoshop work without breaking a sweat. The Lunar Lake integrated GPU is also pretty good for gaming in 1080p at Medium settings.

Combined with a discrete Nvidia RTX 50-series GPU, and it should get even better graphics power for a smoother gaming experience. While we haven't reviewed an RTX 5070 laptop just yet, if it's anything like the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 laptops, it'll have some decent silicon power and all the advantages of Nvidia's new DLSS 4 technology to provide smooth, high framerates in even the most demanding games.

Acer Predator Triton 14 AI: What's next

Acer will launch the Triton 14 AI in July in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, with a starting price of €2,999.

Due to constantly shifting US foreign tariffs, Acer has not yet published pricing or release dates for North America.

But, when the Triton 14 AI becomes available in the US, you can bet we'll be angling to get it into our labs and put this Lunar Lake/Nvidia hybrid to the test.

More from Laptop Mag

• Computex showdown: Nvidia & MediaTek tipped to steal Windows-on-Arm spotlight
• Play 'FBC: Firebreak' first, if your laptop can handle a return to Control's Oldest House
• What links GTA 6, Cyberpunk 2077, and Baldur's Gate 3? They could all be at risk of being banned.

I developed a love-hate relationship with Chromebooks a couple years after I started teaching; ChromeOS severely limits what programs I use to teach my interactive fiction class, but when the pandemic pushed us into distance learning, those Chromebooks gave my students without their own laptops the opportunity to attend class and keep up with assignments.

Two years later, when we were back in the classroom, those same Chromebooks were still useful in a pinch, but they had already started to show their age, which is why I wish I could wave a magic wand and replace them all with the Acer Chromebook Spin 312.

At a glance, it looks like a Windows laptop compared to the now seven-year-old Chromebooks I have in my classroom. Its keyboard, touchpad, and hardware components are all major upgrades, and I know my students would recognize and appreciate them. But our aging Chromebooks came into our classrooms during a literal crisis, likely with the help of federal emergency funds.

Who knows when my school — or any school — will have the funds to upgrade, but here’s why I’ll shout my recommendation for the Spin 312 for as long as it’s still around.

Out with the old

All of my school’s 2,200 Chromebooks — enough for every individual student — are Dell Chromebook 11 5190 laptops. With a price tag around $339, it came with an Intel Celeron N3450 (1.1GHz), 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of eMMC storage. My school opted for the clamshell form factor instead of the 2-in-1, but it did splurge for the touchscreen version.

Laptop Mag reviewed the Dell Chromebook 5190 shortly after its release in early 2018, and seven years later, I can attest to their durability. They've been knocked off desks and slammed into their charging carts, and yet most have only a few scraps or dings. But with each passing school year, I see fewer students grab one out of the cart when it's time to write, pulling their own out of their backpack instead. My students who do need to use one of the Chromebooks will sometimes come to me for tech support.

I've been asked to troubleshoot frozen laptops, ones that won't turn on even after being charged, that have run out of storage space, and that are running too slow. Aside from telling those students to grab another Chromebook or to close a bunch of browser tabs, there's not much I can do aside from flag the issues with the IT department. (Those moments are especially distressing when one of my students asks for help recovering their work.)

The other issue is the aging ChromeOS operating system itself. How long will Google keep rolling out long-term support updates for these devices? According to the company's auto update policy, the school's Chromebooks will receive automatic updates until June 2027. After that, the school will need to opt in to receive extended updates, assuming it still makes sense to keep most of those Chromebooks around.

In with the new

For $450, the Acer Chromebook Spin 312 I recently reviewed comes with an Intel Core i3-N305 (3.80GHz), 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of eMMC storage. Like the Dell Chromebook, it features a touchscreen, but it’s a 2-in-1.

Comparing both laptops side by side is a trip: my eyes were the only testing equipment I needed to see that the Acer Chromebook boots up noticeably faster. With twice the amount of RAM and a much faster processor, it can handle more open Chrome browser tabs, and switching between them happens in the blink of an eye instead of a slow second.

The increase in storage space is the most crucial. Since these laptops stay in the classroom, multiple students use them throughout the day in every class, downloading assignments, reading material, and whatever else they need for that class period. (Can't forget about website data and browsing activity, either!) They save a surprising amount of data to the local storage, which fills up quickly.

This can be especially problematic if the school IT department partitioned the local storage in anticipation of the greatest number of separate users, or for a recovery image of ChromeOS. (Possibly both!)

Will the Chromebook frenzy continue?

With federal emergency funds for schools now exhausted, schools will need to figure out a way to fit new Chromebooks into their budget, or make the ones they have last as long as they can. These devices didn't solve all the problems distance learning presented, but they were the least expensive technological solution for getting through it.

There is one silver lining if schools opt to purchase new Chromebooks: they're still some of the best laptops for students on a budget, and their overall quality has improved drastically since the Dell Chromebook 11 5190.

Windows laptops are getting cheaper, and while I wish my school provided something like the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 Gen 7 to our students, the cost of the Acer Chromebook Spin 312 makes it a better option. Especially if my school buys 2,200 of them.

As a teacher, I see Chromebooks all the time. My school put a cart of them in my classroom over five years ago, and the Acer Chromebook Spin 312 is a great example of how much they have changed for the better over a short time.

What the Acer Chromebook Spin 312 offers in terms of hardware and features is balanced nicely against its price of $450, and that's when it's not on sale. While it does stick you with a mediocre keyboard and audio, its sturdy build and smooth trackpad make traveling and browsing a breeze.

It's enough to make it a strong contender for our best laptops under $500 and best Chromebooks. Let’s find out where it lands.

Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Specs and benchmarks

Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Price and configurations

The Acer Chromebook Spin 312 comes in only one configuration, for $450 (and Laptop Mag has already seen it on sale for closer to $300): an Intel Core i3-N305, Intel UHD integrated graphics, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 12.2-inch, 1920 x 1200 IPS touch display.

Compared to some of the other best Chromebooks we've recently reviewed, the Spin 312 is neither the fastest nor the cheapest, but it stands out in its own lane once you start digging into nitty-gritty details.

See also: Best Chromebook deals

Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Design

When I hear "12.2-inch laptop," my mind immediately flashes back to the late 2000s netbook era. I wasn't a fan of tiny laptop screens then, and I'm less so now. But it's hard to tell that the Spin 312's screen is that small because the display bezels are flush with the screen. They're thicker than what you'd normally see on a more expensive laptop, but they're unobtrusive.

The rest of the Spin 312 is simple, understated: neat lines meeting at slightly rounded corners across a light silver colorway. The understated design works in its favor, even with a 0.78-inch-thick chassis, making this 2.84-pound, $450 Chromebook look more expensive.

The 4.0 x 2.25-inch trackpad is too small for my preference, and it’s off-center with the keyboard (yet centered with the bottom chassis). But even though part of my right wrist covers the trackpad's top right corner when I type, it doesn't accidentally trigger the cursor, an issue I've come across every so often.

The Spin 312 comes in at 2.84 pounds and 11.41 x 8.10 x 0.78 inches.

Here's how it compares to other Chromebook competitors:

• Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE — 14 x 9.8 x 0.84 inches, 3.7 pounds
• Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus — 8.89 x 13.9 inches, 2.45 pounds
• Lenovo Chromebook Duet 11 Gen 9 — 10.05 x 6.57 x 0.3 inches, 2.08 pounds (with case), 1.12 pounds (tablet only)

Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Ports

A lot of little things make me happy in life, like seeing a budget laptop equipped with essential ports.

• 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 (with Display support)
• 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1
• 1x HDMI
• Audio/mic combo

If all that still isn't enough for all your peripherals, check out our recommendations for the best USB Type-C hubs and best laptop docking stations.

Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Battery life

Battery life can be a toss up when it comes to Chromebooks, but Acer's Spin 312 made it through 10 hours and 33 minutes of our battery rundown test. While there are laptops that can last much longer, that's still above an ideal minimum as far as productivity machines go.

Outside of our lab, I used the laptop a few hours a day for a little over a week. Even with the brightness set between 200 to 250 nits and the computer balancing my horde of Chrome browser tabs like an Olympic gymnast, I needed to charge it only every other day.

Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Display

The Spin 312's 12.2-inch, 1920 x 1200, 60Hz touchscreen produces richer, bolder colors than the average laptop with an IPS panel, and Laptop Mag has tested some truly dreadful ones.

It captured every dark and moody or neon-lit scene in Beetlejuice 2 with clarity and vibrance. Just look at the sun reflecting off Winona Ryder’s hair! Even though our tests showed abysmally low color gamut coverage, the Chromebook's 12.2-inch display didn't make watching that movie any less of a treat.

However, its display features much more gloss and sheen than the average matte IPS panel. So, like with an OLED display, you'll probably see your reflection while watching a movie. But unlike OLED, this is much dimmer. The panel brightness reaches a maximum of 277 nits according to our tests, and as you can probably see in the photograph above, that isn't nearly enough to stop the display from casting dark shadows of objects in your house over a tense, scary scene.

Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Keyboard and touchpad

For me, there's usually one thing that can make or break a laptop: the keyboard. I've been let down by trackpads, too, but I'm particular about keyboards. Part of it comes down to my tiny hands. With a small laptop like the Spin 312, however, my fingertips don't need to travel far to reach all the keys. My wrists lay flat on either side of the trackpad, too.

What weirded me out was the feel of the keys. They feature good travel and a pleasant, clacky sound (if they forcefully hit the bottom of the keyboard), but the switches are on the softer side (a bit like gently pressing into Jello), which accentuates the thinness and hollowness of the plastic keycaps. This made typing feel clicky and squishy. It was an odd sensation.

However, for a Chromebook, the trackpad feels like it should be on a more expensive laptop, and it actually is! Acer includes its OceanGlass trackpad (recycled from ocean-bound plastic) in many of its other laptop models in addition to the Spin 312. Even though it is plastic, the surface feels more like a glossy new book cover. It's one of the few trackpads out there that hasn't made my fingers skip over the surface.

Clicking on the trackpad itself requires significantly more force compared to the keyboard, but it responds quickly to taps and swipes.

Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Audio

Over the last six years, I can count the number of times I've encountered a laptop with speakers that could rival its display on one hand. Those laptops are a rare breed, so I wasn't surprised that the Spin 312's bottom-firing speakers didn’t have the oomph to match the display. It's a budget Chromebook, after all.

Listening to Trollfest, a folk metal band from Norway, I saw live a few weeks ago, was a night and day experience. (And there was no conga line.) Aside from a lead electric guitar, the rest of the instruments sounded far away and muddled, and there was virtually no bass. That's not to say the audio is outright terrible. The vocals sounded clear and crisp.

If you want audio quality that can match or surpass the display quality, you'll definitely want a pair of the best headphones.

Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Performance and heat

With an operating system designed to handle productivity tasks in the cloud and lightweight apps, the Acer Chromebook Spin 312 doesn't need the latest and greatest hardware. Its Intel Core i3-N305 processor and 8GB of RAM handled a fair amount, but having too many tabs open at once will slow it down. It started to grow sluggish once I surpassed two dozen Chrome tabs.

But you shouldn't have to worry about the Spin 312 getting literally too hot to handle. (Important for a convertible laptop!) Our tests showed its hottest point, above the settings button on the keyboard reached 91.5 degrees, which is below our 95-degree comfort threshold. The rest of the laptop fluctuated between 77 and 85 degrees, and yes, I did leave it on my lap for a solid 20 minutes while watching Beetlejuice 2. I didn't feel the slightest bit of discomfort, even on my bare skin.

Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Gaming and graphics

While we have rounded up the best Chromebook games, if you want to do more than casual gaming, you should check out our best gaming laptops. Chromebooks are not made for gaming (despite the marketing around the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE). They don't have the hardware or a robust operating system capable of handling the demands of PC games.

That said, a strong and stable wireless internet connection is all you need to play PC games in the cloud via your browser or a standalone app like Nvidia GeForce Now. Games don't perform as well as they do on a local machine because it takes longer for a remote server to register your inputs, but the Spin 312 sports good enough specs to make cloud gaming on a Chromebook feel almost like a gaming laptop, just steer clear of any fast-twitch games.

Acer Chromebook Spin 312: AI features

At purchase, users get access to Google's advanced AI features like Gemini 1.5 Pro and Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental, expanded access to Deep Research, integration with Google Workspace, and 2TB of cloud storage space for 3 months at no cost.

But there are no Acer-branded AI features.

Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Webcam

The Spin 312's built-in 1080p webcam is serviceable but not great.

In my living room, under two large recessed ceiling lights, video grain obscured the texture of my skin like a home movie from the 1980s. All the colors around me appeared muted, too, even the brown TV box wedged between my couch and the wall. Anyone would still be able to recognize me on camera, but the video quality isn't great in low light.

The webcam fared much better when the same room was well-lit by natural sunlight. Colors popped a bit more, and the grain was less noticeable. If looking good on your video calls is important, you may want to invest in one of the best webcams.

Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Software and warranty

Aside from one or two Google-specific apps like Chrome Canvas, the Spin 312 is blessedly free of bloatware. Since it's designed for personal cloud computing, you simply sign into the Chromebook with your Gmail account the first time you start it up for easy access to your Gmail, Drive files, and other Google services.

Warranty coverage lasts a full year (12 months) and applies to material defects or other issues under normal use. It also includes free tech support.

Bottom line

Chromebooks are the no-muss-no-fuss of laptops, and Acer's Chromebook Spin 312 is no exception. It's easy to set up and easy to use, especially with its quality display, sturdy build, and affordable price. However, I’m not crazy about the keyboard or speakers.

If you want something with a better keyboard, take a look at the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i or Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714. They're more expensive, but they feature larger displays and faster processors. The Spin 714 also has top-firing speakers, so its audio quality is way better.

Despite that, the Spin 312’s downsides are small compared with what you get. If you need a computer for the basics like web browsing, productivity work, and watching the occasional video, this one's easy to recommend.

Acer's newest Nitro gaming laptops are here, with a couple of major upgrades to performance and size.

If you're a fan of the Nitro series, in the market for a new gaming laptop, and short on space to house a full-size gaming rig or a beefier laptop, here's everything you need to know.

Acer Nitro 18 AI and Nitro 16S AI gaming laptops

Acer's new gaming laptops, announced on Tuesday, come in two flavors: The Nitro 18 AI and the 16 AI and 16S AI. There's also an updated Nitro 20 desktop.

According to Acer, the Nitro 18 AI comes with an 18-inch WQXGA (Wide Quad Extended Graphics Array) panel with up to 2560 x 1600 resolution, a 165Hz refresh rate, and 100% DCI-P3 color gamut.

Both the Nitro 16 AI and slimmer Nitro 16S AI come with WQXGA displays, a faster 180Hz refresh rate, and 400 nits of peak brightness.

The Nitro 16S AI and Nitro V 16S AI come with what Acer is calling "a modern and slim design" that measures less than 19.9mm thin and comes with a metal chassis.

According to Acer, the new additions to the Acer Nitro AI series come with an 18-inch and a 16-inch option.

All of the new laptops are Copilot+ PCs and can be configured with up to AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 processors.

Notably, the new laptops are all equipped with up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPUs.

Nitro AI devices come with up to 32GB of DDR5 dual memory and PCIe Gen 4 SSDs as big as 2 TB.

All Nitro AI laptops are Copilot+ PCs and come with an AMD RyzenAI 300 processor as well as Nvidia's GeForce RTX 50-series GPUs.

And there's the Acer Nitro 20 desktop

If gaming laptops aren't your thing, Acer also has a desktop incoming that is designed to be "budget-friendly."

According to Acer, the Nitro 20 desktop comes with up to an AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 processor, which is based on the new “Zen 5” architecture.

That should make it ideal for low power consumption and responsive gaming. It also includes an Intel Core i5-13420H desktop processor option.

The desktop is 15 liters and has a power button that's integrated with a fingerprint sensor.

It also comes with Wi-Fi 6E and LAN for speedy network connections and a generous offering of nine different USB Type-C and Type-A ports in the front and back.

The Nitro 20 will be available in Europe starting in July at a price of €899. There's no current U.S. pricing or availability.

Nitro 16 gaming laptop release date and pricing

If any of Acer's laptop upgrades appeal to you, Acer says they'll be available in the summer.

The Nitro 18 AI will be available in Europe starting in August, though there's no U.S. pricing yet. Acer says it will start at €1,499.

The Nitro 16 AI, on the other hand, will be available in North America starting in Q3. Likewise, there is no U.S. pricing or retailers yet, but European pricing starts at €1.399.

As for the Nitro 16S AI, Acer says it will be available in Europe this July and start at €1,399. Like the others, there is no U.S. availability and pricing yet.

Finally, the Nitro V 16S AI will be available in North America in Q3 and in Europe starting in August at a debut price of €1,299, with U.S. availability and pricing to be announced later.

More from Laptop Mag

• How AMD's new FSR 4 tech could be the handheld gaming PC upgrade we've been waiting for
• Nvidia's Jensen Huang has some strong words for DeepSeek — and they're probably not what you think
• Some classic games may run worse on RTX 50-series gaming laptops — Here's why

Chromebooks in the early 2010s weren’t something I would have recommended, but it has been over a decade, and the best Chromebooks are stronger than ever.

While in no way can these Chromebooks compete with the best Windows laptops in raw performance, there are perks of using them that simply make your life convenient.

When I first switched to a Chromebook back in 2017, my initial experience was pretty lackluster. Since I have been used to Windows OS and loved how I used to carry out tasks on my laptop for two decades, I never took the time to learn how many great utilities a Chromebook can offer.

A Chromebook isn’t just a cost-effective solution that you would want to invest in for the short term for just browsing the internet but something that you could look up to for several years for various types of work.

It can be one of your most rewarding investments, whether you are a student or someone who does lots of office work on your commute or even in the office.

Here are some of the reasons why downgrading to a Chromebook changed my life for good.

Gets most of the job done without needing dedicated applications

For those who aren’t familiar, Chromebooks run on ChromeOS and it’s a browser-based operating system that works just as you would expect it to run on a regular computer.

Therefore, Chromebooks cannot run Windows applications such as .exe files but since many Chromebooks can run Android applications out of the box, there is hardly anything you can’t do, except for intensive stuff regular Windows PC excels at.

From opening sheets to video editing, there are dedicated apps you can run on your Chromebook and do whatever you would be able to do on a regular laptop. At first, I was confused as to how I was supposed to run the classic Adobe Photoshop for my photo editing tasks or run my offline videos.

Just a quick search helped me learn that Adobe Photoshop does work on the web (available in the form of Photoshop Express), and although there are some limitations, it gets most of the job done.

Similarly, I could play my videos on the VLC media player in the browser itself. However, this isn't a concern you would be dealing with in the very beginning but getting used to the Chrome browser is the real challenge.

Imagine opening Chrome for everything; it might seem tedious at first, but when you organize everything in one place, you will be able to access all your apps faster and from a single place.

There are endless possibilities on Chromebooks if you try to step out of your comfort zone for a few days to learn the most used tools and utilities.

Technically, it’s possible to run it like a regular PC

Interestingly, you can run many traditional Windows-like apps on a Chromebook as well. Even though the app stack for ChromeOS is quite enormous, some users would like to leverage its full potential.

Thankfully, Chromebooks allow you to install Linux-based operating systems.

Chromebooks have the option to install Linux apps using the built-in Linux development environment called Crostini, but you can always install a full Linux distribution such as Ubuntu using Crouton, although the latter may be complex for beginners and isn’t recommended for everyone due to warranty-related issues.

Even though we aren’t here to compare the advantages or limitations of Linux over Windows, recent Linux developments have been significant, closing the gap between the two drastically.

Still, do keep in mind that the hardware limitations of Chromebooks won’t allow you to crunch large numbers or perform heavy 3D rendering since Chromebooks lack dedicated GPUs and offer entry-level specs.

There isn’t much storage as well but you can save everything on your favorite cloud platform or external storage just in case you want to secure larger files.

Gaming? Yes, you can install Steam

Don’t expect a Chromebook to run Cyberpunk 2077, but you can certainly play light games from your Steam Library.

Chromebooks are known for their limited gaming capability, and yes, even though you can play the Android games flawlessly from the Play Store, running Steam isn’t impossible on the device, assuming your Chromebook qualifies for it.

Unless you are buying a $150 Chromebook with an Intel Celeron, you are good to go even with a Core i3 processor.

Surely, it won’t be an ‘amazing’ gaming experience on entry-level hardware, but at least you will be able to run quite a lot of games from the vast Steam library. Moreover, there are emulators out there that can run iconic games from the PSP and NES era.

Still, just in case you want to enjoy your triple-A titles, you can subscribe to cloud gaming services such as GeForce Now, Amazon Luna, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

Cloud gaming hardly costs $10-$20 a month but gives you access to thousands of games, all running smoothly on your system since the entire load is on the server running the games. All you need is a reliable and fast internet connection, and you are good to go.

So lightweight that you won’t feel it in your backpack

Since Chromebooks don’t need a lot of horsepower, they often ship with smaller and lighter chassis than their Windows counterparts. For similar specs, they are cheaper, lighter, and highly portable.

Most Chromebooks tend to bring a screen size between 11 and 14 inches while traditional Windows laptops bring 13-17-inch screen sizes, bigger keyboards, and larger chassis.

They aren’t only bigger in footprint than Chromebooks, but traditional Windows laptops can weigh nearly 6 pounds. Still, considering such laptops also come with dedicated graphics cards, the ones that don’t also usually weigh between 3-4 pounds easily.

Chromebooks, on the other hand, are hardly two to four pounds, making them easier to carry in your backpack.

My personal experience would always compel me to carry my Chromebook for work instead of my heavier laptop.

Since I hardly play games outside, the Chromebook has always proved to be more convenient for executing tasks quicker and delivering better productivity.

A touchscreen for just $300 — and more!

Try finding a touchscreen Windows laptop for $299, and you will hardly find one even at $400, while you can have this handy feature even on a $344 Chromebook like Acer Chromebook Plus 514.

Touchscreens are one of the best ways to increase productivity, and when you learn how to manage tasks together with the keyboard, you become unstoppable.

Amazingly, not just a touchscreen but a high-quality IPS full HD display is common for sub-$250 Chromebooks, which is rare on Windows laptops. For almost half the price, Chromebooks also offer modern connectivity like WiFi 6E, fast SSD storage, and up to 8 GB RAM in most cases, which is everything you would want for your daily use.

In a nutshell, Chromebooks may appear weaker due to a less versatile OS and weaker hardware, but these are often sufficient for the masses, only if users can understand how to leverage their full potential.

Chromebooks may have had a bad reputation a decade ago, but things have changed remarkably. Of course, there are several areas where Chromebooks need improvements but in their current state, no one can deny their dominance in the entry-level market that wouldn’t be possible with Windows-based laptops.

More from Laptop Mag

• Best Chromebooks in 2025: 5 top picks tested and reviewed
• HP Chromebook Plus 14a review
• Acer Chromebook Plus 515 review

Business laptops and Chromebooks are often more expensive than their consumer-level peers.

The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 and Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 are a perfect example, as the consumer Chromebook is $399 compared to the $719 starting price of the Enterprise edition.

For large companies that order fleets of laptops by the hundreds, the individual prices of enterprise laptops often do not reflect what a business actually pays. This is partly because corporations commit to multi-year agreements to use a single manufacturer for all their IT devices, thus getting a bulk discount.

Enterprise-level corporations are companies with 1,000 employees or more, but enterprise devices are a significant expense for smaller businesses still wanting enterprise-level security and IT management features.

See also: Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 (2024) review: Is Chrome Enterprise worth the cost?

There are ways to get some enterprise-level security and IT management features without extra fees.

Google's Chrome Enterprise browser is a free download with enhanced Chrome Enterprise features available on the free Enterprise Core tier. So you can turn any budget Chromebook or laptop into a business device.

What is Chrome Enterprise?

Chrome Enterprise is a version of Google's browser that offers enhanced IT deployment and security features over the standard version of Chrome.

Chrome Enterprise allows IT departments to streamline software rollout, simplify operations, and drop-ship devices to teams across different operating systems, regions, and time zones. It also has increased security to limit exposure to attacks and data breaches.

IT departments can manage employee Chrome Enterprise profiles and access various management and insight features at the free Enterprise Core level. Chrome Enterprise features many of the same AI features, like "help me read" and "help me write," as the consumer version of Chrome.

Enhanced security features like data loss prevention, malware deep scanning, and context-aware access control are locked behind the Chrome Enterprise Premium paid tier. Chrome Enterprise Premium costs $6 per user, per month.

Is a consumer Chromebook better than an Enterprise Chromebook?

You can get consumer-level Chromebooks and laptops with increased security features like a fingerprint scanner or an IR webcam that can be used for secure sign-in.

Hardware-based security solutions, such as a trusted platform module (TPM) or an Enterprise chipset like the Ryzen Pro or Intel vPro lines, usually distinguish enterprise laptops or Chromebooks from consumer devices.

However, if those devices are out of your budget range, software solutions like Google's Chrome Enterprise suite can help fill some security gaps.

If your small business has only a handful of employees who can work entirely in the Google suite or with ChromeOS applications, opting for a powerful consumer option like the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus with Chrome Enterprise Core may be a more budget-friendly solution.

If your company has a bring-your-own-device policy, you might be able to use the Galaxy Chromebook Plus as your business laptop at a larger corporation.

Bottom line

Enterprise devices are often priced out of the range of small businesses or individual buyers. There are, of course, some exceptions like MSI's Prestige 13 AI+ Evo and HP's Elitebook Ultra G1q, which are priced more competitively with similarly specced consumer laptops.

But most enterprise devices see a massive upcharge compared to consumer-level versions. The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 and Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 are perfect examples of this. The Chromebook Plus 515 starts at $399, while the Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 starts at $719. Granted, the consumer version is running on older Intel hardware, but upgrading from a 12th Gen i3 to an Intel Core 3 (14th gen) chipset doesn't justify the $300 difference.

Notably, the Chromebook Plus Enterprise does not have a TPM or Intel vPro edition processor with increased hardware security.

So, if you have the option to save a bit of money, it's well worth it to go for the consumer version and just install Chrome Enterprise. Or opt for the slightly less economical but significantly more powerful Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus.

More from Laptop Mag

• 9 best Chromebook deals in February 2025
• "MediaTek is the number one provider of Arm-based Chromebooks": Adam King unpacks on the Chromebook boom
• Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE review: Did the gaming Chromebook level up?

Chromebooks aren't the ideal choice for all businesses, but for companies that utilize the Google software suite, the Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 may not be a bad option.

Acer has two models of the Chromebook Plus 515, one designed for business and one intended for general consumers. The primary difference between the two Chromebooks is pricing and the Chrome Enterprise software.

Along with enhanced security and IT controls, the Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 offers reliable Intel Core 3 100U performance, a decent selection of ports, and a solid webcam. But it suffers from a dim, lifeless display, mushy keyboard, and tinny audio.

Can the advantages of the Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 offset those shortcomings enough to land on our Best Chromebooks page?

Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 (2024): Specs and benchmarks

Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 (2024): Price and configurations

There are multiple configuration options for the Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515, and we reviewed the entry-level configuration. For $719, you get an Intel Core 3 100U processor with integrated Intel Graphics, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080 IPS display.

For $879 you can upgrade to the Intel Core 5 120U for faster performance, and $939 will get you the upgraded Core 5 120U processor and a memory upgrade to 16GB. The high-end spec of the Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 costs $1,099 for an Intel Core 7 150U processor with 16GB of memory.

Our review model featured the entry-level Intel Core Ultra 3 100U processor, 8GB of memory, a 256GB SSD, and the upgraded IPS touchscreen display, which costs $769.

See also: Turn your Chromebook into a business laptop, for free

The Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 isn’t exorbitantly expensive for an Enterprise laptop, but it is pretty pricey for a Chromebook. The starting configurations feature budget Intel Core 3 100U processors, but cost over $700, which is a bit much. Most consumer Chromebook Plus laptops cost between $500 and $600.

That said, enterprise-level laptops are often sold en masse to employers and laptop makers offer deep discounts to IT teams who are making the purchase, because enterprise-level corporations (ones with more than 1,000 employees) often commit to using a single brand for its fleet of employee laptops and will renew those bulk orders every few years. However, for small businesses who don’t qualify for enterprise discounts and still want the enhanced security features of enterprise-level laptops, $700 per Chromebook is a steep price.

Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 (2024): Design

The Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 isn’t the flashiest Chromebook and that’s by design. Because the Chromebook Plus is an enterprise laptop, it comes in a standard “Iron” gray colorway. Acer kept the Acer and Chromebook Plus badging subtle on the panel lid, with the small shiny Acer logo inlay and matte Chromebook Plus badge blending nicely into the “Iron” chassis.

The keyboard deck is also on the minimalist side, with an offset touchpad to the left and a fingerprint scanner on the right under the numpad’s Enter key.

While not exciting, this makes it easy for the Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 to fit into any office environment.

The Chromebook Plus Enterprise measures 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.79 inches and weighs 3.75 pounds which does make it a bit thicker and heavier than other Chromebooks like:

• Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus: 13.9 x 8.89 x 0.46 inches, 2.49 pounds
• HP Chromebook Plus 14a: 12.82 x 8.48 x 0.72 inches, 3.2 pounds
• Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: 14 x 9.8 x 0.84 inches, 3.7 pounds

Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 (2024): Ports

Enterprise machines need a decent port array to connect them to a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and other accessories for a decent office setup. Thankfully, the Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515’s full port array across the right and left sides of the chassis covers all of the most common needs:

• 2x ThunderBolt 4 USB-C ports
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports
• 1x HDMI 2.1 port
• 1x 3.5mm audio combo jack
• 1x Kensington Lock Slot

But if your work requires more, we recommend investing in one of the best laptop docking stations or USB-C hubs. Or you can cut the cord and go for Bluetooth accessories to open up another USB port or two.

Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 (2024): Battery life

One of the original benefits of Chromebooks was dependably long battery life, but those days are behind us. Most mainstream laptops after over 10 hours, with some of the laptops with the best battery life even making it past the 21-hour mark. However, you will still get a solid 9-10 hours out of most Chromebooks, and the Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 is no different.

I could get through my standard work day, with 10-15 Chrome tabs open at a time, without running the Chromebook Plus 515 to an outlet. On the Laptop Mag battery test, the Enterprise 515 lasted 9 hours and 9 minutes, just above the 9:01 Chromebook category average.

Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 (2024): Security and durability

Security is a major concern with Enterprise devices, and the Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 is no different. The machine comes with Chrome Enterprise pre-installed, which offers enhanced IT software deployment and security features over the standard version of the Chrome browser.

Acer has kitted the Enterprise 515 with a fingerprint scanner on the right side of the keyboard deck and a Kensington lock slot on the right side of the chassis. The Chromebook also features a webcam shutter, which prevents access to the camera when not in use.

The Enterprise 515 also meets the MIL-STD-810H durability standard, so it can survive extreme high and low temperatures, exposure to dust and humidity, rapid pressure changes, and low-pressure environments.

Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 (2024): Display

The Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 features a 15.6-inch, 60Hz, 1920 x 1080, matte IPS touchscreen display. When viewing Google Docs or browsing my email and Slack, the display was serviceable but didn’t blow me away.

Unfortunately, that didn’t hold up when I tested the Enterprise’s display by streaming video. Watching the trailer for Prime Video’s upcoming original film Holland, I was disappointed by how flat the colors appeared, especially in the exterior establishing shots of the Michigan countryside. Even the kitchen scenes of Nicole Kidman in traditional Dutch dress were visually bland, despite the preponderance of color in the costumes, the trailer for the upcoming suspense film just felt muted and lifeless.

Acer rates the Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 as covering 45% of the NTSC color gamut. While we don’t measure that color space in our display testing, we did get similarly low vibrancy results, with the Enterprise measuring just 46.4% of the DCI-P3 color gamut.

The Chromebook Plus Enterprise is also rated to 300 nits of average peak brightness, and we measured our review unit at 296 nits. While 300 nits is enough to cut through most inside glare, especially with a flat IPS display panel, it is below the 320-nit Chromebook category average.

Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 (2024): Keyboard and touchpad

One thing that is pretty common with Acer Chromebooks is a mushy membrane keyboard. Some people won’t mind the feel, but I prefer a more springy, tactile feel to my laptop keyboards. While the Enterprise 515 doesn’t have the mushiest keyboard I’ve ever tested, it is far from satisfying to type on.

However, it's important to note that the keyboard's feel won't impact your typing speed much. On the 10fastfingers Advanced typing test, I scored an average of 86 words per minute (WPM) which is just a bit behind the 88 WPM average I maintain on my Apple MacBook Pro 14 keyboard.

The Enterprise 515 features a full numeric pad on the keyboard, which can be a nice addition for those who work a lot with spreadsheets.

The OceanGlass touchpad on the Enterprise 515 is a bit off-center to keep it below the space bar since the numpad has shifted the keyboard to the left. However, it isn’t extremely off-center so it doesn’t take much getting used to. And the OceanBound glass feels silky under my fingertips, making the touchpad an overall solid addition to the Enterprise 515.

Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 (2024): Audio

The Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 has bottom-firing speakers, which means your audio can get distorted with the laptop resting on a flat surface.

I queued up the Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker main theme “Footfalls” to see how the Enterprise would handle the mix of musical styles tied together in the ballad and I was somewhat impressed by how well the Enterprise’s bottom-firing speakers handled the first minute or so of the theme’s clean intro vocals. Unfortunately, once the roaring guitars kicked in just before the Heavensward motif, the distortion in the audio became unbearably tinny.

The Enterprise’s speakers also lack some volume. They’re sufficient for a video call, but wouldn’t be ideal for a presentation or use in a large meeting room.

If your job involves a lot of virtual meetings or conference calls on the Enterprise 515, I’d recommend perusing our best headphones and picking up a pair rather than relying on the onboard audio.

Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 (2024): Performance and heat

I kept my high expectations for the Chromebook Plus 515 pretty low, considering it is a Chromebook running an Intel Core 3 100U processor, and I was correct in that assessment. While it handles 10-15 Chrome tabs and is a solid machine for hopping in the occasional video call, managing your emails, and utilizing G-suite apps, you aren’t getting blazing performance speeds.

What the Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 offers in terms of performance is reliability. It’s not breaking benchmark records, as the 515’s Geekbench 6 multicore score is just 10% above the Chromebook category average. It’s not blazingly powerful, but it gets the job done, and with ChromeOS, you don’t need to break any Geekbench 6 records to have a good experience.

The one big benefit to that budget Intel Core 3 100U processor is its efficiency. It not only gets you solid battery life, but it also keeps the Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 on the cool side. Even after video streaming for 15 minutes, the hottest temperature on the Enterprise 515 was just 91.5 degrees Fahrenheit. This is below the Laptop Mag 95-degree comfort threshold.

So no matter how many Chrome tabs and videos you open on the Enterprise 515, you won’t be singeing your fingertips or burning your lap.

Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 (2024): Gaming and graphics

Chromebooks are not a gaming platform. While you can run Steam on ChromeOS, the performance is terrible unless you’re streaming from your desktop or gaming laptop. And sure, you can use Nvidia GeForce Now to stream games from an Nvidia cloud gaming rig, but Acer’s Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 is a business device.

And sure, our review model has a touchscreen, but so few Android games properly run on ChromeOS these days that it's not a good option for Chromebook gaming either.

While I’m the type of person to use a business laptop for some casual gaming, it’s just not worth it with the Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515. Any game you get running on the Enterprise 515 will look like a 10-frames-per-second slideshow.

Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 (2024): AI features

The Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 comes with the Enterprise version of ChromeOS installed. As part of the Chromebook Plus tier, you get a year of Google One AI Premium for free ($120 value) which gets you Google Gemini Advanced for better help reading, writing, and planning features. Google One AI Premium also offers 2TB of cloud storage and deeper AI integration across the Google suite.

As part of the Chromebook platform, the Enterprise 515 also has access to standard Chromebook AI features like the Chromebook Quick Insert function and Welcome Recap.

Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 (2024): Webcam

Acer loaded an FHD webcam into the Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 and some additional camera features like Acer TNR and Auto Facial Exposure. In addition to the ChromeOS enhanced camera features that reduce the look of under-eye bags and auto-focus, this gives you a pretty slick webcam experience that can help you look better in meetings even in poor lighting conditions.

If your job requires a lot of virtual presentations, you may still want to invest in one of the best webcams, but for a daily Zoom meeting, the onboard FHD webcam is more than enough.

Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 (2024): Software and warranty

The Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 also comes with Chrome Enterprise pre-installed, which offers enhanced IT deployment and security features over the standard version of the Chrome browser.

When you log in to your Chrome account, the Chromebook will start downloading the usual Chrome apps and your personal app library as part of the setup process but is otherwise free of bloatware.

As for warranty coverage, the Chromebook Plus 515 comes with a one-year limited warranty from Acer for parts and labor.

Bottom line

The Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 is a pretty expensive Chromebook. While it is more reasonably priced than most business laptops, it is expensive for a Chrome device featuring a budget Intel processor.

While you do get a solid amount of battery life and performance out of the Enterprise thanks to that Intel Core 3 100U processor, the Enterprise isn’t breaking any performance or battery life benchmarks. And that makes it hard to justify the $700+ price tag, no matter how useful the webcam and ports can be. While increased IT deployment and security features are helpful for large businesses, you can download Chrome Enterprise to any laptop or Chromebook.

So if your office offers a bring-your-own-device policy and you want a Chromebook, you’re probably better off going for the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus instead because you get a far nicer display, longer battery life, better performance, and a better overall Chrome device.

New tariffs on imported goods are already starting to shake up industries and consumer electronics appear to be next on the list.

The Trump Administration has imposed a 10% import tariff on Chinese manufactured goods this month and has continued to push a 25% tariff plan for imported silicon. Early projections of the Trump Tariffs indicated these plans could raise the prices for laptops and gaming hardware by up to 40%.

While the tariffs could still be subject to change, we've already seen companies react to the plans by raising prices to combat the tariff prices. The Telegraph reports that Acer plans to raise prices by 10% in response.

Here's what we know about the tariffs and retaliatory price-hikes so far.

Acer announces 10% price hike in response to tariffs

While the US chip tariff does not have a start date, Acer's planned 10% price hike does. After all, a 10% tariff on all Chinese-made goods started this month, which is already impacting technology sales. Nearly 80% of laptops imported to the U.S. are made in China.

Starting in March, Acer laptops and Chromebooks will cost 10% more to account for the increased import cost.

“We will have to adjust the end user price to reflect the tariff,” Acer's CEO Jason Chen told The Telegraph on Monday. “We think 10% probably will be the default price increase because of the import tax. It’s very straightforward.”

Acer CEO Chen also told The Telegraph that the company is exploring options to move production out of China and Taiwan. Acer moved some of its desktop manufacturing out of China during Trump's first term to avoid a similar 25% tariff on Chinese-manufactured desktop PCs.

It is worth noting, this price increase will only impact Acer sales in the United States.

Will chip foundry move stateside?

One of the reported reasons for the chip tariff is an attempt to move chip manufacturing stateside. There are a few silicon foundry plants already in the United States, with TSMC and Intel both having manufacturing locations in Arizona, though Intel also has Foundry locations in Oregon and New Mexico.

Intel's chip foundry has underperformed compared to expectations in recent years, and Intel has restructured its foundry business in response. As Forbes points out, however, the tariffs could drive a higher demand to Intel Foundry to avoid the 25% foreign manufacturing tariffs for chips produced in Taiwan, which is the current silicon manufacturing capital.

The need for American chip minting has led to rumors of TSMC eyeing Intel's manufacturing plants because building new chipmaking plants costs about twice as much in the United States and takes significantly longer than building a new silicon fab in Taiwan.

European fabrication also takes longer to build than Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia. So European chipmaking fabs wouldn't work as a solution for the U.S. tariffs anytime soon.

Laptop and desktop manufacturing is also subject to a 10% general tariff on Chinese manufactured goods. While Acer is looking to move its laptop building outside of China and Taiwan, increased demand for United States manufacturing is subject to similar difficulties as chip fabrication.

What this means for the consumer tech industry?

Acer's price increase is the first announcement by a computer manufacturer for retaliatory price hikes in response to the U.S. tariffs, we do not expect Acer to be the only company to resort to raising prices.

In fact, we may not have seen any announcements, but Asus raised the price of the ROG Flow Z13 tablet when it went on pre-sale yesterday. The ROG Flow Z13 (2025) costs $2,199. When the tablet was announced at CES in January, the price was $2,099. This isn't a 10% increase, but it is worth noting that companies have already adjusted prices due to US import fees.

It's also worth noting that the 25% semiconductor tariff proposal would start at "25% or higher," according to Reuters, and is expected to rise over the course of the year.

Laptop Mag has reached out to various laptop manufacturers for details on their plans to handle the Trump tariffs.

More from Laptop Mag

• Testimony by Arm CEO Rene Haas clashes with a new report that Arm intends to launch its own chips
• A long-awaited Apple refresh is in the works, report says
• Leaked AMD Strix Halo benchmark sounds too good to be true

2025 is apparently the year for all gaming laptop companies to lean into the RGB lightbar gamer aesthetic even harder than usual. But no company went as deep into the RGB zone as Acer.

The new Acer Predator Helios 18 features per-key RGB lighting in the keyboard, an RGB light strip that runs along the edge of the chassis from the left side port array to the middle of the keyboard deck, more RGB lights in the keyboard deck itself, and lighting on the Predator logo on the top cover.

But this gaming laptop offers more than just RGB everywhere you look. The Predator Helios 18 offers swappable MagKey 4.0 mechanical switches, a 6th Gen AeroBlade 3D fan for the thinnest cooling fan blades, powerful new Intel and Nvidia chips, a dual-mode Mini LED display panel, and truly absurd specs for storage and memory.

The Helios 18 is beyond extra; this is a gaming laptop for the person who doesn't understand the concept of moderation.

Acer Predator Helios 18 AI: Specs

Acer Predator Helios 18 AI: Pricing and availability

While the Nvidia RTX 50-series will launch on laptops in March, RGB fanatics will have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on the Predator Helios 18 AI.

The Helios 18 AI (PH18-73) will be available in North America starting in May 2025. Prices will vary depending on configuration, but the 18 will start at $2,999 for the configuration with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 GPU. While this is a bit pricey, Nvidia's expectations for laptops with the RTX 5080 start at $2,199, so this isn't far from what we expect, considering the Helios 18 AI features an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor.

Of course, upgrading the GPU to the RTX 5090 will add a decent bit to the cost of the Helios 18 AI. Pricing for RTX 5090 laptops starts at around $2,899, which is a price hike of $700 between the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090. Not that Acer needs to adhere to the Nvidia pricing, but it does mean you're looking at a substantial bill increase when opting for the Nvidia flagship GPU.

Other configuration options for display, memory, and storage options will also add to the final price. So a fully kitted out Helios 18 AI with the Intel Core Ultra 9, RTX 5090, 192GB of memory, 6TB of storage, and 18-inch Mini LED panel will probably cost about as much as a custom desktop PC. Given that the Helios 18 AI is a desktop replacement laptop, the cost isn't exactly out of the realm of expectation.

Whether you need all that memory and storage, on the other hand, is an entirely separate discussion.

Acer Predator Helios 18 AI: Design

The biggest change to the Acer Predator Helios 18 AI from the previous model is the sheer volume of RGB lighting. There's the Milkyway RGB dynamic lighting on the rear fan hub behind the display hinge, a wraparound RGB lightbar running from the left-side down along the bottom of the keyboard deck, RGB lights set into the palm rest, and RGB underneath the Predator logo on the top cover. There's even per-key RGB on the keyboard. And all of that lighting is customizable.

But, the overall design of the Predator Helios 18 AI doesn't just add more RGB from the 2024 model; it's also lighter, smaller, and a bit thinner depending on your configuration options.

The 2024 Predator Helios 18 measured 15.9 x 12.3 x 1.1 inches and weighed 7.2 pounds. The 2025 Predator Helios 18 measures 15.78 x 12.12 x 0.68~1.16 inches and weighs 7.05 pounds.

While you aren't likely to be lugging the Helios 18 AI around on your work commute, it is a bit more portable than the previous iteration, which is good if you do need to take it with you on the go.

Acer Predator Helios 18 AI: Ports

Acer has not released the full port array specs for the Helios 18 AI, but based on the unit we saw at CES and the published photos of the laptop, we think we've figured out what the port options are:

• 1x DC-in
• 1x HDMI 2.1
• 2x Thunderbolt 5
• 3x USB Type-A
• 1x RJ45 ethernet
• 1x Audio combo jack
• 1x Micro SD card reader

That should be more than enough ports for most gamers and streamers. The Helios 18 is a desktop replacement style laptop, and Acer clearly didn't skimp on the ports at all so you're unlikely to need any kind of docking station or USB-hub.

Acer Predator Helios 18 AI: Display

The Acer Predator Helios 18 AI's top display option is a dual-mode Mini-LED panel, which is a 120Hz (3840 x 2400) panel that can be dropped down to 240Hz (1920 x 1200) for high-intensity gaming. The base option is a 250Hz (2560 x 1600) Mini-LED panel that doesn't appear to have dual-mode functionality.

Both display options are rated at 600 nits of brightness when viewing SDR content and up to 1000 nits of brightness in HDR. They both also achieve a 100% rating for the DCI-P3 color gamut for a high degree of vibrancy.

While we did get to see the Predator Helios 18 AI with its display panel on, it was stuck to a spec screen with gameplay demo footage thanks to the Nvidia GPU announcement. But the Mini-LED display did look gorgeous running through the Black State game trailer, even if we didn't get to test it out with any video or gaming content ourselves.

Acer Predator Helios 18 AI: Performance and heat

Acer had the Helios 18 AI locked down to show just game trailers and specs, which meant we couldn't get a hands-on feel for performance. But we can make a few guesses based on its configurable specs.

Intel rates the Core Ultra 200HX as "up to 20%" better for multithreaded performance over the 14th generation. The 200HX will also over more than 5% increases to single-thread performance. Intel has made some serious claims about how good the "Arrow Lake" 200HX chips are, and while Acer is not putting the flagship Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX, the 275HX should offer a solid compromise of performance and thermal control to offset the high power demands of the Nvidia RTX 50-series GPUs.

You can also augment your laptop's performance with upgrades to the system memory. I'm not sure who could use 192GB of RAM, but my tendency to future-proof all of my technology has me wanting to test that spec just for the challenge of finding the limit of how many Chrome tabs and Photoshop windows you'd need to open to even put a dent into that memory capacity.

The 6TB storage option is also brow-raising but to a lower extent. Game files are absolutely massive these days, with many exceeding 100GB file sizes. So, having multiple terabytes of storage just makes sense. 6TB may be a little excessive, but not to the same extent as the 192GB RAM spec.

As for heat management, Acer has revamped the AeroBlade technology with the 6th gen iteration, which offers 0.05mm fan blades, much like the fans in the Razer Blade 16 (2025). The new fan design increases airflow efficiency by up to 20%, which combined with a thicker chassis, should allow for a relatively cool experience even after gaming for hours.

Acer Predator Helios 18 AI: Gaming and graphics

Much as we couldn't test the general performance of the Helios 18 AI, we also couldn't get any game time in on the laptop at CES. However, based on what we know of the RTX 50-series GPUs, thanks to Nvidia, we can expect some solid frame rate increases with the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090.

While the Helios 18 AI does have a 4K panel option, 2025 is not the year you can game in 4K at ultra settings, as even the desktop RTX 5090 doesn't clear 60FPS under those conditions. You need DLSS 4 to get high framerates for 4K gaming.

As for the pure-silicon performance, games without DLSS 4 optimization saw a 10-30% increase from generation to generation. That's not nothing, and does make the RTX 50-series a worthwhile investment if you're finally looking to upgrade from your Windows 10 GTX 1060 laptop.

Acer Predator Helios 18 AI: Outlook

The Acer Predator Helios 18 is a pricey gaming laptop. It's also the flagship Predator laptop, offering the best of power and performance for the desktop-replacement class. So it will command a higher price.

But if you want a laptop with more memory and storage than you'll ever possibly need, alongside RGB lighting everywhere but the bottom panel, then you can't do any better than the Helios 18 AI. While we can't make any promises about performance or gaming outside of what we've heard from the chipmakers themselves, the frankly ridiculous specs of the Helios 18 make it hard to believe you won't be getting desktop-class performance out of a laptop.

We'll have to wait until we can put the Predator Helios 18 AI through its paces in rigorous testing suite, but so far, it seems like a choice for a gaming rig. Assuming the price doesn't scare you off, that is.

More from Laptop Mag

• I'm a veteran laptop reviewer. Here are my top 10 laptops of CES 2025.
• Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10 hands-on: Tweaked to perfection?
• Razer Blade 16 (2025) is the "thinnest Blade ever," but what's the catch?

When it debuted last week, I couldn't let the Acer Swift Go 14 laptop go unnoticed. After all, its predecessor spent most of 2024 as Laptop Mag's #1 budget laptop in our best laptops buying guide.

On January 6, at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Acer unveiled the updated Swift Go 14, which I had the opportunity to try out.

There are some slight design changes — including an interesting touchpad augmentation that I'll address later. But coupled with a few upgrades inside, it should be one of the sub-$1,000 laptops to beat again in 2025.

Thinner and lighter with some new flare

The Acer Swift Go 14 weighs just 2.9 pounds this year, down from 3.1. This may not sound like much, but every ounce counts when you lug a laptop everywhere. It's also slightly thinner, tapering to just 0.4 inches at its thinnest points. You'd have to have them side-by-side to tell the difference, but it's there.

While the exterior retains the same silver colorway as last year, it adds some much-needed flourish with angular lines crossing the lid and a "Swift" logo in the upper right corner. It's not the flashiest design, but it's a far more dynamic look while retaining minimal elegance that should appeal to a broad spectrum of people.

Contextual touchpad controls

Acer designers added some new features to the touchpad this year, including contextual touch controls.

These include playback and volume controls for watching videos and meeting controls for quickly muting your mic or disabling your video during a call.

While it's not the sort of feature that would single-handedly convince me to buy this laptop, it's a welcome extra on what I expect to be an excellent laptop.

Blessedly, the touchpad retains its accurate navigation and solid touch-and-click response, so quality wasn't sacrificed for this add-on.

Acer Swift Go 14 specs, price, and release date

The Acer Swift Go 14 comes with up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 285H (Arrow Lake) CPU and Intel Arc Graphics. The 14-inch display starts at a 1920 x 1200 IPS touch panel but can be upgraded to OLED at the same resolution or bumped up to 2880 x 1800.

If you are looking to push the capabilities of the Swift Go 14, you can get up to 32GB of RAM and up to a 1 TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD.

Ports include a pair of Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports, two USB Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a microSD card reader. Finally, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 ensure future-proof wireless connectivity.

The Acer Swift Go 14 will ship in May at $899, while the 16-inch model will arrive in April and start at $949. Both the 14" and 16" models see a $100 increase over last year's starting price, so Acer is edging into slightly more competitive territory.

What's next?

I didn't encounter any concerns with the hardware during my time with the Acer Swift Go 14, so the remaining questions will depend on our lab testing and more meaningful time spent with the final shipping hardware when we get a review unit later this year.

Battery life is the biggest question for this updated laptop. It was our most significant complaint about last year's model, which lasted only 8 hours and 25 minutes.

Eight and a half hours wasn't too far short of our battery standards at this time last year, but the second half of 2024 was game-changing for battery life because AI PCs, with their system-on-a-chip CPUs, debuted in the summer. Because so much processing happens directly on those chips, battery life is longer because other laptop components don't come into use and use power.

Intel Arrow Lake chips are being marketed as using less laptop power, which could mean the new Swift Go 14's battery lasts longer between charges. However, this sleek-looking new laptop could suffer if its battery life doesn't significantly improve. Laptop Mag's battery test will be among the most interesting tests we run on this new laptop when we get it in our lab.

MORE FROM LAPTOP MAG

• Acer unveils the Nitro Blaze 11: It's enormous but feels light in hand
• The Laptop Laurels of CES 2025: The best tech to debut in Las Vegas
• The secret ingredient in Acer's new eco-friendly laptop is... shellfish

Let’s face it: No one wants to lug around a four- or five-pound weight all day. And no one wants to sacrifice function for form.

CES 2025, which wrapped up on Friday, marked the first year I found more laptops than ever that hit this Holy Grail metric — and they did so without making the sacrifices often considered necessary to achieve a light form factor. That’s an exciting prospect, and not just because it can save our collective backs.

I saw many three-pound laptop models in person and saw announcements for others. Why did I zero in on laptops under three pounds? Laptop weight doesn’t matter if you plan to keep your system parked on a desk, as is often the case with a gaming laptop (typical weight: 5.5 pounds and up).

But if you’re like me and take your laptop everywhere, weight matters — a lot. I’m using three pounds as the cut-off here because laptops that are heavier than that can feel their weight fast when in a valise or backpack.

This year's laptop crop stood out for its impressive designs, excellent array of ports, and leading specs (brilliant displays, AI support, tons of storage).

While some models had high price tags, others were under $1,000. That means we, as consumers, have to make fewer usability trade-offs in exchange for a lighter load.

The following list marks my 5 favorite sub-3-pound laptops I saw at CES 2025. Note that this is not an exhaustive list of the sub-3-pound class of 2025; Lenovo alone introduced 6 models under 3 pounds (the lightest being the 2.17-pound ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition), while Asus, Acer, and LG all had multiple models under 3 pounds, too. But these were the ones that stood out and were some of my favorites.

See also: Lenovo ditches its most iconic feature on this new ThinkPad — but that's not even the biggest design change

Acer Swift Go 14 AI

The Acer Swift Go 14 AI (SFG14-64/T) sneaks onto the list, weighing in at 2.86 pounds (OLED version). What stands out here is Acer’s attention to detail and value for the price.

This Copilot+ PC uses the new AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series processors (either a Ryzen 7 350 or a Ryzen 7 340) to deliver up to 50 NPU TOPS, AMD Radeon 800M graphics, and the promise of up to 24.9 hours of battery life. The 14-inch display options include 3K OLED, FHD+ OLED, or FHD+ touchscreen. The OLED versions have 100% of the DCI-P3 color space, which is a great find on a laptop at this price.

Configurations include up to 32GB of RAM and up to a 1TB SSD. The unit has a sturdy, stylish aluminum design, and it feels well-balanced in hand. The Swift Go has an array of ports, with HDMI, 2 USB-A (speeds not specified), 2 USB 4 (Type-C) ports, and a headphone jack.

Available in May, pricing starts at $899.

Asus Zenbook A14

Asus is one of the laptop makers with a long track record of innovating with thin-and-light models. However, I was not prepared for the Asus Zenbook A14 UX3407. This model is genuinely a featherweight at 2.16 pounds, which meant it was easy to hoist overhead, even with my weaker arm. Obviously, I won’t be doing that regularly, but Zenbook A14 would be nothing to carry around all day at a trade show or while dashing through an airport.

The unique chassis uses Asus’ shock- and scratch-resistant Ceraluminum (the company’s trademark for its plasma ceramic aluminum process); by contrast, the Zenbook S14 series only uses Ceraluminum on its cover.

This model uses Qualcomm Snapdragon X series processors with up to 45 NPU TOPS, each with a long-lasting 70-watt-hour battery. It has a built-in Copilot key quickly accessing Copilot features, and it comes with 2 USB 4.0 ports at 40Gbps, a 10Gbps USB-A port, an HDMI port, and an audio jack, which gives this model all the makings of a laptop that unit for its can work well for a host of creator tasks.

The Zenbook A14 comes in two colors, beige and gray. The gray one uses the Snapdragon X with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, and it will cost $1,099. The beige one uses the Snapdragon X Plus with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, and it will cost $899. Both units will be available soon.

I’ll call out a second Asus model here for those who'd prefer an Intel processor. The 14-inch Asus Zenbook S14 weighs just 2.65 pounds, and it is impressive for its light weight, display quality, and ports. This Copilot+ PC has a comfortable keyboard and a bright 3K 120Hz OLED screen, and it uses Intel Core Ultra 9 (series 2) processors.

LG Gram Pro 16Z90TR

The 16-inch LG Gram Pro 16Z90TR exemplifies the trend of packing more into a thin and light space. LG is the only manufacturer offering 16 and 17-inch 2K displays in a lightweight form. Like Lenovo and others, the company has a slew of sub-three-pound laptops in 2025. Even though full specification details and pricing remain unannounced for all models, what we know makes this model stand out above all others from LG – especially for creatives who want a powerful, lightweight system.

This model has the largest display on this list, with a 16-inch 2K WQXGA (2,560 x 1,600) IPS display with VRR to 144Hz and an anti-glare coating. It’s also the only laptop with a dedicated graphics card (at minimum, it will come with an Nvidia GeForce RTX4050). It also has an Intel Core Ultra “Arrow Lake” processor (version to be announced). And it measures just 0.56-inch thick and weighs 2.99 pounds, squeaking in under our filter.

The unit I tried physically felt and responded beautifully, and it handled about the same as the LG Gram Pro I bought last year. It has a low-profile keyboard that's comfortable and sturdy to type on and a dedicated number pad – one of the benefits of getting a larger screen. Available later this year, this model’s pricing and full specifications will be announced closer to when it ships.

Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition

The 14-inch Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition marks Lenovo’s latest in its long line of top-tier Yoga laptops. This Copilot+ PC weighs 2.91 pounds, and it sports a sleek, all-black design with barely-there screen bezels and its familiar 360-degree hinge that lets the laptop twist into tent and tablet positions. Its screen specs are solid, with up to 2.8K WQHD+ OLED screens with 120Hz VRR refresh rate, 1,100 nits of peak brightness, and 100% DCI-P3 wide color gamut.

This iteration delivers 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports, in addition to a 10Gbps USB-A port and a USB 4 Type-C port with Power Delivery. That means you have plenty of ports for power and using peripherals like an external SSD and a memory card reader simultaneously.

As an Aura Edition laptop, this unit has nifty features that reflect Lenovo and Intel’s combined efforts to deliver compelling mobile experiences. For example, it has Smart Modes for faster customization (among them an attention mode that helps you maintain focus by blocking distracting websites) and Smart Share, which uses AI to tap and share images between your smartphone and laptop. You can buy this laptop in February, and pricing starts at $1,599.

Lenovo ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition

The Lenovo ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition maintains Lenovo’s high ThinkPad pedigree, but in a wholly new design that makes this the first ThinkPad in years I’d want to buy. This aluminum model has a cover made from 50% recycled aluminum, and a ridged rear cover plate that makes it easy to hold.

I loved this keyboard and found it to be next-level comfortable to type on, with a massive touchpad area and no TrackPoint in the center of the keyboard. The laptop has a thin, tapered profile with a unique internal design that houses the motherboard and ports in what Lenovo calls the Engine Hub, but looks like a black bump along the rear quarter of the laptop.

With a weight that starts at 2.66 pounds (add another 0.13 pounds for the touchscreen version here), this model ranks as one of the impressive thin and light laptops of CES 2025. It has processor options up to Intel Core Ultra 7 (Series 2), and display options of up to a 2.8K OLED touchscreen with 500 nits brightness,120Hz VRR, and 100% DCI-P3 wide color gamut, this system is up to the needs of creative pros.

The unit has one HDMI port, 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports, and no USB-A port. This model also has the Lenovo AI Now on-device AI assistant (based on Meta’s Llama 3.0), which helps with everyday tasks like document searches. It also supports Aura Edition features such as the Smart Modes and Smart Share described earlier. This model comes with a tiny 65W GaN Nano adapter that looks more like what you’d expect to use with a tablet than a laptop. You can buy this laptop in February, and pricing starts at $1,399.

What's next

The 2025 class of sub-3-pound laptops are clearly setting the stage for new experiences with sacrificing features. They now have plenty of performance power, including enough processing power and battery life to enable productivity and creative tasks and AI activities.

Plus, this category now covers all price points so no one gets left out of this next-gen mobile revolution. Carrying a lightweight laptop can make a huge difference to how your arm and back muscles feel, and with options like these it absolutely pays to think about weight when you're buying your next laptop.

In the world of tech, the event that kickstarts the year is often the one that defines it, and that honor annually falls to CES (formerly the Consumer Electronics Show) — an exhibition hailed as everything from the world's largest gadget show to the most powerful tech event in the world.

The Laptop Mag team reported directly from Las Vegas, Nevada for the duration of the show's January 7 to January 10 span. It's from here that we captured the computing reveals in consumer tech.

Welcome to Laptop Mag's CES 2025 special issue, offering you a recap of all of the highlights from Las Vegas, Nevada, and a showcase of our hand-picked Laptop Laurel winners across 25 categories.

CES 2025: Laptop Laurels

Throughout this year's showcase, we awarded products that truly stand out from the crowd with our Laptop Laurels — Laptop Mag's very own seal of approval for the best tech on show at CES 2025. Check out the winners below.

CES 2025: News recap

Laptop Mag's combined know-how covers a wide range of tech expertise, from laptops to mobile, processors, artificial intelligence, and more. Thanks to their reporting, our on-the-ground team was able to bring all of the breaking news, hands-on reviews, and consumer tech highlights from CES 2025 to our readers.

This year's outbound team included Laptop Mag Editor-in-Chief Nick Lucchesi, Managing Editor Sean Riley, Senior News Editor James Pero, Staff Writer Madeline Ricchiuto, and Contributing Writer Joanna Nelius.

On Monday, Acer announced at CES 2025 that the company is expanding its handheld gaming options with the Acer Nitro Blaze 8, delivering a larger size for those who prefer a more immersive display.

The company also unveiled the Nitro Blaze 11, but that's another story considering its ridiculous size makes it seem more like a small gaming laptop than a handheld device.

At the very least, the new Nitro Blaze 8 appears to be within the realm of reason, as it's built with an 8.8-inch display, which mirrors the successful Lenovo Legion Go, making it the moderately larger successor to the original 7-inch Acer Nitro Blaze 7.

An upgrade in size isn't the only change with this new model, as the display will be at 2,560 x 1,600-pixel resolution rather than the 1,920 x 1,080p panel on the 7-inch model. The Nitro Blaze 8 will also feature a new USB Type-A port alongside a 55Wh battery, making it a little better than the original's 50Wh battery.

Beyond that, the two models are similar, featuring an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor, AMD Radeon 780M integrated graphics, 16GB of 7500MT/s RAM, and up to 2TB of M.2 SSD storage.

The Acer Nitro Blaze 8's price and launch date is still in the air in North America, but it will be released in March in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at a starting price of €999.

Back when the original Acer Nitro Blaze 7 was unveiled, we worried that it was diving into shark-infested waters due to its small 50Wh battery that is currently being outdone by competition like the MSI Claw 8 AI Plus and Asus ROG Ally X with their 80Wh batteries.

It seems like the Acer Nitro Blaze 8 isn't quite solving that problem, as it's only upgrading to a 55Wh battery, even though it now has a 2K display, which will surely drain battery life faster.

For context, we saw amazing battery life on both the MSI Claw 8 AI Plus and Asus ROG Ally X in our longevity tests. On the Laptop Mag battery life test, which involves continuous web surfing over WiFi at 150 nits, the Asus ROG Ally X lasted 8 hours and 19 minutes.

However, the MSI Claw 8 AI Plus absolutely crushed it at 13 hours and 31 minutes. On the PCMark 10 Gaming battery life test, which emulates how long the device will last while playing, both devices lasted a little over 3 hours.

This is in no small part thanks to the 80Wh battery, and we could see Acer's gaming handheld fall behind if the company isn't careful in how it manages the device's limited battery size.

Regardless, we're looking forward to getting our hands on the Acer Nitro Blaze 8 and getting a sense of what exactly the device can offer to the world of Windows gaming handhelds. If you'd like more of the latest news in the world of technology, check out our CES 2025 page.

More from Laptop Mag

• CES 2025 coverage
• Latest Switch 2 photo leak reveals RAM and Nvidia chip — here's what to expect inside Nintendo's next-gen console
• Valve's SteamOS could be 2025's biggest winner, powering new VR and handheld gaming hardware

On Monday, Acer announced a refresh to its entire Swift Go line-up, which includes Laptop Mag's top budget laptop.

Acer kicked off CES 2025 this week by unveiling new and improved versions of the Swift Go 14, Swift Go 16, Swift Go 14 AI, and Swift Go 16 AI. All four models feature updated specs, including new Intel and AMD processors and OLED displays. We've praised the Swift Go's display in previous reviews, so it's nice to see Acer keeping a top-notch display on these budget-friendly laptops.

In fact, the 2024 version of the Acer Swift Go 14 is currently Laptop Mag's budget best laptop pick, thanks to its great performance and value. Could one of this year's Swift Go laptops steal that spot? We'll have to wait until our testing lab and reviewers can put them through their paces to find out, but here's a look at everything we know so far.

Acer announces updated Swift Go and Swift Go AI laptops at CES 2025

The Acer Swift Go 14 has consistently been one of Laptop Mag's top budget laptops thanks to a good balance of price and performance. It might not be the cheapest laptop you can buy, but it does deliver great value for your money. All four new models start under $1,000.

So, I'm glad to see Acer giving this line-up a refresh. The standard Swift Go 14 and 16 feature Intel Core Ultra 200H series CPUs, while the Swift Go 14 and 16 AI feature AMD Ryzen AI 300 series CPUs. Both versions have the same starting prices, though, and the same spec options. So, if you want an Intel processor, go with the standard Swift Go. If you prefer AMD, go with the Swift Go AI.

Thanks to the neural processing unit (NPU) in Intel and AMD's latest chips, the new Swift Go laptops feature improved on-device AI performance. They come with a few AI apps and tools pre-installed, including Microsoft Copilot, Acer LiveArt 2.0, Acer PurifiedVoice 2.0, and Acer Purified View 2.0. PurifiedVoice and PurifiedView are apps that use AI to enhance voice and video calls, while LiveArt is an AI art app.

The design for the new Swift Go laptops is very similar to last year's but features an updated hinge that allows you to open the laptop a full 180 degrees.

The specs and prices for all four models are fairly similar, although there are a few differences:

The Acer Swift Go 16 and Swift Go 16 AI will be available in North America in April and the Swift Go 14 and Swift Go 14 AI will arrive close behind in May.

The previous models from the Swift Go line-up certainly set the bar high, but if these new versions are anything like last year's, they'll be top contenders for our best budget laptop spot. Stay tuned for our full review to see how this year's Acer Swift Go performs and how it compares to the competition.

More from Laptop Mag

• Look out MacBook Pro! HP's ZBook Ultra may be the most portable powerhouse workstation ever
• Best laptops in 2025: My top 10 recommendations in January
• Acer unveils upgraded Windows gaming handheld at CES 2025, but does it resolve our concerns?

When I look at the buying guides I’ve curated for Laptop Mag, nearly every best laptop has at least one glaring drawback floating in a sea of stellar features. Even if those laptops are more expensive, one or more of those features can be worth the extra cost if they are too awesome to ignore. So, when I feel underwhelmed by a laptop, it’s usually because it’s trying to appeal to a general audience.

That’s how I feel about the Acer Swift 16 AI (Intel). It performs well but is not the best for heavy multitaskers. It has a long battery life, but it’s not the longest. It’s thin and light for a 16-inch laptop but still a little awkward to handle. It’s competitively priced, but so are other laptops in its class — that have better performance, battery life, or a better design.

True balance is hard to achieve on a laptop; one feature needs to be compromised to make another stand out enough to make it appealing. But compromising a little of every feature for the sake of balance makes for a lackluster laptop — and the Acer Swift 16 AI has compromises in nearly all its features.

Display and battery compromises

OLED displays are generally an automatic feature in high-end laptops today, especially ones with high resolutions. They produce stunning colors and sharp and detailed images, so who wouldn’t want one on a laptop? But they are power-hungry. I’ll dive into the Acer Swift shortly, but first, I want to set the stage with the Dell XPS 14 OLED we reviewed in April 2024.

Its battery lasted 9 hours and 35 minutes in our tests, while the IPS model lasted a little over 10 hours. 25 minutes of battery life isn’t that much of a loss, but Laptop Mag performs its battery rundown test the same way on every laptop (with the display set to 150 nits of brightness); it’s clear OLED uses more energy to emit the same amount of light as IPS.

They also don’t get as bright, a common criticism of OLED, as many laptop companies offer both IPS and OLED options. Don’t love the XPS 14’s 377 nits of brightness? The IPS version can handle 461 nits. Some companies like Dell have started to address the issue by using tandem OLED displays in their devices, but double OLED panels mean more battery drain; Dell’s non-OLED XPS 13 lasted 18 hours and 34 minutes in our tests, while the OLED model managed just 8 hours and 40 minutes, a massive decline for just 20 extra nits over the IPS model.

Power efficiency is even more important for a 16-inch laptop like Acer’s Swift 16 AI since a larger screen uses more battery power. It lasted just under 13 hours in our battery test (the average for premium laptops), so there wasn’t wiggle room to make its 384-nit display brighter without making its battery life less competitive. An IPS display would have made sense as another option, but perhaps Acer didn’t want to saddle its high-end (and only 16-inch) Swift laptop with a display commonly associated with cheaper laptops.

Battery and design compromises

The biggest factor impacting battery life is its size, which in turn is affected by the design of the laptop. Example: the 16-inch Swift has a 69 Watt hour (Wh) battery, but the 14-inch Swift I reviewed has a 65 Wh battery. Other things beyond a laptop’s design are considered when companies decide how large of a battery it needs, of course — but the design is a major factor, especially if a company wants to make the thinnest and lightest laptop possible.

The Acer Swift 16 AI is 0.39 inches at its thinnest point and 0.69 inches at its thickest, but companies like MSI and Asus figured out how to make slimmer 16-inch laptops with much larger batteries inside. MSI’s Prestige 16 AI Evo has a 99.9 Wh battery and gets just over 13 hours of battery life (its 4K display resolution is higher than the Swift’s 3K). Asus’ Zenbook S 16 has a 78 Wh battery in a chassis that’s 0.47-0.51 inches thick and a 3K OLED display with a max brightness of 458 nits. It gets under 11 hours of battery life, but trading two hours of battery life for an incredibly bright OLED display in a wildly slim chassis is worth it.

Naturally, cost was another factor driving Acer’s decisions on the specs. It might have pushed the laptop out of even more people’s budgets. However, considering that other companies have proven it’s possible to stick a high-capacity battery inside thinner laptops, this could have been the easiest way for Acer to stand out, even if it didn’t change the Swift’s dimensions.

Performance and battery compromises

Acer doesn’t have a say in how chipmakers design their processors, but it can choose which ones it wants to put in its laptops. Potential buyers have their pick of either an AMD, Intel, or Qualcomm chip in any of the 14-inch Swift AI laptops, which is nice — but the 16-inch is only configured with an Intel Core Ultra 200-series chip.

I am not a fan of Intel’s Lunar Lake chips. Their multicore performance is slower than what I need as a heavy multitasker (and slower than its direct competitors), so if the Swift 16 AI came with an AMD Ryzen AI chip or Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip, I would have been much more excited about this laptop for the giant leap in multitasking performance alone.

A Qualcomm chip most likely would have brought the best battery life with it, too. The Swift 14 AI Snapdragon’s battery lasted 2 more hours compared to the Intel model, though some of that could be attributed to its larger battery (75Wh versus the Intel’s 65 Wh). But the size of the battery and the laptop’s power efficiency won’t matter to most people — just how long the laptop can hold a charge and how well it performs.

The Swift 16 AI could have been great

For those willing to stretch their budgets for the right set of laptop features, the Swift 16 AI isn’t that persuasive of a machine. It’s stripped down to the basics with a little extra flare, but it’s no MSI Prestige or Asus Zenbook, or even an HP Spectre x360 2-in-1. All the compromises in those laptops don’t look like much of a sacrifice since they have a laundry list of compelling features.

They are more expensive, yes, and the Swift could appeal to some budget-conscious buyers for its no-muss, no-fuss attitude. But I believe most people should try to wait for a sale on the laptop they want instead of going with an option that won’t make them as happy. It’s the reason I put off buying a new laptop for years. I wanted to find the “right one,” not just to have one “right now.”

Having previously reviewed Acer’s 14-inch Swift AI, I thought I knew what to expect from the 16-inch model: similar processor, similar performance, better display, and lower battery life. I thought I would have the same experience with its keyboard, touchpad, and speakers, too. But even after reviewing laptops for over six years, subtle differences between the same laptop in different sizes still catch me by surprise.

I wasn’t surprised that its Intel Core Ultra 200-series processor lacked heavy multitasking “oomph,” or that the laptop had a shorter battery life. I also wasn’t surprised the keyboard stretched my fingers to their limit (as do most 16-inch laptops). But I give Acer a Kudos bar for stepping up the Swift 16 AI’s audio and display, something I didn’t expect.

The best way I can describe this laptop: I would wholeheartedly accept it as a gift, but it’s not one I’d purchase for myself — not for over $1,000.

Acer Swift 16 AI (Intel): Specs and benchmarks

Acer Swift 16 AI (Intel): Price and configurations

The $1,199.99 model I reviewed is configured with an Intel Core Ultra 7 256V, integrated Intel Arc graphics, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. The 16-inch display is damn sharp thanks to its high resolution (2880 x 1800) and vivid OLED panel. It’s also a touch screen, which is a nice bonus (and as of writing, this laptop is on sale for $899.99).

There are several other Swift models with either an Intel, AMD, or Qualcomm processor. On the Intel side, there are two 14-inch Swifts, one with a Core Ultra 7 258V, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and an IPS touchscreen for $1,299.99. The other comes with a Core Ultra 7 256V, 16GB of RAM, the same amount of storage, and the same display for $1,199.99.

The base AMD model starts at $1,199.99 and is configured with a Ryzen AI 9 365, Radeon 880M integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 14-inch, 1920 x 1200 IPS touchscreen. The $1,299.99 model has the same hardware but comes with 32GB of RAM.

Finally, there’s the 14.5-inch Qualcomm model starting at $1,049.99. Two configurations have a Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100 chip, Adreno integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 2560 x 1600 IPS display. (The touchscreen version costs $50 more.) The $1,649.99 model has the same specs but comes with a touch display, a Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 chip, and Windows 11 Pro instead of Home.

Acer Swift 16 AI (Intel): Design

The 16-inch Swift — surprise — looks pretty much the same as the 14-inch Intel version, aside from having a larger chassis, of course. There’s a silver Acer logo etched into the top right corner of the lid that reflects light like a prism. The chassis is a gorgeous, subtle metallic black that changes to gray under bright light. (I‘ve been jokingly calling it “a goth laptop that smiles.”)

Not a fan of how the chassis’ edges feel when I hold the laptop horizontally in one hand, though; if you’ve ever run an old-school wooden ruler with a metal edge over your fingertips, they feel a lot like that. Now imagine that ruler weighs over three pounds. That’s what it felt like digging into my fingers. Not painful, but uncomfortable.

There are nine, one-and-a-half-inch vent sections on the underside spanning most of its width, and one long, skinny vent wedged between the display’s bottom bezel and the top of the keyboard. It’s not noticeable unless you go looking for it, but it looks like a vent you’d see on a gaming laptop: much smaller, but still aggressive looking, like it was built to expel a lot of heat.

Acer squeezed in a full numpad on the keyboard, but it’s not as cramped as some I’ve used on other 16-inch laptops (the keys are still tiny, though). The touchpad is 3 inches wide and nearly 5 inches long — same size as the Swift 14 AI’s, so it feels smaller on this laptop’s larger chassis even though it isn’t. It also has the same-sized notch for the webcam across the top bezel, but it lacks a privacy shutter.

It has interesting proportions compared to some of its competitors, though: 14.0 x 9.8 x 0.39 inches, 3.5 pounds. So, the Swift 16 AI is thinner than its rivals, but slightly heavier, and yet still feels a tad bulky by comparison because of its length.

Here’s how it compares to some of the best 16-inch and touchscreen laptops:

• MSI Prestige 16 AI Evo: 14.11 x 10.01 x 0.66 inches, 3.3 pounds
• Asus Zenbook S 16: 13.92 x 9.57 x 0.47 ~ 0.51 inches, 3.3 pounds
• HP Spectre x360 16 (2024): 14.05 x 9.67 x 0.78 inches, 4.3 pounds

Acer Swift 16 AI (Intel): Ports

I’ve reviewed a lot of 16-inch laptops with port after port stuffed into the side of their chassis, so it was a little disappointing to see the Swift 16 AI come without an Ethernet port or a microSD slot. (Given the chassis’ thinness, I can understand leaving out the Ethernet port, though.)

• Two USB-A 3.2 (one with passthrough charging)
• Two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 (passthrough charging and DisplayPort support)
• HDMI 2.1
• 3.5 mm headphone jack

If all that is enough for you, awesome! If not, there’s always time to pick up a great USB-C hub or laptop docking station.

Acer Swift 16 AI (Intel): Battery life

The Swift 16 AI’s battery life fell just short of 13 hours (12 hours, 57 minutes) in our battery run- down test. But with display brightness set between 250 and 300 nits (much higher than Laptop Mag’s 150-nit test setting), I was still able to use it for a full day’s worth of work: 8 hours of writing emails, writing articles, grading my students’ work, and getting way too distracted by cat videos on YouTube.

By evening, it had about 1-2 hours left of battery life, but hey, a girl’s gotta do what she can to get rid of as much OLED display glare as possible. (More on that coming up.) But 13 hours is way, way shorter than the “up to 29 hours of multi-day battery life” Acer claims on its website. While that was for a video playback test, much less intensive than our test, they claimed 23 hours for even a web browsing test, so while the battery life is by no means bad, it is slightly disappointing.

Its battery lasts longer than some of its competitors, but not all. Check out the chart below:

Acer Swift 16 AI (Intel): Display

The Swift’s OLED display is by far its best feature. I binged many episodes of A Discovery of Witches on this laptop over the last week, so it didn’t come as a surprise when our test results showed it’s not only color accurate, but also covers an extremely wide range of the DCI-P3 color gamut.

I’m a sucker for old libraries and old pubs, and that show’s first season has many scenes in those locations. The laptop’s display showcased the Bodleian Library’s warm lighting, reflecting it off the rich, dark wood of shelves and desks in a way that made me nostalgic for the year I spent living and studying abroad. The pub scenes felt the same way too, especially with natural light pouring through a window.

The only thing that ruined all those lovely pub and library scenes was the dreaded OLED glare. One of the best things about A Discovery of Witches is its moody and spooky lighting, but instead of staring into a dark abyss when a main character’s life hung in the balance, I was staring back at my reflection. The best (and only) way I got around that was by turning off all the lights in my room. (Extra spooky.)

Unfortunately, that’s a common drawback to glossy screens, but if the OLED panel had been brighter, it would have helped a lot. Though compared to some of its rivals, it is brighter.

Acer Swift 16 AI (Intel): Keyboard and touchpad

The keys felt crisper than I expected them to be! It was a pleasant surprise considering the 14-inch Swift’s keys were a fine line between tactile and soft. Not the Swift 16’s keys, which sprung right back up, making a deep but quiet clacking sound with every quick press. It was nice.

Unfortunately, I had the same issue with its keyboard as I have had with nearly every 16-inch laptop I’ve put my tiny hands on; I have to reach further to type. I couldn’t comfortably rest my wrists on the bottom chassis like I can with smaller laptops without touching the top corners of the touchpad and having it think I was trying to perform a gesture.

This slowed down my typing speed. While I’ve achieved upwards of 95 words per minute (WPM) using Monkeytype’s test on other laptops, I only averaged 80 WPM on the Swift 16 AI.

Aside from the sensitive trackpad, it felt the same as I remember on the 14-inch Swift: not perfectly smooth, but I was able to glide my fingertips over it without them catching on the surface.

Acer Swift 16 AI (Intel): Audio

The Swift’s second-best feature are its bottom-firing speakers. They kept just enough bass in my usual playlist of metal and industrial songs to make me lightly headbang, and kept those lows balanced with the mids and highs. Dio’s voice sounded smooth as he sang “Holy Diver.” I could hear the separate, layered electronic beats and wailing guitars of Combichrist’s “Not My Enemy.”

These speakers are no replacement for a pair of the best headphones, but they ended up sounding better than I expected.

Acer Swift 16 AI (Intel): Performance and heat

Let’s start with the good: this laptop keeps its cool. In our tests, the warmest it got was 87.6 degrees around the number 5 key, below our 95-degree threshold. The underside stayed slightly cooler, peaking at 77.6 degrees. I was able to keep the laptop in my bare lap for over 15 minutes while performing everyday productivity tasks, too. I did feel a little warm air through the vents every now and again, but only when the fans briefly kicked on to help the processor manage all my multitasking.

Speaking of multitasking — now for the bad. Like the other Acer Swift Intel laptop I recently reviewed with an Intel Core Ultra 200 series chip, this 16-inch Swift couldn’t handle the same amount of open browser tabs and programs as efficiently either. (I’ve previously gone into greater detail as to why if you’re curious.) It became sluggish once I had the Edge browser loaded with dozens of Etsy pages, YouTube videos, articles, my wedding planning spreadsheet (which has become the one tab I never close), and running Slack, Spotify, and Discord at the same time.

The chart below shows just how much slower the Swift 16 AI is in multitasking compared to some of its rivals.

Acer Swift 16 AI (Intel): Gaming and graphics

Even though this laptop isn’t a gaming laptop, Intel’s integrated Arc graphics are powerful enough to handle some graphically demanding games. Set to 1080p and Medium visual settings, this Swift averaged 50 frames per second (fps) in the Sid Mieier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm benchmark, double well over the 30 minimum threshold.

It performed exceptionally well when I played point-and-click games like Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator and Norco. It even did okay in more graphically intense games like Control, though the laptop struggled to maintain a consistent frame rate even with VSync turned on. At 1200p with all the graphics settings on low, Control averaged 40 to 45 fps if there weren’t too many stationary objects or moving NPCs. If there was, the frame dipped closer to 20 fps.

The same was generally true when I played Palia at 1200p on high settings. If I ran around in Bahari picking mushrooms and chopping down flow trees, the game dipped below 40 fps on occasion. But when I was on my home plot trying to cook in my cluttered, cottagecore kitchen, it struggled to stay above 25 fps.

Here’s an idea of how the Swift 16 AI’s gaming and graphics performance compares to its competitors.

Acer Swift 16 AI (Intel): AI features

Copilot+ features (Cocreator in Paint, Restyle Image and Image Creator, Click to Do, and the still controversial Recall) recently started rolling out only to users who are part of the Windows Insider Dev Channel. Microsoft’s Copilot AI companion is currently the only AI feature available to anyone, and was the only AI feature I was able to access on the Swift 16 AI since I am not a part of the Inside Dev Channel.

I had some more fun with the Copilot companion, though, talking about “mindfulness.” It asked me what things I did to practice that, so I told it I broke stuff in rage rooms. (I don’t actually break stuff in rage rooms.) Over our next few interactions, it tried to convince me that I needed to “balance” that with more calming activities. I told it rage rooms were my calming activity.

Then it asked me what sort of stuff I like to break in rage rooms. “Computers,” I said. “How interesting,” it replied. “I just hope you don’t break me!”

Acer Swift 16 AI (Intel): Webcam

I must be blunt: this laptop’s 1440p webcam is disappointing. It accurately captured the colors of all my fridge magnets and my tin signs on the adjacent wall, especially the bottom of the bright red arrow on my “Eat here: it’s cheap and homemade” sign. But under my bright, recessed kitchen lighting, I expected my face to appear much more detailed.

In the photo above, I have no makeup on, and no image enhancements turned on, but my features are blurry in some spots and a little pixelated in others. I can barely make out crinkles at the corners of my eyes, and it’s hard to tell where one strand of hair begins and the other ends in the small tufts of hair sticking out the back of my bun.

The image is serviceable, and anyone would be able to tell that it’s me in the photo, but I expected something better. If you do end up buying this laptop and want the best possible image quality, you’ll need one of the best webcams.

Acer Swift 16 AI (Intel): Software and warranty

AcerSense is the one app that comes pre-installed on this laptop that you might want to keep around. Instead of digging around in Windows to change the laptop’s power or display settings, or to check up on its overall performance, you can change all that in the app itself.

The other apps (bloatware) you might not want to keep around: Booking.com, Dropbox, Acer LiveArt, two separate DTS sound applications, Intel Unison, and Forge of Empires.

The Swift 16 AI comes with a standard one-year limited warranty.

Bottom line

Like its smaller sibling, the Acer Swift 16 AI can’t handle heavy multitasking as well as its competitors. Its battery life, though long, is still left in the dust by some of its rivals. But there’s something to be said about its vivid and sharp OLED display, speakers, and even its keyboard — and if you are upgrading from a laptop you bought three or more years ago, the Swift’s multitasking performance might be the fastest you’ve ever experienced.

It all comes down to how much you’d be okay with spending on the Swift. I would not spend over $1,000 on it, but if you find it on sale for $850 or less? Okay, now I’m listening.

I won’t lie; we didn’t like the original Acer gaming Chromebook. It had its positives but too many drawbacks, leaving us wondering if this was the best cloud gaming had to offer.

Well, Acer is back with a revamped gaming Chromebook experience on the Chromebook Plus platform, the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE. This updated take on the cloud gaming platform gives us solid productivity performance, a bright 120Hz display, a great webcam, and plenty of ports. Unfortunately, it doesn’t solve our complaints about the original gaming Chromebook, like the mushy keyboard, the poor battery life, the lack of touchscreen, and the distorted audio.

Despite its flaws, the previous iteration of Acer’s gaming Chromebook, the Acer Chromebook 516 GE, is our best Chromebook for gaming. It was, notably, the only gaming Chromebook of its time. So, has the Chromebook Plus 516 GE improved on the formula enough to land on our Best Chromebooks page?

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Specs and benchmarks

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Price and configurations

There is only one configuration for the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE. This $649 Chromebook Plus offers an Intel Core 5 120U processor, Intel integrated graphics, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a 16-inch (2560 x 1600) 120Hz IPS display.

You can currently pick up the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE from Best Buy.

If you want to upgrade the RAM to 16GB, you can only choose the older model, the Acer Chromebook 516 GE, available at Amazon for just $599.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Design

The Chromebook Plus 516 GE design is a strange mix of gamer aesthetics with RGB lights and black metal and Chromebook sensibilities. Unfortunately, this hybrid design brings to mind the old phrase, “jack of all trades, master of none.” I’d much rather the 516 GE picked an aesthetic, and either dipped heavily into the gaming laptop design space or stuck with the low-key Chromebook visuals.

The brushed metal lid is reminiscent of gaming laptops from the 2016-2018 era, though the matte bar at the top of the lid for the Chromebook Plus and Acer logos makes the laptop feel unfinished. The most gamer-centric design cues are the RGB keyboard and 120Hz refresh rate display, which aren’t visible with the Chromebook closed.

The clamshell hinges are plastic, which adds a degree of flex that feels a bit more flimsy than I’d prefer. That said, the 516 GE features mostly recycled materials as part of Acer’s commitment to sustainability, which is nice even if the chassis is more plastic than I would prefer.

As far as portability, the Chromebook Plus 516 GE is light enough to carry easily. The 516 GE measures 14 x 9.8 x 0.84 inches and weighs just 3.7 pounds. However, it is on the thicker side when compared to other Chromebooks like:

• Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus: 13.9 x 8.89 x 0.46 inches, 2.49 pounds
• HP Chromebook Plus 14a: 12.82 x 8.48 x 0.72 inches, 3.2 pounds
• Acer Chromebook 516 GE: 14 x 9.8 x 0.84 inches, 3.8 pounds

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Ports

Gamers tend to want a lot of ports in a laptop, to power accessories and RGB lights for the proper gamer aesthetic, so Acer loaded the gaming Chromebook with a full port array to match.

The Chromebook Plus 516 GE’s full port array across the right and left sides of the chassis includes:

• 2x ThunderBolt 4 USB-C port
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports
• 1x HDMI 2.1 port
• 1x RJ45 Ethernet port
• 1x 3.5mm audio combo jack
• 1x Kensington Lock Slot

If your gaming setup still needs more ports, we recommend investing in one of the best laptop docking stations or USB-C hubs if you can’t bring yourself the cut the cord and go wireless.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Battery life

Chromebooks used to be good choices for battery life, back when Windows and macOS laptops struggled to clear 10 hours. These days with AI PC laptops taking over the market, Chromebooks are nowhere to be seen among our laptops with the best battery life.

But, compared to a gaming laptop, where we consider it good if the laptop clears the 5-hour mark, I still expected the Chromebook Plus 516 GE to do better. And I was not let down. The Chromebook held out for several hours while downloading games on battery power with the display on and still kept up with some web surfing and hands-on testing at the same time.

The Chromebook Plus 516 GE lasted 7 hours and 25 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, which sets a Chromebook to 150 nits and sets Chrome to cycle through 20 web pages. This is about an hour and a half below the 2024 Chromebook average of 9:01. But it wasn’t unexpected, as the previous model lasted just 7:40.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Display

The 2560 x 1600, 120Hz matte IPS display on the Chromebook Plus 516 GE almost feels like a waste. Sure, it’s great for viewing content, and on any other gaming laptop, that would be a solid display option. But on a gaming Chromebook, where your best performance will be running Android games or streaming with GeForce Now, the display quality doesn’t really impact the gaming experience in a truly meaningful way.

If you do get a game streaming smoothly from GeForce Now or by streaming from a nearby PC with Steam’s streaming capabilities, the display does look pretty great. While I’ll still prefer playing directly from my gaming PC, a gaming laptop, or a console, streaming Baldur’s Gate III through GeForce Now was properly vibrant, taking full advantage of that 1600p 120Hz display with lush scenery and crisp contrast, especially while running around the Druid’s Grove in Act One.

Of course, if you’re just streaming a video from YouTube or Netflix, or any other streaming app, having a high refresh rate, high-resolution screen is fantastic. The 516 GE’s panel isn’t going to blow you away with its color accuracy like a workstation or creator machine, but it does meet 78.5% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is a great more vibrant than the Chromebook average of 70.6%. The Chromebook Plus 516 GE is also on the brighter side, with a peak brightness of 341 nits which is also brighter than the Chromebook category average of 320 nits. It’s also sufficient brightness to cut through even the brutal Laptop Mag office glare.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Keyboard and touchpad

The Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE keyboard has solid travel with a high activation point. Unfortunately, that makes the keyboard feel kind of mushy. It wouldn’t be so bad if the Chromebook Plus 516 GE wasn’t supposed to be something of a gaming system. The lack of bounce and the high activation point just make the 516 GE’s keyboard feel wrong for gaming.

I maintained an 88 words per minute (wpm) average on the 10fastfingers advanced typing test. This is identical to my usual 88 wpm average on the MacBook Pro 14 keyboard. So despite my dislike for the keyboard’s type quality, it had no impact on my typing speed or accuracy.

Additionally, the LEDs under the keyboard aren’t particularly vibrant. They light up well, but the colors are a bit washed out, so you don’t even get a great gamer feel from them. This is particularly noticeable with lighter shades like yellow but also impacts the rainbow array. Static red or green worked the best.

The touchpad is on the larger side, measuring 5 x 3.3 inches. The scroll experience is smooth, and the bottom half of the touchpad has a physical click activation, if you want that nice click activation feel. It’s unfortunate the click is only on the bottom half, but it is better than no click at all.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Audio

Acer packed a DTS speaker array into the Chromebook Plus 516 GE’s top-firing speakers. They do get some solid audio volume, but the sound quality isn’t always the best experience.

Playing Baldurs Gate III both on-device and through GeForce Now, the game sounded like I was listening to it through a pair of tin headphones. The Baldur’s Gate III main theme still maintained the usual dramatic drums and deep vocalizations, but the higher-pitched strings and singing sounded more like nails on a chalkboard than the gorgeous instrumentals and soft humming I’m used to hearing.

For a quality audio experience while gaming on the 516 GE, I’d recommend the best headphones or a set of the best computer speakers rather than relying on the onboard audio.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Gaming and graphics

Acer positions the Chromebook Plus 516 GE as a cloud gaming device, and that is where it should stay. While you can game on the Chromebook thanks to Valve’s Steam for ChromeOS beta, most Chromebooks aren’t built for gaming.

While integrated GPUs have improved over the years, that’s not the case for the Intel Core 5 120U processor inside the Chromebook Plus 516 GE. This power-efficient, low-budget Intel processor doesn’t feature the flashy Arc iGPU of its “Meteor Lake” Core Ultra 100H peers. Having just 8GB of system memory doesn’t help. So while I did download Baldur’s Gate III through Steam directly onto the 516 GE, I was reduced to playing it on low graphics presets and at 1080p resolution, and it was still a stuttery mess. I’ve made PowerPoint flipbook-style animations with smoother graphics.

I also had difficulty loading some mobile games to the Chromebook Plus. I was unable to complete the download on the Genshin Impact textures, and even Honkai Starrail didn’t want to display correctly. The game was missing entire assets and was completely unplayable. Some Android games won’t run while emulated, while other Android games like Pokémon Unite played fine on the 516 GE. However, the lack of touchscreen controls made them awkward to play.

But if you just want to connect to GeForce Now, the 516 GE does a good enough job of connecting to the Nvidia rigs. While you are limited based on your GeForce Now subscription tier, the free tier will give you access to an Nvidia RTX 2080 GPU, which is more than powerful enough to play most games at a 1080p or 1200p resolution and high settings. Depending on your internet connection, dropping to Medium for more graphically demanding games is advisable, but GeForce Now is a solidly impressive streaming service. Of course, paid subscription tiers give you longer game times and more powerful GPUs, if being limited to an hour-long game session and an RTX 2080 isn’t enough for your gaming habits.

As far as benchmarks go, we did run the Chromebook Plus through the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme test, and it averaged a framerate of just 14.74fps, which is admittedly above the Chromebook category average of 13.26fps . However, that data set is rather limited, and we’ve reviewed budget smartphones with better on-device gaming capabilities.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Performance and heat

I kept my high expectations for the Chromebook Plus 516 GE pretty low, considering it is a Chromebook running an Intel Core 5 120U processor, and I was correct in that assessment. While the Chromebook Plus 516 GE has enough power to get through a full day of web applications, internet surfing, and email management, with some Google One AI integrations, it wasn’t going to be anything like a high-powered or even mid-range gaming laptop. And that’s okay. While the 516 GE may be the gaming Chromebook, it is still a Chromebook.

I kept open my usual 20-something research Chrome tabs and stream some music in the background. I also got the 516 GE to download Baldur’s Gate III and a few mobile gacha games like Genshin Impact in the background without hitting a CPU bottleneck. I didn’t get to run my usual Photoshop test, because that’s not a ChromeOS app, and I’m not too familiar with Canva to use that instead. But I was able to handle my usual workload without any snags. ChromeOS does have access to Chrome’s memory saver, which can help offload your Google Chrome memory hoard and keep you browsing as fast as your internet connection will allow.

As far as benchmarks are concerned, the Chromebook Plus 516 GE beats the category averages across the board. Some of the biggest wins were the Geekbench 6, where the 516 GE’s multicore CPU compute average of 7,303 was well above the Chromebooks category average (4,956), and the Chromebook productivity benchmark CrXPRT 2, where the 516 GE’s average of 205 was 26% above the Chromebooks average (162).

So if you need a more powerful Chromebook to keep up with your workday, the 516 GE isn’t a bad option for a productivity machine.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Webcam

The FHD webcam on the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE isn’t terrible. It isn’t the clearest feed, but the colors aren’t particularly distorted, and you do get access to Google’s advanced AI camera features like Studio sound, Studio lighting, and portrait touch-up, which can help you get a better sound, a better picture, and minimize the appearance of those dark circles under your eyes from staring at too many screens for a living.

If you’re going to be on camera a lot when using the Chromebook Plus 516 GE, you may still want to invest in one of the best webcams to kit out your gaming setup.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Software and warranty

The Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE comes with ChromeOS installed. As part of the Chromebook Plus tier, you get a year of Google One AI Premium for free.

In terms of pre-loaded software, the Chromebook will start downloading your usual Chrome apps as part of the setup process, but it comes with GeForce Now installed and has the beta installation files for Steam pre-loaded. If you download Steam through the Google Play Store it will only get you the mobile app, which won’t allow you to play any games on the Chromebook. If you want the full Steam experience, you need to search your Chromebook for the installation files for the Steam for Chrome beta to ensure you get the right version installed.

As for warranty coverage, the Chromebook Plus 516 GE comes with a one-year limited warranty from Acer for parts and labor.

Bottom line

The Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE is a cloud gaming device. It does well on productivity metrics, but its on-device gaming performance is outpaced by your average smartphone. And most of the games you could play on the 516 GE are better optimized for phones and touchscreen devices anyway, leaving the Chromebook Plus in the dust.

Unfortunately, the updated model does not fix the things we disliked about the original 516 GE. The keyboard is still mushy, the battery life is sub-par, the audio is still tinny, and the display is still a standard IPS without touchscreen support.

If you wanted a gamer-lite productivity machine with color LED backlights and a quality webcam, the Chromebook Plus 516 GE isn’t a bad option. But ultimately, you can run GeForce Now and Steam for ChromeOS on any Chromebook. So, you’re probably better off going for the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus instead, because you get a far nicer display, longer battery life, and a better overall Chrome device.

The mid-range gaming laptop category offers a wide array of laptops, all trying to give you the best power and performance without putting too much of a dent in your wallet. There are often some trade-offs made to get there, which can make comparing them challenging, but that's why I'm here to help.

I recently reviewed the Acer Predator Triton Neo 16, a gaming and content-creator laptop that fits firmly in the mid-range gaming laptop arena, offering dependable performance, a bright and colorful display, and over 6 hours of battery life.

I also recently reviewed the Lenovo Legion 5i Gen 9, another solid contender in the mid-range gaming laptop arena, offering solid performance, a vivid display, and a satisfyingly clicky keyboard. If it wasn't for the Dell G16 (7630), the Legion 5i would likely be our favorite budget laptop pick for the best gaming laptops under $1500.

In a direct head-to-head, would you be better off going for the gaming creator hybrid Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 or the gamer's gaming laptop, the Lenovo Legion 5i Gen 9?

Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 vs Lenovo Legion 5i 16 Gen 9: Pricing and configurations

Pricing for the Predator Triton Neo 16 starts at $1,449 for the base configuration. This model features an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU with 6GB of dedicated VRAM, 16GB of memory, a 1TB SSD, and a 16-inch, 2560 x 1600, 240Hz IPS panel. Notably, you can also find this configuration available for just $1,149 at Amazon instead of the full $1,449 price tag on the Acer Store.

Upgrading that model to the RTX 4060 GPU with 8GB of dedicated VRAM will cost an additional $100 for a list price of $1,549. Our review model spec upgrades the CPU to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, the GPU to an Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU with 8GB of VRAM, and the RAM to 32GB. This model is available only from MicroCenter and has a list price of $1,599.

Lenovo lists the starting configuration for the Legion 5i Gen 9 at $1,524. That base model comes with an Intel Core i7-14650HX processor, Nvidia RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, a 16-inch 165Hz (2,560 x 1,600) IPS anti-glare display, and Windows 11 Home.

You can upgrade to an Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU and 1TB of SSD storage for $1,789.99 list price. Upgrading to an RTX 4070 with 32GB of RAM costs $2,199.99 list. Our Legion 5i review unit featured an upgraded Intel Core i9-14900HX CPU, Nvidia RTX 4060, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD, which cost $2,044 according to its list price.

While the top-line Legion 5i is a bit more expensive than the Triton Neo 16, both laptops are often on sale. Additionally, Lenovo gives you more granular control of your spec choices so you can dial in your perfect configuration. And that's the kind of control gamers and content creators live for, which gives the Legion the edge.

Winner: Lenovo Legion 5i 16 Gen 9

Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 vs Lenovo Legion 5i 16 Gen 9: Design

Design can be one of the compromises you must make when looking at more budget-conscious gaming and content-creator laptops. However, some laptops will still surprise you with their design choices, even on mid-range platforms.

Acer positions the Predator Triton Neo 16 as a gaming and content-creator laptop, so it features a streamlined, modern design. It still has RGB lights on the keyboard and shiny Predator logos on the cover and keyboard deck, but the rest of the laptop is a no-nonsense silver. So it can blend in at the office or in class without being too obviously a gaming laptop.

The Legion 5i has the same chassis design as the Legion 7i and Legion Pro laptops, with shiny Lenovo and Legion logos on the top cover and keyboard deck. The only area where the Legion 5i differs from its more pricey siblings is color. The Legion Pro and Legion 7i Gen 9 laptops come in Arctic White or Eclipse Black colorways, while the Legion 5i only comes in the same Arctic Grey that I find boring and flat on the Lenovo ThinkBook and IdeaPad lines.

As for weight and dimensions, the Triton Neo 16 is thinner and lighter, measuring 14 x 9.8 x 0.82 inches and weighing 4.5 pounds. Meanwhile, the Legion 5i is on the thicker and heavier side. It measures 10.33 x 14.16 x 0.78~0.99 inches and weighs 5.33 pounds.

From a pure design aesthetic perspective, the Neo is the better-looking laptop. And it's even thinner and lighter.

Winner: Acer Predator Triton Neo 16

Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 vs Lenovo Legion 5i 16 Gen 9: Battery life

Gaming and creator laptops almost always have poor battery life. After all, they house high-power discrete GPUs, and most don't come with an easy GPU shutoff switch for operating on battery power.

The Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 lasted for a pretty impressive 6 hours and 47 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test. I couldn't get the Triton Neo 16 to last my entire workday, but I got a solid few hours of untethered productivity in, which is far better than most gaming laptops.

Now, the Legion 5i Gen 9 could almost never win this category. Legion laptops have not done well on our battery test historically, and the Legion 5i Gen 9 was no different. The Legion 5i lasted just 3 hours and 36 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test. We have seen worse battery life in a gaming laptop, to be sure, but it's not great. The mid-range gaming laptops category average is 5:03.

The Triton Neo 16 lasted more than 3 hours longer than the Legion 5i, almost managing to double the Legion's battery life. So this is an easy win for the Acer gaming and creator laptop.

Winner: Acer Predator Triton Neo 16

Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 vs Lenovo Legion 5i 16 Gen 9: Display

Both the Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 and Lenovo Legion 5i Gen 9 have matte IPS displays with high refresh rates.

The Triton Neo 16 also meets the 100% sRGB standard, but it's DCI-P3 vibrance tested lower than expected at just 78.8%. Acer rates the Triton Neo 16 at 100% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, and we believe the difference between our testing and Acer's rating is down to a difference in display measurement technology. I was impressed by the vibrance and variation in the pink and blue cyberpunk-style lights of Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail’s Solution Nine hub city.

The Legion 5i meets Lenovo's 100% sRGB claim with 112% coverage on the sRGB color space, but it does underperform on the more vibrant DCI-P3 color gamut with only 79.2% coverage. I wrote in my review that "The IPS display also impressed while gaming, presenting the stunning shades of Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail’s cyberpunk end-game hub city Solution Nine with the kind of vibrance that helps the city stand out against the game’s usual Medieval fantasy aesthetic."

The Legion is less bright than the Triton Neo 16, with an average peak brightness of 346 nits compared to the Triton's 479 nit average. However, both laptops are bright enough to counteract glare from overhead lights, so neither is really doing poorly on a brightness metric.

That said, the Acer has a nicer degree of vibrance to it and has a brighter display, which makes it the winner in this category.

Winner: Acer Predator Triton Neo 16

Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 vs Lenovo Legion 5i 16 Gen 9: Keybord and touchpad

Gaming keyboards are often unsung heroes of the gaming laptop scene. We don't always give a good keyboard the credit it deserves, but when you're gaming in the classic keyboard and mouse format, a poor keyboard can be game-breaking.

The Predator Triton Neo 16’s keyboard is springy enough to offer some solid bounce to your typing. As I stated in our review of the Triton Neo 16, "I burst out an average of 93 words per minute (wpm) on the 10fastfingers advanced typing test. That is a solid 5 wpm above my usual 88 wpm average." However, the Triton Neo 16's keyboard can get rather hot while gaming and it isn't the most satisfyingly springy keyboard I've ever tested.

The Lenovo Legion 5i 16 Gen 9's keyboard is satisfying, and springy, and features tactile key switches and full-sized arrow keys ideal for gaming. In our review of the Legion 5i Gen 9, I found that "the springy keyboard is a dream to type on, as evidenced by my 89 words per minute (wpm) average on the 10fastfingers advanced typing test, which is just a bit above my usual 88 wpm average."

We've raved about the Legion keyboard before and will continue to do so, as it is one of our favorite keyboards on a gaming laptop.

Winner: Lenovo Legion 5i 16 Gen 9

Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 vs Lenovo Legion 5i 16 Gen 9: Graphics and gaming

The Legion 5i Gen 9 and Triton Neo 16 both feature Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPUs with 8GB of VRAM, so you might expect their gaming performance to be similar; however, the Legion has a bit of an edge with its more powerful Intel Core i9-14900HX processor.

The Triton Neo 16's dual-purpose design comes into play here with less robust thermal management and an RTX 4060 GPU with studio-level drivers. So its raw fps (frames per second) performance is a little less impressive than the Legion.

In my Triton Neo 16 review, I booted up an Act 1 Baldur's Gate III save file to test the Triton Neo's handling of massive turn-based RPG battles. "Baldur’s Gate III ran smooth, with no frame drops even at Ultra presets and the full 1600p resolution. I kicked up a massive fight in the Act 1 Goblin Encampment just to see how well the GPU and CPU would handle large-scale tactical battles, and while the combat action did cause a couple of stutters, it felt far smoother than it had any right to."

In our Legion 5i Gen 9 review, I spun up the same Baldur's Gate III save file. Despite walking into the Goblin encampment and immediately picking a fight, I found that "while there was the occasional hangup, the fight went as smoothly as possible for my under-leveled adventurers, even if I did experience some heavy casualties. The rendering was gorgeous at 1600p and incredibly smooth through combat, exploration, and dialogue."

Now, despite both laptops featuring high-end Intel Core i9 and Ultra 9 processors and Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics cards, the difference in processor architecture, thermals, and GPU drivers led to a pretty large difference between the two laptops. This meant the Legion 5i Gen 9 review unit we tested came out ahead of the Triton Neo 16 by a wide margin of 10-20fps on most games. Cyberpunk 2077 was the only exception, with a measly 0.6fps difference between the two laptops.

So if you want the absolute best gaming and graphics in a mid-range gaming laptop, the Legion 5i Gen 9 is the clear winner.

Winner: Lenovo Legion 5i 16 Gen 9

Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 vs Lenovo Legion 5i 16 Gen 9: Performance

Gaming laptops often go for higher-end processors to keep up with the demands of PC gaming, making them an absolute powerhouse when put against general productivity tasks. These laptops are overpowered for just checking your email or browsing the web, but they offer some of the fastest and smoothest computing experiences you could ask for.

In our review of the Triton Neo 16, I swapped out my usual work laptop for the Triton Neo 16 for my usual workload. I had high expectations for the Triton Neo 16 because "Acer positions the Neo 16 as a laptop for content creators and esports professionals. So, it needs to keep up with a hectic workload. The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD offer a slick computing experience, easily keeping up with my workday of 20+ Chrome tabs of research, some light photo editing, and game downloads without any hang-ups."

In our review of the Legion 5i, I attempted to use the Legion for an entire workday and found that "when it comes to my day-to-day work, the Legion 5i kept up with multiple Chrome tabs, multiple videos, Spotify running in the background, and at least a couple of game downloads. Especially when plugged in, the Legion 5i couldn’t be stopped."

With the more powerful 14th-gen Intel Core i9 processor, the Legion 5i is the winner on general performance tasks, though the Triton Neo 16 still packs quite a punch.

Winner: Legion 5i 16 Gen 9

Bottom line

Neither of these mid-range gaming laptops is a bad option. Both laptops were rated 4 stars or higher by our review process. Whether you go for the Acer or Lenovo, you get a great gaming laptop.

If you want the best power and graphics performance and have a bit more money to spend, the Legion 5i Gen 9 is the better choice. You can even upgrade from our review unit's 165Hz display to a 240Hz option.

If you want a content creation laptop that can also game at up to 1600p resolution, with decent battery life, and a design that will blend in at school or the office, the Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 is the better option.

Winner: Lenovo Legion 5i 16 Gen 9

More from Laptop Mag

• Do these images show the Nintendo Switch 2? We have our doubts
• Acer Nitro V 15 review: Compromises in all the wrong places
• Lenovo Legion 5i 16 Gen 9 vs Dell G 16 (7630): Which budget gaming laptop wins?

Gaming laptops often make the most reliable content-creator machines, but they're also a bit over the top for some people. However, the Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 offers the best of both worlds, designed for content creators and gamers all the way up to esports professionals.

With its Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, the Triton offers great all-around performance and a slick gaming experience. More uniquely, it's portable enough to suit a wide variety of users and lifestyles and features a high-refresh-rate display and decent battery life.

While the Triton Neo 16 pricing officially starts at $1,449, the laptop is often available for less, bringing the price to $1,399 for our review configuration. And at that price, the Triton Neo 16 is a fantastic value. The Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 does offer enough performance and graphics capacity to rank among our best gaming laptops for under $1,500, but does it have the performance to rank as a solid creator laptop and gaming platform?

Acer Predator Triton Neo 16: Specs and benchmarks

Acer Predator Triton Neo 16: Price and configurations

Pricing for the Predator Triton Neo 16 starts at $1,449 for the base configuration. This model features an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU with 6GB of dedicated VRAM, 16GB of memory, a 1TB SSD, and a 16-inch, 2560 x 1600, 240Hz IPS panel. Notably, you can also find this configuration available for just $1,149 at Amazon instead of the full $1,449 price tag on the Acer Store.

Upgrading that model to the RTX 4060 GPU with 8GB of dedicated VRAM will cost an additional $100 for a list price of $1,549.

Our review model spec upgrades the CPU to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, the GPU to an Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU with 8GB of VRAM, and bumps the RAM to 32GB. This model is available only from MicroCenter and has a list price of $1,599, though you can get it for $1,399 at the time of writing thanks to MicroCenter’s holiday sales.

If you want the highest possible configuration of the Triton Neo, it costs $1,899 and comes with an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU with 8GB of VRAM, 32GB of memory, a 1TB SSD, and a 16-inch 3200 x 2000, 165Hz IPS display.

Acer Predator Triton Neo 16: Design

Acer positioned the Triton Neo 16 as a laptop for content creators and esports pros alike, so it features a more streamlined, modern design. You still have RGB lights on the keyboard and shiny Predator logos on the cover and keyboard deck, but the rest of the laptop is a no-nonsense silver.

While I do love a gaming laptop that goes overboard with the RGB light bars and gamer aesthetics, it is nice to see a slimmer, stripped-down gaming machine that lets the internals do the talking. I just wish that the cover logo was a bit bigger to give the lid a little more visual interest. With the Triton Neo 16 closed, it’s only distinguishable from the Acer Swift X 14 by the small Predator logo and its larger screen size.

As for its dimensions, the Triton Neo 16 measures 14 x 9.8 x 0.82 inches and weighs 4.5 pounds. While it can get heavy to carry after a few hours, it’s definitely light and thin enough to be a decent commuter laptop. So, you won’t need to worry about changing the curvature of your spine if you decide to take the Triton Neo 16 on vacation.

In fact, the Triton Neo 16 is actually on the thinner and lighter side when compared to other mid-range gaming laptops like:

• Dell G16 (7630) - 14.05 x 11.37 x 1.01 inches, 6.0 pounds
• Acer Nitro V 15 - 14.3 x 9.4 x 1.06 inches, 4.6 pounds
• Lenovo Legion 5i Gen 9 - 10.33 x 14.16 x 0.78~0.99 inches, 5.33 pounds

Acer Predator Triton Neo 16: Ports

Gamers need a lot of ports to power all of those accessories, like a high-speed gaming mouse or gamepad, high-quality webcams for streaming, capture cards, studio-quality microphones, and even external RGB lights to really get the most out of their game station. The Triton Neo 16 delivers quite a few ports to power all those accessories.

The Triton’s full port array across the right and left sides of the chassis includes:

• 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port
• 1 x ThunderBolt 4 USB-C port
• 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports
• 1 x HDMI port
• 1 x microSD card reader
• 1 x 3.5mm audio combo jack
• 1 x Kensington Lock Slot

If your gaming setup still needs more ports, we recommend investing in one of the best laptop docking stations or USB-C hubs. Or buy some wireless accessories and cut the cords.

Acer Predator Triton Neo 16: Battery life

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again: gaming laptop battery life is very often grim. Courtesy of their power-hog discrete gaming GPUs, gaming laptops tend to trend under 6 hours of web surfing battery life on a single charge.

Knowing this, I kept the charge cables close by when I decided to see if the Triton Neo could last for my entire workday. The Neo 16 didn’t make it a full eight working hours on battery, but it did last for a solid half day of surfing the web, writing about laptop processors, and editing some photos while I had a few games downloading in the background.

We tested the Triton Neo 16’s battery on the Laptop Mag battery test, which sets a laptop to 150 nits and has it continuously surf the web until the battery shuts down. The Triton Neo 16 lasted 6 hours and 47 minutes on our battery test. So, while the Triton Neo 16 isn’t winning any battery life competitions, it does beat the mid-range gaming laptop average of 5:03.

Of course, if you need a gaming laptop that will also last for a solid chunk of your work or school day, you’d be better off opting for the Asus TUF A14, one of the longest-lasting gaming laptops we’ve tested in years.

Acer Predator Triton Neo 16: Display

The matte 16-inch, 240Hz panel on the Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 features a max resolution of 2560 x 1600, which offers a smooth, high-res viewing experience for gaming and video streaming.

The vistas of Baldur’s Gate III’s Act 1 were lush and detailed, with a nice degree of vibrance. I also noticed a greater degree of variation in the cyberpunk-style pink and blue lights of Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail’s Solution Nine hub city than I would expect, as the Triton Neo 16’s display offers content-creator-level visuals. In fact, I was even impressed by the deep hues of the roof tiles in the “Alexandria” end-game dungeon.

Of course, the Triton’s display also looks slick while streaming videos, so if you also want to use the Neo 16 for general entertainment, you won’t be disappointed. I was pleased with the high contrast and deep saturation of the trailer for Cristoph Walz’s upcoming action flick, Old Guy. The rave scenes looked slick, while the brightly lit doctor’s office offered a stark contrast, and the IPS panel’s 479 nits of brightness ensured that glare wasn’t even a concern.

Our review unit scored lower on our DCI-P3 color gamut coverage compared to other laptops in the creator class. Acer rates the Triton Neo 16 to 100% DCI-P3 coverage, while our benchmarks indicated a 78.8% coverage. This difference seems to be due to a difference in the testing procedure, so our lower DCI-P3 score does not appear to reflect the full visual experience of the Triton Neo 16.

Acer Predator Triton Neo 16: Keyboard and touchpad

The Predator Triton Neo 16’s keyboard is springy enough to add some extra speed to my typing.

I burst out an average of 93 words per minute (wpm) on the 10fastfingers advanced typing test. That is a solid 5 wpm above my usual 88 wpm on the MacBook Pro 14 keyboard.

This keyboard features 3-zone RGB backlighting with dedicated keys for Predator Sense and Copilot, plus caps lock and microphone mute indicator lights.

The massive Gorilla Glass touchpad measures 6.1 x 3.7 inches and has a smooth, reactive scroll feel, so you won’t lose your cursor much. The clicker feel is decent, with enough feedback to give you a clear indication of clicker activation. Acer does offer solid palm rejection software, so you’re also unlikely to suffer from accidental misclicks on the oversized touchpad.

The Triton Neo 16 features a fingerprint reader for increased security. The fingerprint scanner is in the upper left-hand corner of the touchpad. While I don’t love having the fingerprint reader on the touchpad, it’s placed far enough to the side that it doesn’t get in the way while scrolling the web.

Acer Predator Triton Neo 16: Audio

Acer packed a DTS X Ultra dual-speaker array into the Predator Triton Neo 16. The dual bottom-firing speakers get loud enough despite their location (rear of the laptop). The bottom of the Triton Neo 16 is beveled, so the speaker array isn’t firing directly into your desk but rather comes at an angle. You get enough power to counteract the fan noise once the GPU kicks into high gear.

The trouble is the audio fidelity. You will experience an unmistakable tinny quality to the sound. While it’s not super grating when the fans kick on, it does distort the audio, making the familiar synths of Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail’s Solution Nine hub city sound flat and lifeless. Baldur’s Gate III’s more traditional RPG instrumentals landed a bit smoother, with a clearer differential between the strings and drums. However, the droning vocals of the Main Theme on the opening menu did lack emphasis on the Triton’s bottom-firing speakers even at full volume.

While the speakers on the Triton Neo 16 aren’t the worst I’ve ever heard on a gaming laptop, I’d recommend opting for the best headphones or a set of the best computer speakers.

Acer Predator Triton Neo 16: Gaming and graphics

With an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, 32GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU with 8GB of VRAM, I had decently high expectations for the Neo 16. Of course, an Intel Core Ultra 9 185 processor isn’t quite a gaming-class CPU, but it is more than capable of gaming at 1080p or 1600p without a bottleneck. Of course, for the smoothest experience with high-fidelity graphics, opt for a lower 1080p or 1440p resolution, but if you want to game at 1600p, you’ll need to drop the settings to either High or Medium for a better experience.

Baldur’s Gate III ran smooth, with no frame drops even at Ultra presets and the full 1600p resolution. I kicked up a massive fight in the Act 1 Goblin Encampment just to see how well the GPU and CPU would handle large-scale tactical battles, and while the combat action did cause a couple of stutters, it felt far smoother than it had any right to. The environments were gorgeously rendered and the framerate didn’t stutter through combat or exploration.

I also had no issues running Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail at High (Laptop), 1440p settings. I did dial back party effects for the 24-person Jeuno: The First Walk raid, but that was more for the sake of my eye health than the Triton’s gaming capabilities.

My only struggle with gaming on the Triton Neo 16 was some thermal throttling on long gaming sessions, but considering how svelte the design is on the Neo 16, that’s hardly a surprise. However, that high CPU and GPU temperature does equate to a hot keyboard, which can get uncomfortable for keyboard and mouse gamers.

Acer Predator Triton Neo 16: Performance and heat

I kept my high expectations for the Triton Neo 16’s general performance, especially as Acer positions the Neo 16 as a laptop for content creators and esports professionals. So it needs to keep up with a hectic workload. The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD offer a slick computing experience, easily keeping up with my workday of 20+ Chrome tabs of research, some light photo editing, and game downloads without any hangups.

I did notice a performance drop on battery power compared to AC power, especially on high-intensity tasks. This makes sense, considering how power-hungry discrete GPUs can get. So if you want to use the Triton Neo 16 as a content creator or workstation laptop, you can definitely get the performance you’ll need (plugged in). The Triton Neo 16 isn’t the most powerful mid-range gaming laptop, but it is on the high end of all the category averages across our various performance benchmarks, including a Geekbench 6 multicore performance that is 21% higher.

Acer Predator Triton Neo 16: Webcam