Acer Chromebook 314 14" CBO314-1H-C476 Star Black 2025

A surprisingly nice screen and lightweight build make this a great $200 couch surfer, but 4GB of RAM means you'll be closing tabs like it's 2010. Buy it for the basics, and don't you dare open more than five tabs.

The Intel Celeron N4500 and 4GB of RAM are the definition of entry-level. In our database, this RAM configuration sits in the 2nd percentile, which is about as low as it gets. For a single browser tab or typing up a doc, it's fine. The real surprise is that 14-inch 1080p IPS display. It's not going to win any color accuracy awards, but it's sharp and easy on the eyes, which is more than we can say for a lot of the washed-out TN panels you usually find on laptops this cheap. Just don't try to run a Zoom call with more than a couple of tabs open, or you'll be staring at a spinning wheel.

This Chromebook's main fight is with other budget Chrome OS machines like the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook. The Lenovo often comes with a slightly better MediaTek processor and longer battery life, making it a smarter buy if you can find it for a similar price. If you're even thinking about running Linux apps or doing light photo editing, skip both of these and look at a used business laptop like a Lenovo ThinkPad. A refurbished Windows machine with an 8th-gen Core i5 and 8GB of RAM will run circles around this Acer for the same money, though you'll lose the simplicity of Chrome OS.

Pricing for this model is all over the map, with a spread from $218 to an absurd $48,825 across vendors. At the low end, around $220, it's a fair price for a secondary couch laptop. At anything over $300, you're getting ripped off. The sweet spot is clearly from Amazon, where it's listed as the Acer Gateway Chromebook 314, and you can often find it for the lowest price. Just don't pay a cent more than you have to.

The Acer Chromebook 314 is a budget Chromebook that gets the basics right for a shockingly low price, but you need to know exactly what you're signing up for. It's a simple machine for simple tasks, and if your day is just web browsing, email, and streaming, it's a solid deal. The 14-inch 1080p screen is a nice surprise at this price, making it feel less like a toy and more like a real laptop for getting work done. But push it even a little, and the weak processor and tiny 4GB of RAM will remind you this is a one-tab-at-a-time kind of device.

If you're looking for a primary computer that can handle multitasking, video calls, and more than a handful of browser tabs, this isn't it. The 4GB of RAM will have you pulling your hair out. Go get a used Lenovo ThinkPad with 8GB of RAM instead, or spend a bit more on a Chromebook Plus model that guarantees better specs.

The Acer Chromebook 314 is a one-trick pony, but it does that trick well for the right person. If you need a cheap, simple laptop for writing, browsing, and watching Netflix, and you can snag it for around $200, it's a solid buy. The nice screen and light build make it feel more premium than it is. But the 4GB of RAM is a dealbreaker for anyone who multitasks, and the alarming reliability reports from some users mean you should test every key the moment you open the box. It's a good Chromebook, not a great one, and only at the right price.