Acer Chromebook 15.6" 315 Laptop | Review

If you need a basic laptop for under $200, the Acer Chromebook 315 is probably on your radar. It's a 15.6-inch Chromebook with a 1080p IPS screen, an Intel Celeron N4500 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 64GB SSD. For the price, you get a surprisingly decent screen and WiFi 6, which is a nice touch. But this is a machine built for one thing: simple, online tasks. If you're wondering if this Chromebook is good for schoolwork or browsing the web, the answer is a cautious yes, as long as your expectations are set correctly. It's not built for anything heavy, and that's clear from the moment you start using it.

Performance is exactly what you'd expect from a budget Celeron chip and 4GB of RAM. It lands in the 35th percentile for CPU power, which means it's fine for a handful of Chrome tabs, Google Docs, and YouTube. Push it with more than 10 tabs or try to run a couple of web apps at once, and you'll feel it start to slow down. The Intel UHD Graphics (42nd percentile) handle the desktop and video playback without issue, but gaming is a non-starter with a score of 4.1 out of 100. The 64GB SSD is also very small, sitting in the 6th percentile for storage. You'll be relying on cloud storage or a microSD card.

At around $165, the value proposition is straightforward. You are paying for a functional screen and internet portal, not a powerful laptop. The main competition at this price is other used or refurbished Chromebooks and low-end Windows laptops. Compared to them, the Acer 315's clean Chrome OS experience and 1080p screen are advantages. But you have to be okay with its severe limitations in RAM and storage.

The listed competitors like the MacBook Pro or Lenovo Legion are in a completely different universe and price bracket, so let's talk real rivals. Compared to something like the Lenovo Chromebook 3, you might get similar specs for a bit less. The key differentiator here is the 1080p screen, which many budget Chromebooks skip. However, models like the ASUS Chromebook Flip CM3 offer a better build quality and a touchscreen for not much more money, which is worth considering. If you can stretch your budget to $250-$300, you'll find Chromebooks with 8GB of RAM and 128GB storage that are dramatically more usable.

So, should you buy the Acer Chromebook 315? Only if your needs are incredibly basic and your budget is absolutely fixed under $200. It's a passable machine for a student who only needs a browser for homework and light research, or as a secondary device for the kitchen or living room. For anyone who needs to run more than a few tabs, plans to keep this laptop for more than a year, or wants to install Android apps, the 4GB of RAM is a deal-breaker. My advice is to save a little more for a Chromebook with 8GB of RAM. It makes a world of difference.