What can you do with a Chromebook Plus? – round up

When Google showed off its first Chromebook to the general public in 2011, the laptop had modest specs. This was also the idea behind Google's new operating system. Chrome OS was so lightweight that it ran on simple hardware, making laptops cheap to buy. More than a decade later, Google seems to want ChromeOS, now sans spaces, to have a more serious image. At the end of 2023, Google introduced “Chromebook Plus,” which you can consider a kind of stamp of approval for fast Chromebooks. If the laptop meets Google's higher requirements, a plus sign can be attached to the brand name and in return the Chromebook will get additional software functionality. In this review, I've taken a look at three Chromebook Plus laptops to see what 'Plus' means and what they can do for you.

Steel CB514 in CB515

I have received two Chromebooks from Acer, the CB514 and CB515. The CB500 series represents Chromebooks that are slightly more expensive than the ones you'll find in the 300 series. The last two numbers represent screen sizes: 14 and 15 inches. They seem to be two very different systems.

The CB514 has a 14-inch screen and is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 5 7520C processor. The laptop has a 16:10 screen ratio and a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. Build quality is as you'd expect from a Chromebook: the casing is all plastic and the whole thing doesn't look particularly exclusive. In any case, you can't tell from the outside that it's a “Plus” laptop.

Acer Chromebook CB514

However, Acer has taken issue with brightening up the exterior a bit. At the back of the display, on Cover A, the 14-inch model has horizontal lines, while its bigger brother has diagonal lines. When you open the laptop, you will see that the casing has perforations on both sides of the keyboard. The tweeters are located at the bottom and point upward, which is better for the clarity of particularly high notes, compared to speakers that point downwards.

The keyboards on both models feature a light touch and are backlit. In terms of connectivity, you have multi-functional USB-C ports on the left and right, and both models have USB-A and HDMI connectivity on the left. Although the physical connection is the same, HDMI works differently in the two models. The 15-inch version with the Intel processor has an HDMI 1.4 connection and displays no more than 2048 x 1152 pixels at 60Hz if you connect it to a 4K display. The 14-inch AMD model, on the other hand, runs at 4K and 60Hz.

Acer Chromebook CB515

Asus CX34

I received a Chromebook Plus CX34 from ASUS. Just as with the Acers, ASUS has opted for an all-plastic exterior, which in this case looks a bit more practical. Even the bright ASUS logo, which you find on many other laptops from the manufacturer, is missing. Job comes first and there will be a lot of people who appreciate that. For example, the CX34 is equipped with many connections. USB-C on both the left and right sides, two full USB-A connections, and a full HDMI connector. Just don't try to connect a 4K display to this, because ASUS made the incomprehensible choice of HDMI 1.4, which means no support for 4k60 displays. In principle, there should be enough bandwidth to drive a 4K display at 30Hz, but ChromeOS doesn't want that. So you are left with a connector that supports the protocol that was followed ten years ago.

Asus Chromebook CX34

There's still something missing that could make you feel like it's 2013: keyboard lighting. Many cheap Chromebooks are equipped with this as standard. The aforementioned Acers also have it, but it's missing in the CX34. Overall, ASUS gives the impression of being somewhat cheaper than Acer Chromebooks. The casing is made of bare plastic and has not been polished with decorative edges. This is also easier to press and the keyboard has a fairly soft touch. The camera delivers a good image, as Google requires, but the speakers sound very small. They do this on the Acer too, but at least they still point upwards, while the ASUS points towards your desk.