Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 review

The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 just reminded me of what I love about Chromebooks. As such a person deep in the Google ecosystem for my work and personal life, and having an Android phone (eg, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra), suits me better than the M2 MacBook Air I’m using.

On setup, I was asked to sign in with my Google credentials, and it didn’t leave me reeling. (No offense to Microsoft, but since I don’t use the likes of OneDrive, Teams, or other Microsoft properties regularly, I’ll never remember my Microsoft credentials, which makes setting up Windows laptops a pain.)

With a starting price tag of less than $500 enticing, for a split second, I wondered if I’d be better off with a Chromebook – but another outlaw hit me and brought me back to reality. Still, I’d argue it’s one of the best Chromebooks you can buy.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 price and specifications

The Chromebook Plus Spin 714, as of this writing, starts at $499 at Best Buy and comes with the following specs:

If you want better performance, you can upgrade the Chromebook Plus Spin 714 to an Intel Core Ultra 5 115U (this review is based on this configuration) — this will require an additional $200 for the $699 price.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 design

The design language of the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 just speaks to me. You can’t go wrong with a gray-and-rose-gold color scheme.

The all aluminum chassis comes in Steel Gray – the only color option for Acer laptops. But what gives this laptop an edge are the rose gold touches you can find on the hinges and the glossy finish around the touchpad.

Speaking of hinges, as you can tell by the name “Spin,” the Chromebook Plus Spin 714 would be a contortionist if it were personified as a human. It is flexible and bendable, which means it can transform into various positions: tent mode, tablet mode, and more.

Source: Kimberly Gedeon

Tent mode is perfect for anyone who wants the display to take center stage, making it easy to enjoy streaming apps like Netflix and Hulu on the Chromebook Plus Spin 714.

If you want to draw and take notes, you can use tablet mode. The Chromebook Plus Spin 714 supports a stylus, like this one on Amazon, but it doesn’t come with one, which is unfortunate. However, the downside of tablet mode — and this disconnect everything 2-in-1 laptops — that you’ll feel the keyboard under your fingers while using it, which always gives me the ick.

One of the best selling points of the Chromebook Plus Spin 714 is that it meets MIL-STD 810H standards, meaning it has military-grade durability. In other words, you can be sure that it can withstand everyday wear and tear. (This makes this an ideal “first laptop” for young children who tend to have tech-savvy butterfingers.)

It’s also worth noting that the Chromebook Plus Spin 714 has very little heft. It’s not heavy, but this isn’t a laptop that makes me say, “Wow! This is thin and light!”

It weighs 3.21 kilograms and is 0.74 inches thin.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 display

I didn’t expect the Chromebook Plus Spin 714’s display to blow me away. Remember: it costs less than $700.

Source: Kimberly Gedeon

It plays a 14 inch. 1920 x 1200-pixel resolution display with 16:10 aspect ratio. This aspect ratio is growing in popularity among laptops (16:9 used to be the traditional choice), and I’m happy about it. It provides more vertical screen space, so you can enjoy more display real estate for web browsing, reading documents, and more.

However, the Chromebook Plus Spin 714’s display performed much better than I expected. I watched a few trailers, incl Snow White (2025)and the screen perfectly captured Rachel Zegler’s warm ivory skin. The texture is so clear, I felt the yellow tulle of the Zegler dress swirling in the middle of one funny scene.

One thing to note, however, is that the brightness is quite low, coming in at around 340 nits. As such, you will likely have trouble seeing the screen in sunny locations.

But if you plan to use the Chromebook Plus Spin 714 indoors, it has a display that’s above average for a Chromebook.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 ports

The Chromebook Plus Spin 714 comes with a decent variety of ports.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

On the left, you will find the following:

• USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 (2)

• HDMI 2.0

On the right:

• USB-A (3.2 Gen 1)

• Headphone jack

On the left side, you’ll find the power button, but the volume rocker sits on the right. The Chromebook Plus Spin 714 supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 audio

The worst feature of the Chromebook Plus Spin 714 is its sound quality. You can’t win them all, can you?

The speakers fire up towards the top of the keyboard, but I’m not a fan of the sound quality. I played Sabrina Carpenter’s hit song “Espresso” through Apple Music (downloaded from the Google Play Store), and while it might have been loud enough at high volume, the song sounded thin, metallic, and flat.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 keyboard and trackpad

I’m a keyboard snob, and I can’t enough of the satisfying keyboard of the Chromebook Plus Spin 714. The moment the keys actuate, they immediately move you to the next letter, creating a seamless, rhythmic typing experience.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

The keys are clicky and snappy, but also not loud enough to get side-eyes from annoyed co-workers and classmates.

Bonus points for the keyboard’s high visibility between the gray keys that contrast nicely with the white and black. Also, you can adjust the white backlight on the keyboard by pressing the ALT key and the light (next to the mute button) in the taskbar.

The trackpad isn’t that bad either. It reacted when I pushed it over the edge with my unintended actions.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 benchmarks and performance

On Geekbench 6, which tests how well a laptop can handle real-world applications (eg, PDF rendering, ray tracing, image editing, and file compression) the Chromebook Plus Spin 714 delivered scores 5,223.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

This score is correct. But I’m not too worried about this performance figure because ChromeOS is designed to perform lightweight tasks that run on applications that go through the cloud (rather than relying on local processing power).

Most Chromebook operations (eg, using Google Docs, streaming videos, browsing the web) take place online, meaning these laptops rely on cloud servers for heavy processing, reducing the need for powerful hardware.

Even when I pushed Google Chrome to its limit with about 40 tabs, I didn’t notice any slowdown or loose behavior.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 battery life

The Chromebook Plus Spin 714, packed with a 53-hour battery, is advertised as having 10 hours of battery life.

According to our video test, which included a non-stop video loop of 1080p video, the Chromebook Plus Spin 714 lasted about 9 hours on a single charge — 8 hours and 57 minutes to be honest. This is a minor problem for me. A battery life of ten hours, at least, is required.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 Google AI

AI isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s definitely mine. I am very optimistic about the sudden resurgence of artificial intelligence.

Google Gemini on Chromebook Plus Spin 714
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Although you can get Google Gemini on any laptop or phone, this Google-based AI program lives inside this ChromeOS laptop, allowing you to right-click anywhere on the screen for shortcuts to web pages, text-friendliness, and even high- find the background of your video calls.

Creating snapshots is quick and easy, and works like a charm. For example, on Mashable, I asked Gemini to give me a straight answer as to why, exactly, iPhone 16 Pro batteries are so expensive to replace (as the title suggests) – and it “read” the article and spit back the answer. with a quick and short answer.

I asked Gemini to help me summarize the story for Mashable
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

And I didn’t have to read a single word.

One problem I have with the Gemini is that, at times, it can be painfully slow. For example, I tried to create a wallpaper for my Google Meet phone, and it took so long to generate (over 9 minutes), I finally gave up and turned off the laptop.

It took almost a lifetime to generate the AI ​​background.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 comes with a 12-month Google One AI Premium Plan (this plan includes access to Gemini Advanced and 2TB of storage, with Gemini for Docs, Spreadsheets, Gmail, and more).

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 webcam

The Chromebook Plus Spin 714 has a 1440p webcam, and as much as I hate to use this little phrase, it really isn’t much to write home about.

Webcam image with Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

It’s not the crispest, clearest webcam, as one would expect from a sub-$700 webcam, but it gets the job done. It still accurately captures my complexion and my burgundy top.

Is the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 worth it?

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 has a better than expected display, i very good keyboard, sophisticated design, and military-tested durability. However, the screen brightness is not that great, the sound quality is average, and the battery life could be better.

If it weren’t for the battery life, I’d consider giving the Chromebook Plus Spin 714 a spot on our list of the best cheap laptops.

On the other hand, there is a laptop for everyone. I would recommend the Chromebook Plus Spin 714 for budget-conscious users who want a laptop that can stand on a desk at home. I’d also recommend this Chromebook to the average person who doesn’t need a high-powered, long-lasting workstation – they’ll be happy with a laptop with a great display and decent performance.