Acer Chromebook Plus 515: A decent performer, held back by unpolished software

Of late, Google has given its Chromebook PCs a major boost by announcing the Chromebook Plus series. Noted PC makers have also come up with their takes on the newly announced lineup. Chromebook Plus models have been applauded for their focus on enhanced hardware and productivity. One of the early contenders in the line-up is the new Acer Chromebook Plus 515. This stylish 15.6-inch Chromebook has enough oomph to be your next PC but is held back by unpolished software.

Acer Chromebook Plus 515 is powered by a mighty Intel Core i3-1215U processor and it is aided by 8GB of RAM, while storage is tackled by a 128 GB SSD. Later, the company will also offer an i7-class CPU. The Chromebook Plus 515 also scores well in the battery life department, with an average score of nine hours. The laptop gets forward-facing and large speakers, too.

Acer has loaded the Chromebook Plus 515 with enough ports and connectivity options. You get a good 1080p camera and, HDMI and USB C ports. The screen however is not very bright. In the software section, you get Adobe Photoshop web for 3 months, Nvidia GeForce NOW cloud gaming for the same duration and Minecraft: Bedrock Edition.

While the hardware does look enticing, ChromeOS holds the laptop down. Most programs like Spotify, Photoshop, and Slack lack native Chromebook versions. So, you have to use web-browser versions. ChromeOS overall gives you a restricted feeling compared to Windows and even Linux. However, despite the software pitfalls, at $399 the Chromebook Plus 515 is a bargain deal.

Acer Chromebook Plus 515 Key Specs: