Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook Review: Cheap Yet Decent

Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook: At First Glance

Over the years, Acer has been quite resourceful in manufacturing mid-range budget-friendly laptops. Putting cost into consideration, Acer has succeeded in making a good impression on laptop users from different fields.

Fortunately, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook happens to be one of those budget-friendly laptops. Basically, this laptop had a starting price of just $229 in January 2022 when I wrote this review.

Impressively, despite its budget-friendly price tag, this Chromebook manages to feature hardware that enables it to offer adequate performance. However, just like most Chromebooks out there, this Acer Chromebook comes with some major flaws.

Do you wish to know more about this Chromebook and the major flaws I am talking about? Well, there is only one way for you to know – reading this article to the end!

Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook: Design, Dimension, and Weight

Just like most Chromebooks, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook comes with a plastic chassis. Impressively, this chassis has a smooth silver matte finish.

Furthermore, the lid of this laptop comes with a few visual flairs. To be more specific, the laptop’s lid features an Acer logo finely placed at the mid-left corner.

Also, at the top-left corner of this lid, a Chrome OS logo is printed in colorful cyclic form. This Chrome OS logo is one design feature I really appreciate.

This is because it gives first-hand information on the type of operating system the laptop runs – Chromebooks runs on Chrome OS.

On the interior, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook features a massive 15.6-inch display. This display comes with an HD (1366 x 768) resolution.

Performance-wise, this HD display offers decent picture quality for casual video streaming and web browsing. Moreover, the display is made with an IPS panel, which makes it offer wide viewing angles.

However, the display is framed by thick bezels. The top bezel houses an HD webcam for taking pictures and casual skyping.

Meanwhile, as it is customary for Acer, you will see an “Acer” logo at the bottom bezel. This logo is printed in a simple stainless font.

Moving on to the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook’s keyboard, Acer offers a backlit chiclet-style keyboard for this laptop. This keyboard features large keys to seamlessly fit different users’ fingers.

However, due to its poor key travel, the keyboard might be uncomfortable to type on. In case you are wondering, key travel is the distance between a key’s resting position and the depth to which it descends when pressed.

That said, just below the keyboard, this Acer Chromebook features a massive touchpad. This touchpad is very responsive, smooth, and overall easy to use.

Impressively, the touchpad supports Chrome OS gestures like swipe-to-zoom.

Moving on, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebooks offers a limited number of ports, just like most Chromebooks. To give more details, this laptop offers only two USB 3.0 ports – one each on both sides.

Also, this laptop features an HDMI port and a charging port on the left side. Additionally, this laptop offers Bluetooth 4.2 as well as IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac WIFI for wireless connectivity.

Measuring 383.5 x 256.5 x 24.1 mm (W x D x H) and weighing 1950.4 g, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook is the thickest and heaviest laptop in its category. Moreover, due to its heavy weight, it will be kind of difficult to carry this laptop around.

Notwithstanding, this laptop is compact and light enough to fit easily into a backpack. However, when compared to the HP Chromebook 14, this laptop is thicker and weighs more.

Specifically, the HP Chromebook 14 measures 341.1 x 236.4 x 17.01 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 1505.9 g.

All in all, I will rate the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook a seven out of ten in this design review section.

Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook: Processor (CPU) Performance

For processing power, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook is powered by an Intel Celeron N3060 processor. This processor has a base frequency of 1.60 GHz as well as a 2 MB cache memory.

Furthermore, this processor is a dual-core processor with a boost frequency of 2.48 GHz. However, this Intel Celeron processor is a low-end processor mostly found in inexpensive laptops.

Therefore, it isn’t powerful enough to handle heavy-duty computing tasks like video editing. Nevertheless, since Chromebooks are designed to perform basic tasks, this processor is just enough.

Hence, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook will have no problem handling tasks like word processing and web browsing. Also, this laptop should be able to carry out light multitasking.

Moving on, let us now discuss this Chromebook’s performance on a Cinebench R10 to verify its processor’s capabilities. Cinebench R10 is a benchmark test tool that is used to measure a computer’s processor performance.

Furthermore, this benchmark test features two tests – the single-core and multi-core tests. Moreover, the higher the score on each test, the better the computer’s processor performance.

So, in the single-core test, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook scored 1800 points. In the multi-core test, however, the laptop scored 3426 points.

Comparatively, the HP Chromebook 15 scored 1783 and 3340 points on the single-core and multi-core tests, respectively. Thus, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook has a better processing performance than the HP Chromebook 15.

It is worth noting that HP Chromebook 15 is powered by an Intel Core i3-8130U processor.

After thorough consideration, I will be rating the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook a seven out of ten in this CPU review section.

Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook: Memory (RAM) Performance

For the memory, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook comes with 2 GB RAM. Regrettably, this memory is soldered directly to the laptop’s motherboard.

Also, the laptop comes with just a single RAM slot, and 2 GB is the maximum memory that the laptop supports. As a result, upgrading the memory of this laptop to a higher one is impossible.

Notwithstanding, with just 2 GB of memory, this Acer Chromebook should be able to handle light multitasking. Specifically, with 10 Chrome tabs opened while video streaming, this laptop will not lag or slow down.

However, opening more than ten Chrome tabs might cause this laptop’s performance to drop drastically.

Sadly, I won’t be able to offer you benchmark test results based on the memory performance of the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook. This is because Chrome OS that runs on Chromebooks doesn’t support most memory benchmark tools.

Nevertheless, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook is a decent multitasking device with 2 GB RAM. Therefore, I will rate this laptop a seven out of ten in this section.

Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6: Chromebook: Storage Options and Performance

Acer equipped the CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook with 16 GB eMMC storage. By reading the previous sentence, you probably wonder if this storage size will be enough for you.

Well, you are right; 16 GB storage won’t be enough for you and most users. Besides, having such a limited storage space can be frustrating, especially when smartphones nowadays offer up to 128 GB of storage space.

However, this is not much of a drawback as Chromebooks aren’t designed to store files on their local storage. Instead, they are meant to save most of their files and data on Google cloud storage.

Hence, most Chromebooks come with free 100 GB Google Drive cloud storage. Thankfully, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook is no exception.

Need information on how to activate this free Google Drive cloud storage? Check out How to activate 100GB of free Google One storage on a Chromebook for a step-by-step guide.

Impressively, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook also features an SD card slot. This SD card slot offers room for additional storage expansion.

I would have provided you with a benchmark test result of this Acer Chromebook’s storage performance. However, as mentioned earlier, Chromebooks don’t support most benchmark tests.

Nevertheless, the storage space made available in the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook is enough to save a good number of files. Therefore, I will rate the laptop an eight in this section.

Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook: Graphics Card Performance

For GPU, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook employs an Intel HD Graphics 400 graphics card. This graphics card features a base frequency of 320 MHz and a maximum frequency of 600 MHz.

Additionally, this Intel HD GPU is an integrated graphics card. In case you are wondering, an integrated GPU is a graphics card that is built into the processor.

Therefore the graphics card shares memory with the processor. As a result, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook won’t be able to handle graphics-demanding apps or video games.

Notwithstanding, this laptop should be able to run simple games like Candy Crush and Subway Surfers easily.

To prove the graphics performance of the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook, we will now discuss its result on a WebGL Aquarium Graphic test. WebGL Aquarium is a synthetic web-based benchmark test that makes use of Javascript API to measure a computer’s GPU performance.

Thus, in this test, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook was able to display 500 fish at 56 frames per second (fps). In comparison, the Samsung Chromebook Plus V2 displayed 500 fish at just 48 fps.

Before proceeding, it is important to note that the higher the “fps” on this WebGL Aquarium test, the better the performance. This means that this Acer Chromebook has a better graphics performance than Samsung’s ChromebookPlus V2.

Hence, I will rate the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook a seven out of ten in this GPU review section.

Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook: Battery Life and Performance

For the battery, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook employs a 3-cell Lithium Polymer 3950 mAh battery. Acer advertises that this laptop should deliver up to 12 hours of battery life.

To prove Acer’s claim, I will now highlight the results of the laptop on a video playback test. Surprisingly, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook lasted for 13 hours and 12 minutes on this test.

Moreover, this video playback test involves continuously streaming an HD video on the laptop till it runs low.

Comparatively, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook performed better than some popular Chromebooks. For example, the CTL J5 Chromebook lasted for 12 hours and 21 minutes on the video playback test.

Also, the Acer Chromebook 14 lasted only 11 hours and 50 minutes on the same test. The ASUS Chromebook Flip and Acer Chromebook R 11 lasted 11 hours and 10 hours, respectively, on the test.

Overall, the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook features a strong battery that can last you the whole day. Besides, this laptop has a better battery life than most Chromebooks out there.

Hence, I believe the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook deserves a nine out of ten in this battery review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook is a Chromebook that offers good features at a very reasonable price. Furthermore, the epic battery life of this laptop makes it a great pick for students and business owners.

However, a laptop of this price comes with some cutdowns, including limited memory. Also, this laptop comes with a small number of ports and can only handle simple computing tasks.

Hence, if you need an average-performing Chromebook that offers all-day-long battery life, you should consider the Acer CB3-532-C47C 15.6 Chromebook.

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