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Acer Chromebook C720P review: King of the budget Chromebooks

The Acer Chromebook C720P throws extra storage, better battery life, and a touch screen into a small package for $299, It's the best Chromebook for its price we've seen.

Scott Stein Editor at Large
I started with CNET reviewing laptops in 2009. Now I explore wearable tech, VR/AR, tablets, gaming and future/emerging trends in our changing world. Other obsessions include magic, immersive theater, puzzles, board games, cooking, improv and the New York Jets. My background includes an MFA in theater which I apply to thinking about immersive experiences of the future.
Expertise VR and AR, gaming, metaverse technologies, wearable tech, tablets Credentials
  • Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps
Scott Stein
8 min read

To love a Chromebook, you have to understand that the idea of a "laptop" is changing. We're somewhere between tablet and PC now, phone-style speed computing and an older, more old-fashioned computer. Chrome OS -- Google's browser-based, all-cloud operating system -- tries to bridge the gap, and you get a laptop-style device that's really just a fully-featured super-browser with a keyboard, storage and Webcam attached.

7.0

Acer Chromebook C720P

The Good

The <b>Acer Chromebook C720P</b> has a good keyboard, an SD expansion slot, USB 2 and 3 ports, and HDMI, plus a touch screen. It also has more onboard storage (32GB) than most entry-level Chromebooks, and better battery life than most previous Chromebooks.

The Bad

Low-end price is matched by its low-end feel. Chrome OS has natural limitations. Touch isn't always that useful in Chrome.

The Bottom Line

The Acer Chromebook C720P manages to get better at all the key things, adding up to a little laptop alternative that's better than any budget Chromebook we've seen before.

But for some of you, that may well be enough -- especially if you're splitting time between a Chromebook and another device (a PC, a tablet, or a smartphone).

Chromebooks have limitations, but they also have advantages: speed, easy cloud set-up, and -- hopefully -- price. That's the key point with the Acer Chromebook C720P: it's $299, and comes with all the extras you'd hope for: USB, HDMI, 32GB of onboard storage (with an SD slot for additional expansion), and even a touch screen -- something that only exists elsewhere in the Chromebook universe in the $1,300 Chromebook Pixel.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Compared with the HP Chromebook 11 -- which I already liked -- and the Toshiba Chromebook, this Acer's a feature-packed bargain. It may be the best Chromebook I've ever seen. That doesn't change what it is: a touch-enabled update to the Acer Chromebook C720 that's been around for a few months. But battery improvements, Chrome OS improvements, and a combination of extra storage and a touch screen make this Chromebook package a lot more palatable than its predecessors: the mid-2013 C710 and 2012 C7 Acer Chromebooks.

I still don't know if I'd clamor for a Chromebook, but if you're looking for one, you'd best start here.

Multiple models: C720 vs. C720P
Before we dive into the details of this model, let's shine the light of clarity on Acer's somewhat confusing naming scheme.

The company's current Chromebook, reviewed here, is available in touch-screen (C720P) and non-touch-screen (C720) configurations, at varying price points:
Acer Chromebook C720-2848 ($199): 16GB, silver/gray
Acer Chromebook C720-2420 ($249): 32GB, silver/gray
Acer Chromebook C720P-2666 ($299): Touch-screen, 32GB, silver/gray
Acer Chromebook C720P-2600 ($299): Touch-screen, 32GB, white (reviewed model)
Except for those differences in color, storage capacity, and touch screen (or not), this generation of Acer Chromebooks is otherwise identical, and should offer identical performance, thanks to using the same Intel CPU, battery, and screen.

Just be sure to steer clear of those older, similarly named Acer Chromebooks mentioned above, the C7 and C710.

With that out of the way, here's what makes the C720/C720P is a nice step up from its predecessors.

Budget style that actually works
The Acer C720P is plastic. It's a bit bulkier than the HP Chromebook 11. But it has a similar design philosophy: take that plastic design and make it even more plastic, somehow, in a solid, somewhat kid-friendly way. It all feels rigid and reliable, and less flexy even than the sleeker HP Chromebook 11.

Sarah Tew/CNET

The switch to white plastic on my review unit seemed like a positive step (it's also available in matte gray), even though this really isn't all that different from the Netbook-like design seen on previous Acer Chromebooks. I guess I'm softening a little on the utility of the Chromebook-as-Web device.

It's a fine package in terms of typing comfort: nothing fancy, but it gets the job done. A full-size keyboard has matte plastic keys with no backlighting but decent key travel. Everything's where it should be, and I wrote this review comfortably on it.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Below that, a medium-size clickpad feels pretty responsive, with a smooth surface, a crisp clicking mechanism and enough space for multi-finger gestures. If this Chromebook only had this keyboard and touch pad as the sole inputs, I'd be satisfied.

But no, the C720P goes a step further: the 11.6-inch 1,366x768-pixel display is touch-enabled. Tapping, dragging, pinching, and any other multi-finger gesture you can imagine works, and works well. Chromebooks have been experimenting with touch, but touch isn't an essential feature. In fact, unlike Windows 8, the Chrome UI is riddled with small icons like a standard PC desktop, and doesn't feel like a clear fit for touch. Because of this, I kept forgetting to touch the C720P's screen at all.

Sarah Tew/CNET

No, you don't need a touch Chromebook. But in this case, you get touch at a reasonable premium -- just $20 more than the HP Chromebook 11, which features the same size screen. For certain apps, like Google Maps or app-based Chrome games, touch can be useful in the same way it is while browsing on a tablet or on a Windows touch laptop. It can't hurt to have, but if you feel you'll never use it, you can always save a few bucks and go for the no-touch C720 model. That said, the LCD display on the C720P has decent enough brightness without feeling like the touch addition has compromised viewing quality in any way. It's not a great display, but it's adequate, and movies like "There Will Be Blood" are very acceptable when streamed via Netflix. But, even at slight angles, you can see a washed-out look that makes colors seem paler and text less sharp.

What you can (and can't) do on a Chromebook
Chrome OS has a lot of limitations, but if you consider the Web as your computing world and live mostly in the cloud, it could be a perfect solution for a quick-use computer. You can use the Web like you can on any browser, opening tabs and interacting with touch pad, keyboard, and touch screen.

Sarah Tew/CNET

You can also run a variety of HTML 5-based Chrome Web Store apps, which launch in little browser windows and are essentially Web-based, but sometimes feel like regular applications. Some download locally and work offline, but others just seem to be cached for temporary use. There are games, photo-editing solutions, and all of the basic online services you'd largely expect because, heck, Chrome OS is basically a super-charged Chrome Web browser.

Chromebooks are compatible with Chromecast, too, so videos can be streamed to a TV, or what you're seeing on the Chromebook can be mirrored to the TV. A Chromecast only costs $35, so it's an appealing package, even if Chromecast isn't as robust as many set-top streaming boxes like Apple TV and Roku.

Videos, music, photos and other files can be played and stored on local storage or an SD card, so not everything needs to be exclusively online. You could even plug in a hard drive.

Sarah Tew/CNET

And the Chrome OS continues to surprise: You can even run enterprise Windows applications via VMWare, thanks to a recent deal.

What you still can't do is load any Android apps, or do any sort of truly significant offline work the way you could on a tablet or phone. Yes, you can set up Google Drive or other apps to work offline, and they do work, but none of the experience feels as reliable or "normal" as you'd expect for a computer or tablet.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Hardware: ports galore, and a newer Celeron processor
If you're looking for ports on a Chromebook, look no further: the C720P throws in USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, full-size HDMI, and even an SD card slot. The 32GB of onboard storage -- twice what you usually see on budget Chromebooks -- can be doubled in a flash by popping an SD card in. Really, the only other thing you could possibly ask for is Ethernet (no, it's not on here). There's also Bluetooth 4.0.

The Acer C720P has a Celeron processor, but it's a newer one than its predecessors: a 1.4 GHz Intel Celeron 2955U, part of the spectrum of Haswell-generation processors that offers up much better battery life for similar performance. While boot-up is instant-on fast and Web browsing feels zippy enough over 802.11n Wi-Fi (there's a/b/g/n, but no 802.11ac, nor any LTE options, like the aforementioned HP Chromebook 11), more taxing tasks are bound to struggle. Web game apps like Spelunky were fine, but I wouldn't go throwing out my Windows gaming PC (or even my budget Windows laptop). The C720P also comes with 2GB of DDR3 RAM, but it's hard on a Chromebook to even find a way to appreciate or experience what extra RAM (or even a faster processor) really offers. If you own a Chromebook, you'll mostly be Web browsing, streaming, or doing light Google Docs-style office work.

There is a performance advantage, from what can be seen on SunSpider tests: the Chromebook C720P ran the SunSpider Javascript Benchmark 0.9.1 in 541.6 milliseconds. Last year's HP Chromebook 11 did the same test in 668 ms. But, the HP Chromebook 14 ran the test a little faster.

Google includes 100GB of free Google Drive storage for two years with this Chromebook, as it does with most Chromebooks. That's helpful, but not an epic amount of storage. Google Drive has gotten pretty good at offering near-seamless integration between cloud and local storage, however, so it really does feel like an extension of your Chromebook. There's also a 60-day trial to Google Music All-Play.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Hey: a Chromebook with good battery life!
In 2012, Chromebooks I reviewed only lasted three hours on a charge. Thanks to that improved, more efficient processor, the Acer C720P lasted 352 minutes while streaming a video on Hulu. That's 5 hours and 52 minutes, in case you didn't do the math, with the Wi-Fi turned on: a number that's not perfect, but finally approaches what you'd expect in an everyday laptop. Last year's HP Chromebook 11 only lasted 275 minutes (4 hours, 35 minutes). An extra hour-plus? I'll take it. Sure, laptops and tablets routinely hit 8 hours (or even 10) with ease nowadays, but Chromebooks have had such comparatively poor battery performance among the few we've seen that this type of progress is welcome.

Conclusion: A new high mark for budget Chromebooks. And yet...
Chromebooks are not the only game in the "cheap computer" world. There are inexpensive, and very good, Windows laptops, ones that can be tablets, too: ask yourself whether the Asus Transformer Book T100 would be a better match. Or, would an iPad, for that matter? Chrome OS has a lot of competition to deal with. But, for what they are, Chromebooks are getting better. And judging on recent sales numbers, they don't seem to be going away anytime soon.

Sarah Tew/CNET

For $299, I can accept the Chromebook C720P. In fact, I can actually love it for being a low-maintenance, fast-starting little everyday "laptop lite" for your home... a true "netbook" the way the word "netbook" should have been intended. I like working on Chromebooks. They're easy to grab and go with. But, I could never shake the feeling that both the software and hardware felt subpar compared with any iPad, Android tablet, and most laptops. It's a compromise. But it's better than before, and if I was in a pinch to quickly do something Web-specific -- and I had a laptop, tablet, and Chromebook sitting in front of me -- I'd grab the Chromebook.

Just don't expect a full laptop.

7.0

Acer Chromebook C720P

Score Breakdown

Design 7Features 8Performance 7Battery 7