I performed AAA video games on a ‘gaming Chromebook’ with GeForce Now and Xbox Recreation Cross — which one is best?

Desk of Contents

I attempt to have an open thoughts when reviewing something, however to be sincere, I used to be kinda able to dismiss the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE as a gaming gadget out of the field.

In spite of everything, Chromebooks aren’t for gaming, proper? These are low-cost(er) laptops largely meant for college kids or individuals who don’t want superior options from their pc. Most PC video games aren’t supported by ChromeOS and the interior specs aren’t adequate to run something intense, anyway.

However remarkably, thanks at the very least partially to advances in cloud gaming tech (e.g., Nvidia GeForce Now and Xbox Recreation Cross), the $650 Chromebook Plus 516 GE is definitely fairly good at enjoying video video games. It’s additionally fairly good at simply being a laptop computer, although not with out some ChromeOS-flavored hiccups alongside the way in which.

This piece kills two birds with one stone. It is a evaluation of the Chromebook Plus 516 GE in addition to a deep dive into which cloud gaming providers fares higher on it: Nvidia GeForce Now or Xbox Recreation Cross? (Skip to “Cloud Gaming” for this evaluation.)

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE value and specs

For $650, that is what Acer gives within the Chromebook Plus 516 GE:

• Intel Core 5 120U processor

• Intel built-in graphics

• 16-inch show with 2560×1600 decision, 16:10 facet ratio, and 120Hz refresh charge

• 256GB SSD storage

• 8GB RAM

The processor and GPU aren’t essentially something to put in writing dwelling about, however that’s to be anticipated from a Chromebook. For the worth, that is really a fairly respectable deal. A 256GB SSD is loads for a tool that may principally depend on Google cloud storage, whereas 8GB of RAM is sufficient to make sure that multitasking will not be too problematic.

The show can be nice for the worth, however we’ll get into that in a second.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Design

I’m not enamored with the Chromebook Plus 516 GE’s design, however it’s not horrible, both.

In essence, it simply seems like another large black laptop computer. The principle factor I’m not a fan of is the design on the lid — about 80 % is shiny black, whereas the remaining 20 % is matte black to accommodate the Acer and Chromebook Plus logos. To me, it simply seems a bit awkward. Select shiny or matte, I don’t care, however don’t do each.

Luckily, laptops are meant for use, not simply checked out. Acer packed some good bodily options into this machine, together with a keyboard with practically best key sizes, good spacing between the keys, and nice key journey when pressed. It’s quiet and feels implausible in your fingertips. The keyboard can be backlit, which is a pleasant contact.

One small knock I’ve in opposition to the design is that, in comparison with different Chromebooks I’ve used up to now, this one’s fairly beefy. Particularly, it is 3.8 kilos, making it pretty heavy for a conveyable work machine.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Show

When it comes to show tech, Acer’s newest Chromebook Plus has probably the greatest Chromebook screens I’ve seen. The 16:10 facet ratio provides an additional little little bit of vertical area when you want it, and lots of high-end video video games help that. Its decision is excessive and sharp, making certain that something you have a look at will probably be crystal clear. 

I’d additionally wish to shout out the 120Hz refresh charge. For a tool that’s marketed as a gaming behemoth, that’s actually vital. Most PC video games are able to operating at larger than 60 frames per second with highly effective sufficient {hardware}, which is a profit that’s lacking from a big majority of console video games. 

There’s one main challenge, although. So far as I can inform, there’s no strategy to change the show’s refresh charge within the gadget settings. A 120Hz refresh charge is nice for gaming, however for on a regular basis web use, it’s not that helpful and may drain the laptop computer’s battery. The flexibility to show it right down to 90Hz or 60Hz can be beautiful, however that’s not accessible.

If you wish to know the way the show fared whereas gaming, take a look at the “Cloud Gaming” part.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Ports

The port choice is an actual winner. On the left, there’s a USB-C port, an Ethernet port, and a headphone jack.

On the appropriate, there’s one other USB-C port, an HDMI port, and an everyday USB port. This could guarantee you’ve gotten loads of choices when connecting equipment and peripherals, and even provides you a strategy to join the laptop computer to a TV by way of HDMI.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Cloud gaming

For testing functions, I used to be equipped with an Nvidia GeForce Now Final subscription.

Acer is promoting this as a “gaming Chromebook,” so let’s discuss the way it really fares as a gaming gadget.

Fairly decently, because it seems! To be clear, I don’t imply as an area gaming gadget that you just set up video games on. This isn’t a standard gaming laptop computer. As a substitute, the very best method is to make use of a game-streaming service like Xbox Recreation Cross or Nvidia GeForce Now. This manner, the sport is operating on far more highly effective {hardware} elsewhere (Nvidia’s servers, for instance) and beaming a high-quality, high-framerate video to your Chromebook.

I examined each of these providers out on Chromebook Plus 516 GE and got here away pretty impressed with what I noticed. Let’s begin with Recreation Cross, because it’s a lot easier.

Xbox presents a choice of Recreation Cross video games (not each recreation that’s accessible by way of that service, thoughts you, simply a few of them) for recreation streaming by an online browser. Simply log into an eligible Recreation Cross account and you can begin enjoying (a few of) your Xbox video games instantly.

It’s all remarkably fast. My save information synced instantly and I used to be enjoying an outdated save of Murderer’s Creed: Origins in HD at 60 frames per second (FPS) on a Chromebook. There wasn’t a lot seen video buffering or stuttering, both. The identical held true for Forza Horizon 4. Nevertheless, as will all the time be true of recreation streaming, there’s a little bit of enter latency. This wasn’t very noticeable in Murderer’s Creed, however rendered Forza practically unplayable for me.

I used to be extra impressed by GeForce Now, however with the caveat that I used to be utilizing the Final subscription tier, which runs your video games on an RTX 4080 GPU on a server farm someplace, making certain high-end efficiency on absolutely anything you’ll be able to play. Framerates may go as much as 240 FPS with Final. The free and cheaper GeForce Now tiers grant entry to lesser {hardware} and a 60 FPS cap.

I can’t converse to how GeForce Now’s cheaper tiers work on this Chromebook, however Final was implausible. It’s in a position to pull in video games you personal from third-party marketplaces like Steam and Epic, and whereas loads of video games aren’t supported for authorized rights causes, a good chunk of my Steam library was accessible instantly. I began a brand new recreation in Management, jacked the settings up all the way in which, turned on ray tracing, and was a bit blown away.

The sport ran at at the very least 60 FPS, if not far more. Textures regarded crisp, the decision was sharp, and the ray-traced reflections labored as marketed. Most impressively, the enter delay was hardly noticeable, at the very least throughout Management’s easy early fight encounters. I might see a world by which the late-game issue curve is an excessive amount of to deal with by way of recreation streaming, particularly as a result of I did discover a number of quick situations of video stuttering.

As a sidenote, plugging an Xbox Sequence X controller into the USB port labored immediately. There was no setup wanted and it labored with each recreation I performed.

I’ve to confess, as a lifelong console gamer who additionally owns a Steam Deck for some restricted PC excursions, there isn’t actually a world by which I’d ever make a Chromebook my main gaming gadget. It simply ain’t taking place. I’m an excessive amount of of a purist about video buffering and enter delay to take care of this stuff long-term.

Nevertheless, not everyone seems to be like me. If the Chromebook Plus 516 GE sounds prefer it matches your particular gaming wants and tastes, I can at the very least vouch for its efficiency. This is a superb game-streaming laptop computer, no matter your ideas on recreation streaming.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Efficiency

Its common on a regular basis efficiency is ok, too. 

I don’t have fairly as a lot to say about this as a result of it’s not as stunning or fascinating as its gaming prowess, however the Chromebook Plus 516 GE will work completely effectively as an on a regular basis work/college machine, so long as your duties are principally confined to internet browsers. The processor is quick sufficient to maintain up with on a regular basis duties, whereas the 8GB of RAM retains issues transferring, even when you’ve gotten a bunch of tabs open. 

I also needs to word that I by no means observed the laptop computer getting heat, even whereas gaming. I assume that’s one of many benefits of streaming video games slightly than operating them on native {hardware}.

If you happen to’re curious, I ran a check utilizing the GeekBench benchmarking software program and the Chromebook Plus 516 GE had a multi-score rating of seven,660. That’s probably not outstanding by laptop computer requirements, however in comparison with different Chromebooks we’ve examined out this yr, it’s nice. These different ones had scores within the 4,000s.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Google AI options

You could be questioning what the excellence is between an everyday Chromebook and a Chromebook Plus. One of many major ones is that Chromebook Plus laptops have entry to Google’s finest Gemini synthetic intelligence options.

This gorgeous a lot manifests within the type of three options which might be already, in some kind, accessible on newer Google gadgets just like the Pixel 9. Assist Me Write, for instance, will — effectively — make it easier to write. Merely right-click on a textual content entry subject in Gmail, for instance, and Gemini will allow you to kind in a textual content immediate so it might probably compose the proper message in your stead, based on your directions.

You too can right-click on the desktop wallpaper to generate new AI ones, although that is extra restricted. Relatively than free textual content entry, it’s extra like Mad Libs, with you selecting from a bunch of choices to fill in a pre-existing immediate. Lastly, Magic Editor has made its means over from Google telephones to allow you to shortly and simply edit images.

All of this stuff work as marketed, although I’ll say I’m disenchanted by the restrictions of the wallpaper generator. Regardless, I’ve made my ideas clear on Google’s push for AI ubiquity in my Pixel 9 evaluation and elsewhere; I don’t assume anybody wants AI to assist them write emails or create desktop wallpapers.

Writing a fast message or discovering a brand new wallpaper should not tough or time-consuming duties by any means, and I don’t assume we acquire something from automating them and doubtlessly stealing from scraped web content material on the identical time.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Battery life

Final however definitely not least, the Chromebook Plus 516 GE has wonderful battery life for a laptop computer. 

Utilizing our in-house testing methodology, which includes looping a YouTube video at 50 % brightness and 1080p decision till the battery dies, I used to be in a position to get 10 hours and 12 minutes out of the Chromebook Plus 516 GE. You must nearly definitely have the ability to get a full work day trip of this dangerous boy on a full cost, in different phrases. 

That’s simply good things, people.

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE: Closing ideas

Put a method, the Chromebook Plus 516 GE is an unbelievable worth: You’ll be able to play high-end PC video games at their highest settings and highest body charges for lower than the price of a PS5 Professional. As a pleasant bonus, it’s additionally a totally purposeful laptop computer.

This $650 machine is dear and beefy by Chromebook requirements, however it’s nonetheless a greater worth than a gaming laptop computer so long as you don’t thoughts recreation streaming. High quality battery life, a terrific keyboard, and a strong gaming show seal the deal. 

I would by no means purchase certainly one of these for myself, however there’s positively somebody on the market who would get essentially the most out of the Chromebook Plus 516 GE.