What you need to know
- Acer has announced its first gaming Chromebook, the Acer Chromebook 516 GE.
- The 516 GE is powered by Intel's 12th Gen processors while sporting a 16-inch, 120Hz display.
- Pricing for Acer's first gaming Chromebook starts at $649 and will arrive this month.
As part of Google's announcement today regarding the future of gaming Chromebooks, Acer is introducing its first gaming Chromebook. The Acer Chromebook 516 GE will hit store shelves just in time for the 2022 holiday season while bringing all of your favorite cloud gaming services to the forefront.
Getting the specs out of the way first, the Chromebook 516 GE sports a 16-inch IPS display with a WQXGA (2560 x 1600) resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. Under the hood, you'll find either the Intel Core i5-1240P or i7-1260p processor paired with either 8GB or 16GB of RAM and up to a 256GB NVMe SSD. You might be wondering about graphics for a gaming Chromebook, and just like the other options announced today, the Chromebook 516 GE is relying on Intel's onboard Iris Xe graphics.
Battery life is rated for up to nine hours on a single charge thanks to the 65Wh cell. And while this may fall a bit short of some of the best Chromebooks, it's still more than enough to get you through a gaming session or three before you'll need to reach for the charger.
Speaking of which, port selection is almost as important as performance, and the Chromebook 516 GE doesn't disappoint. There are dual USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports, a single USB 3.2 Gen 1 port, HDMI 2.1 with HDCP support, a 3.5mm combo audio jack, and even a built-in Ethernet RJ-45 port.
When it comes to laptop gaming, having a big screen with a high refresh rate paired with excellent power is just part of the equation. If you really want a Chromebook that stands out, then you'll love the Chromebook 516 GE's keyboard. Not only has Acer integrated anti-ghosting to help provide fast responses, but it's also an RGB backlit keyboard. Acer points out that owners of this Chromebook are able to "select from one of seven colors or a predefined 4-zone color option."
And while we aren't sure whether the Chromebook 516 GE will be added to the list of Steam Alpha-compatible options, this will make for an excellent cloud gaming machine. Thanks to today's announcement from Google, the Chromebook 516 GE will include a three-month free trial of NVIDIA GeForce Now's 3080 tier, along with Amazon Luna+.
Pricing for the Acer Chromebook 516 GE begins at $649 for the base configuration with the i5-1240P, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. Acer has confirmed its first gaming Chromebook will be available sometime in October and will be available at Best Buy.
