Acer Chromebook 317

The Acer Chromebook 317 is the world’s first Chromebook with a 17.3-inch screen. The plastic chassis weighs 5.29 pounds and holds an Intel Celeron N4500, 4GB of RAM, and up to 128GB of storage. Ports run to dual USB-C and USB-A, a headset jack, a micro SD card slot, and a Kensington lock port. All that screen area pays off in spreadsheets, split-window multitasking, and movies, at the cost of a laptop you will not want to carry every day.

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Acer Chromebook 317 Comparison Chart

	Acer Chromebook 317	Acer Chromebook 317
Price	List Price: $349.99 Amazon Prices: Check Price on Amazon	List Price: $299.99 Amazon Prices: Loading prices...
Model number	CB317-1H-C6RK / NX.AQ2AA.00A	CB317-1H-C41X / NX.AQ2AA.004
Performance Rating	2.6	2.6
Chromebook Plus	No	No
Processor	Dual-core 1.10 Ghz (max 2.80 Ghz) Intel Celeron Processor N4500	Dual-core 1.10 Ghz (max 2.80 Ghz) Intel Celeron Processor N4500
RAM	4 GB	4 GB
Internal Storage	128 GB eMMC	32 GB eMMC
Screen Size	17.3"	17.3"
Screen Resolution	1920x1080	1920x1080
Screen Type	IPS	IPS
Touch Screen	No	No
Stylus / Pen	No Stylus Support	No Stylus Support
Dimensions width x length x thickness	15.8 x 10.5 x 0.89 inches (401.32 x 266.7 x 22.61 mm)	15.8 x 10.5 x 0.89 inches (401.32 x 266.7 x 22.61 mm)
Weight	5.29 lbs (2.4 kg)	5.29 lbs (2.4 kg)
Backlit Keyboard	No	No
Webcam	720p HD	720p HD
WiFi	Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)	Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5.0	Bluetooth 5.0
Ethernet	No	No
Cellular Modem	No	No
HDMI	No HDMI	No HDMI
USB Ports	2 USB 3, 2 USB-C USB-C Supports DisplayPort, charging	2 USB 3, 2 USB-C USB-C Supports DisplayPort, charging
Thunderbolt Ports	No	No
Card Reader	microSD Card Reader	microSD Card Reader
Battery	3 cell, Li-ion	3 cell, Li-ion
Battery Life	10.0 hours	10.0 hours
Fanless	No	No
Auto Update Expiration Date	June, 2031	June, 2031

The 17.3-inch panel leaves room to park two windows side by side without either one feeling cramped, and it doubles as a decent screen for a film at the end of the day. The keyboard runs the full width of the deck, with well-spaced keys and a number pad. The trackpad is large, solid, and responsive for a model in this price range.

The rated battery life is over 9 hours, and the wireless side runs Wi-Fi 6. There is no HDMI port, so plugging into a TV means carrying a dongle, and no Ethernet port either, though you can add a wired connection with a USB Ethernet adapter. The speakers are functional but thin on bass and mid-range, so a sound bar or a Bluetooth speaker is worth pairing for anything you want to hear properly. Anyone interested in music production on a Chromebook will want external speakers or headphones, and the large screen helps when working with browser-based DAWs.

Reviewer Insights

For Reviewed, David Murphy tested the exact configuration this page covers: the CB317-1H with an Intel Celeron N4500 and 4GB of LPDDR4X. The 17.3-inch IPS panel measured 237 nits at maximum brightness, which he framed as ordinary: “At maximum settings, it’s as bright as most other Chromebooks we’ve tested at 237 nits.” In Reviewed’s looping web-browsing battery test the 317 ran “six hours and 41 minutes,” short of the marketing figure yet, as Murphy noted, respectable for a screen this large. The chassis also stayed cool, with the underside never topping 36 C (96.8 F) on the most strenuous test.

PassMark rates the dual-core N4500 at roughly 1,807, near the floor of current Chromebook silicon. Reviewed found the 317 “up to 20 percent slower on single-core benchmarks and up to 50 percent slower on multi-core benchmarks” than the pricier Chromebook Spin 514 and Galaxy Chromebook 2, while still concluding it was “sufficient” for browsing and document work. On the keyboard, Murphy wrote that the keys “have a very shallow travel depth,” and he flagged “the omission of a keyboard backlight.” His one-line summary of the whole machine was “It’s all size, little style.”

MergeDroid worked from a non-touch N4500 unit for his video review. He described the 317 as feeling like “a regular Chromebook or laptop has just been super sized,” with “a fully plastic build with a bit of flex” weighing 4.74 pounds. He rated the trackpad well for the price: “The trackpad is really large as you can see an impressively solid and responsive for a model in this price bracket.” He could not find an official brightness figure but estimated the panel sits “certainly under 300” nits, which squares with Reviewed’s measured 237. On battery he said “battery life is okay but I’m having to charge it most days… largely due to the big screen.”

Dave Taylor, reviewing a touchscreen N4500 model on his channel, opened by calling it “a beast of a chromebook.” He liked the panel (“it’s just this big bright screen that is actually really fun”) but caught on the off-center typing position the number pad forces, saying you “really have to look and orient your fingers in the exactly right place.” He kept returning to one omission: “I don’t understand why acer didn’t include that hdmi port that seems like such a logical thing to include.” Taylor was blunt that “it is a slow processor and there’s not much ram for the operating system to work with,” while still recommending it as a low-cost second machine “if you need a second computer, if you have a teenager who is just really hard on devices, or if you just want to have a spare device sitting there so that you can watch TV in bed.”

Android Police’s Matthew Sholtz reviewed the CB317-1HT, the touchscreen refresh that swaps in a quad-core Pentium Silver N6000 (PassMark around 2,955) and 8GB of RAM for roughly $100 more. He found the faster chip handled ChromeOS smoothly: “I could barely tell the difference between the passively cooled N6000 in the Chromebook 317 and the actively cooled i3 in my Galaxy Chromebook 2,” logging a Speedometer 2.0 of 77.1, a Jetstream2 of 95.666, and a MotionMark 1.1 of 220.84. That trim also adds a backlit keyboard the base model lacks. The big screen still taxes the battery, though, as Sholtz had to “plug in at around six hours,” and he wanted more from the display, calling it “a bit too dim for my taste.” Build feel was the same across trims, sturdy but plainly plastic: “even though the plastic is sturdy, it’s still plastic.”

Google’s published Auto Update Expiration schedule lists the Chromebook 317 (CB317-1H/CB317-1HT) through June 2031, so a unit bought today still has years of ChromeOS feature and security updates ahead.

Customer Reviews

Across 7 ratings on Amazon, the Acer Chromebook 317 averages 5 stars, with every rating landing in the five-star bucket. That is a small sample, so treat it as early owner sentiment rather than a broad consensus. The recurring theme across the written reviews is the large 17-inch screen and the value at this price point. Tammy B., a verified buyer who bought two, wrote “Love the 17” screen and I find that learning the Chromebook operating system is pretty easy to learn and is much better than Microsoft which I have been used to.” Another verified buyer, DJS, kept it brief: “Love the larger screen and battery life.”

The support window came up too. Steve D, a verified purchaser upgrading from an older Acer, noted it “is faster than my old Acer and has a bolder screen and all the newest Google updates” and pointed to the update deadline as a selling point: “The end of life is 2031 I believe too. It should last to then and longer.” None of the seven reviewers reported a problem, though with only three written reviews there is not enough feedback yet to surface common complaints. Read more owner reviews on Amazon.

A stay-at-home Chromebook you buy for the screen

Someone who works from the same table most days gets the most out of this one. The full-width keyboard, the number pad, and a trackpad you can use without aiming at it all make it a comfortable machine to sit in front of for hours. It also suits people who have no desk setup with external monitors and peripherals, since the 17.3-inch panel covers that on its own.

Anyone who needs a device for on-the-go tasks or heavy computing power should look elsewhere. The missing HDMI port could be a dealbreaker if you want to connect to a TV or an external monitor without keeping track of an adapter.

The Chromebook Comparison Chart sorts and filters by screen size, specs, and price if you want to line this model up against others.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How big is the Acer Chromebook 317’s screen?

A: 17.3 inches, full HD IPS. It was the first Chromebook to sport a screen that large.

Q: What kind of processor does the Acer Chromebook 317 have?

A: An Intel Celeron N4500 in the CB317-1H. The CB317-1HT touchscreen trim uses a Pentium Silver N6000.

Q: Does the Acer Chromebook 317 have a touchscreen?

A: Not this configuration. Its large 17.3-inch screen is a standard IPS display, though Acer has made a touchscreen version of the 317.

Q: What kind of storage does the Acer Chromebook 317 have?

A: Up to 128GB of eMMC. That type of storage is common in Chromebooks and is sufficient for most users’ needs.

Q: How long does the battery last on the Acer Chromebook 317?

A: The rating is up to 10 hours, a long run time for a screen this large, which typically consumes more power.

Q: Does the Acer Chromebook 317 have a backlit keyboard?

A: No backlit keyboard here. It does feature a full number pad, which is a bonus for those who frequently work with numbers.

Q: Can I use the Acer Chromebook 317 for gaming?

A: Light gaming is within reach. The Intel Celeron N4500 and 4GB of RAM leave little headroom for more demanding games.

Q: What kind of ports does the Acer Chromebook 317 have?

A: Two USB-C ports, two USB 3.0 ports, and a microSD card reader. There is no HDMI port.

Q: How much does the Acer Chromebook 317 weigh?

A: 5.29 pounds.

Q: Is the Acer Chromebook 317 suitable for travel?

A: Not for frequent trips. The weight is manageable but the footprint is large, so it fits better as a machine that stays put. The rated battery life and the Wi-Fi 6 radio do suit light tasks away from a desk.