Acer Chromebox CXI3 - Review 2022

Originally conceived for use in low-ability notebooks, Chrome Bone has come a long fashion since information technology was first introduced back in 2022. These days, it's far more than than a glorified spider web browser. For one, most tardily-model Chrome Bone-based hardware can now run Android apps out of the box. And information technology's not all nearly laptop-shaped Chromebooks, either. Sporadically, nosotros've seen miniature Chrome Bone desktops dubbed "Chromeboxes" popular up from makers such as Acer, Asus, and Lenovo. The latest eruption is Acer'south Chromebox CXI3 ($239 starting cost; $519.99 as tested), which houses upwardly to an 8th-generation Intel Cadre i7 processor (heavy iron, every bit Chrome OS-based devices get), 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and 64GB of solid-land drive (SSD) storage. It may not wait it, but for business and academic environments that involve serious multitasking and already take an installed base of monitors, the Chromebox CXI3 as reviewed here volition be one of the fastest ways for students and users to experience Chrome Os. Opting for one the CXI3 configurations with premium parts, however, will put this Chromebox well inside the toll zone of some fully configured stand-solitary Windows 10-based mini PCs.

Light on Cosmetics, Heavy on Ports

Yous can certainly buy a Chromebox CXI3 for employ at home, converting an HDTV or spare monitor into a Chrome OS-based work or viewing station, but the real cadre of the market place for higher-end Chromeboxes is schools and business organization. The Acer Chromebox CXI3 is compact enough to fit on any desk, measuring v.9 by i.57 by v.85 pounds and weighing 1.fourteen pounds. You tin can position it standing on edge, or flat; information technology comes with a vertical stand up that adds a few feathers to its weight. Also in the box: an optional VESA kit for mounting the Chromebox onto the back of a monitor, a nifty way to assemble your own makeshift all-in-one computer, or for majority buyers who own lots of existing displays to integrate Chromebox CXI3 units neatly en masse, say, into a computer lab.

Squarish in shape with rounded edges, this machine sports a apparently black terminate with two gray panels surrounding the ports. In the center of the left side is the Acer logo, with the Google Chrome logo in one corner. On the right side is a long series of air vents for letting out heat. Under that are four rubber pads that let you seat the Chromebox flat on its side. On the base of the machine are 2 small holes that engage with the vertical stand, if you lot choose to proceed this system continuing on edge.

The Chromebox CXI3 has a wealth of ports split across the front and rear faces. On the front, below the power button, are two USB iii.1 Gen 1 Blazon-A ports, a microSD card slot, and a three.5mm jack that serves every bit a headphone and mic combination...

On the rear of the car, you'll find an HDMI output, an Ethernet jack, 3 USB Blazon-A ports, a unmarried USB Type-C port (this one with support for data delivery, display output, and power delivery), and a Kensington-cable locking notch...

All of the USB ports support USB 3.1 Gen one, which is functionally identical to USB 3.0. In all, that's more USB than near Chrome OS users will e'er need.

A Keyboard Keyed Up for Chrome

The Chromebox CXI3 besides comes with a bones laser mouse and a chiclet keyboard. The keyboard mirrors the keyboards on Chromebooks, which have special browser-centric shortcuts in identify of the function-key row. (Plugging in your own mouse and keyboard instead will work, too.) The mouse has tiny crevices in its left and right sides for your thumb, ring finger, and pinky finger to grip. Information technology's as ordinary as mice come up.

Apart from the Chrome OS key-layout customizations, the included keyboard is nothing special, either, as it feels but like any other chiclet keyboard—fast enough to type on, just mushy and unsatisfying if you're used to quality keyboards. In using it to write this review, I found myself making more mistakes than I normally practice with, say, the Roccat Vulcan 120 AIMO, my daily driver. (That's only partly fair, though; I'k not enlightened of whatsoever premium-blueprint keyboards with Chrome Os customizations.)

Even so, the scattering of dedicated media buttons is handy enough. These include Back, Forward, and Refresh, in improver to a shortcut to make your current window fullscreen and some other to switch windows altogether. You'll also spot dedicated brightness upward/downward controls to the left of mute and volume up/down audio controls. To the right of those is a Lock primal that logs you out of the organization completely, too as a dedicated key that triggers web search.

As for wireless communications, the Acer Chromebook CXI3 supports Bluetooth iv.two and 802.11ac Wi-Fi, both standard fare. Acer backs the organization with a one-twelvemonth limited warranty.

At present You're Playing With (Chrome Os) Ability

Chromebooks, Chromeboxes, and their less common cousins called Chromebases (all-in-one systems based on Chrome OS, such as this model from LG) tend to be congenital around low-power processors and come with only the minimal RAM and storage needed to operate. As a result, the high-powered Chromebox CXI3 performed favorably in benchmarks versus other Chromebox and Chromebase units we accept tested. This test unit of measurement uses an Intel Core i5-8250U processor, complemented past 8GB of RAM and 64GB of SSD storage infinite. For graphics-intensive tasks, information technology has Intel UHD Graphics 620 integrated into the CPU.

Acer offers six total versions of the CXI3. Pricing on these discrete configurations spans from $239.99 to $759.99; the Cadre i5 model reviewed here falls into the upper midrange of the line. The starting model, at $239.99, has a dual-core Intel Celeron 3865U processor, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage. At the other end, the height unit at $759.99 packs a bulky Intel Core i7-8550U processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 64GB SSD.

With that in mind, this detail Chromebox CXI3 is well-nigh comparable to, of the Chromeboxes nosotros've reviewed at PCMag, a Lenovo ThinkCentre Chromebox Tiny tested several years ago. Featuring a 5th-generation Intel Cadre i3 processor, the Tiny still performed only about half too as this Chromebox CXI3 in our benchmarks.

For example, I ran the machine on Principled Technologies' WebXPRT 2022 suite, which emulates everyday productivity tasks you might perform in a web-based environment that an OS like Chrome Bone madates. The Acer Chromebox CXI3 rang up a score of 554, while the Lenovo ThinkCentre Chromebox Tiny netted a 284...

I and so moved to the same visitor'southward CrXPRT, a like, but Chrome OS-specific, exam suite. CrXPRT measures performance in everyday activities such as gaming, watching movies, and editing photos. Here, the Chromebox CXI3 scored 256, compared with the ThinkCentre Chromebox Tiny'due south 123.

To requite these numbers and the competing systems some context, consider that the Lenovo ThinkCentre Chromebox Tiny has a dual-core Intel Core i3-5005U processor and 4GB of RAM, while the Acer Chromebase DC221HQ uses a quad-core Nvidia Tegra K1 CPU, besides with 4GB of RAM. The Asus Chromebit CL10 employs a low-end, ARM-based Rockchip RK3288-C processor and 2GB of RAM; that and its tiny, USB-stick-style form factor explain why it scored the lowest of the agglomeration. Because the Acer Chromebox CXI3 houses a insufficiently powerful processor typically found in midrange laptops, it makes sense that it dominated hither.

In our Kicking Time Exam, I recorded how long information technology takes to power on to the sign-in screen. It consistently took the Acer Chromebox CXI3 x seconds to reach it. Meanwhile, the Lenovo ThinkCentre Chromebox Tiny was faster to kicking, at 6.5 seconds.

Being the relative powerhouse that information technology is, the Chromebox CXI3 configuration I reviewed is all-time suited for concern multi-taskers or more than sophisticated older students bouncing between lots of tabs, either while working or leisurely browsing the spider web. To examination for its multi-tasking ability, I opened around 50 tabs of spider web pages—including YouTube and PCMag—on the Acer Chromebox CXI3 with little noticeable slowdown. When launching new tabs on elevation of those open 50, the Chromebox CXI3 would hiccup for a second or two at almost earlier returning to its normal smooth use state.

On the other paw, lower-end configurations of the Acer Chromebox CXI3, such as the Intel Celeron- and Cadre i3-equipped models, are better for lower-grade school computer-lab setups where students will be concentrating on simply one or two tasks at a fourth dimension, or for other focused, single-use situations.

More Chrome Power Than You Need?

For $519.99, you could buy an entry-level Windows ten PC that could run all the basic applications and utilities well-nigh users would ever demand. The Acer Chromebox CXI3 only makes sense in that cost range if you or the business organisation/school you're ownership for is specifically in demand of one or more than of the strengths of Chrome OS: like shooting fish in a barrel manageability, automatic updating, and inherent resistance to malware, to proper noun a few.

Whether yous need a Core i5, though, and its bellboy toll depends on the factors raised in a higher place: multitasking or no? This model packs a operation dial, all things considered. Though its functionality is mostly limited to what you're able to reach in a spider web browser, the Chromebox CXI3 likewise has the secondary entreatment of admission to the Android-derived Google Play Store, giving you virtually-infinite opportunity to mess with Android apps (albeit, with a mouse and keyboard; most are designed with a smartphone or tablet bear upon screen in mind). Most schools and business users won't care most this aspect, but if you lot're considering the CXI3 for making a Chrome OS-based habitation PC out of an old monitor, that may come up into the equation.

That's really function of the value proposition here: Do y'all have an existing LCD or LCDs to use with the CXI3? As configured and tested here, the Chromebox CXI3 is pricey, fifty-fifty if it is powerful enough for multi-taskers to take reward of. Thus, you lot might opt for the $449.99 Intel Core i3 model unless you are one of the heavy multi-taskers in question. If even that is out of your budget, the $239.99 Celeron-based Chromebox CXI3 should suffice for undemanding use. Plenty of Celeron-based Chromebooks I've used are responsive enough if you're doing only one thing at a time.

That said, Windows-based alternatives like the Intel NUC Kit NUC6CAYS are readily available, also, fully configured and ready to get with Windows 10 installed. Note that non all Intel NUC mini PCs and machines of its kind are complete systems out of the box. Some are bare-bones models that make y'all provide sure internal components, equally well as the operating system (which is often the biggest outlay). But the betoken is, you can discover similar Windows-based solutions.

That said, whether you have a spare monitor (or 50 of them) lying effectually, the Acer Chromebox CXI3 is a quick, piece of cake way turn it into an all-in-one (or a computer room full of them). Different some mini Windows PCs, y'all don't have to install annihilation yourself; out of the box, the Chromebox CXI3 just works. If that kind of setup and manageability are what matters to yous, this is as powerful a Chrome Bone desktop solution as we've seen.

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/desktops/29261/acer-chromebox-cxi3

Posted by: turnerandist.blogspot.com

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