VERDICT Small, speedy and surprisingly well connected, this is the best-realised Chromebox yet.
THE RARITYWITH which new Chromeboxes launch is at least partially balanced by each design coming in about half a dozen different specs. The Acer Chromebox CXI3 is a perfect example. You can have it with an Intel Celeron 3865U and 4GB of RAM for about £250, but the version we tested packs a quad-core, eight-thread Core i5-8250U, not to mention 8GB of RAM and a 64GB SSD.
That all makes it something of a powerhouse in Chromebox terms. Like their laptop counterparts, Chromebooks, Chromeboxes typically settle for less horsepower, and a focus on cloud-based applications and storage in order to stay more affordable than equivalent Windows systems. This particular £502 model might be stretching the concept, but it does allow for slicker, smoother everyday use than most Chromeboxes.
There’s not a hint of slowdown when racking up browser tabs and running multiple applications, and booting up is almost instant. The CXI3’s power is shown quite starkly in its Geekbench 4 benchmark results: 4,286 in the single-core test and 11,106 in the multicore test. Compared to the Celeron 3865U-powered Asus Chromebox 3 (Shopper 368) we tested last year, the CXI3 is almost twice as fast on single-core performance and scored more than five times higher in the multicore test. Even though the Chromebox 3 is half the price, the numbers still favour Acer’s device.
SMALL FAVOURS
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Denne historien er fra August 2019-utgaven av Computer Shopper.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
XIAOMI Mi Mix 3 5G
VERDICT This is the most affordable of the first 5G smartphones, but even with great hardware, the service isn’t yet worth the expense
RHA T20 Wireless
VERDICT They’re not cheap, but these well-designed earphones deliver superb sound quality
Protect And Preserve
Data might be A Valuable Commodity, But It’s Remarkably Easy To Lose Or For Others To Get Their Hands On. Mike Bedford Provides Guidance On How To Preserve, Recover And Destroy Data, And Looks At The Technologies Involved
NZXT H510i
VERDICT Some qualities shine through, but this is an underwhelming case from a maker we know can do better
Kicking Off A New Era Of Football?
With the new football season well and truly under way, David Crookes talks to Jon Hare about reviving the spirit of Sensible Soccer with a new, more sociable offering that he hopes will avoid an own goal
NAIM Mu-so 2
VERDICT A luxurious and fine-sounding slab of metal, but for most homes it won’t be worth the expense
Motorola One Vision
VERDICT The One Vision comes close to being a brilliant mishmash of tech – shame about the camera
JBL Xtreme 2
VERDICT With top-quality sound and a versatile design, this is a great – if expensive – rugged Bluetooth speaker
HUAWEI MateBook 13
VERDICT What the MateBook 13 lacks in flourish, it makes up for in value and performance
GIGABYTE X570 Aorus Master
VERDICT A loaded and forward-thinking motherboard, but not one that fully justifies its high price
