Microsoft Surface Go 4 vs Acer Chromebook 314 Comparison

Laptop to replace

Change

Microsoft Surface Go 4

10.5 inches | October 2023

CHECK PRICE

Change

Acer Chromebook 314

14 inches | January 2022

CHECK PRICE

Microsoft Surface Go 4 vs Acer Chromebook 314 Comparison Overview

Microsoft Surface Go...

See at AMAZON

Acer Chromebook 314

See at AMAZON

Microsoft Surface Go...

See at AMAZON

Acer Chromebook 314

See at AMAZON

In this review, we will be comparing Surface Go 4 and Chromebook 314, two laptops from Microsoft and Acer. Microsoft Surface Go 4 was introduced to market in October 2023 and Acer Chromebook 314 was launched in January 2022. There is 21 months difference between Surface Go 4 and Chromebook 314 so it would still give an advantage to younger Surface Go 4.

Click for Available Configurations of the Laptops

Here is a brief look at the main features of Microsoft Surface Go 4 and Acer Chromebook 314 before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Microsoft Surface Go 4 Key Specs

Launched in October 2023
10.5" TouchScreen - IPS LCD, 3:2 Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: Intel Processor N200
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics (32 EU)
8GB Ram
245 x 175 x 8.3 mm (9.65 x 6.89 x 0.33 inches)
Weight: 0.52 kg (1.15 lbs)

Acer Chromebook 314 Key Specs

Launched in January 2022
14.0" Touchscreen - TN LCD, 16:9 Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: Intel Celeron N4020
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 600
4GB Ram
325.4 x 232 x 19.7 mm (12.81 x 9.13 x 0.78 inches)
Weight: 1.7 kg (3.75 lbs)

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Surface Go 4 and Chromebook 314 compares and decide which one is better for you.

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Reasons to choose Microsoft Surface Go 4 over Acer Chromebook 314

Weight	0.52 kg vs 1.70 kg	1.18 kg lighter
Screen-to-Body Ratio	~76.5% vs ~71.6%	Larger screen area ratio
Screen PPI	220 ppi vs 112 ppi	More pixels per inch
Screen Resolution	1920 x 1280 pixels vs 1366 x 768 pixels	Higher pixel count screen
Max Brightness	350 nits vs 250 nits	Brighter Screen
CPU Fabrication Process	10 nm vs 14 nm	Newer Generation CPU
GPU Fabrication Process	10 nm vs 14 nm	Newer Generation GPU
GPU FLOPS	0.74 TFLOPS vs 0.14 TFLOPS	Faster RAM Type
RAM Type	LPDDR5 vs LPDDR4X	3D Surround Sound Support
Dolby Atmos Speakers	Yes vs No	More advanced Bluetooth connectivity
Bluetooth	v5.1 vs v5	Higher Resolution Camera
Webcam Resolution	1920 x 1080 vs 1280 x 720

Reasons to choose Acer Chromebook 314 over Microsoft Surface Go 4

Side Bezel Thickness	7.8 mm vs 11.5 mm	3.7 mm thinner bezels
Display Size	14 inches vs 10.5 inches	Larger Screen Estate
Screen Type	Matte vs Glossy	potentially less reflections on screen
Number of USB-C Ports	2x USB 3.1 vs 1x USB 3.1	Connect more device at the same time
HDMI Port	1x HDMI 1.4 vs No	Connect to external monitors directly via HDMI cable

Common Strengths of Acer Chromebook 314 and Microsoft Surface Go 4

Launch Dates	October 2023 vs January 2022	Both laptops are recent models
Screen Type	Touch Screen vs Touch Screen	Interact with your fingers
Wi-Fi Standard	v6 vs v6	Fast and Reliable Wi-Fi Connections
VGA Output	No vs No	Connect to External Displays via VGA cable
Built-in SD Card Reader	Yes vs Yes	Read & Write SD Cards

Common Weaknesses of Acer Chromebook 314 and Microsoft Surface Go 4

HDR Support	No vs No	No HDR Support
Upgradable RAM	No vs No	No Option to increase the RAM size
Upgradable Storage	No vs No	No Option to increase the Storage size
Fingerprint Sensor	No vs No	No fingerprint login feature

Microsoft Surface Go 4 vs Acer Chromebook 314: Physical Specs Comparison

In this section, we will be comparing the physical specifications and body features of the Microsoft Surface Go 4 and the Acer Chromebook 314.

Physical Specs
Weight	0.52 kg (1.15 lbs)	1.7 kg (3.75 lbs)
Surface Area	429 cm2 (66.5 inches2)	755 cm2 (117 inches2)
Screen to Surface Ratio	~76.5%	~71.6%
Side Bezel Thickness	~11.5 mm	~7.8 mm
Weight per Inch of Screen	0.05 kg/inch	0.12 kg/inch
	0.11 lbs/inch	0.264 lbs/inch
Colors	Gray	Silver

Comparison of the Microsoft Surface Go 4 and the Acer Chromebook 314 External Dimensions

Weight

Surface Go 4 weighs 0.52 kg (1.15 lbs), whereas the Chromebook 314 weighs 1.7 kg (3.75 lbs). There is a notable difference in weight between these two laptops. However, it's important to consider that comparing their weights directly may not provide a complete picture since they also have different display sizes.

Weight Comparison

Microsoft Surface Go 4 0.52 kg

Avg: up to 12" 1.04 kg

Acer Chromebook 314 1.70 kg

Avg: 14.0-14.9" 1.42 kg

Thickness Comparison

Microsoft Surface Go 4 8.30 mm

Avg: up to 12" 16.43 mm

Acer Chromebook 314 19.70 mm

Avg: 14.0-14.9" 17.12 mm

Another value that we use for comparing the weights of the laptops is the Weight per Inch of Screen, which is calculated by dividing the total weight of the model with its usable diagonal screen size. This value for the Microsoft Surface Go 4 is 0.05 kg/inch.In comparison, this value for the Acer Chromebook 314 is 0.12 kg/inch.Here are some of the best performing laptops in this area:

LG Gram SuperSlim 15.6 2023: 0.06 kg/inch
Asus ProArt PZ13 HT5306: 0.06 kg/inch
Asus Zenbook A14 UX3407: 0.06 kg/inch
Dell Latitude 7330: 0.07 kg/inch
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 2: 0.07 kg/inch
LG Gram 14 2022: 0.07 kg/inch
LG Gram 14 2-in-1 2022: 0.07 kg/inch
LG Gram 15 2022: 0.07 kg/inch

Microsoft Surface Go 4 vs Acer Chromebook 314: Internals (CPU, GPU, RAM, Battery, SSD, etc.) Comparison

CPU Comparison

CPU Model	Intel Processor N200	Intel Celeron N4020 Intel Celeron N4500 Intel Celeron N5100 Intel Pentium Silver N6000
Base Frequency	0 GHz	1.1 GHz
Number of Cores	4 (0P + 4E)	2
Number of Threads	4	2
L3 Cache	6 MB
Integrated GPU	Intel UHD Graphics (32 EU)	Intel UHD Graphics 600
CPU Fabrication Process	10 nm	14 nm
Geekbench 5 (Single)	816	470
Geekbench 5 (Multi)	2142	864
Cinebench 23 (Single)	697	457
Cinebench 23 (Multi)	2327	783

Above you can see the CPU options and the CineBench and GeekBench test scores for both laptops, which gives an idea about what kind of performance difference you may experience between the Microsoft Surface Go 4 and Acer Chromebook 314.

You may also read reviews of latest laptops with the same CPUs and compare them:

Laptops with: Intel Processor N200

Laptops with: Intel Celeron N4020

GPU Comparison

GPU Model	Intel UHD Graphics (32 EU)	Intel UHD Graphics 600
Base Clock Frequency	300 MHz	200 MHz
Boost CLock Frequency	1400 MHz	650 MHz
TGP (Total Graphics Power)	45 W	5 W
Type	Integrated	Integrated
FLOPS	0.74 TFLOPS	124.8 GFLOPS
Memory Size	System Shared	System Shared
Memory Type	LPDDR5	System Shared
Memory Speed	4.8 Gbps	System Shared
Shading Units Cores	256	96
TMUs	16	12
ROPs	8	2

GPU is as critical as the CPU for graphic heavy applications and the table above gives a picture of how the two GPU compares. FLOPS is a measure of a GPU's performance based on the number of floating-point arithmetic calculations that the processor can perform within a second. Microsoft Surface Go 4 has a FLOPS value of 0.74 TFLOPS whereas the Acer Chromebook 314 ' has a FLOPS value of 0.14 TFLOPS. If graphical performance of the laptop is important for your use type, the Microsoft Surface Go 4 may be the better choice between these two setups.

RAM Comparison

RAM	8GB	4GB
Memory Bus	2x4 GB	1x4 GB
RAM Clock	4800 MHz	4266 MHz
RAM Type	LPDDR5	LPDDR4X
Upgradable	No	No
Memory Bus	Custom	Custom

With a larger RAM capacity of 8 GB, the Surface Go 4 offers an advantage for multitasking and resource-intensive applications compared to the Chromebook 314's RAM capacity of 4 GB.

LOCAL LLM Compatibility Evaluation

This quick guide shows what types of large language models (LLMs) each of these laptops could support, based on their respective hardware specifications. It's meant to help you compare their suitability for running AI models locally.

LLM Category	Microsoft Surface Go 4	Acer Chromebook 314
Small Models(1-3B):Examples: Phi-2, Qwen-1.8B	✔ Run smoothly.	✖ Not supported.
Medium Models(7-8B):Examples: Mistral-7B, Qwen-7B	✖ Not supported.	✖ Not supported.
Large Models(13-30B):Examples: Mixtral, Qwen-14B	✖ Not supported.	✖ Not supported.
Extra-Large Models(65B+):Examples: LLaMA2-70B, Qwen1.5-72B	✖ Not supported on most systems. Requires high-end GPU or advanced setup.	✖ Not supported on most systems. Requires high-end GPU or advanced setup.

Note: Optimized (e.g., 4-bit) models may run on limited hardware. Performance depends on runtime and setup.

📌 MoE Models: Some models like Mixtral 8x7B and Qwen3-30B-A3B use a Mixture of Experts (MoE) design, activating only part of the model during inference. This means they can often run efficiently on laptops with 12–16 GB of VRAM when quantized.

BATTERY

BATTERY	29 Wh	0 Wh
Battery Type	Li-Po	Li-Ion
Replaceable	No	No
Fast Charging	No	No
USB Power Delivery	Yes
Charging Port Position	Right	Left
Charge Power	24 W	45 W

On the other hand, the Chromebook 314 features a higher battery capacity of 45 Wh, delivering longer usage time compared to the Surface Go 4's 29 Wh.

Battery Comparison

Microsoft Surface Go 4 29 Wh

Avg: up to 12" 38 Wh

Acer Chromebook 314 45 Wh

Avg: 14.0-14.9" 55.79 Wh

STORAGE
With a larger storage capacity up to 256 GB, the Surface Go 4 provides more space for storing files and applications compared to the Chromebook 314's max. storage capacity of 128 GB.

Storage Options	256 GB	32 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB
Upgradable	No	No
NVMe	No	No

If your budget allows, we recommend opting for the largest possible disk size, considering the potential increase in storage capacity needs in the future. However, please keep in mind the question 'What will the laptop be used for?' when making this decision. Of course, you can later upgrade the hard disk capacity by getting a larger disk. However, if your laptop has only one disk slot, it may not be as straightforward as a RAM upgrade, where you simply add or replace a module, as moving or cloning files to a new disk may be necessary.

Microsoft Surface Go 4 vs Acer Chromebook 314: Display Comparison

The display is an essential aspect to consider when comparing the Microsoft Surface Go 4 and Acer Chromebook 314 since its is the component that you interact the most and significantly impact the experience.

Screen Area and Dimensions

Now let's look at the comparison of the actual display areas of both laptops below, keeping the bezels around the screens out of the equation. Surface Go 4 has a display size of 10.5".On the other hand, Chromebook 314 has a larger14.0" display.The total usable screen area of the Surface Go 4 is 328cm² / 51inch² whereas the Chromebook 314's total usable screen area is 540cm² / 84inch².

PPI (Pixels per Inch)
Additionally, the Surface Go 4 features a higher pixel density with 220 pixels per inch (PPI), ensuring sharper image details.

Screen PPI (Pixels Per Inch) Comparison

Microsoft Surface Go 4 220 PPI

Avg: up to 12" 139 PPI

Acer Chromebook 314 112 PPI

Avg: 14.0-14.9" 173 PPI

Refresh Rate
Both Surface Go 4 and Chromebook 314 offer the same refresh rate of 60 Hz.

Brightness
The Surface Go 4 offers a higher maximum brightness of 350 nits, delivering a brighter screen.

Brightness Comparison

Microsoft Surface Go 4 350 nits

Avg: up to 12" 232 nits

Acer Chromebook 314 250 nits

Avg: 14.0-14.9" 383 nits

Microsoft Surface Go 4 vs Acer Chromebook 314 Connectivity Comparison

In terms of connectivity,

Wifi
Both laptops offer the same Wi-Fi standard (v6), ensuring fast and reliable wireless connections.

Below, you'll find a Wi-Fi Versions Table, along with their release dates and speeds, to provide a brief overview of its development.

Wi-Fi Versions and Speeds

Standard	Speed	Release Date	Network	Frequency Bands (GHz)
Wi-Fi 7	up to 40 Gbps (5 GB/s)	2023	802.11be	2.4, 5, 6
Wi-Fi 6E	up to 9.6 Gbps (1.2 GB/s)	2020	802.11ax	2.4, 5, 6
Wi-Fi 6	up to 9.6 Gbps (1.2 GB/s)	2019	802.11ax	2.4, 5
Wi-Fi 5	up to 6.93 Gbps (866.25 MB/s)	2014	802.11ac	2.4, 5
Wi-Fi 4	up to 600 Mbps (75 MB/s)	2009	802.11n	2.4, 5

* Please note that the provided transfer rates are maximum theoretical values, and real-life performance may vary based on environmental factors.

USB
Chromebook 314 is equipped with 2x USB 3.0 USB-A ports. Surface Go 4 does not have USB-A ports.
Both Surface Go 4 and Chromebook 314 have USB Type-C ports. Surface Go 4 has 1x USB 3.1 USB Type-C ports, while Chromebook 314 has 2x USB 3.1 USB Type-C ports.

Below, you'll find a table of USB ports, along with their release dates and speeds.
To mitigate the confusion caused by generation names, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) suggests using marketing names like USB 5Gbps, USB 10Gbps, and so forth, based on their respective transfer rates.

USB Type and Speeds

USB Type	Version	Speed	Date	Other Features/Explanations
USB4	Gen 4 (2.0)	80 Gbps	2022	Also known as USB 80Gbps
USB4	Gen 3×2	40 Gbps	2019	Also known as USB 40Gbps
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 2x2	20 Gbps	2019	Double the data transfer rates of Gen 2
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 2	10 Gbps	2017	Previously known as USB 3.1
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 1	5 Gbps	2017	Previously known as USB 3.0
USB 3.1	3.1 Gen 2	10 Gbps	2013	Faster data transfer rates
USB 3.0	3.1 Gen 1	5 Gbps	2010	SuperSpeed USB, improved data transfer rates
USB 2.0	2.0	480 Mbps	2000	High-speed data transfer
USB 1.0	1.0	1.5 Mbps	1996	Original USB standard

Thunderbolt
Neither Surface Go 4 nor Chromebook 314 has Thunderbolt port.

HDMI
Chromebook 314 features an HDMI port (1x HDMI 1.4) for connecting to external monitors. Surface Go 4 does not have an HDMI port.

Below, you'll find a comparison table detailing different HDMI versions, including their bandwidth, color depth, maximum resolution, and release dates. This information can be helpful in understanding the capabilities of each HDMI version and choosing the most suitable one for your needs.

HDMI Comparison Table

HDMI Version	Maximum Resolution	Bandwidth (Gbps)	Color Depth (bits)	Release Date
HDMI 2.1-2.1b	7680 x 4320 *(8K)* @ 60p 3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 120p	48.0	48	2017
HDMI 2.0-2.0b	3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 60p	18.0	48	2013
HDMI 1.4-1.4b	3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 30p	10.2	48	2009
HDMI 1.3-1.3a	2560 x 1440 @ 60p	10.2	48	2006
HDMI 1.0-1.2a	1920 x 1200 @ 60p	4.95	24	2002

* Please note that the provided resolution values represent the maximum supported resolution, and actual display quality may depend on other factors such as source content and connected devices.

SD Card Reader
Both Surface Go 4 and Chromebook 314 come with an SD Card Reader for easy access to memory cards.

Audio Jack
Both Surface Go 4 and Chromebook 314 are equipped with a 3.5mm Audio Jack, providing seamless connection to headphones and speakers.

To summarize the connectivity and ports details, please refer to the table below to see them listed.

Connectivity and Ports
WiFi Standard (latest: v7)	v6	v6
Bluetooth (latest: v5.4)	v5.1	v5
USB-A (latest: 3.2)	No	2x USB 3.0
USB Type-C (latest: USB4 2.0)	1x USB 3.1	2x USB 3.1
Thunderbolt (latest: 4)	No	No
HDMI (latest: 2.1)	No	1x HDMI 1.4
Display Port (latest: v2.0)	No	No
VGA	No	No
Fingerprint Sensor	No	No
Optical Drive	No	No
Audio Jack 3.5mm	Yes	Yes
Ethernet RJ45	No	No
SD CardReader	Yes	Yes
Proprietary Charging Port	Yes	No