No chrome is not considered cheap or dated by default.

Not in my house which is in the high end.

You could also look at polished nickel. It’s warmer than chrome.

Chome will always be a classic look! When I had my bathrooms renovated a few years ago, I kept my 30 year old chrome towel bars and chrome circle hand towel holders (they look brand new)and purchased Minka Lavery ( great quality) chrome pivot mirrors.

Chrome is classic and isn't necessarily cheap.

That said chrome is generally the cheapest finish available and so in general it will be used in rentals and in builder grade lower cost houses.

Most people who are upgrading their bathrooms or kitchens will opt for a different finish unless they love the look of chrome. For example brushed nickel has the same silver color but is considered to be more upscale and the same fixture would be more expensive with that finish.

Other finishes are used for aesthetic purposes as they create different looks. I deliberately opted for oil rubbed bronze because I also have a lot of copper accents and warm wood tones so the finishes complemented each other better.

Also - at least in my experience - chrome seems to show water spots more than other finishes.

It's not exactly that the plating and finishing process for chrome is cheaper its that as the most common finish of the 20th c. was chrome and so it continued to be the highest volume finish on the highest volume styles of faucets. Some faucets use cheaper parts than others of course but some high quality commercial or institutional faucets are not that expensive because they make thousands of them and they have made exactly the same shape for 50 years or longer, no new tooling or anything like that involved. So the volume and the overall production costs mean that most cheaper faucets are also chrome. But you can buy very expensive chrome faucets and you can buy very cheap faux oil rubbed bronze faucets.

Chrome can be cheap or super nice. It depends on quality and price. I had a lot of chrome in my expensive home. I don’t care for ORB OR BLACK. I had brushed nickel which was excellent quality and held up well, but I’m tired of it. My next home will have polished nickel because I love the warmth.

Chrome isn't cheap. Cheap is cheap.

You can just as easily get a brass or ORB or whatever finish that's low quality as you can a chrome. Or a style that is cheap available in a variety of finishes.

My Rohl kitchen chrome faucets were certainly not cheap.

Nor were my chrome bathtub faucets. Can't remember the brand. Or the chrome I used for the towel bars. And quality chrome will hold up better than polished nickel. And will still be in style when brushed this, and black that is dated.