In recent years, the research community has been interested in members of the Acinetobacter genus mainly because of their role as causative agents of nosocomial infections. However, this rich-in-species genus has been proven to play a significant role in different biotechnological processes, such as bioremediation and fermented foods production. To partially fill the lack of information on Acinetobacter’s dualistic nature, in this review, based on literature data, we attempt to summarize the available information on the different roles the members of the genus play by considering their genetic constitution and metabolic properties. We found pieces of evidence of genetic divergence between the pathogenic and non-pathogenic species and strains, which can be explained by their high adaptability to the different ecological niches. In turn, this adaptability could result from intrinsic genetic variability due to mechanisms of horizontal genetic transfer, as well as high mutability determined by the expression of error-prone DNA polymerases. Yet, further studies are needed, especially whole-genome sequencing of non-pathogenic isolates, which for the moment are relatively scarce.