The newly announced Acer Chromebook Spin 513 appears to go beyond the "all-day" concept, offering battery life with a little extra power left over for the morning. Running on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7c compute platform, a first for the company, and designed specifically for durability and LTE capabilities, the Spin 513 could be a winner in terms of portability.
With Apple preparing the Apple Silicon MacBook with an A-series ARM processor, the $399 Spin proves to be a great value-priced alternative for those with modest computing needs.
The Spin 513 certainly looks like a winner, as it will likely not have many of the app compatibility issues that ARM-based Windows machines face. This Chromebook also includes the Google Play store, giving it full access to Android apps.
All of this combined makes it a likely contender for the best Chromebook crown. Here is everything you need to know about the Acer Chromebook Spin 513.
The Acer Chromebook Spin 513 will be available in the US in February 2021, with prices starting at $399. In Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, it will be available a month earlier (January 2021) for €429.
The Chromebook Spin 513 looks like a MacBook Air rival with its aluminum top cover and Gorilla Glass display and touchpad. Unlike any Mac we've seen, however, it has a 360-degree hinge that allows it to rotate between standard 2-in-1 modes: laptop, tablet, display, and tent.
Weighing 2.6 pounds and 0.6 inches thin, the Spin 513 is lighter than our favorite Chromebook, the 3.1-pound, 0.6-inch-thick Asus Chromebook Flip C434.
The Chromebook Spin 513 has a 13.3-inch full HD touchscreen display with a screen-to-body ratio of 78%. That means it has a bezel to tap against, as shown in the photo below. This is not a problem, given that in tablet mode, you need room to grip the screen without accidentally activating it.
The Chromebook Spin 513's octa-core Qualcomm Kryo 468 CPU and integrated Qualcomm Adreno 618 should provide enough speed for basic Chromebook tasks; the press release announcing the Spin 513 said, " work, school, and hobby" applications are emphasized, with the aforementioned processor providing "enhanced multitasking and responsiveness."
Acer rates the Chromebook Spin 513 to last up to 14 hours on a single charge. This claim is tied to the power efficiency of the Snapdragon 7c compute platform, the first Acer laptop to run on this technology.
What if the Acer Chromebook Spin 513 lasts as long as Acer says it will, offers all the bells and whistles of a standard Chromebook, all for $399? If so, we'd have a new top-ranker on our Best Chromebooks list.
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