The place of Acer in the laptop industry it is very peculiar. For a long time, the brand was associated with having inexpensive notebooks and often shared design elements with its Taiwanese rival, Asus. However, recently the company seems to have found its niche, and in a very interesting place.
Acer now makes some of the best Chromebooks on the market, from the premium Chromebook Spin 713 up to the inexpensive Chromebook R11. Clearly, the company knows it has great potential here, which is why it has released three new Chromebook models for CES 2022: the Chromebook Spin 513, the Chromebook Spin 315, and the Chromebook Spin 314.
The reason this trio has been unveiled before the new edition of the CES technology fair begins is that they do not depend on the new Intel, AMD or Nvidia chips. These are cheaper than the Spin 713, so instead of Intel Core, they use MediaTek and Intel Pentium / Celeron CPUs. Anyone who has heard those words knows that they are not meant to be beasts with a lot of power and the highest performance, but remember, Chrome OS tends to perform well on lesser hardware. If that’s not an issue for you, let’s take a closer look at each model.
Acer Chromebook Spin 513
The Spin 513 is the most intriguing of the three new models. Not because it is the most expensive, but because it costs $ 599 (not exactly cheap for a Chromebook) but it has a MediaTek Kompanio 1380 processor inside.
And what is that? You are probably wondering. The answer is that MediaTek made a line of chips specifically for Chromebooks and called them Kompanio. I haven’t tried one of these so far, but $ 599 for a laptop with a MediaTek chip doesn’t seem like a winning recipe. But if the processor can run Google’s famous lightweight operating system and most Android apps without a hitch, maybe we shouldn’t worry too much about the numbers.
However, that remains to be seen. MediaTek has so far not excelled when it comes to laptop processors, so let’s hope this “Kompanio” is a significant step forward. The Chromebook also features 8GB of dual-channel DDR4X RAM and is paired with Arm Mali-G57 MC5 integrated graphics.
If the MediaTek chip doesn’t end up being a bottleneck, then the Spin 513 could be an excellent mid-range Chromebook, at least based on its other features and specs. Something that stands out a lot about this model is its 13.5-inch screen and resolution of 2256 x1504 pixels with an aspect ratio of 3: 2. That should offer a lot of detail, and if it’s the same as found in the Spin 713, then it promises a lot. The aluminum convertible Chromebook also appears to be comfortable to carry around, measuring 1.52 centimeters thick and weighing 1.27 kilograms, as well as having passed MIL-STD 810H durability tests.
Acer claims that the battery lasts 10 hours for each charge. Honestly, I thought it would have a longer battery life given what I suspect is a low-power processor. We’ll see how it holds up in our battery tests, but any result below 10 hours would be a disappointment.
The Chromebook Spin 513 will be available in North America in June 2022 starting at $ 599.
Acer Chromebook 315
If you want a bigger screen, the Chromebook 315 has a 15.6-inch 1080p anti-glare screen available in touch or non-touch versions. This is a standard 16: 9 panel, so it is better for watching movies than scrolling web pages. There are three processor options: an Intel Celeron N4500, a Celeron N5100, or a Pentium Silver N6000.
The processor comes with 8 GB of DDR4 RAM, UHD graphics and 64 GB or 128 GB of eMMC storage. What those specs say is that the Chromebook Spin 315 was designed to get a 15-inch Chromebook into the hands of customers for as little money as possible. But if you even think this isn’t big enough for you, take a look at the Chromebook Spin 317, which has, as you may have guessed, a 17-inch screen.
While the Spin 315 is not powerful, it is very portable at 2.03 centimeters thick and weighs 1.59 kilos. And what’s even better is that it has enough space in its chassis for a USB-A port and four USB-C inputs, two on each side. Once again, Acer rates the Chromebook 315’s battery life at a respectable 10 hours.
The Chromebook Spin 315 will be available in North America this January starting at $ 300.
Acer Chromebook 314
Let me save you the suspense: the Chromebook 314 is essentially the Chromebook 315 but with a 14-inch screen. It features the same processor options, the battery life is also 10 hours, and the chassis passed military-grade durability tests.
The main difference is that the Chromebook 314 has a 14-inch 1080p anti-glare touchscreen compared to the 15.6-inch panel on the larger model. Also, according to the images, the speakers are located on the sides of the keyboard, while the 315 has a numeric keypad.
Geared more toward students, the Chromebook 314 will be available in June starting at $ 299.
