Acer has announced their next two Chromebooks – the Chromebook Spin 513 and Chromebook Enterprise Spin 513. These are the first of the Chrome OS-based laptops that will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7c chip. This chip should extend battery life to a great extent. Qualcomm has claimed that this chipset will give you a total of 14 HOURS of battery life. Compared to the six hours of the average laptop, this is really good. Other Chromebooks, on the other hand, have up to ten hours (rated) of battery life. There will be many road warriors that will appreciate this 40% bump in battery life.
Features of the Chromebook Spin 513
The display of the device is 0.66 by 11.8 by 9.3 inches – closer to a square shape rather than a rectangular one. This gives it a 3:2 aspect ratio – many appreciate the extra screen height that this gives them. On the left edge, there is a USB Type-C 3.2 port, a USB Type-A port, an audio jack, and a microSD card slot. On the right, there is another USB-C port and the HDMI port. The wireless communications are Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0. For connectivity, there is a traditional HDMI port. So, now you don’t have to mess about with USB-C-to-DisplayPort or USB-C-to-HDMI cables.
The 513 comes with an aluminium case and antimicrobial Gorilla Glass screen and touchpad. As well as this, the device had passed military standard tests when it comes to four-foot drops. It has a Core i5-10210U processor that comes with 8GB of RAM and a 128GB NVMe solid-state drive.
The Chromebook Spin 513 also has what Acer calls “VertiView”. This is where the display is able to make tiny text and icons readable. There is also a 360-degree flip and fold makes it easy for you to switch between a laptop and a tablet. The webcam is only 720p but obviously, Acer thinks that the target audience won’t mind. As for the speakers, they are said to be slightly hollow and not much bass. However, it’s not like the laptop was designed for its audio capabilities.
These Chromebooks are said to be released in North America in February 2021 – pretty soon. The Spin 513 has a price starting at $399.99 whereas the Enterprise has a price starting at $699.99 releasing in March 2021. Final specifications will justify the pricing difference between the two variants.
