As Chromebooks mature, device manufacturers have also started to include a wider variety of components. This year, Acer is announcing its first AMD Ryzen-based offering in the Chromebook Spin 514.
The Acer Chromebook Spin 514 comes with an AMD Ryzen 3000 C-series processor with Radeon graphics. AMD announced in September 2020 that it released better processors for Chromebooks, and that’s the Ryzen 3000 C series. So far, not much has been said about which Chromebooks would get that processor upgrade, but unsurprisingly, Acer would release one. Was only a matter of time!
Starting at just $ 480, Acer’s Chromebook Spin 514 is poised to become one of the higher-performing and more durable Chromebooks in its segment. That’s because it is equipped with up to an AMD Ryzen 7 3700C CPU, what a 4-core / 8-thread processor with a 2.3 GHz base clock (4.0 GHz boost), 6 MB cache, 10 Radeon Cores at 1400 MHz and 15 W TDP. It’s a huge step up from the A6 and A4 processors that AMD introduced for Chromebooks at CES 2019.
There’s also 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and Acer says the Chromebook Spin 514 has ‘military’ durability thanks to its sandblasted aluminum chassis (available in silver, gray, and green), which has been tested to withstand drops up to four feet.
Acer has also added a 1920 x 1080 IPS touchscreen with Gorilla Glass on the front, along with useful features including a backlit keyboard and a somewhat low resolution, but still usable HD webcam. While Acer says it has downsized the Chromebook Spin 514’s bezels to 6.1mm, the overall 78% screen-to-body ratio doesn’t seem that impressive to me.
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The Chromebook Spin 514 comes with a decent selection of ports, including two USB 3.2 Type-C ports (both of which support video output and charging), a microSD card reader, and even an optional HDMI port on select models. You also get support for Bluetooth 5, dual stereo speakers and dual microphones for better handling of video calls. Unfortunately, unlike many other new laptops debuting at CES 2021, the Chromebook Spin 514 will have to make do with 802.11 ac Wi-Fi instead of Wi-Fi 6 support.
Finally, thanks to a closer partnership with Google, along with standard Chrome OS stuff like support for running Android apps, the Chromebook Spin 514 is also Google Assistant Lab certified, so Google’s integrated AI helper would ask your questions and understand assignments better.
The standard Chromebook Spin 514 will go on sale in North America in February from $ 480, while the higher-spec Chromebook Enterprise Spin 514 is expected to be available later in March for $ 780.
And if you want to see more new gadgets and devices from CES 2021, click here to read our full coverage.