Acer - Chromebook Spin 713 2-in-1 13.5" 2K VertiView 3:2 Touch - Intel i5-10210U - 8GB Memory - 128GB SSD – Steel Gray

I've owned this Chromebook for a little over two weeks now and I'm in love with it! Upgrading from a 2017 Asus C302 with a Intel Core m3/4GB to this with the 10th Gen i5, 8GB and speedier NVMe storage is awesome! Pros: - Specs for value: 10th Gen i5, 8GB DDR4L and 128 GB PCIe NVMe SSD, with a 2K 3:2 screen that exceeds 400 nits of brightness with a build like this at $629 makes aluminum/plastic build Windows devices cheap by comparison, and the prettier Samsung Galaxy overspec'd and a bad value. For those who like to tinker, you CAN UPGRADE THE SSD YOURSELF! Remove 9 screws on bottom, VERY CAREFULLY lift a black piece that holds a ribbon in, and then one more screw to swap the SSD. Be sure to grab a NVMe one, as a SATA M.2 2280 SSD will NOT work-- Needs to be NVMe, which is the one with one notch near bottom on the connector side. Best Buy sells them in store, so you can checkout at same time and either have Geek Squad do it, or if you're comfortable, see Reddit. Most important thing is to know it will void warranty I'm sure, and to create a Recovery image before you even open the thing to install once you swap. I ordered the right drive to upgrade it to 500GB, so I will have a i5/8gb/500GB for total cost of $699+ taxes. Unreal value! - Screen is really bright-- Exceeds 400 nits of brightness. COming from the Asus C30 which was 300 nits and 16:9 to this, which is 3:2, for browsing the web or watching fullscreen content, it's much better here. Keep in mind most YouTube videos and almost every single Netflix movie is 16:9, so there WILL be black bars on top and bottom, but for browsing or being productive in Microsoft Office suite or Google Docs, it is a LOT better! - Fans are fixed! For those who read this wondering if Acer fixed the fan profiles from the previous Spin this is a modern refresh of, they did! The fans ramp up for one second when you power on, and they are very quiet even under heavy conditions. Attached an image of the overview mode showing a ton of apps open, and the Chrome window has over a dozen tabs, and the fan would be only audible in the quietest room, but even so very light and like other laptops. I owned the previous Acer Spin and returned because the fan was full blast with one single Chrome tab streaming a movie on VUDU. This is by FAR the best fix Acer has done - Keyboard/Touchpad: Keyboard is another huge upgrade from previous model. Key caps feel smooth but enough grip, not at all mushy and the backlighting is even and bright with multiple stages to adjust to your liking. Touchpad is smooth and ChromeOS gestures feel good with no dragging. - Ports: You get (1) USB-A, (2) USB-C, which al both full service, meaning you can do charging from either side, video out and data transfer or use a hub; (1) HDMI 1.4 port, a microSD card slot, a headphone/microphone combo port and then your usual power button and volume rocker for tablet mode. I was able to use the Chromebook and two external displays at the same time no issue. As mentioned, the HDMI is 100% 1.4, as it maxes out at 4K 30Hz. The USB-C does the same, but I did not have a 4K60Hz USB-C dock, so jury is still out if it can push that out, and multiple at same time. - Wifi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0. Any issues I had with connecting bluetooth controllers, mice on ChromeOS before has been a non issue in my short time with this device. Cons: - Webcam/microphone are subpar. I attached two images which are just a simple picture of the front facing camera. The darker one is this Acer SPin 713, and the lighter one is the Asus C302 from 2017. Definitely not a great webcam for those who needs to do conferences or work from home. - Speakers lack bass, and an overall rich sound. Maybe it's the placement on the bottom, where the HP x360 14c and the Lenovo Flex 5 have them dual front firing, but for Youtube watching the vocals are clear, just doesn't sound like a full stage. - 1080p HD playback inside of third party Android apps from the Google Play Store. This issue is a ChromeOS issue and not specific to this Acer; literally EVERY SINGLE CHROMEBOOK EVER MADE has this issue, and I believe it's the app developers negligence of optimizing their apps for Chrome OS, or Chrome OS has issues verifying the level certificate of Widevine, as the processor has HDCP support, but Netflix identifies it as L3, not the needed L1. What does this mean for you? Stream Netflix through the chrome browser any chance you can for best quality. If you use the Android app for offline playback from Netflix, Amazon Prime or VUDU they will max out at 480p SD. That's it. I included these cons to support those who are pointing out the bad camera and speakers aren't so great, but for me personally, I barely use them, so they're a non-factor to me personally. The rest I mentioned is a huge upgrade, the fact I can upgrade the SSD by myself for more storage on the cheap is incredible! Chromebook have been known to have everything soldered on board with no way to upgrade, so this switch to NVMe drives is a miracle! I cannot recommend this Chromebook enough! Word to the wise: I write this review as someone who loves the simplicity of ChromeOS and Chromebooks. As of 7/14/2020, there are "rumors" of Google working with Parallels to get support for full Windows software, and upgrade their version of Linux to be based off Ubuntu to add native out of the box Steam support for gaming as well as you can with an integrated GPU. I emphasize this again: rumors and development. If you read this today asking "is this device right for me?", look and see what you need from your device. If you can run everything inside of Google Chrome browser on whatever device you work at, or are looking to upgrade from, then the answer is absolutely. If you need to run a program or software made for Windows, or you need to run the FULL suite of Microsoft Office apps and you're familiar with the limitations the Google Play Store version has by comparison, understand what ChromeOS is and it may not be compatible as of now with everything you need. For 90% of people or everyday users and students, I believe ChromeOS is at a point where it can work completely for them. For business users who need specific software or an in-house VPN whatever, check with your work's IT for compatibility. With that out of the way, Chromebooks give you, IMO, better quality and better productivity at a much better price compared to Windows. For this $629 as it is configured here, there is nothing Windows can offer that compares. A Microsoft Surface device is the closest thing in terms of the screen ratio/brightness and flexibility to use as a tablet, but that's the Surface Book which STARTS at $1599! There is the Intel version of the Acer Spin 3 for those who can dig online, but that is plastic and non-convertible.

Been using for about 2 weeks. Here are my likes and dislikes Pros: Screen- its beautiful. It gets bright. Has great colors. Great resolution. And I'm like the 3:2 ratio Processor- latest 10 gen i5. I mean its a chromebook, it makes everything super snappy Ram- 8 gb is future proof. Harddrive- 128gb, more than most chromebooks. NVMe which is quicker than most chromebook ssds keyboard and touchpad- very nice Cons Speakers- all chromebook speakers I have heard are bad. These are at the lower end as well. Besides poor quality they fire down which makes it even worse. In a quiet room no problem. Any real noise and they just don't get loud enough Webcam- its not good. But again I havne't seen many chromebooks that are good. I'm not sure why a chromebook can't have a decent 1080p webcam. Screen glitch. I get it about 2 times a day. It last for half a second. Its usually when I change tabs or go to a new app. Its almost like the the display shifts slightly then corrects itself. Its of no bother to me right now since it happens so infrequently and for such a short time. If somehow it begins happening all the time it would def be annoying and change my review Keyboard deck - its plastic and has some flex. I've owned completely plastic chromebooks with more but my last one was a completely metal Dell with zero flex. Little rubber tabs at the hinge mechanism. They are there for when the screen tilts more then 90 degrees. The bottom of the screen becomes lower then the back of the laptop and puts the keyboard on a slight angle. I was working on my desk the other day and slide the comptuer over a little. The rubber piece came undone and twisted. I was able to put it back in place but now I have to be careful not to slide the laptop in that position. The other plastic tab seems to be holding up fine. If that plastic tab breaks off I'm not sure replacing or fixing it would be easy The cons while I listed a couple are much less important than the pros. In my opinion processor, screen quality, ram, hard drive are more important than speakers, webcams and some plastic parts.

*I'd give this 4 1/2 stars if I could but oh well.* By now we've all heard everyone give their piece on this device, and for the most part it's all been accurate. Yes, the screen is amazing. Yes, the build quality is great. Yes the performance is best in class for Chromebooks. And yes, the speakers are lackluster, as well as the webcam and microphone. With that being said though, I think my perspective might be helpful to let other people get a better idea of how actually using the device is like. I've had this Acer for a bit over two weeks now and I think my opinions on it have been properly cemented. This is, without a doubt, the best Chromebook I have ever used. In fact, considering its pricing, it may be the best value for a brand new laptop I've ever had. The price of this Chromebook blows me away. I believe that if this laptop was $150, maybe $200 more no one would bat an eye. It's really a high tier Chromebook with a mid tier pricing. In my opinion this laptop is so good that it makes it impossible to justify getting a more expensive Chromebook. There's still plenty reasons for the cheaper Chromebooks, but anything past this is too much because due to diminishing returns. Anyway, moving on from the pricing is the device itself. Like I said, this thing exudes quality. It looks quite nice, if a bit understated. It feels really solid in your hands, living up to it's MIL rating. No flex from what I can find. The hinge really impressed me. I've never had a hinge this stable on a convertible device before, there's no wobble in sight. Thanks to its 3:2 aspect ratio I find that the tablet mode to be quite usable compared to other convertible laptops. I don't use all the time, but it's nice to have. Though I wouldn't say its too heavy, you'll notice the difference compared to a real tablet, but that goes without saying. The glass trackpad is as smooth as silk and has a satisfying, solid click. The keyboard as well, is satisfactory. Definitely one of the better Chromebook keyboards out there. Many online reviewers talk about key travel and all that, but I never been too picky about that so take what I say as you will. Also, I really appreciate the variety in ports. It's nice to an HDMI port on a Chromebook again. Now onto the screen, the big kahuna. Man oh man, what a nice screen. Honestly, this is as good as it needs to be. Anything else for the average computer user is beyond overkill. The resolution looks perfect to my eyes, without a pixel to be found. The clarity is out of this world, and the colors are saturated and vibrant. If you want this thing can get brighter than the sun. I've seen people say it has a nit rating of 400-450 and from my experience that is true. I have yet to need for it to be cranked to full brightness. I only have two real complaints about it. First is that the color temperature favors the warmer side. That's just a personal gripe as I prefer a cooler screen temperature and there's no real way to change it in ChromeOS. The other complaint I have with it is that it sometimes, rarely, has screen glitches. These glitches are like half a second where a part of UI flickers. Again, this happens rarely and from what I've read is common amongst Chromebooks and goes away with time. Personally, it doesn't bother me too much, but I have noticed it so I thought I should include that. Speaking of ChromeOS, this thing flies with it. Nothing I've thrown at it slows it down. It might be one of the most buttery smooth experience I've had computing. The specs on the Spin 713 makes use of ChromeOS to the fullest. Again, to reiterate what I've said a few times before, this is as good as it gets without being overkill. I know many people were concerned about the fan, but the only time I ever hear it is when I power it on. Literally, I never hear the fan in use. It also never really gets hot. It can get a little warm if the vents are blocked or if you use it heavily while charging. Other than that though, it stays pretty cool normally. Finally, we get to the not so stellar things. Namely, the speakers and the webcam. Yeah, it's not too good here, but I do think some people have blown it out of proportion. Speakers aren't typically known to be good on Chromebooks anyway and it's not too different here. So the speakers do lack bass, however I wouldn't say they're "tinny" or "muffled" like everyone else has stated. The connotation of it being tinny implies that it sounds shrill or it has distortion, at least to me anyways. Muffled would mean that it doesn't sound clear. That is not the case here. These speakers provide sufficient clarity, and have not distorted on me once. People might be calling it muffled due to the fact it has bottom-firing speakers which can be obstructed depending on your use. My real issue with it is the fact that they are too quiet. Believe me when I say that you'll never lower your volume from the max. Going back on how the speakers are bottom-firing, I really think that plays a part in why the speakers sounds quiet. Setting the laptop on a table sounds quite a bit louder than when it's on your lap. However, it's not enough of a difference to say that it's properly "loud" even in the right setting. The fact of the matter is that these speakers are quiet. However, keeping the volume at max as well as whatever video player's volume to max has been workable for me. I think they sounded a bit quieter when I first got this, but after a couple weeks the speakers have broken in and the volume is fine now. Still quieter than I'd like, but at least I haven't had any real issue of not being able to hear it. (Side note, I have no idea why they made the speakers bottom firing. There's absolutely enough room to put them above the keyboard.) There's not much I can say about the camera. It's not good, plain and simple. It's not the worst I've seen, but still far from good. I'd say it's about the same as every other camera on a Chromebook. Maybe if ChromeOS actually offered a way to adjust the camera setting it'd be salvageable, but it doesn't. I never need to use a webcam though, so I have absolutely no problem with it. The mic is a bit gainy, but not enough to make you inaudible. Again, not much for me to say about it. If it's important for you I'd advise in using external peripherals opposed to the internal ones this Chromebook provides. All in all I can say that this is new standard in Chromebooks. I truly believe that this is the Chromebook that all other Chromebooks will be compared to. Unless another brand can make a device with as good of a combination in spec and price, this will most likely take the number one spot in all of those end of year listicles of best Chromebooks. So, if you want a near perfect premium Chromebook that you can actually afford, this is your pick.

I’m upgrading from a trial/entry level, spontaneous Black Friday purchase of an Acer Spin 11, which just wasn’t enough computer for me. Stylus support is just as important to me as specs, so it came down to the Asus C346, the as-yet-unreleased i5/8 gig version of Lenovo’s Flex 5 Chromebook, and this Acer, which showed up out of nowhere out of the heavens, like an answer to all my whinging. Well, the Asus was the perfect computer at an imperfect price, and there’s no telling when that Lenovo is going to drop (and I'd prefer a Project Athena machine), so I went with this after reading the very scarce info on such a new computer. So far, so great! It’s not perfect, so let me start with the bad. The speakers, quite frankly, are terrible. With upward facing speakers becoming the norm on more pricey Chromebooks, Acer dropped the ball here. It sounds exactly the same as my old Spin 11: tinny sound, no bass, and you’ll be hitting the ‘volume up’ rocker, only to be disappointed to find it’s already up as high as it’ll go. Next come the camera and mic. They ain’t great. For video calls the computer gets the job done, but if teleconferencing is important to you and you need good stylus input, maybe wait on the Lenovo. Now for the good: Oh my dog, I love this thing. The typing experience is very nice. The keys aren’t super clicky, but they’re not mushy either; Acer has found a happy medium. I type a lot and am quite happy with the keyboard. The trackpad is fast and responsive, no complaints there. And the speed of the computer itself is very snappy. I tend to be a tab hog and I like running lots of apps and once and the thing has yet to balk. The fan cools just fine and is very quiet. Ye gods, the ports! The versatility in having a USB-A and full HDMI make this a jack-of-all-trades for those of us who are our families' tech support gurus. And that headphone jack makes up for the crappy sound without having to remember whether or not you charged your Bluetooth headphones. Screen brightness is great and I can use the computer in full Texas sunlight. And the 3:2 aspect ratio is absolutely stunning and immersive. Keyboard backlighting could go a little brighter for my tastes, but I’m a weirdo. I like to use tablet mode fairly frequently, and it doesn’t feel like a laggy afterthought. It’s a quick, fun experience. The one thing I can’t speak to is the full stylus experience. The computer supports USI input, and the sole USI stylus on the market right now is always sold out. I have multiple S-pens/Samsung Note-compatible stylus’ laying around the house, and none of them work with this screen. So I’ve got a plain-old capacitive until I can get my hands on something better. But from what I’ve seen with the stylus on other USI computers, I’m looking forward to doing some art!

This chromebook has amazing specs for the price (8GB RAM, 128GB NVME SSD, 10th Gen Core i5). It feels very solid and well balanced. The trackpad feels great - I think it is glass covered which is super for quick tracking and gestures. The keyboard has a great feel, better than other much more expensive laptops I’ve used, but I do wish it had full sized right and left arrow keys. The stand out feature for me is the screen. I love the 3:2 ratio, it is very bright, and colors really stand out. The speakers are a let down (very tinny and almost no bass). The camera is 720p, which is OK, but not great. Chrome OS is incredibly quick and responsive, and battery life seems great. I’ve been using this with a few Android apps and a couple linux apps. This would be the perfect device, if it had a fingerprint reader, better speakers, and a better camera. This chromebook will get software and security updates until June of 2028, and with the powerful specs, it should easily perform well for those years.

This device is fantastic for the price and is almost exactly what I was looking for. You're not going to find these specs for $629 anywhere else. The device does make some sacrifices though. The most obvious competitor here is the Pixelbook Go for $649, so I'll make some comparisons during the review. Specs: The Spin 713 has a 10th gen i5 u series processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB of NVMe storage. In short, this thing is blazing fast. The Pixelbook Go as an 8th gen m3 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 64GB of NVMe storage. It's not slow by any means, but the Spin 713 is clearly faster and offers double the storage. Screen: The Spin 713 again wins here. With a 2K 3:2 display, you're getting a portable, yet large display, and the image quality is great. I previously had a smaller 3K display (Pixel Slate) and this doesn't feel like a downgrade at all. Meanwhile, the Pixelbook Go has a 1080p screen. While it's not a bad display, it's not pixel-dense if that's something you're looking for. Build: The Spin 713 makes some sacrifices here. The build quality itself is still good, but it can't touch the Pixelbook Go. With that said, it's a solid device and it has a nice keyboard and trackpad. The bezels are appreciably small too. Oh, and the Spin, of course, can flip 360 degrees and is USI-stylus compatible, neither of which the Pixelbook Go can do. Ports: The Spin 713 has everything. This is very rare for a new Chromebook. You get two USB-Cs, a USB-A, an HDMI, and a headphone jack. The Pixelbook Go misses the USB-A and HDMI. Peripherals: The Spin 713 drops the ball here. The speakers are tinny and the webcam is mediocre. This is really a deciding factor here. If these don't matter to you, for example, if you use headphones or an external webcam, then no worries. But if you need a laptop with these onboard, the Spin's just aren't very good. The Pixelbook Go on the other hand, has great speakers and a good camera. So, overall, it really comes down to the speakers and webcam. If you can live with the poor speakers and camera, this is a fantastic device. If you downright need a good set of speakers and webcam, then this device is not for you. With that said, I love my Spin 713 and think it's a great value for $629.

I read the reviews of people complaining about the sound and all that....let me chime in. I have been playing on this thing daily for a month now. I have LINUX installed as well as the Chrome OS without dual booting. I usually have at least 10 tabs open, a linux terminal open, wireshark running, watching YouTube, and email app all open at the same time WITHOUT any noticeable slowdown in the performance of the machine. It has taken some getting use to with the F1-F12 buttons being the alternate to others as well and no caps lock...but all of these are easily used if you know the alt+key to use...alt+search button=caps lock. Other than that I don't need a $1,000 machine to do what I want as this one does a pretty good job and doesn't stress...the fan has only come on once while installing the new linux and with as much as I push this machine my other Windows machine would be on non-stop! I have taken the machine into developer mode played with another version of linux and then went back to plain ol Chrome OS with the built in linux. This required completely wiping the machine to go to developer mode and again when going back to Chrome OS, all without a hiccup. I can't say enough good about this machine. The hinges are great quality. I don't mind them being stiff like they are as the screen doesn't move when I type. It stays put in any position from open 1mm to fully open 360*. I don't want to lift a laptop lid with one finger...it needs to stay shut till I open it. The keyboard is of the upmost highest quality! I also use this with Samsung messenger app so I don't have to pick up my phone to text someone and all incoming messages appear right here on my screen like an incoming email. I have even played battle royal games in tablet mode....way better than on the phone! This did cause the battery to drain a little faster but who cares I have a huge screen to play on! The machine did get a little warm but not enough to make the fan come on....but I also had a lot of other apps/programs running in the background. I push this machine and it's nowhere near its limits. I would definitely buy this machine again and again.

I've been using a chromebook as a developer laptop for many years, and it's really nice how much easier it is to do that these days (no more "dev mode" trickery and cryptic install instructions -- just click and go). I love how rock solid and fast the desktop experience is (Chrome OS uses much less memory than Windows), how easy it is to install Linux (so that I can work on my coding and testing) and how well the Android apps fill in the remaining gaps. I much prefer a 3:2 screen for a laptop so much that I refuse to buy a 16:9 laptop at all anymore, and I also really prefer a touch screen, fold-back keyboard, and pen support, so this laptop had everything I was looking for except for a fingerprint reader (which I work around by using my phone to unlock my computer, which is almost as good).