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Honestly, I’ve by no means been too impressed with Acer’s Spin two-in-one laptops. They have been OK, however in opposition to Lenovo’s Yoga, HP’s Envy or Spectre x360 and Dell’s XPS 13 2-in-1 they only could not compete. Then, the brand new Spin 5 arrived earlier this yr and it was arduous to not take discover as a result of it actually stood above the competitors.
LikeGlorious small, ultralight physique with a tall 3:2-ratio displayBuilt-in Wacom energetic penLots of connectivity choices
Don’t LikeNo mic or digicam privateness featuresHinges can get misaligned
Co-engineered with Intel as a part of its Project Athena program, Acer up to date the design and options to enhance its mobility, but in addition added a brilliant 2,256×1,504-pixel decision, 13.5-inch touchscreen. The 3:2 display ratio offers you far more vertical area and, since its roughly the scale of a sheet of paper, it is extra snug to make use of for notetaking and sketching with the included energetic pen. The Spin 5’s skinny physique is produced from light-weight magnesium alloy.
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The Spin 5 was initially priced beginning at $899, however that was earlier than the pandemic. You can get one direct from Acer for $999 with a 10th-gen Intel Core i5 or go as much as a Core i7 for $1,099. In the UK, it sells for £1,099 and AU$2,162 in Australia. All in all, whereas the deal is not pretty much as good, the Spin 5 remains to be fairly priced for every little thing you are getting.
Acer Spin 5 SP513-54N-74V2
Price as reviewed
$1,099
Display measurement/decision
13.5-inch 2,256×1,504-pixel touchscreen
Processor
1.3GHz Intel Core i7-1065G7
Memory
16GB LPDDR3 3,200MHz dual-channel
Graphics
Integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics
Storage
512GB NVMe PCIe SSD
Ports
2x USB-C (Thunderbolt 3), 2x USB-A, HDMI out, audio/mic jack, microSD card slot
Networking
802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) , Bluetooth 5.0
Operating system
Windows 10 Home (64 bit)
Weight
2.7 kilos (1.2 kilograms)
The 13.3-inch Asus ZenBook 13 versus the 13.5-inch Acer Spin 5 (proper).
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Less scrolling, extra workingThe barely taller show may not seem to be a lot but it surely does provide you with extra room to work with out considerably growing its measurement in comparison with the everyday 13.3-inch 16:9 laptop computer. For instance, the Spin 5 is about the identical width because the super-small Asus ZenBook 13 UX325JA but it surely has roughly the identical display peak as a 15.6-inch laptop computer. So with out considerably growing the scale of the laptop computer, you possibly can maintain extra of what you are engaged on, on the display. And at solely 2.7 kilos (1.2 kilograms) the bigger show positively did not influence its weight.It’s like a digital sheet of paperThe further vertical area is good to have for engaged on the two-in-one in its laptop computer place, but it surely’s additionally good in pill mode. The 3:2 ratio and 13.5-inch measurement makes the show roughly the scale of A4-size paper. Add within the gentle weight and you’ll comfortably use the Spin 5 in your arm as you write on the display — one thing that is a bit of awkward with a bigger 14-inch mannequin just like the Yoga C940. Like the Yoga, although, Acer features a small energetic pen that shops and prices in a storage on the suitable aspect. The slim pen works effectively for fast sketches and taking notes.
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The pen’s tip feels good on the Gorilla Glass show. Sort of like a wax pencil writing on glass. There’s sufficient friction that you do not really feel such as you’re writing on glass however the motion remains to be fluid. I used it quite a bit with Microsoft’s OneNote and Whiteboard apps and it labored completely, even when it is a bit of skinny for me to make use of for an prolonged time.
In normal, the hinge design is much like what you’d discover on most different two-in-ones. Acer did design them to barely carry the rear while you’re utilizing it as a laptop computer, which is good. I did discover that the hinges would often grow to be misaligned when opening it, nonetheless, requiring me to shut and open it once more to get them in line. All your charging choices are on the left aspect.
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A connection assortment price mentioningThe Spin 5 has two USB-A and two USB-C ports. The latter are Thunderbolt 3 they usually will also be used for charging. However, it additionally has a barrel-connector charger so you should utilize each USB-C ports for different issues. All three are on the left aspect, although, so you possibly can solely cost it from that aspect. Still, together with a full-size HDMI out and a microSD card slot, this laptop computer has extra connections than most. The remainder of the Spin 5 is what you’d anticipate finding on a premium two-in-one. There’s a snug backlit keyboard paired with a clean precision touchpad with a responsive fingerprint reader embedded in it. The audio system are on the rear of the laptop computer and could be heard whatever the mode the Spin 5 is in. They’re nothing particular and to my ear sound higher while you shut off the included DTS audio processing. No mic or webcam kill switches for privateness.
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The webcam and mics are good, although in low gentle the video is unquestionably heavy with noise discount to the purpose the place I appeared like a portray. Virtually no Chromebooks, Windows laptops or MacBooks have first rate full-HD-or-better webcams, which is a disgrace now that everybody’s utilizing them nonstop. Also, there isn’t a webcam privateness shutter or mic kill swap on the keyboard, which the competitors has at this worth. Performance is on par with the leadersDespite the skinny physique, the Acer Spin 5 has all of the efficiency of its rivals (although it does get a bit of heat at instances in your lap). This could have you coated for workplace duties, faculty work and primary picture and video modifying, so some gentle content material creation is not out of the query with the Intel Iris Plus built-in graphics. It stored up or surpassed equally configured fashions just like the Yoga C940 and Spectre x360 13. As for battery life, it hit a stable 8 hours, 51 minutes on our streaming video take a look at with the show brightness and quantity set to 50%. That’s a bit of shy of what Acer expects you to get, so it ought to be potential to get higher battery life with some extra energy administration. I can say I had no downside writing, internet searching and streaming music for a complete 8-hour workday and nonetheless had an estimated 30% (1 hour, 50 minutes) remaining on the battery. Case closed.
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The Acer Spin 5 is lastly one thing particular. With its taller display, compact light-weight steel physique, glorious efficiency and general fantastic characteristic set, it has nearly every little thing you may discover on competing premium two-in-ones. There’s nonetheless some room for enchancment, however no actual deal breakers.