Acer Spin 3 review: A solid $650 budget laptop with nice bonuses

Budget laptops proceed to enhance, and the Acer Spin 3 is an effective instance. For an reasonably priced worth it provides satisfactory elements and battery life, with sufficient flexibility to accommodate a spread of peripherals. Though the 14-inch, 360-degree convertible laptop computer delivers middling efficiency, a contemporary Thunderbolt port and a nifty built-in stylus stand out. In all, it’s a strong laptop computer, however in a market whose competitors is rising stronger, rapidly.

This evaluate is a part of our ongoing roundup of the best laptops. Go there for info on competing merchandise and the way we examined them.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Acer Spin 3 primary options

The Acer Spin 3 (SP314-54N-58Q7) we examined is sold at Costco for $650, though the corporate lists just a few options on its Acer online store. Of the 4 listed, just one, the SP314-54N-50W3, incorporates an up-to-date Core i5-1035G4 processor in addition to a bigger 512GB SSD, for about $150 extra. (Intel’s 10th-gen “Ice Lake” processors use the quantity connected to its “G” suffix to point the relative graphics efficiency, with the next quantity being higher.) We nonetheless contemplate our evaluate unit’s loadout—8GB RAM, 256GB SSD—satisfactory for many wants.

Here are the essential options of our evaluate unit, which is backed by a one-year “International Travelers’ Warranty.” Acer says that guarantee runs concurrently with its commonplace one-year U.S. guarantee, permitting the laptop computer to be serviced in as much as 30 different nations the place Acer has licensed services.

Display: 14-inch IPS (1920×1080)
Processor: 1GHz Core i5-1035G1
Graphics: UHD Graphics
Memory: 8GB LPDDR4
Storage: 256GB NVMe SSD
Ports: USB-C (Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.1 Gen 2). 2 USB-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1), HDMI 2.0 (HDCP), microSD, 3.5mm headphone/mic
Camera: User-facing: 720p, tremendous HDR
Battery: 47.8Wh (rated), 45.9Wh (precise)
Wireless: Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) 2×2 MIMO; Bluetooth 5.0
Additional options: built-in stylus, fingerprint reader, protecting sleeve
Operating system: Windows 10 Home (model 1909)
Dimensions (inches): 12.8 x 9.06 x 0.67 inches (16.9mm)
Weight: 3.31 kilos (per Acer)
Color: Silver
Price: $650 at Costco, with 1-year guarantee.

Design and development

A price range 14-inch laptop computer just like the Acer Spin 3 doesn’t ask you to pay for its seems. At about 17mm thick, the Spin 3 is a tad chunky, however in a great way: sturdily constructed, with a pair of thick 360-degree hinges. When you flip across the show, Windows mechanically configures the Spin 3 into pill mode. Another profit: The broader chassis provides a hearty combination of ports that you just gained’t discover on thinner laptops.

The Spin 3 reclines all the best way into pill mode, with a small sequence of on-screen icons monitoring its progress as you progress from tent to pill mode.

Acer did reduce just a few corners within the show. Though the IPS panel was pleasingly vibrant, our gentle meter registered simply 274 nits—barely sufficient for day-to-day use. Although the facet display screen bezels measure simply 7.82mm, the bezel on the backside of the display screen is a about an inch deep and positively noticeable.

The Spin 3 appears to have satisfactory cooling, with venting beneath the laptop computer and a bigger grille close to the hinge. My residence workplace atmosphere is sort of quiet, permitting me to listen to a faint hiss from the followers as they spun up, in addition to a faint little bit of coil whine. When my residence’s central air kicked on, nevertheless, the noise disappeared. Even when working CPU-intensive duties, the Swift 3’s fan remained quiet—that appears to be pretty typical of the Intel 10th-gen Ice Lake laptops I’ve examined.

On the left facet of the chassis, the small battery icon subsequent to the Type A port signifies that it will probably cost exterior units like telephones when the laptop computer is shut.

Personally, I contemplate the port choice to be near best. There’s a pair of SuperSpeed USB (5Gbps) Type A connections—good for a keyboard or mouse, and so they may also be used to connect with an exterior drive, should you don’t thoughts a slower switch price. A conventional HDMI port will join a single 4K show at 60Hz.

The Thunderbolt port on the Spin 3 is a uncommon and treasured discover on price range laptops. Thunderbolt’s notably versatile I/O capabilities can hook up with a devoted Thunderbolt dock, a USB-C hub, or an exterior show.

Thunderbolt is most noteworthy for its capability to attach a pair of 4K shows at an eye-pleasing 60Hz, whereas a non-Thunderbolt USB-C port can hook up with only one 4K show at 30Hz through a hub. Thunderbolt docks, nevertheless, vary in worth from $100 to $250 or so.

On the proper facet, the Spin 3’s stylus nestles in its cradle to the left of the ability and battery indicators. Some 360-degree convertibles, just like the Spin 3, barely incline the keyboard the additional again the show is pushed.

There’s one other, hidden benefit to the Thunderbolt port. The Spin 3 ships with Acer’s narrow-tipped proprietary charger. The Thunderbolt port accepts a third-party 65W USB-C charger, supplying you with a secondary energy possibility in a pinch.

Because that is an Intel 10th-gen system, wi-fi connectivity is provided by Intel’s WiFi 6 radio and Bluetooth 5.0. (If you don’t perceive what WiFi 6 can do for you, Michael Simon’s love letter to the technology ought to persuade you. You’ll want a suitable laptop computer just like the Spin 3 and a WiFi 6E router, to take benefit, although.)

Our evaluate unit shipped with Windows 10 model 1909, which we used for testing. Midway by way of, it was provided the May 2020 Update, often known as model 2004.

Acer Spin 3’s keyboard and audio

I’d characterize Acer’s keyboards as middling. That’s not essentially a criticism. Acer’s keyboards are typically shallow and a bit mushy, bottoming out relatively than cushioning your fingers. While the Swift 3 supplies a full-size keyboard, the keys themselves are typically a bit smaller on common, and Acer left itself with near an inch of extra area on both facet. Still, as I sometimes do, I wrote this evaluate on the Swift 3’s keyboard itself, and it was moderately snug.

The Spin 3’s keyboard lean in to features utilized by enterprise vacationers, similar to shortcuts to challenge to a different show.

Acer’s Precision trackpad fills a lot of the obtainable depth beneath the keyboard, with an built-in fingerprint strip within the higher lefthand nook. As a consequence, chunk of the trackpad isn’t clickable. I’d choose the trackpad to be wholly dedicated to navigation, as there’s loads of room elsewhere for Acer to mount the reader. Also, “strip” fingerprint readers sometimes aren’t as correct as a bigger sensor or a user-facing depth digicam, which Acer presumably disregarded for value causes. The Spin 3’s reader labored fantastic, although (and Windows asks you to arrange a PIN and password as backups, anyway).

The Spin 3’s fingerprint reader, although not good, labored very properly. Its trackpad is sort of spacious, too.

Acer’s audio straddles the broad divide between disappointing and wonderful, and that’s as a result of default configuration. The Spin 3’s twin audio system are “forward” (upward) going through, and sounded a bit flat and tinny once I began taking part in music. But Acer additionally bundles the Spin 3 with the DTS audio enhancement algorithm, which dramatically improves the sound high quality with a little bit of fiddling. Acer additionally claims the “TrueHarmony” paper-cone design of its audio system improves the general audio.

Never, ever flip DTS off, because the sound then dissolves into an aural pile of rubbish. Even with DTS turned on, the audio system sounded a bit faint. Using the customized audio settings, nevertheless, I used to be rapidly in a position to tune the audio system directionally (“front” versus “traditional” versus “wide”) to come back up one thing that was each appreciably loud and pleasing to my ears.

Acer’s Spin 3 additionally contains “Purified Voice,” the identify Acer gave its far-field mic expertise when it added it to the Spin 5 in 2018. While that system included 4 mics, this one has two. I used to be nonetheless in a position to calmly ask Cortana for the native forecast with the laptop computer throughout the room, whereas my residence’s central A/C ran within the background. That expertise additionally suppresses keyboard noise, useful in video conferences the place you is perhaps typing as you speak.