Acer’s new Chromebook Spin has a bigger screen but shorter battery life

Acer announced that it’s updating its existing lineup of Chromebooks with three new devices at CES 2022, each of which comes with slight changes when compared to its predecessors.

The new Spin 513 comes with a 13.5-inch display, an upgrade from the 13-inch screen that the previously released Spin 513 had. It swaps the Snapdragon 7c Compute SC7180 in for the MediaTek Kompanio 1380, a new processor that also comes with eight cores. And like all Spin models, you can bend back the screen to use the Chromebook as a tablet or stand it up on a flat surface in a tent-like position when watching videos.

However, there is a bit of a tradeoff with this new model — instead of the 13.5 hours of battery life that the previous Spin 513 got, the new 513 will last just 10 hours on a full charge, a pretty significant downgrade. The Spin 513 will go on sale for $599.99.

The new Chromebook 315, which was first released in 2019, came with an AMD A-series processor and an impressive 15.6-inch display. The device was touted as one of the first Chromebooks to come with AMD silicon, but that changes with this newly announced Intel-based 315. It can either come with the Intel Celeron dual-core N4500, Celeron quad-core N5100, or the Pentium Silver N600. The device also sports an OceanGlass touchpad, which Acer says is made with recycled plastic to achieve a “glass-like texture,” in addition to a wide-field-of-view HDR webcam.

That’s about the extent of major changes that comes with this new model, as it has a large 15.6-inch anti-glare display and 10 hours of battery life, just like its predecessor. The Chromebook 315 will cost $299.99 upon release.

Acer’s new 314 Chromebook comes with the same $299.99 price tag as the 315 but has a 14-inch anti-glare touchscreen display. It also comes with the same options for Intel-based processors, OceanGlass touchpad, and has 10 hours of battery life. Additionally, it has two built-in microphones with noise-reduction technology, along with a webcam that’s supposed to help reduce distracting lighting issues.

While Acer’s new Chromebooks will arrive in North America in June of this year, they’ll become available in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in April.

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