Acer Chromebook Spin 513 (CP513-2H) Review: Better for Less | Media Pyro

The IS Acer Chromebook Spin 513 (CP513-2H) almost nothing like its predecessor, the Turn 513 (CP513-1H). In fact, it has more in common with the highest last year Chromebook Spin 713which is good since that one was one of the Chromebooks are best of 2021 and the 513 starts at $100 less at $600 (£500AU$800).

Like the Spin 713, the Chromebook Spin 513 is a two-in-one convertible Chromebook with a 13.5-inch 2,256 x 1,504 touch display with a 3:2 aspect ratio. The extra vertical space compared to a 16:9 or 16:10 display means less scrolling when you’re working. The screen size is also close to letter-sized paper, making it comfortable to take notes in tablet mode with the USI pen (supported but not included).

The Chromebook Spin 513 is almost identical in appearance to the 713: a little bland but a safe choice for work or school. The Spin 513’s robust aluminum body is fanless (the Spin 713 has fans and vents) and is silent – perfect for quiet classrooms, meetings or video calls. Although the two models have a few other features in common such as a backlit keyboard and fast wireless Wi-Fi 6, they end up with a different solution as the Spin 513 drops a bit in performance (but not in battery life) and features. Still, it comes with a lower price to make up for the tradeoffs.

The Chromebook Spin 513 runs on an octacore MediaTek Kompanio 1380 processor, 8GB of dual-channel memory and 128GB of eMMC flash storage. MediaTek has really upped its game with its latest Arm-powered system-on-a-chip (SoC). While the Kompanio SoC is slightly behind the 11th-gen Intel Core i5 processor in the Spin 713, the Kompanio 1380’s performance topped the 11th-gen Intel Core i3-1115G4 in the Lenovo Flex 5i notebook on most tests. The Spin 513 is better than its Qualcomm-based predecessor (although the Qualcomm-based 514 is $300 less).

One thing that may be holding the Spin 513 back is its storage. Instead of a faster PCIe SSD, Acer used cheaper eMMC flash storage. Regardless, know that the Spin 513 can handle daily work and entertainment with aplomb. It can also be done for an extra long time. Acer claims battery life gets up to 10 times on Google’s power load test. On our streaming video test it blew right after that, hitting 13 hours and 51 minutes.

Similar but not the same

The fan body of the Spin 513 is one of the differentiating features from the Spin 713 and is definitely a plus. Not only does the lack of vents look nice, but the passive cooling means the fans won’t kick in suddenly when you’re in a quiet setting or trying to take a call or hear a Zoom call.

On the other hand, along with the processor change from Intel to MediaTek, some other changes could make or break your decision to spend more on the Turn 713 or update, the 714 Turn. For example, Acer put a 720p webcam into the Spin 513 instead of a 1080p camera. The 720p camera is fine if you’re well lit; otherwise, the image is soft and noisy.

Also, the Spin 513 doesn’t have an HDMI output. If you want to connect directly to a display, it has to be via one of its two USB-C ports. Unfortunately, they’re not Thunderbolt 4 like the Spin 713’s ports. The MediaTek chip supports up to two 4K 60Hz displays, though, and there’s a USB-C port on each side which makes charging more flexible.

The display carries over from the Spin 713 and is one of the best features of this Chromebook. It’s bright, has crisp colors for a Chromebook, and covers a 100% sRGB color gamut. It supports USI pens, and although there is a slight lag, it was good for note-taking, casual sketching and for use as a digital whiteboard. Streaming video looked great on it too. What didn’t matter were the speakers that were falling down. Although Acer talks up the better sound of the DTS Audio tuning used, the thin sound speakers – fine for casual use or a quick video chat, but you’ll want a headset for everything else.

Overall, the feature cuts are relatively small to save costs. If you are someone who uses the webcam and speakers regularly, you may be disappointed. Honestly, the quality is in line with what you’d get on a $600 Windows laptop, too, but you wouldn’t find the rest of the package in the excellent Acer Chromebook Spin 513. Sprightly performance, long battery life, a backlit keyboard and support pen along with a premium fanless design, the Spin 513 is a worthy Chromebook.