Acer Chromebook Spin 513 (2H) review: Our favorite Chromebook’s dashing doppelganger
Chromebooks have traditionally fallen into one of two extremes: affordable Chromebooks with meager processors and even more meager screens or premium, ultra-powerful Chromebooks with shorter battery life. Thebest Chromebookaround, the Acer Chromebook Spin 713, falls in the latter category with a gorgeous 400-nit touchscreen, a beefy i5 processor, and just enough battery to maybe get through a short workday without needing a charger. But what if you wanted that premium screen and build quality with a little less horsepower and a little more longevity?
Enter the Acer Chromebook Spin 513 (2H). This doppelganger to the Spin 713 still has a 13.5-inch 2K display, backlit keyboard, and plenty of ports, but rather than an Intel Core processor and those constantly-running fans, we get a more well-balanced ARM chipset and slightly longer battery life. The Spin 513 still has some of the 713’s weaknesses, but its biggest weakness isn’t hardware or software, but rather economical. Namely: is that iconic 3:2 touchscreen worth paying $615 for in such a crowded Chromebook market?
Acer Chromebook Spin 513 (2H)
Combining a more efficient chipset with Acer’s tried-and-true 13.5-inch 2K touchscreen gives us a comfortable, fanless laptop that will fit into most users' lives seamlessly. That premium screen commands a premium price tag, but if you don’t need the Spin 713’s raw Intel power, this makes for a good alternative.
Design, hardware, what’s in the box
Setting the Acer Chromebook Spin 513 next to the Spin 713, you’d be forgiven for thinking them twins; they’re the same size with the same aluminum lid and shiny Acer logo. The 513’s chassis is plastic rather than aluminum to save a few ounces, and because this is a fanless MediaTek processor, we can kiss all those fan vents on the underside goodbye, too. That said, even after hours of work (and/or play), the Spin 513 doesn’t heat up the way fanless Intel Chromebooks like the Pixelbook Go and Samsung Galaxy Chromebook do.
Acer has once again positioned one USB-C port on each side as opposed to having them both on the left side the way the Spin 713 did. Rather than an HDMI port, Acer swapped in a microSD card slot alongside the USB-A and headphone jacks, not that you should need it with 128GB of internal storage on this laptop. However, it’s slower eMMC storage.
Of all the Achilles’ heels to inherit from its premium predecessor, the quiet, down-facing speakers are among the most infuriating. They’ve been bemoaned for two years on the Spin 713, but no, Acer refused to give us the up-firing speakers that Lenovo and HP do. So, the 513 has speakers that are easy to muffle and won’t really get loud unless you keep it chained to a desk or table.
Are they fine for pumping some so-fi while working or listening to video meetings while you’re on the couch with a head cold? Yeah, they’re just okay. For $615, that’s not good enough, especially for something Acer knows how to fix — and did fix on theAcer Chromebook Spin 514 (2H).
Touchscreen display
Now for the star of the show. The screen on the Acer Chromebook Spin 513 (2H) doesn’t get quite as bright as my beloved Acer Spin 713. At 360 nits, it’s still more than enough to use outside in the Florida sun — and use it I did outside at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. Touch accuracy and response were both excellent, even when balancing the Spin 513 in my lap or holding the laptop in one hand and typing with the other while I was in line.
The 3:2 aspect ratio here allows you to see further down a page without scrolling, though it can make split-screened windows feel a teeny bit cramped. While most web players and streaming apps on the Spin 513 won’t go above 1080p on Chrome OS (for now), you’ll be able to appreciate those 2K and 4K nature loops in high-def now that your Yellowstone roadtrip is canceled. That resolution does come in quite handy when playing games on the Spin 513, though you’ll only be planting Android or browser games here. (Steam on Chrome OS has a long,longway to go before it’s ready for MediaTek Chromebooks.)
Keyboard and trackpad
The trackpad is Gorilla Glass 3, making it durable and smooth, though I once again wish it was a little larger. There’s still ample room for Chrome OS’s gesture controls and scrolling, but there’s just so much unused space due to the 3:2 aspect ratio. The palm rests on any 3:2 laptop always end up feeling huge if you lack the hands of an NBA all-star.
It also drives home all the space that could’ve been used for up-facing speakers, if the keyboard had been shifted down just a little. The backlit keyboard may not have the deepest key travel, but it’s comfortable enough to type on for 8-10 hours a day without feeling mushy. Even backlighting makes it easier to read the keys in the dark, though the backlighting could stand to be a bit brighter. At least it’s adjustable if you hitAlt + Brightness Up.
Software, performance, and battery life
Chrome OS is as it ever was on the MediaTek Kompanio 1380. With 1-3 windows and 16-40 tabs open at most times, the Acer Chromebook Spin 513 has worked like a champ for me the last several weeks. The processor can hiccup at times — during particularly busy scenes in Stardew Valley or other games, for example — but unless you’re dealing with 50-page Excel sheets and Linux apps all day, these instances should be few and far between.
This computer isn’t a slouch, by any means. It can run two 2K monitors easily and multitask like a champ. Benchmarks aren’t exactly the pinnacle of performance testing, but the scores between the Spin 513 and 713 demonstrate the different strengths of each. You’d think the Spin 713 would win in all categories, but the Spin 513’s superior graphics score is a testament to the integrated MediaTek Mali G57.
With the power differences between the i5 and the Kompanio 1380, you might expect the Spin 513 would have famously long battery life like theAcer Chromebook 514 2HT. However, battery here is middle of the road at best. Acer’s battery claims are “up to 11 hours”, and I normally get like 7-8 hours on average, leading to a recharge mid to late afternoon. If dawn-to-dusk and then some battery matters to you, you’ll likely be better off with one of the Snapdragon 7c Chromebooks like the HP X2 11 or the Lenovo Duet 5.
Should you buy it?
Performance and quality for the Acer Chromebook Spin 513 (2H) is adequate, but we’ve mostly left one factor out of the discussion: the price. That’s because at $615, the Spin 513 is wedged in an awkward position in an already-crowded market. The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 with that beefy, battery-guzzling Intel Core i5 is $700 with frequent sales down to $629. While the better battery on the 513 is worth a fair amount, the Intel Core i5 is more futureproof and is one of very few laptops that can use Steam on Chrome OS right now.
The Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5 has a brighter (but lower resolution) 13.3-inch touchscreen and a much longer battery life for $500, though the Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 isn’t quite as powerful as the Spin 513’s Kompanio 1380. Even the Acer Chromebook Spin 514 (2H) is $700 with a fanless i3, 8GB of RAM and better battery than the Spin 513. In short, the Spin 513 has a lot of competition with more well-known processors, which makes it harder to stand out.
Does the Spin 513 justify its own $615 price tag? Between that bright, outdoor-friendly screen and the just-powerful-enough Kompanio 1380, yes, it does. Will that be enough to help it rise above its competition? Much like theSpin 514 (3H), that remains to be seen, though some deals around Prime Day and back-to-school might certainly help.
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Q: How does the Acer Chromebook Spin 513 (2H) compare to the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5?
The Lenovo Duet 5 is another high-brightness Chromebook, albeit with a drastically different form factor and a much less powerful processor. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 compute platform isn’t as powerful as the Mediatek Kompanio 1380, but given that the Duet 5’s screen is only 1080p instead of 2K and is geared more towards content consumption than actual work, it’s a reasonable trade-off, especially as the Duet starts at $400 for the 4GB/64GB model and $500 for the 8GB/128GB model that better compares to the Spin 513.
The Duet 5 is a Chromebook tablet with an in-box detachable keyboard and magnetic kickstand, so it’s more of a leisure device than a full-time laptop, and it’s not quite as comfortable to use in your lap as the Spin 513, though if you intend to watch a lot of movies and do a lot of e-reading, the Duet 5 might be the better match, but as a full-time, all-day, work and play Chromebook, the Spin 513 is a better laptop. You’ll pay more for it, though.
Q: How does the Acer Chromebook Spin 513 (2H) compare to the Acer Chromebook Spin 514 (2H)?
At $700, the Acer Chromebook Spin 514 checks almost all the same boxes the 513 does — and then some. It is also a fanless laptop, but it has a much beefier 11th Gen Intel Core i5 processor. It’s still a premium design with a backlit keyboard, plenty of RAM, and ample storage. The screen is only 250 nits and 16:9, but it’s 14 inches which means more room for split-screening and a more traditional shape. The Spin 514 also has up-firing speakers, so it sounds twice as good as the speakers on the Spin 513.
The battery life on the Spin 514 is a bit better than the Spin 513, and it also has a built-in HDMI slot for those who frequently hook up to a second monitor. While the Kompanio 1380 isn’t a slouch, the Spin 514 is in another weight class with that i5. Unfortunately, it’s also in another price bracket at $800, but it’s dropped to $700 before, and I’m betting it’ll see it again soon enough. Just keep an eye out for sales.
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