Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (2021) review: A worthy upgrade

Acer's newest Chromebook refreshes the best premium Chromebook of 2020

For the first few years, Chromebooks were merely an affordable solution for people to go online. With the ever-improving feature set of Chrome OS, manufacturers like Acer have seen more demand for premium Chromebook hardware. Last year, Acer released its successful Spin 713, which exceeded our expectations by packing speedy performance at a decent price. Now, the company offers a refreshed model that uses Intel’s latest 11th generation processor and Thunderbolt 4 to further refine the experience. The newest Spin 713 is a great follow-up to the older model who needs a powerful laptop for personal and business use… if you don’t mind paying extra.

Design, hardware, and what's in the box

The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is a modest-looking convertible laptop — it doesn’t stand out like the Asus’s CX9, but it doesn’t appear as cheap as Acer’s Chromebook 514. It uses the same boring design found from last year’s model, but at least Acer made it look a little more classy with the all-aluminium chassis. The hardware is totally competent despite its drab looks — its rigid body and solid construction will withstand a ton of punishment, which is perfect for students hauling it to class. There are stereo speakers underneath the laptop, and while they’re okay for video conferencing, don’t expect loud, high-quality audio.

There’s no denying that Acer’s Spin 713 is a powerhouse — it’s equipped with an Intel Core i5-1135G7 Tiger Lake CPU, 8GB of RAM, and lightning-quick 256GB PCIe NVME storage. All this power means it needs a CPU fan to keep it cool while under load. Despite my preference for noiseless laptops, the fan is quiet enough that it doesn’t distract, even at full speed, which is an acceptable trade-off for its fast performance. The two outlet air vents next to the hinge and intake vent at the bottom dissipate heat well enough to cool the laptop and keep my lap from overheating.

The updated Spin 713 keeps the impressive port selection found on the previous model. On the left side of the unit, you can find four ports: two USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 — both capable for 45W fast charging (cable included) and data transfers — one HDMI, and a headphone jack.

The other side has one USB-A 3.0, a microSD card slot, and a Kensington lock. Sadly, you won’t be able to charge the Chromebook on either side — Google designed the Volteer reference board for one-side charging.

Acer’s Chromebook Spin 713 is true to its moniker, allowing you to spin the screen back to use it as a tablet or prop it up as a stand. While the large top and bottom bezels look extremely dated, its 13.5-inch IPS LCD touchscreen is arguably one of the best things about this device, sporting a sharp 2256x1504 screen with a productive 3:2 aspect ratio. Images look crisp on this laptop, even with off-angle viewing. The Spin 713’s Corning Gorilla Glass screen is glossy, but it’s totally usable outdoors thanks to its bright LED lighting. It also supports Google’s USI standard, meaning any USI pen will work out of the box. On top of the bezel is a 720p webcam, and while its quality is nothing to write home about, it’s sufficient for your everyday Zoom conference calls.

Keyboard and trackpad

The typing experience on a laptop is something I’m particular with, and the Spin 713’s plastic-deck keys do not disappoint. It’s evenly back-lit, and it has decent key travel with a good tactile feedback. The plastic feels a little cheap compared to high-end laptops like the Dell XPS 15 (2021), but it doesn’t ruin the typing experience. I’ve typed several essays on it and did not feel that the keys were slowing me down. I especially appreciate the ample-sized palm rests, which makes for a comfortable typing experience while using it for long periods of time. I wish there was a fingerprint scanner at this price, though.

The trackpad on the Spin 713 is one of the best I’ve used on a Chromebook. It’s quite large, and the Gorilla Glass offers a pleasant smoothness clicking and dragging—with a catch (more on that later). The trackpad feels firm, and the “click” when pressing down on it isn’t loud like on the Pixelbook. Overall, the trackpad and keyboard are solid on this Chromebook.

Software, performance, and battery

Acer’s Chromebook Spin 713 runs Chrome OS, and my opinion on it has remained consistent: Google’s operating system is rock-solid and easy to use. It’s perfect for browsing the web, and you can even run Android and Linux desktop applications. Virus and malware are non-existent, and Chrome OS updates in the background to keep your device smooth and secure.

There’s no denying that Chrome OS has come a long way since the CR-48 days, and it continues to go from strength to strength with each update. There’s plenty of Android and Linux software for basic tasks, but power users may find themselves grabbing a Windows laptop for their Photoshop or video editing needs.

Setting up the Spin 713 is a total breeze. Once I’ve added my network information in, Chrome OS detected a new software update and applied it immediately, saving me from a restart while working on my device. Configuring my Google account was also painless, and within a few minutes, I was on my desktop with all of my apps synced from my other devices. It’s incredible how quick the process is — Microsoft should take notes.

Acer’s Chromebook Spin 713 comes with multiple CPU configurations, but the unit I have is equipped with an Intel Core i5-1135G7 Tiger Lake CPU clocked at 2.40GHz and an Intel Xe GPU. It also comes with an incredibly fast 256GB PCIEe NVME storage and 8GB of LPDDR4X memory. And despite the CPU requiring a fan to keep it cool, its screaming performance totally makes up for it. File transfers are nearly instantaneous thanks to the NVME SSD, and power-hungry Linux apps like Kdenlive and GIMP work without breaking a sweat. There are the occasional issues: the CPU fan intermittently spins up to 100% while doing basic tasks, and the trackpad can lose calibration when waking the laptop from sleep. But in broad strokes, the Spin 713 is a reliable powerhouse that’ll handle anything with ease.

Here are a few benchmarks to get an idea of the performance:

• Speedometer: 36.6
• Jetstream2: 159.551
• MotionMark 1.2: 322.11

All that power-hungry hardware means it needs a sufficient amount of battery to get you through the day. Acer claims you’ll get up to ten hours from a single charge, but with my usage, I’m getting around seven hours with the screen brightness at 40% and about 15 Chrome tabs. That’s enough for a solid day of work despite taking a minor hit from Acer’s previous model. You can extend the battery life even further by disabling Android 11, which could net you an additional hour of screen time.

Should you buy it?

Yes, but check for deals first. If you need a powerful laptop that can get you online and don’t mind a few compromises, the Spin 713 should be on your list. It’s a blistering fast machine that can tackle a large handful of tabs and powerful Linux apps with ease. And sure, its design looks dated, the downward facing speakers aren’t that great, and the webcam is just good enough. But the Spin 713’s gorgeous 3:2 screen, comfortable typing experience, and ultra-fast performance makes up for its flaws.

Acer’s newest Spin 713 isn’t cheap—it starts at $700, which is definitely a tall order for a Chromebook. There are other more versatile Windows laptops like the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 15” around that price that significantly outperforms my configuration. You could also grab the 2020 Spin 713 for nearly $175 cheaper at $528, which offers similar performance, has a bit more battery life, and 8 years of updates left.

If price is no object, this is one of the most capable Chromebooks on the market, and it has updates guaranteed through June 2029. The Spin 713 offers nearly everything you need in a Chromebook, and it’s one you should consider buying.

Buy it if...

• You want one of the best convertible Chromebook on the market today.
• You're a heavy user that requires CPU-intensive Linux apps.

Don't buy it if...

• You can buy the 2020 Spin 713 for $100 cheaper.
• You're on a budget that can get by with a Celeron.

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