Acer Chromebook Spin 514 (3H) first look: Return of the Ryzen

Acer, the maker of the best Chromebook available today, debuted the Acer Chromebook Spin 514 (3H) ahead of its Next @ Acer event scheduled for May 18. This might seem early to replace the seven-month-old Acer Chromebook (2H), but this Chromebook actually replaces the Acer Chromebook Spin 514 (1H) from CES 2021. Yeah, the Acer Chromebook Spin line is two product lines: Intel-powered and AMD Ryzen-powered. I genuinely enjoyed both of last year’s Spin 514s, and the 3H looks like it might be just the minor upgrade the doctor ordered once we can see actual ready-to-ship models.

Acer provided Android Police with an early pre-production model to test drive, and the fundamentals seem sound. Acer has moved from Ryzen 3000-series mobile processors to the brand-spanking-new 5000-series, based on AMD “Zen 3” architecture with Radeon graphics. Memory and storage also get boosts, with up to 16GB of RAM and a swap from eMMC to faster NVMe SSD storage. Those upgrades should help the Spin 514 (3H) perform almost as well as its Intel sister while starting at $580 rather than the 2H’s $750.

While we won’t see the Acer Chromebook Spin 514 (3H) hit retailers in North America and international markets until the third quarter of 2022 — either late this summer or this fall — it’s definitely on the right track.

Minor but majorly helpful upgrades

The Acer Chromebook Spin 514 (3H) borrows about 95% of its design from the 1H. Fan vents are identical, both have the same sculpting at the hinge and sides, and Acer’s still sticking with the cool aluminum lid and plastic body. Unfortunately, we’ve lost a couple of ports — the microSD card slot is gone along with one of the USB-A ports — but the two USB-C ports are now USB 3.2 Gen 2, so they’re capable of 10Gbps data transfer speeds, which is essential if you’re outputting to a fancy USB-C monitor like me. Like the 1H, the 3H’s HDMI port is dependent on your configuration, but again, 10Gbps USB-C ports with the video out mean the most you’ll need to do is reach for your trusty USB-C hub.

That’s also going to have to be your solution if you need to use multiple USB-A peripherals like a wireless keyboard/mouse combo and a USB microphone. (Don’t get me wrong, the microphones on our pre-production unit were okay, but a separate mic you can mount up away from your keyboard as you type notes is essential in the work-from-home era.) The 1080p webcam comes with a privacy shutter this time around, but the most noticeable design upgrade from the previous Ryzen model is the up-firing stereo speakers sitting on each side of the 3H’s backlit keyboard.

The speakers sounded decent while playing music, some YouTube videos, and hours upon hours of the lo-fi addiction known as Stardew Valley. These speakers are tuned by DTS audio, just as the 2H’s speakers were, getting amply loud enough for a home office dance party between Google Meet calls. While my pre-production unit’s screen was washed out, the rest of the hardware worked quite well, inside and out.

Early performance shows promise…

This model came on a developer build of Chrome OS, but software-wise, we had no issues with the Spin 514 (3H) during our preview period. Even when running dozens of tabs in three windows on two screens, 16GB of RAM and the Ryzen 7 inside our pre-prod unit took it in stride. No benchmarks were run due to the pre-production nature of this unit — which I don’t mind because they’re not an accurate measure of real-world performance. Besides, it’s more fun to test a Chromebook by hoarding tabs and playing games anyway.

As Ryzen is not part of the Steam on Chrome OS alpha test at this time, I gleefully tested the Android version of Stardew Valley for about 18 hours over four days (plus, y’know, actual work, too). Using a Ryzen 7 and 16GB of RAM might be overkill for this retro-styled farming sim, but the game played seamlessly enough that I was enthralled until the ever-dreaded “Battery at 2%, 5 minutes left” warning notification.

Given this is a very early pre-production unit, battery life right now means nothing, except to say that the Ryzen 7 seems almost as greedy as the Intel Core i5 in my Acer Chromebook Spin 713. And that is expected for the most powerful chip in a series using new architecture.

…But can the Spin 514 (3H) stand out in this market?

You can’t beat the Acer Chromebook Spin 713’s screen.

Speaking of the Acer Chromebook Spin 713, while I’d hoped that the $100 price jump on the 3H would bring us a 400-nit screen as bright as the 713, but Acer is sticking with the unspoken Chromebook standard of 250 nits. The Spin 713 also invariably comes up when discussing the 3H’s price and how it stacks up against the Chromebooks you can buy right now. At $580, this laptop is more expensive than both the $420 Lenovo Flex 5i and $500 Duet 5, sitting right around the ASUS Chromebook Flip 536’s $569 (discounted down to $469 right now at Best Buy).

Both the Flex 5i and Flip 536 pack 11th Gen Intel Core processors for the same or less, and keep in mind that the base $580 model is a Ryzen 3, not the Ryzen 7 I’ve been wasting on virtual gardening. The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 with the 11th Gen Core i5 for $700 might also prove a powerful temptation, especially now as it nears its first birthday and begins seeing more frequent sales. Not to mention that in six months when the 3H arrives, the $750 2H with its fanless 11th Gen processors will undoubtedly be discounted, increasing the competition further from within Acer’s own portfolio.

Solid fundamentals should make the Acer Chromebook Spin 514 (3H) a great laptop when it arrives in Q3 2022, but whether it can stand out in the ever-more-cutthroat $500-$700 Chromebook market will have to wait for finished units and a full review this fall.

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