Acer Spin 3: a Powerful 2-in-1 Laptop at a Reasonable Price
2-in-1 laptops have changed the way we use laptops forever. Alongside the classic laptop form, we now have hybrid laptops that can convert into tablet or tent mode for easy watching a movie, drawing or even gaming. We decided to make a review about a 2-in-1 laptop that does not brake the bank but at the same time offers enough power at a reasonable price. Hence the Acer Spin 3 series came across the table and for the advertised price range ($550-$700) seems like Acer has done a very good job with it.
In this review we are going to take a look at the Acer Spin 3 2020 edition, powered by an Intel Core i5-1035G1, a quad core CPU with 8 threads, 15W TDP and a base freaquency of 1GHz but it can reach 3.6GHz turbo clock. Do not expect miracles from this CPU though, but for everyday tasks - browsing, office, movies, it's exactly what you need.
Our test model comes with 8GB of DDR4 memory and a 128GB SSD but can reach up to 1TB of SSD NvMe storage depending on the configuration. The 128GB version we played with is one in the "above average" category, meaning most users have 400-500MB/s SSDs in their home systems and this one comes with the same speeds.
Acer Spin 3 Screen: 14 ”FullHD, IPS, multi-touch, glossy
We are not absurd, and did not expect to see 100% sRGB on a laptop under $700, but the 60% gamut, which we personally find to be low, will be probably ignore by those looking to buy a relatively affordable laptop.
Instead we measured a contrast of 1500:1, an impressive rate, born from a very good black level, only 0.2cd/m2 and a brightness of 300cd/m2.
Speaking of the exterior of the Acer Spin 3, plastic is king over the entire casing.
The keyboard is not lit either, instead the keys are nice, soft, and you can type pretty fast. The keys have a shorter stroke, this might be a pleasure for many, we would have liked to have more feedback instead.
The only really disappointing thing is how the Page Up / Home and Page Down / End keys are above the left / right directional keys - practically that whole area has become a chaotic conglomerate.
But who uses the directional keys, when you have a stylus / touch screen, right? However, overcoming the small imperfections of the layout, the interaction with the keyboard was an ok experience.
Acer Spin 3 Connectivity
The connectivity is good giving this price range: we have the TypeC / Thunderbolt port, 2 USB 3.1 gen 1 ports (read the old USB 3.0), an HDMI 2.0 port, the audio jack and a MicroSD slot.
Acer Spin 3 Battery Life
The 48Wh battery should keep the laptop alive for up to 12 hours, according to the Taiwanese manufacturer, but the skeptic in us subjected the laptop to two scenarios:
1. First Scenario: screen set to 118 cd / m2, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on (ON), power management on Max Battery
2. Second scenario: screen set to 103 cd / m2, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi off (OFF), power management on Max Battery
Well as you can see the results are good, but we are not even close to the 12 hours battery life as Acer mentions. Maybe you can reach 10 or 11 hours, as 3DMark is a synthetic bechmark and in real life usage the laptop may behave differently, but don’t get your hopes up. From our experience 3DMark’s estimations re usually right, that is if you actually use the laptop without letting it go into stand-by.
Conclusion
The inclusion of a quality stylus is a good selling point, differentiating this 2-in-1 laptop from other models on the market. So for those who from time to time want to be artists, do not want to take out huge amounts from the pocket for a laptop and only want a laptop to watch movies on long trips, the Spin 3 is a pretty good solution and can be your travel companion with a high success rate.
