Newsletter 
Chromebooks have come a long, long way since they Chrome OS was first introduced, and while they’re not capable of doing everything everyone needs, they’ve begun to offer some compelling features at ever-decreasing price points. Acer has been onboard with Chromebooks since the very beginning, partnering with Google along with Samsung to produce and market the very first Chromebooks. Now, Acer is a well-known brand in the world of Chromebooks, and during IFA 2016, they have yet another Chromebook to introduce. This time around, it’s the 13.3-inch Chromebook R 13 that we got wind of quite some time ago.
The Chromebook R 13 features a 13.3-inch IPS touchscreen with a resolution of 1920 x 1080, and can be folded back on itself to become a tablet of sorts. Under-the-hood, there’s a MediaTek MT8173C quad-core CPU as well as 4GB of RAM. As for storage, there will be options up to 64GB of onboard storage, but the base model is likely to ship with the Chromebook standard of 16GB. As for connectivity, the usual WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac – including MIMO 2×2 – is here, and Acer is moving to USB Type-C for charging and data transfer. However, unlike some laptop manufacturers out there, Acer is still shipping a full-size USB 3.0 port, as well as a full-size HDMI port as well as a headphone socket. Acer says that this will support the Google Play Store and Android apps that Google announced back in May, too. At 1.49KG it’s not the lightest thing in the world, but it’s also not the heaviest out there.
Starting at $399 in the United States, and €399 in Europe, the Chromebook R 13 will be shipping in October. Different sizes and models will be available in different regions and their pricing will vary, but at least Acer is offering a fairly affordable device with a quality display that doesn’t take away all of our beloved ports. With Android apps now available for a lot of different Chromebooks, they’ve become a little more useful for a lot of users, and as Chrome OS itself matures over time, it should start to offer users more options to get things done on the move, as well as fulfill the average user’s needs.
