NEXT@Acer Brings Four Fantastic New Acer Chromebooks For 2021

Acer has taken to its yearly Next@Acer event for 2021 to announce no fewer than four new Chromebooks. Or, more specifically, four new model line-ups, with a number of configurations in each. And, although that does include a new Acer Chromebook Spin 713, Chromebook 514, and Chromebook 314, there’s also something completely new up for consideration.

As the world’s first 17.3-inch Chromebook, the Acer Chromebook 317 has a lot to offer. But, this year’s take on the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 and Chromebook Enterprise Spin 713 are bringing firsts as well. Including earning Acer a distinction as having delivered the world’s first Intel Evo platform-verified Chromebooks, with both models slated to arrive at the same time for 2021. And with both models having been certified on Intel’s new battery accuracy and consistency testing.

Now, Acer has provided a lot of details for its new Chromebooks for 2021. There’s a lot here to discuss and plenty to love about the direction the company is taking this segment of its business. And there’s something here for just about everybody.

Acer Chromebook 317 is an industry first in size, brings power to spare on a budget

Among the more exciting 2021 announcements from Acer on the Chromebooks side of the market is the introduction of the Acer Chromebook 317. That’s model designation CB317-1H.  And that’s because this Chromebook brings at least one industry-first to the table. Namely, a 17.3-inch display panel in a thin-bezel design.

The largest of the new Chrome OS gadgets, which also comes with an available optional touchscreen variant, is engineered for productivity and multitasking. Acer also ensured that those visuals won’t be low quality. The panel is set at an FHD resolution and packed with an anti-glare coating over top to ensure the screen is visible in almost any lighting. That’s whether users are undertaking fairly standard productivity tasks or engaged more deeply in a video call via the optional webcam.

In terms of power, Acer Chromebook 317 utilizes the newest Intel Celeron processors as well as Intel Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) for networking. Up to 10-hours of battery life can be had from the supply driving that hardware. And there are configurations with up to 8GB of LPDDR4X SDRAM and 128GB storage backing up the processor.

Externally, the new design packs a keyboard with an oversized touchpad, optional backlighting, and a numeric keypad. Two stereo speakers line that, while the housing contains two full-function USB 3.2 Type-C ports as well as other ports, such as a Type-A port and microSD card reader.

And all of that comes with a price tag that’s well under $400.

Acer Chromebooks Spin 713 & Enterprise Spin 713 pack a punch on power and battery for work or home

The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 and Acer Chromebook Enterprise Spin 713 are, as noted above, world firsts in that they’re the first Intel Evo platform-verified Chromebooks. That means that the claimed “up to 10-hours” battery life should be just about spot on in terms of accuracy under real-world conditions. With as many as four hours from a 30-minute charge thanks to improved fast charging. But there’s more to these nearly-identical 2021-release Acer Chromebooks than that too.

The Chrome OS laptops are, for instance, built on a fully aluminum chassis. And that chassis is built to US MIL-STD 810H-level durability standards and packs Wi-Fi 6, and Intel Iris X Graphics. That’s setting aside the two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports or the 13.5-inch Acer CineCrystal display. That panel, conversely, is set at a resolution of  2256 x 1504, comes with Multi-touch support, and has a more browser-comfortable 3:2 aspect ratio.

Under the hood, there’s no lack of power either. At the budget end for the new Chromebook Spin 713 range, Acer opted for an 11th Gen Intel Core i3 processor. And things only get stronger from there, with no fewer than two Intel Core i5 and two Intel Core i7 processors also available for this build. All packed into a sleek, foldable design engineered with a 360-degree hinge design. So users can use this laptop in a clamshell, tent, stand, or tablet mode.

Of course, on top of all of that, Acer is stacking in an optional fingerprint reader. So these Chromebooks have just about every feature users could want for the modern workspace. Or for home productivity and entertainment. Easily making this one of the most promising Chromebooks for the year.

Plus two more Acer Chromebooks to suit everybody in between for 2021

Rounding out today’s announced Chromebooks from Acer for 2021 are two new 14-inch gadgets. Specifically, the Acer Chromebook 514 and the Acer Chromebook 314, pictured above.

Now, both gadgets are built on a 14-inch platform with both HD and FullHD resolution options available. Each can also be purchased with an optional touchscreen. Similarly, both devices come with up to 8GB of LPDDR4X SDRAM. But each of these devices has a different intended purpose too. So that’s effectively where the similarities end.

The Acer Chromebook Spin 314, for instance, is engineered with students in mind. And to that end, it’s designed with storage options up to 64 GB eMMC with a MediaTek MT8183 octa-core processor. The decision to utilize that processor, in turn, comes down to efficiency as much as anything else. The Acer Chromebook Spin 314 lasts up to 15 hours on a single charge.

That’s as compared to the up to 10-hours available with the Acer Chromebook 514. But the Chromebook 514 was designed by Acer to make up for that in other ways. Not least of all, this Chromebook ships with a plethora of processor configurations, starting with the 11th Gen Intel Pentium Gold 7505 and all the way up to the 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1165G7.  But it also packs two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, Wi-Fi 6, a backlit keyboard, and Intel Iris X Graphics.

The Acer Chromebook Spin 514 additionally ships with a MIL-STD 810H frame, metal top lid, a Gorilla Glass touchpad, and up to 256GB of NVMe storage. As with the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 configurations above, Acer also packed this machine with DTS Audio delivered via two smart amplifier-enhanced speakers. So it’s going to be a true powerhouse regardless of whether the Enterprise or Standard edition variant is purchased.

Pricing and availability

Now, the Acer Chromebook 317 and Chromebook Spin 713 will hit shelves first. Both Chrome OS gadgets will go on sale in North America starting in June. But the pricing here will vary a bit based on which model is purchased, and on which configuration is purchased. The former, sold as model designation CB317-1H will start at $379.99. The Chromebook Spin 713 from Acer will start out at $699.99.

In fact, the first configuration of the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is already on sale at Best Buy under model designation CP713-3W-5102. That will pack an Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor, 8GB RAM, and 256GB storage. Starting at $699.99

Conversely, the Acer Chromebook 314 will hit shelves in that same region a month later in July. And pricing there will be set, for model designation CB314-2H/T, to start at $269.99.

Finally, the last of the new Acer Chromebooks, the Chromebook 514 and Chromebook Enterprise 514 will go on sale in the region in August 2021 starting from $599.99. Those will be sold under model designations CB514-1H and CB514-1W, respectively.