Acer today announced the Chromebook Spin 514, its first Chromebook to utilize AMD 3000-series processing and AMD graphics.
This Chromebook is a convertible 2-in-1 system thanks to the 360-degree hinge on its 1080p touch display. The aluminum-frame chassis is MIL-STD compliant for durability; it measures just 0.68 inches thick and weighs 3.42 pounds. According to Acer, you’ll get up to 10 hours of battery life out of the Spin 514 due to the improved power efficiency of the CPUs.
The Spin 514 has a 14-inch Full HD touch IPS6 display that’s covered with scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 3. You can have up to 16 GB DDR4 DRAM and 256 GB of storage in the machine.
The Chromebook has two USB Type-C ports (which are DisplayPort compatible and can be used for charging), two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports (one of which supports power-off charging) and a MicroSD card reader. Some variants have an HDMI port too. Other features of the Spin 514 include dual microphones, Google Assistant integration, an HD webcam, dual-band WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 support.
The Spin 514 will be available in North America in February, starting at $480. It’ll hit Europe in March and the base model will cost €529.
The Chrome Enterprise Upgrade, which unlocks the business capabilities of Chrome OS for professional users. This adds increased security, as well as apps and controls that make it easier for IT departments to roll out and maintain. It also includes the “zero-touch enrollment” feature, which allows IT administrators to deliver the laptop directly to the end user, when it will automatically enroll itself into the enterprise administration when connected to the internet.
The enterprise versions of the Spin 514 include the Chrome Enterprise Upgrade, in which the baked-in business features of Chrome OS are unlocked. Those models will be available in both regions in March and they’ll start at $750/€799.
