Top Best 1 Intel Iris Xe Graphics Chromebooks in December 2021

Acer new Chromebook Spin 713 is an affordable slim powerful Chromebook with no compromise on build quality or performance. Compared to its last year model this Chromebook has the new Intel Core I5 11th gen processor with Intel Iris Xe Graphics. Also, has 2 new USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports with 5v charging.

What is in the box: Acer Chromebook Spin 713, 45 W USB C power adapter, Manual/warranty sheets.

Measurement & Weight: It measures 11.8 x 9.25 x 0.67 inches and weighs 3.01 pounds (1.35kg).

Color: Silver; Memory: 8GB; Storage: 256GB PCie NVMe SSD

Design: This 13.5-inch 2256 x 504 IPS Vertiview display with ACER logo on the front. Display is one of the best standout features for the price point. Colors are vibrant and crisp and is very bright. This Chromebook display features 3:2 aspect ratio compared to the standard 16:9 on most of todays laptop. This means more screen size vertically which gives more real estate space that minimizes less zooming or scrolling of webpages and more room for browser.

Spin 713 is very well built with military-grade durable aluminum chassis unlike other brands that are plasticky. Has Corning Gorilla touchscreen and the hinge is built well and supports 360 degree swiveling and is easy to flip around.

ChromeOS was preinstalled but if this is the first-time using Chromebook then you will need to connect the power adapter first before hitting the power button. Once booted, follow the onscreen instructions to complete the setup. You can download more apps from the google play store app and even has Microsoft word, excel and PowerPoint.

Charger/Ports: On the left side of the Chromebook, you have the 2 USB Type-C Thunderbolt4 ports. You can use any of the USB C (3.2) ports to charge the laptop battery using a 45W power adapter and supports 5v charging. Also, the USB-C ports support DisplayPort functionality to hook up to external monitor with ease. This is the first Chromebook that has 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports for an affordable price. It has a HDMI port and 3.5mm audio jack. On the right side, it has power button one USB Type A port, MicroSD card reader, volume rocker. Compared to previous gen, this Chromebook uses USB- C easy charge for quick charge.

No Fingerprint reader on this review model but there is an option to get one with that configuration.

Battery: With 56Wh Li-on battery, during our testing it lasted close to 8 hours with screen brightness of 48%, running few apps, watching YouTube videos and working on office documentation which is okay for a Chromebook but there is a room for improvement. You will get lesser time if the brightness is high and gaming but the good part is it charges really fast. With 30 minutes of charging, you get up to 3.5 to 4 hours which is impressive.

Keyboard and Trackpad: Full function keyboard with right amount of key travel during typing. Keyboard is comfortable and backlit. Got a large Touchpad and is surprisingly accurate and has a tactile click when pressed.

Speaker and Mic: Speakers delivers okay audio experience with loud sound and minimal distortion at maximum volume compared to earlier models and supports DTS Audio and the built-in Smart Amplifier but don’t expect great audio quality and will be great for the video calls or for audio on the go.

Camera/Face Login: Features a front facing camera great for all video calls and online meetings.

Performance: This Spin 713 has 8GB of RAM, 256 GB PCie NVMe SSD of storage. There is also an intel I7 processor and would recommend that if you need this as your daily driver. Performance is good and there is no lag when working on video calls, watching videos, opening multiple taps on chrome, multiple apps and even some level of gaming. Great for college kids or for someone who use it for browsing and not into heavy programming or video editing. It does support most of the android apps from google play store. With the latest and greatest Bluetooth 5 and Wi-Fi 6 AX201 this latest Spin 713 doesn’t lack any new technologies.

Pros:

+ Portable 3:2 screen

+ 2 USB-C Thunderbolt4

+ Touchscreen 360 degree swiveling

+Military grade durability,

+Great Battery life (approx. 8 – 8.5 hours);

+ Wi-Fi 6 for smooth video chats and large file transfer

+ Large Track Pad

+ DTS Audio

Cons:

- No Fingerprint Sensor

Bottomline: Acer Spin 713 Chromebook is a portable notepad with all the ports required for anyone to achieve excellent performance. High quality built, large display, 3:2 screen. If you are in the market for a premium Chromebook that delivers better performance and need for everyday use, then you will not be disappointed at the price point it offers.

Highly recommend for its performance, price and size over other brands in the market.

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>>>>> Bottom Line Up front: <<<<<

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The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 deserves serious consideration if you're looking to get school and/or work done anywhere your daily routine takes you. Thanks to the Spin 713's - 3:2 aspect ratio - and it's 13.5" 2K screen - I was able to get more done and spend less time scrolling around text heavy pages and "CC" text boxes (that love to live in the bottom of video/class presentations) when plugging away at my classes.

Once you factor in solid build quality, respectable styling that doesn't scream "cheap plastic", a great (but not perfect) backlit keyboard, reasonable amount of accessory ports (USB-C w/Thunderbolt 4 support, MicoSD card reader, HDMI Output, etc), Quad Core Intel Core i5 based computing performance, excellent battery life that always lasted me through my 6-8 hour sessions away from a power outlet ( PLUS super-fast charging - about4 hours of battery for 30 mins of charging) – I could keep going on and on, but it's not hard to see why this an extremely ideal solution for students and administrative office work on the go.

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>>>>> My detailed thoughts: <<<<<

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- Overall Design/Aesthetics: -

I used the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 for a solid week as my primary school workstation. From an exterior, styling perspective, I was very impressed by color choices and textures that Acer used on this Chromebook. The sleek sandblasted metallic “Steel” grey color that I encompasses the exterior is a far cry from the super cheap looking flat black/grey colored plastic shells I have seen in the past. Typically, in my mind I equated a Chromebook as a “budget” option, and did not expect this level of thought/emphasis placed into the exterior design. The silver “acer” and convertible “hinge” accents do a nice job of visually breaking up the solid grey motif, and once I actually picked up the Spin 713 in my hands, I noticed the that it had the nice “heft” that I like to feel in quality mobile products – as in it did not feel like toy. The actual exterior itself is surprisingly fingerprint and scratch resistant. I haven’t had the chance to buy a sleeve or case for the Chromebook yet, so I have been just throwing it my backpack this entire time. Although it’s not 100% fingerprint proof, its done a fantastic job not picking up any scratches so far. The front facing web cam and mic are subtly hidden in the bezel, and the front speakers are tucked away under the front facing portion of the bottom shell adding to the overall professional looking design.

- Keyboard: -

The actual keyboard was nicely backlit, and had a reasonable amount of travel in the keys. I spend a large amount of time coding and working with rapid key strokes and I tend to prefer keyboards with large amounts of key travel, but this keyboard was more than satisfactory and I had no issues with any tasks I threw at it. I also appreciated the fact the Spin 713 included a dedicated set of arrow keys – as many notebooks in this size category tend to either omit, or combine them with other keys.

- Screen: -

The screen was pretty impressive and I find myself once again surprised at how much performance Acer is giving here in this Chromebook. At its native “2K” (2256 x 1504) resolution, the IPS touch screen was crystal clear and responded rapidly to all my inputs and requests. I can’t find anything negative to say about the screen and thanks to the convertible nature of the Spin Book you can behold its wide-angle viewing glory in “tent” mode (my favorite) – as I would often prop it up on the corner of a shelf or ledge to watch lecture or presentation while doing something else with my hands.

The My university uses an online learning environment that typically scales with the resolution of your monitor (for both desktop and mobile systems) – however just because the GUI interface scales – it doesn’t make the online environment any easier to navigate and actually use for completing classwork. Compared to my standard 16:9 aspect ratio laptop that I was using to get my work done, the Spin 713 saved me a good amount of scrolling up and down the screen while participating in discussion boards and watching video-based content that had text boxes load underneath. Particularly, if you’re not using an external mouse and relying solely on the built-in track pad. - and fortunately the built in track pad is generously sized and very easy and responsive to use.

- Computing performance: -

This Spin 713 is sporting the latest 11th generation Core i5 mobile processor, along with Intel’s latest line of integrated Iris Xe graphics for video playback. Coupled with 8GB of ram and a 256GB NVMe SSD hard drive == zero performance issues. As far as what I needed and what I think most students need out of a notebook to complete their classes – these specs are most likely overkill, but provide ample performance on tap as computing and graphics requirements relentlessly move forward. I appreciate the dedicated MicroSD reader, as it saves me having to carry around yet another dongle to read those when I need to access one. The 2x Thunderbolt supported USB-C ports are awesome if you use devices that can take advantage of their addition features and bandwidth. As an added bonus, there is even an HDMI output which opens up the possibility of using the Spin 713 with an external monitor or projector as well. The Spin powers on in seconds, powers down in seconds, lasted me 5-6 hours of regular/daily course work, and was virtually silent the entire time.

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>>>>> Closing thoughts: <<<<<

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I really like the Acer Spin 713. It has redefined what I think a Chromebook can do and perform from a professional and school focused notebook. The Spin 713 has almost everything going for it in that regard: elegant styling, a functional/productivity focused 3:2 aspect ratio, excellent battery/charging features, premium construction, a solid backlit keyboard, the latest generation of Intel parts …. And even a HDMI output for when/if you need to output your display for a classroom presentation (whenever that day eventually comes). The Spin 713 should definitely be high on your list if you’re in the market for something to help you excel in your course work on the go – or even just at home.

This little thing is an interesting cross between a slim laptop and a large tablet with what feels like a crossbreed between Windows and Android. I’ve had one other Chromebook before that felt more tablet-like than laptop-like, but this one feels more laptop-like and the tablet feature is just a neat addition.

The great thing about a Chromebook is that if you already have an Android device you already have some familiarity with the possible applications. With the Play Store you pretty much have everything you can ever need from typical big name applications down to the simplest of games. You can choose to use them like you would with a normal computer with the touchpad or a connected Bluetooth or USB mouse, or touch screen. The touchscreen feels as sturdy as my cell phone or tablet with the Gorilla Glass but does have some flex with it being so thin and large.

You have two USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB 3 Type-A port, HDMI, headphones and micro-SD slot for all the connectivity you could use. If it doesn’t have the connection type you need, you can easily find an adapter for that. The keyboard is backlit, which some larger laptops don’t even include.

The resolution of the screen is capable of 2256x1504, but wow, talk about making everything super tiny. The default 1410x940 that it is set for feels a bit more usable, regardless the screen is bright, colorful and detailed. Flipping the screen past 180 degrees turns it into tablet mode. This disables the touchpad and keyboard but does feel strange still having all that underneath. You can leave it at just about any angle and it holds itself up. The built in camera is decent enough for video conferencing, but not the best looking selfie camera. The speakers are on the underside of the keyboard and kind of weak and hollow, but there is a 3.5mm headphone jack, Bluetooth and USB for better sound options.

Battery life is always dependent on what you are doing. With a full charge and some sporadic usage here and there, this thing lasted for days without charging and was instant on when opened. A full charge claims over 11 hours and the included charger gets that back up in a fraction of that. But, brightness, volume level, intensity of the application all takes more power and can burn through that charge time quicker than originally calculated.

A side note, in case you may encounter this issue. When I first received this, I could not get connected to my WiFi router, an Asus RT-AX88U. It would show as “Out of Range” regardless of being in direct sight of my router. After changing some settings on my router it was discovered that the “Optimized for Xbox” option in the wireless settings, picture attached, was preventing this laptop from connecting to my AX enabled networks. Acer is now aware of this issue and may be resolved eventually, but just in case you have that issue, that could be your fix.

Overall, this has been a fun and useful laptop as it still gives the functionality that you need in a laptop as well as the ability to play your favorite Android games.

This is by any means a premium machine with state of the art specs, that happens to run Chrome OS:

• The screen is a high-resolution: 2256 x 1504 pixels, giving it a 3:2 aspect ratio, with a 2K resolution. This is the same as newer Surface laptops and others that are moving away from 16:9 (1080p) form-factor, which is much better for editing documents, and while watching movies, I appreciate the controls remain outside the viewing area.

• Tablet mode: The 'Spin' in the name indicates this is a convertible laptop, so when folded with the screen on top, the keyboard becomes disabled, and one uses it via touchscreen. The screen has a gorilla glass (like phones), and the OS detects this mode by maximizing every window and showing the touch keyboard when necessary.

• The keys are island style, backlit, with the ChromeOS distribution: No command/windows key, and the caps-lock becomes the search key. It's very comfortable to type with.

• Trackpad is large and responsive, with a smooth glass surface. Very nice to work with.

• Ports: On the left, there are two thunderbolt 4, one HDMI and audio jack. On the right, the power, USB-A 3, Micro-SD slot and volume keys (To use mostly in tablet mode)

• The sound (With DTS label) comes from two speakers on the underside – front. It took me a while to get used to hear the sound coming from the bottom but it works.

• Charging is via one of the thunderbolt/USB-C ports. It comes with a large, typical laptop-size charger that has an USB-C port, and also worked by charging from an USB-C dock.

• Wi-Fi: Supports WiFi 6. I was able to get around 300 Mb up and down on a gigabit internet, using SpeedTest from the Play Store.

• Storage is via an M2 type SSD: 240 GB.

• RAM is 8 GB.

• Bluetooth 5.0.

• The CPU is an 11th gen Intel Core i5, and is 'Evo' compliant: Evo is an approval mark by Intel for systems that support current state of the art specs like higher-end Intel embedded graphics, Thunderbolt 4 and WiFi 6, with over 9 hours battery life.

Because the ports are Thunderbolt, I was able to use two 1080p monitors connected to a single thunderbolt dock (which uses USB-C Alt mode, like Macs) and also, separately, used a portable generic USB-C dock to drive an external display, keyboard and mouse.

The laptop also has a web camera. I didn't find it to be too impressive, but works. I used it with Zoom (Chrome app) and it works well as long as there is adequate lightning.

ChromeOS:

Although initially it was basically a way to run the chrome web browser, within the last few years it can also run Android apps. Many android apps work well within a laptop screen, and with Intel 64-bit CPUs.

And now in beta, it also runs Debian Linux within a Virtual Machine, which also supports complex GUI applications like Microsoft Visual Studio Code. This works by either using apt-get from the Linux console or by downloading a .deb package.

So within Chrome apps, Android and Linux there isn't much it cannot do.

ChromeOS is generally very secure, and is fairly straightforward to restore the laptop to like it came from the factory. Much of the system is 'read-only', and that makes it more resilient.

Keep in mind that ChromeOS, for much of its functionality requires internet connectivity, although there's plenty that can also be done offline as well.

Also keep in mind that Google collects plenty of data from Chrome. In return, a lot of what’s done on the device is backed up and synced into Google's cloud, so working on different devices or replacing a Chromebook is also a lot simpler.

Overall, I'm very impressed with this laptop and how capable ChromeOS is while being very secure.

The multiple-personality of the system running Chrome and web applications, Android and Linux is great but there are occasionally some rough areas in how these coexist, although it's been very good overall and it keeps improving.

So in this way I'd prefer ChromeOS to an Android tablet.

The hardware in this laptop is top of the line. Consider this if looking for a premium Chromebook or a high-end Android tablet.

The new Acer – Chromebook Spin 713 Laptop is beautiful inside and out. Built on the 11th Gen Intel Evo Core i5 platform, this Chromebook can go for an extended period of time on one charge, and with its two Thunderbolt 4 Type C Ports can be fully charged in the fraction of the time it takes most laptops.

The 13.5” screen with its 2K IPS VertiView touch display delivers a screen resolution of 2256 x 1504, an awesome picture that in large part can be contributed to the Intel Iris Xe graphics. With its 3:2 ratio display that delivers 18% more vertical space, the picture when watching TV or a video is quite impressive for such a small laptop. The audio, just average but sufficient, paired with a small external speaker with added bass, gave the audio the sound it needed for viewing a movie.

But in addition to the responsive and bright touch screen display and bright brilliant graphics, there are other components that contribute to making this a top-notch computing product. The speed of the Chrome OS was a very pleasant surprise and performs very well. It makes my 500 GB internet seem even faster. The touch pad is also smooth and very responsive. And, because of different light levels that I work in, the backlit keyboard is an especially nice amenity to the Acer Chromebook Spin 713.

For a product that is just over 3 lbs. in weight, the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 Laptop has a lot to offer. Considering that Chromebook encourages use of the Cloud for storage and includes quality wireless connectivity to accomplish this, this Chromebook still has an integrated 256 GB SSD (Solid State Drive) and 8 GB of RAM built into the laptop. It is equipped with Google Assist and has a “one-button-key” that can return you quickly to search for any documents or apps that you have been working on through this laptop.

This Chromebook is capable of interfacing with various types of media and can be used in many applications. It has a built-in HDMI port, the two USB Type-C Ports with Thunderbolt 4 already mentioned, a USB Type A connection, a media card reader, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. With its 360-degree hinge and very responsive touch screen, it can be used as a laptop, a tablet, or angled in two different positions to serve as a presentation stand for the screen display. The laptop is also Energy Star Certified and equipped with a front facing camera for interacting through Zoom, Go to Meeting, etc.

All of these high-quality amenities are packaged in an equally high-quality case. Not only is this product, beautiful, sleek, and high-tech looking -- it is high tech. It is enclosed in a military grade tested aluminum chassis and equipped with a Gorilla Glass display screen. Acer offers a 1-year warranty on all parts and labor.

The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 Laptop may be priced a little higher than other Chromebooks. Even so, it is a real bargain with all that it offers and the quality of its components. I have to give this a 5 out of 5 because I am very impressed with it and cannot find anything at all that is not a positive. Take a look at this product, I think you will be very happy with it and wish to purchase one for yourself or a family member.

I bought this laptop only a couple days ago but so far I'm in LOVE! I switched over from using Windows computers my whole life, so the Google OS looked weird at first and took a little bit to get used to. Other than that, this laptop has been a legitimate delight to use. I'm using it mostly for college work and web browsing/occasional youtube, so I'm not going to be putting it to the ultimate performance test, but it exceeds all of my expectations!

Pros:

-Really good battery life (for my light-moderate use. I've had it for 2 days and haven't needed to charge it at all while using it for schoolwork & youtube throughout the 2 days)

-Amazing screen (in love with the 3:2 ratio and how the display looks! HIGHLY recommend giving this laptop a try just for this screen)

-Build quality (very solid & feels premium)

-Keyboard (I'm extremely picky with laptop keyboards and this one is very tactile and responsive/clicky! Exactly what I was looking for in a keyboard)

-Good trackpad

-Quiet fans (they'll ocasionally kick up and make a loud noise, but that doesn't happen a lot and only lasts a few seconds. Other than that they are whisper quiet!)

-Doesn't get hot! (I've felt it get slightly warm but that's it. Nothing extreme or concerning)

-Very lightweight

Cons:

-Speakers? (basically everyone lists this as a con b/c they're not GREAT but in my opinion they're adequate. They could definitely be better which is why it's a "con", but I was expecting way worse based on other reviews)

-Camera (the webcam quality is embarrassingly bad. I'd have to buy a seperate webcam to use for zoom/online meetings b/c the pics/videos this laptop takes are toaster quality)

This is my first Chromebook, after having used mostly high-end Windows laptops since the late 90s. I was thinking about replacing my current Windows laptop (7th gen i7, 16 GB 2133 MHz RAM, 256 GB SSD, 4K 15.6 inch display) with something similar (but newer and faster). However, I realized that I don't really need a lot of power in a laptop, as I recently built a powerful desktop PC that I use for real work. Now I just need a laptop for web browsing, answering personal emails, and throwing together the occasional personal spreadsheet or formatted text document, and I need to be able to take the laptop on road trips not related to work. For such low-demand activities, I thought I could save some money by investing in a decent Chromebook, especially since I expect to always have a reasonably fast internet connection available wherever I would need to use my laptop.

While conducting my research, I came upon mostly positive reviews of the recently-released Acer Spin 713 Chromebook. Yes, it's not one of the cheaper Chromebooks out there, but its hardware specs are so good that I expect this model to still perform well as a Chromebook for many years. A four-core, eight-thread 11th gen i5 CPU, combined with 8 GB of LPDDR4x RAM, is overkill today, but I expect I'll still be happy with this Chromebook several years down the road.

Pros:

-Very fast at web-based activities (assuming you have a fast internet connection)

-Fast graphics processing (HD videos play back flawlessly)

-Superb display (no visible pixelation; capable of high brightness)

-Adequate keyboard (a little cramped due to limited available real estate, but you'll get used to it)

-Excellent wifi 6 performance (I see 50% faster download speeds than I was seeing with my previous wifi 5 laptop at the same location)

-Great start-up and shut-down times (literally just a few seconds)

-Programmable "Search" key (many reviews complain about a "Search" key occupying the place where a "Shift" key would normally be, but the function of this key can be selected from a drop-down menu that includes "Shift")

Cons:

-Sluggish response when managing cloud-resident files via Google Drive (takes a long time to select hundreds of files and then delete them; had to break them into many batches; probably par for the course when storing files in the cloud)

-Found that many Android apps in the Google Play store are not compatible with Chrome OS (fortunately not a problem for the ones I really wanted to install, like MS Office)

I have had this unit a while and can give and honest and fair review.

If you liked last years model then you will like this one and if not then you will still have issues. This is essentially the exact same unit as last year except for the 11th gen processor and 256 gb nvme drive. Otherwise it is exactly the same. The change to 10nm 11th gen Intel processors is a big deal though and delivers serious performance gains over last years model-specially in graphics intensive tasks.

I would have liked if they would have made some changes. First off the speaker placement and sound is pretty bad. Side mounted or top firing speakers would make a huge difference here. Smaller footprint would have been nice as well as maybe one other color option. Also stop with the polished edge on the laptop lid-scratches really easy. Not a fan of the ergolift design.

The good stuff is the 11th gen processor is a game changer in the graphics arena. The processor is plenty fast and adds two thunderbolt ports. THe larger NVME drive is a welcome addition.

The screen is bright and color accurate. It does have backlight bleeding from the top and bottom edges. The 2k resolution is perfect. Gorilla glass scratch protection on the touch screen is a plus as well.

The glass trackpad is nice as well.

Overall this is the best performing Chromebook on the market for the cost. I think this is an excellent choice for most people. I do wish Acer would put more attention to build quality and keyboard.

Chrome OS has come a long way and I really enjoy using it. I hope that it becomes a full fledged OS as it has the foundation of Linux to add onto. That being said, I can get the majority of my work and pleasure done on a Chromebook without any loss of function.

In my use case I actually find my chromebook easier to use than my Mac. If Manufacturers can deliver more high end features while keeping costs lower than Macs or Windows pcs then I have a strong feeling ChromeOS based devices are going to be more and more popular over the years. This unit is supported until June 2029 and it has enough power that it might just perform well during that entire time making another strong incentive.