What you need to know
- Acer has announced its all-new Chromebook Spin 514 CP514-3H.
- This is one of the first Chromebooks to be powered by AMD's Ryzen 5000 C-Series processors.
- The Chromebook Spin 514 will be available in Q3 2022, starting at $579.99.
While we continue waiting to get our hands on a Chromebook powered by Intel's 12th Gen chips, Acer is here bringing us a new option using AMD's Ryzen 5000 C-Series. The Acer Chromebook Spin 514 (CP514-3H) was just introduced, packing quite an impressive punch in a design that's rather familiar.
It's clear that the Spin 514 is one of Acer's most popular lines of Chromebooks, as it regularly ranks amongst the best Chromebooks overall. And the CP514-3H looks to keep that trend going, as Acer has done quite a lot to make this even more appealing than previous models.
This latest iteration sports a 14-inch touchscreen display, complete with a Corning Gorilla Glass screen for added durability. The resolution maxes out at 1920 x 1080, which comes as little surprise, but instead of using a matte display, the Spin 514's screen offers 100% sRGB color range and ultra-thin side bezels.
One of the key factors that make the Chromebook Spin 514 line so great is the convertible design with the 360-degree hinge. This adds more than enough versatility to an already-impressive Chromebook. You'll be able to use the Spin 514 in four different modes, including tent mode or tablet mode.
The biggest story here, however, is the use of AMD's Ryzen 5000 C-Series processors. These are based on AMD's "Zen 3" architecture and have been a staple in some of the best Windows laptops over the past year. Now, it's time for Chromebooks to enjoy some of the power offered by these chipsets. Similar to Intel's 11th Gen processors, the Ryzen 5000 C-Series includes onboard AMD Radeon graphics, which should provide enough oomph to allow for Steam gaming once it's out of the Alpha stage.
Other features of the Spin 514 (CP514-3H) include optional backlighting for your keyboard, Wi-Fi 6 support, dual USB-C Gen 2 ports, and an optional HDMI port. And Acer is continuing to use its excellent Corning Gorilla Glass trackpad, something that we've come to thoroughly enjoy recently.
Acer plans to bring this new Spin 514 to North America sometime in Q3 2022, with the base configuration priced at just $580. An Enterprise Spin 514 will debut at the same time and is priced at $899. We're hoping to get our hands on the final version of the Spin 514 and can't wait to see if this can take the crown of the best Chromebook of the year.
