The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (2020) is a well-built, foldable 2-in-1 touchscreen laptop running Chrome OS. Its body is made of plastic and metal and is lightweight and portable enough to easily bring around with you. The battery lasts an entire day of school or work or through quite a few feature-length films, so you can work or binge without needing to plug in. The screen displays vibrant colors, gets bright enough for use in well-lit environments, and has a tall 3:2 aspect ratio that provides more vertical room so that you don't need to scroll as often. Also, the keyboard feels good to type on, with a lot of travel, and shouldn't cause strain over extended periods. Unfortunately, its webcam and microphone don't make you look or sound your best in conference calls, and although the speakers sound decent, they don't get very loud.
Our model has a dual-core Intel Core i3-10110U CPU, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of eMMC storage. You can get it with the more power-efficient Pentium Gold 6405U CPU or the more powerful quad-core i5-10210U or i7-10510U CPUs which are significantly better for multitasking. You can also equip it with up to 16GB of RAM, up to 128GB of eMMC storage, or either a 128GB or 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD. The highest-end options are overkill when running tasks on a lightweight OS like Chrome OS, although the extra overhead might be helpful when running demanding Linux apps. If you only need a laptop for light productivity tasks, the Pentium Gold variants are more than enough for typical everyday use, and we expect them to get longer battery life.
Our Verdict
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is very good for school use. It's very light and compact, making it easy to bring around, and it has a well-built metal top frame and a solid, sturdy hinge. Its battery lasts an entire school day, so you don't need to bring a charger. Its keyboard is backlit and feels nice to type on, and the keys are light and shouldn't cause strain over long periods. Also, its screen gets bright enough to use in well-lit rooms. Unfortunately, the webcam is only alright, displaying an overexposed image that loses most fine details, and the microphone picks up noticeable static. The touchpad tracks well, but clicking and dragging is occasionally interrupted.
- Battery lasts a full day of productivity.
- Lightweight, portable, and easy to bring around.
- Keyboard feels comfortable and won't cause fatigue.
- Gets bright enough to use in well-lit environments.
- Webcam and microphone don't have the best quality.
- Drag and drop gesture is occasionally interrupted.
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is poor for playing games. It doesn't support any variable refresh rate technology and only reaches a maximum of 60Hz, although this is typical of Chromebooks. Also, you can't get a dedicated GPU, and none of the components are replaceable. It uses Chrome OS, so it can't run DirectX games like Civilization VI, meaning you can only play Linux games and apps from the Google Play Store. Although we expect variants with an i5 or i7 CPU to perform well in apps and games with lots of physics, like particle or gravity simulations, it isn't suited for playing graphically intensive games.
- Doesn't get hot or loud under load.
- Enough ports for an external display and a wired accessory.
- Integrated graphics unsuitable for graphically intensive games.
- Incompatible with DirectX programs.
- No variable refresh rate, limited to 60Hz.
- No replaceable parts.
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is great for multimedia use. It has a bright, sharp screen with full sRGB coverage, so colors are vivid and look true to life. It's lightweight and portable enough to be brought on the go or used comfortably in various situations, and you can also flip the screen all the way around to use it as a touchscreen tablet. Unfortunately, the IPS display displays blacks that look gray in the dark, and while its reflection handling is satisfactory, it can't overcome direct sources like bright lights. Its speakers sound decent, but they don't get very loud.
- Gets bright enough to use in well-lit environments.
- Can be used in tablet mode.
- Displays vibrant colors, with full sRGB coverage.
- Battery lasts through quite a few feature-length films.
- Speakers don't get very loud.
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 performs poorly as a workstation. Although you can get it with an i7 processor, it uses a power-efficient variant that's significantly less powerful than H-series Intel processors found in gaming laptops. There also isn't an option for a dedicated GPU. As a result, it isn't suited for 3D rendering tasks, although the highest-end variants can likely run moderate physics simulations.
- Doesn't get hot or loud under load.
- Enough ports for an external display and a wired accessory.
- Not suitable for professionals in 3D rendering or CAD.
- Can't run x86 applications.
- No replaceable parts.
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is decent for business use. Its keyboard is quiet and comfortable to type on and shouldn't cause strain over long periods. It has a metal top frame that feels well built, yet it feels impressively light and portable. The battery lasts through a full workday, so you won't need to bring a charger. Also, there are enough ports to use wired peripherals and connect to an external display. Unfortunately, the webcam and microphone are only alright, so you might not look and sound true to life in business meetings. While the laptop has sub-par performance in benchmarks, it's still smooth and responsive because of the lightweight nature of Chrome OS.
- Battery lasts a full day of productivity.
- Keyboard feels comfortable and won't cause fatigue.
- Enough ports for an external display and a wired accessory.
- Webcam and microphone don't have the best quality.
- Drag and drop gesture is occasionally interrupted.
- No serviceable parts.
Changelog
- Updated Jun 28, 2023: Added mention of the Acer Chromebook 516 GE as an alternative with a higher refresh rate in the Refresh Rate section.
- Updated Feb 24, 2023: Added mention of the Acer Chromebook Spin 714 (2022) as an alternative with a better webcam in the Webcam and Microphone section.
- Updated Jan 18, 2022: We've re-evaluated the scoring for ports and lowered the score by 0.5 point.
- Updated Nov 17, 2021: Review published.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 with a 13.5 inch IPS display, an Intel Core i3-10110U, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of eMMC storage, in the Steel Gray finish. The CPU, memory, and storage are configurable, and you can see the available options below. However, most vendors, including Acer, sell this laptop as pre-built models with a pre-determined configuration instead of letting you choose components individually, so it may be hard to find the exact configuration you want. Some variants are exclusive to certain regions.
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Our display and performance results are only valid for the configuration that we tested. If you come across a different configuration option not listed above, or you have a similar Chromebook Spin 713 that doesn't correspond to our review, let us know, and we'll update it. Some tests, like black uniformity and color accuracy, may vary between individual units.
You can see our unit's label here.
Popular Laptop Comparisons
The Acer Chromebook Spin 311 (2021) and the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (2020) are both 2-in-1 Chrome OS devices, but the 713 is much better for productivity and multimedia use. The 713 feels better built, and it has a much better webcam, microphone, touchpad, and port selection. Also, it has a far superior display, and it's available in a variety of high-performing Intel Core processors for a smoother experience. On the other hand, the 311 is lighter and more portable, its battery lasts much longer, it runs cooler, and it's completely silent because it's fanless.
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (2020) and the HP Chromebook 14 (2021) are both Chrome OS devices, but the Acer is a convertible 2-in-1 you can use in tablet mode, whereas the HP is a traditional laptop without a touchscreen. The Acer is better for productivity and multimedia viewing, with a much better webcam and microphone, a more flexible port selection, and a much brighter and more colorful display with a higher resolution. Also, it can be equipped with a much better CPU, more RAM, and faster storage, which will make it extremely fast and powerful. On the other hand, the HP's battery lasts longer, and since its speakers get louder, you can hear audio better in loud environments.
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (2020) is a convertible 2-in-1 Chrome OS device, whereas the HP Stream 11 (2021) is a traditional laptop running Windows. The Acer is a significantly better laptop overall, with a much sharper, brighter, and more colorful display, a significantly better keyboard and touchpad, and a far better webcam and microphone. Also, it has a better port selection, a significantly longer-lasting battery, and can have far better CPUs, more RAM, and larger, much faster storage. On the other hand, the HP is much more portable, so it's easier to take along, and its speakers get much louder.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 (2020) and the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (2020) are both convertible 2-in-1 laptops with touchscreens. However, the Acer is a Chromebook that can only run Play Store and Linux apps, while the Lenovo is a Windows laptop that supports x86 applications like the full Adobe Suite. The Acer is much better for multimedia use, with a brighter, more color-accurate display. Also, it has a better webcam, and it runs much cooler and quieter under load. On the other hand, the Lenovo performs better at games and as a workstation since you can equip it with a dedicated GPU, and it doesn't lose performance over time. You can equip both laptops with fast SSDs, but the CPUs available on the Lenovo perform much better.
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