Revision of the Chromebook Spin 513
Acer presents the first Chromebook with Mediatek Kompanio 1380 ARM chip
CES 2022 holds the a big surprise for Chromebook users: Acer is the first manufacturer to use Mediatek’s new Kompanio 1380 SoC. That invites speculations about the performance.
It can happen that fast: I was just speculating in my review of the Spin 513 that Acer could soon revise this Chromebook — when it already happened. Just in time for the CES technology trade show in Las Vegas, the Taiwanese computer manufacturer releases a completely revamped incarnation of the original model, which was only released one year ago with a first-generation Snapdragon 7c architecture.
Performance unclear so far
While the former model was aimed more at the lower mid-range market in terms of performance, Acer seems to have bigger things in mind with the reinvention of the Chromebook Spin 513. The Kompanio 1380, a new ARM-powered system-on-a-chip (SoC), is at work inside. The Taiwanese chip manufacturer Mediatek announced the 1300 series last July.
Mediatek Inc. …
… is a Taiwanese fabless manufacturer of mostly ARM architecture-based microcontrollers for optical drives, smartphones, tablets, TVs, set-top boxes, GPS receivers, WLAN routers, and Bluetooth devices, among others. Mediatek increased its market share in smartphone SoCs to 43 percent worldwide in the second quarter of 2021, putting it in first place ahead of Qualcomm.
Since no other manufacturer has used this SoC so far, and Mediatek has not provided any further information about it yet, one can only speculate about its performance. However, it is to be expected that the Kompanio 1380 targets the upper mid-range and clearly outperforms the previous Kompanio processors of the 500 (which is used in Asus’ CM3 tablet) and 800 series.
The only thing that is clear so far is that the Kompanio 1380 is an eight-core SoC. The Arm Mali-G77 MC9 GPU with nine cores is used for graphics. First reviews will have to show how ambitious this combination really is.
Mediatek chips from the Kompanio series are considered to be particularly energy-efficient — similar to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors. Acer states the battery runtime of the new Chromebook Spin 513 to be up to ten hours — a rather average value, at least on paper.
According to current plans, the maximum storage expansion is up to 8 gigabytes of RAM, and the internal eMMC storage is optionally 32 (meh!), 64, and 128 GB.
3:2 for Acer
However, not only the processor system but also the other performance data attracts attention. The 2022 Spin 513 is another Chromebook with a 3:2 format screen that promises an almost 18 percent higher vertical screen area — optimal for web browsing and working on spreadsheets and texts.
The 2021 Chromebook Spin 513 could convince with an excellent screen — in its price range — and the 2022 generation does not seem to lag behind. The 13.5-inch display (34.3 centimeters) can handle up to 2,256 by 1,504 pixels (almost QHD), and Acer specifies 7,7 millimeters for the screen’s edges.
Acer relies on two upward-facing speakers for sound output — which is always a good idea. In addition, the Chromebook Spin 513 promises a DTS audio system.
The Chromebook Spin 513 supports the latest Wi-Fi standard 6. As usual for Acer, the device is certified to military standards in terms of quality.
The weight is 2.8 lbs. The external dimensions are 11.81 by 9.25 inches (30 by 23.5 centimeters). The height is 0.64 inches (1.6 centimeters).
One price range higher
However, prospective buyers will certainly have to look higher in terms of price as well: While the former Acer Chromebook Spin 513 with its Snapdragon SoC was available for just under 400 US dollars (and in some offers considerably less), the 2022 model scratches the 600 dollar mark.
This puts it in direct competition with Lenovo’s Chromebook Flex 5i or the brand-new Asus Flip CX3, both of which have eleventh-generation Intel Core chips. A comparison with Mediatek’s new ARM chip should therefore be very interesting.
Acer plans the delivery for late spring or early summer.
