Acer Unveils Premium Chromebook 13 Family With Intel 8th Gen Core To Battle Pixelbooks

Acer Chromebook spin 13 2
Chromebooks running Google's Chrome OS seem to be all the rage these days in the education sector. Low prices coupled with functional keyboards make them a cheaper, more productive alternative to Apple iPads. However, there's also a market for premium Chromebooks, as witnessed by Google's own Pixelbook, which starts at $999.

Acer also wants a piece of the premium market and as a result is launching the new Chromebook 13 and Chromebook Spin 13. Both machines include a 13.5-inch Full HD+ IPS display with a resolution of 2256x1504. Acer boasts 178-degree viewing angles and a 3:2 aspect ratio, which is popular with the Microsoft Surface family and the Google Pixelbook.

The Chromebook Spin 13 has the advantage of a convertible design with a 360-degree hinge, allowing it to be used in tablet mode. The Chromebook Spin 13 also includes a Wacom EMR stylus for taking notes and sketching, and it can be stowed away in its very on silo within the convertible's chassis.

Acer Chromebook spin 13

When it comes to performance, both Chromebooks can be equipped with 8th generation Intel Core processors. The Chromebook 13 can be had with the Core i3-8130U (lesser Celeron and Pentium options are available), while the Chromebook Spin 13 gives you a choice of either the Core i3-8130U or the Core i5-8250U. Up to 16GB of RAM is supported on either machine, while the Chromebook 13 can be had with 32GB or 64GB of storage compared to 32GB/64GB/128GB options for the Chromebook Spin 13. Both devices are rated for up to 10 hours of battery life.

As for connectivity, two USB-C ports are included (one on either side of the device) along with a legacy USB 3.0 (USB-A) port and a microSD reader. 802.11ac Wi-Fi is included along with Bluetooth 4.2.

Acer Chromebook 13

Both devices of course run Chrome OS, however, they also have support for Android apps obtained from Google Play.

Acer's new Chromebook 13 and Chromebook Spin 13 definitely sound impressive for those looking to obtain a high-end Chromebook device, but the company isn't quite ready to disclose pricing and availability at this time. We'll update this story once we're able to verify this information.