The Acer Spin 5 is a light-weight, all-aluminum, two-in-one laptop computer with a high-resolution, 14-inch show powered by speedy Twelfth-gen Intel silicon. 

Its plain appears to be like, nevertheless, are nearer to that of the midrange Lenovo Yoga 7i than premium laptop-tablet hybrids just like the Lenovo Yoga 9i, Samsung Galaxy E book 2 Professional 360 or HP Spectre x360 14. These competing fashions look sleeker with design prospers like rounded edges and corners for added consolation and magnificence. 

With a value that is on par with these premium opponents, the Spin 5 begins to lose its enchantment. And it has much less to do with its staid design and extra with a lacking characteristic. Whereas the Spin 5’s 14-inch, 16:10 show is crisp and vivid, it is an strange IPS panel fairly than an OLED panel that will provide larger distinction and shade accuracy. 

In 2023, it is tough to advocate a $1,350 laptop computer that lacks an OLED show when OLED fashions price solely a smidgen extra. It is in any other case a stable commute-friendly two-in-one that even comes with an lively pen that shops and expenses within the physique. You would possibly need to await a sale, although. 

Acer sells one configuration of the Spin 5 (mannequin SP514-51N-70LZ). It prices $1,350 at Acer and encompasses a Twelfth-gen Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and a 14-inch, 16:10 show with a 2,560×1,600-pixel decision. Within the UK, the Acer Spin 5 prices £1,400. It isn’t at the moment obtainable in Australia. 

You may additionally see some previous-generation Spin 5 fashions primarily based on AMD and Eleventh-gen Intel processors. They’re straightforward to identify as a result of they characteristic a 13.5-inch show with a taller 3:2 facet ratio.

With its Core i7-1260P CPU, 16GB of RAM and built-in Intel Iris Xe graphics, our Spin 5 evaluation system is at or close to the highest of our benchmarks amongst a gaggle of equally priced two-in-ones, with one not insignificant exception. It and the Samsung Galaxy E book 2 Professional 360 characteristic a CPU from Intel’s Twelfth-gen P sequence, which is extra performance-oriented than Intel’s U-series chips present in a few of the different fashions you will see within the efficiency charts. The Spin 5 and Samsung together with the AMD-based HP Envy x360 had been the perfect general performers. The script flips for the Spin 5, nevertheless, with battery life. It lasted 9 hours and 39 minutes on our battery drain check, which was an hour shorter than the subsequent closest system.

The chief attraction of the Spin 5’s design is its sturdiness. The colour of the aluminum is what Acer calls Concrete Grey. It appears to be like as boring as that sounds. And to me, it is extra beige, however the all-metal chassis feels rock stable. There isn’t any trace of flex once you decide it up by a nook or kind thunderously on the keyboard. Even the skinny lid defending the show feels inflexible when many skinny, aluminum lids flex an excessive amount of to my liking.

Do not mistake the Spin 5’s sturdiness for it being clunky or heavy. Weighing solely 2.9 kilos, that is an exceedingly moveable 14-inch system. The chassis is compact, with skinny bezels framing the 16:10 show. Regardless of the trim chassis, the keyboard feels roomy; the one small-ish keys are the half-height up- and down-arrow keys. The keys provide snappy suggestions with shallow journey and permit for fast and near-silent typing. There’s two-level keyboard backlighting, and the facility button doubles as a fingerprint reader that you should use with Home windows Howdy to log in with no need to hassle with coming into a password. 

The touchpad is a bit undersized however wholly useful with responsive and correct suggestions. You can even navigate Home windows by way of the contact show, which could be tapped and swiped on utilizing your fingertip or the included lively stylus. The pen could be garaged in the suitable fringe of the laptop computer when it isn’t wanted.

Most 14-inch laptops characteristic a full-HD decision, however the Spin 5 bumps it as much as a 2.5K decision (2,560×1,600 pixels) for an extremely sharp image. The 16:10 facet ratio makes an enormous distinction on a 14-inch panel as a result of, at this dimension, a widescreen 16:9 panel can really feel cramped from high to backside. It is much less of a difficulty on bigger laptops, however at 14 inches and smaller, a 16:10 panel feels a lot roomier vertically. You’ll be able to see extra traces on the display in lengthy paperwork and net pages and needn’t scroll as steadily.

The Spin 5’s display is rated for 425 nits of brightness, and I measured it even a bit brighter than that at round 450 nits. The show was vivid sufficient to see clearly in my sunny breakfast nook, and I did not even have to max out the brightness slider.

So, the show is crisp and vivid and but I discovered it finally disappointing as a result of an OLED panel turns into an possibility proper across the Spin 5’s value. For roughly $1,500, you will get an OLED panel on the Lenovo Yoga 9i, HP Spectre x360 14 and Samsung Galaxy E book 2 Professional 360. And as soon as you have used an OLED laptop computer and skilled the unimaginable distinction with absolute black ranges and vibrant shade, it is laborious to return to an IPS panel except you’re purchasing beneath $1,000.

OLED panels trickling down from high-end, high-priced laptops for content material creators to midrange fashions is among the greatest laptop computer traits of the previous 12 months. The opposite? The transfer from grainy 720p webcams to 1080p cameras. The Spin 5 might have missed out on the OLED development, but it surely hopped on the 1080p webcam development. 

You’ll seem in effective, correct element to your video convention mates when seated in entrance of the Spin 5. The webcam is not an IR digital camera, nevertheless, so you possibly can’t use facial recognition with Home windows Howdy. The digital camera additionally lacks a bodily privateness cowl, and there isn’t any kill swap on the keyboard to ensure privateness when the digital camera is not getting used.

The Spin 5 presents a helpful collection of ports. There are a pair of USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 help and a pair of USB Kind-A ports so you’ll want to trouble with an adapter in your USB units. The USB-A ports are cut up with one on either side of the system, however the USB-C ports are each positioned on the left facet. I want the USB-C ports had been additionally cut up throughout either side as a result of you’ll want to use one in all them to cost the laptop computer, and I might have appreciated the pliability to attach the facility twine to both facet of the laptop computer relying the place the closest energy outlet is positioned. The Spin 5 additionally provides an HDMI port in addition to a microSD card slot — a uncommon inclusion.

As at the moment configured and priced, the Acer Spin 5 is an ungainly proposition. There isn’t any deadly flaw to this 14-inch two-in-one, but it surely’s priced proper about the place OLED fashions begin to grow to be an possibility. The Spin 5 is smart if you will discover it on sale for nearer to $1,000, however a greater possibility is ready for an OLED two-in-one to go on sale for round what the Spin 5 prices proper now.