Acer's new Chromebooks, unveiled at CES 2022, look set to stun Windows 11 laptops

Acer Chromebook Spin 513, unveiled at CES 2022, is a serious Windows 11 PC rival

(Image credit: Acer)

published 4 January 2022

The best Chromebooks just got some serious backup in their battle against Windows 11 laptops at CES 2022: Acer has announced a new Chromebook Spin 513 alongside refreshed versions of two other Chromebooks.

The big selling points on these new Acer Chromebooks are a clever hinge in the Spin as well as performance and battery life improvements to make these clever Chromebooks even more compelling as a full-blown Windows 11 rival.

The new Chromebook Spin 513

We really rate the Acer Chromebook Spin: the Spin 713 currently tops our best Chromebooks guide as the best Chromebook for most people and the existing Chromebook Spin 513 is sitting at number 4.

Like the existing Spins the new Chromebook Spin 513 is a transformer, capable of turning from a laptop form factor to a tablet, and the 2022 version gets a power upgrade: the processor here is a MediaTek Kompanio 1380, an octa-core processor that promises improved performance and up to ten hours of battery life. The screen is 20% bigger than the existing model and the resolution is up from 1080p to 2K. It has Wi-Fi 6 and both USB-A and USB-C for maximum compatibility. We don't have a UK price or release date yet but it'll launch in the US in June for $599.

Acer Chromebook 314 2022 CES 2022 Windows 11

Acer Chromebook 315 and 314

The Chromebook 314 and 315 get upgrades too. The former is already in our best Chromebooks guide as an excellent affordable option, and the 2022 version will ship with the latest 12 Gen Intel CPUs. Once again we're promised 10-hour battery life, and a flare-reducing webcam is handy for remote learning. There are twin USB ports and it'll cost $299 when it launches in June.

The larger Chromebook 315 is getting an upgrade too, with an HDR webcam, DTS Audio and ten-hour battery life. There's Wi-Fi 6, twin USB-C, microSD and a unique, eco-friendly trackpad made from ocean-bound plastic waste that's been recycled into a glassy surface. It goes on sale in January starting at $299.

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Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).