Announced in IFA 2017, the Acer Spin 5 aims to deliver the convenience of having a convertible laptop and better performance thanks in part to Intel’s 8th generation mobile processors dubbed Kaby Lake-R. Will the latest iteration of the Acer Spin 5 be more than a match compared to other convertible laptops out in the market? Let’s find out.
Acer Spin 5 (2017)
Up close with the Acer Spin 5 (2017)
As with most of Acer’s higher-end work-oriented laptops, the Spin 5 is enclosed in a beautiful aluminum shell. This matte aluminum shell, however, can be easily scratched. So you might want to buy a laptop sleeve if you want to preserve the Spin 5’s looks.
Depending on the model you purchase, the Spin 5 may have either a 13.3-inch or 15.6-inch FullHD (1920 x 1080) display. On our particular model (SP513-52N-53G1), is a 13.3-inch FullHD IPS display. Pixel density isn’t much of a problem due to the display size. Due to its IPS heritage, the display has a 178° viewing angle, which allows you to use the Spin 5’s display without any major color shifting if you’re viewing it on an off-angle. Color accuracy is decent but it is a bit dim when using the notebook outdoors and the glossy finish of the panel doesn’t help its usability under bright light.
The Spin 5’s thickness only measures at 0.78-inches, which makes the notebook portable in most circumstances. Despite its thin profile, Acer has still packed a couple of I/O ports that will bring a smile for those who hate dongles. The laptop does have quite a bit of heft at 1.6kg. But it’s a trade-off we’re willing to sacrifice for its solid build quality.
Situated at the left-hand side of the Spin 5 are two USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports, a single USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-C port, an HDMI adapter, and its power jack.
Meanwhile, the right-hand side of the notebook are its microSD reader, audio jack, a volume rocker, a single USB 2.0 port, a power button, a Kensington lock, and the HDD and battery LED lights.
The Spin 5 is equipped with your bog standard 78-key keyboard. The function keys up top offers secondary functions such as brightness control, volume control, Sleep, and WiFi toggle.
The keyboard also sports white backlighting, which should help you type in the dark if you’re not a touch-typist. Based on our experience, the keyboard has a decent amount of key travel but it isn’t too special to separate itself from the pack.
Below the keyboard is its touch pad with an integrated fingerprint scanner. The touch pad is flat and performs smoothly in our daily operations. The fingerprint scanner, meanwhile, is a bit small but perfectly functional when logging in to Windows.
The speakers of the Spin 5 are just above the keyboard and fires up to whoever’s using it. This design choice allows the notebook to deliver its full audio capability without hindering your experience. It delivers decent audio quality with warm highs, detailed mids with quite a bit of sound stage although the bass does lack a bit of power in lower volumes.
As a convertible notebook, the Spin 5’s screen can rotate 360° and rest on the back of the base. Windows automatically switches to tablet mode and disables the keyboard and touch pad when it detects that you want to use the Spin 5’s tablet mode. Fortunately, the Spin 5 does come with its own active stylus to help you with tasks such as editing photos or taking down notes. The screen does support palm-rejection so you palm won’t interfere when you’re using the stylus. The stylus itself, on the other hand, is very precise but there is a bit of weirdness here and there. Nothing major, though.
Battery Life
Our model of the Spin 5 was powered by a 4-cell 3220mAh Li-ion battery with a 45W adapter for charging. Based on our daily experience, the notebook was able to last around 11 – 12 hours on medium use with the WiFi turned on 20% brightness, which is commendable performance for a notebook this thin. As far as charging goes, the Spin 5 was able to top-off its battery within 2 hours.
Benchmarks
The Acer Spin 5 can be equipped with an Intel Core i7-8550U with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti. Our model, however, only had an Intel Core i5-8250U with an Intel HD 620 for its GPU without any discrete graphics. You’re mileage on games may vary depending on the model, but if you’re aiming for a similar model than ours you might want to turn down some settings on games to achieve a playable frame rate of above 30fps. If you’re one to play older games such as Baldur’s Gate or Neverwinter Nights, then you’re already set.
As far as temperature go, the Acer Spin 5 does get surprisingly hot 90° on the core. Idle, on the other hand, sits at 52°, which is fairly decent considering its compact form. The fans does spin a bit more on higher temperatures but it isn’t noticeable to the human ear.
Conclusion
The Acer Spin 5 starts at around USD 500 (around PhP 30,000) with entry-models having an Intel Core i3-7100U and 4GB of RAM. The top-end model will have an Intel Core i7-8550U, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 4GB, and 8GB of RAM. Our model, the SP513-52N-53G1, is somewhere in the middle of the pack. At around PhP 59,999, the Acer Spin 5 offers good performance, portability, and options.
The only true gripe we have with the Spin 5 is its temperature control. With its max temperature reaching well more than 90° (depending on the situation) Acer could have implemented a more aggressive fan control to keep the core from frying itself. Aside from that, we can’t really find anything wrong with the Spin 5.
With its dual functionality, top-notch performance in daily tasks, decent screen, and solid build quality, we’re awarding the Acer Spin 5 with our Premium Laptop award. If you’re looking for a work laptop that can handle both daily tasks and editing, then have a spin with the Spin 5.
