The Acer Chromebook Spin 311 (2021) is a 2-in-1 laptop with a screen size of 11.6 inches. It has an ARM-based SoC made by MediaTek called MT8183, graphics made by Mali-G72 MP3, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of eMMC storage.
There are no other combinations of CPU, GPU, or memory, but you can get a model with a bigger 64GB storage drive. It has a 1366 x 768-pixel IPS screen, a 720p webcam, and a 36Wh battery. It comes with a 45W power adapter and charges over USB-C.
[content-egg-block template=offers_logo hide=price]The Spin 311 looks like a lot of other small Chromebooks that try to look like mini-MacBooks. The small chassis is silver, and the matte-black keys and piano-black display bezels give it some contrast.
Specifications
- Processor: Intel Celeron N4000
- Processor Speed: 1.1 GHz
- RAM: 4 GB
- Boot Drive Type: eMMC Flash Memory
- Boot Drive Capacity: 32 GB
- Screen Size: 11.6 inches
- Native Display Resolution: 1366 by 768
Where to get Acer Chromebook Spin 311?
The Acer, on the other hand, is not made of brushed aluminium like an Apple laptop, but of simple plastic. Some bending is visible on the lid and bottom panel, but not enough to worry about. This is mostly because the unit’s small size doesn’t allow for large areas of plastic. Also, unlike MacBooks and other modern laptops, the Spin 311’s screen has thick borders, not thin ones like those on MacBooks and other laptops. The thick bezels make the whole thing look clunky and make the small screen look even smaller than it is.
The Spin 311 measures 0.8 by 11.7 by 8.1 inches (HWD) and weighs 2.6 pounds. It’s not a heavy travel companion, but it’s also not the slimmest 11.6-inch Chromebook. The Lenovo Chromebook 3 is 0.7 by 11.3 by 8.1 inches and weighs 2.4 pounds, which is a little less than the other two. As the price goes up, the screens get bigger while the size stays about the same. For example, the premium Google Pixelbook Go has a 13.3-inch screen and is only 0.5 by 12.2 by 8.1 inches and 2.3 pounds.
My hands feel a little tight on the keyboard, but kids in school probably won’t mind. The keys are a bit small, but they feel responsive and quick. Like other Chromebooks in its price range, the Spin 311 doesn’t have a backlit keyboard. The touchpad doesn’t have any buttons, but it still recorded my mouse movements correctly. It has the right amount of travel and gives a firm click feedback.
Using the Acer Chromebook Spin 311’s spin mechanism to change it from a laptop to a tablet is both fun and useful, especially when combined with the touch screen.