Acer’s Spin series of convertible laptops has been a consistent seller, even if it’s never broken through to the upper tiers of awareness in the market. The latest model might do just that, with a switch from Intel chips to Qualcomm’s 8cx platform for Windows on ARM. The new Spin 7 uses the Gen 2 version for 5G wireless.
The new version of the Spin 7 is a 14-inch 2-in-1, rocking an IPS 1920×1080 display, plus a docked stylus with 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity. the magnesium alloy chassis is super thin, as these ARM-powered laptops generally are, with a few gold accents for flavor. The body includes a fingerprint sensor and a Windows Hello IR camera, standard.
AcerAcer isn’t talking much about the speed of the 8cx Gen 2 processor (Qualcomm says its octa-core CPU is built on the 7nm fab process), nor how much storage or RAM the laptop offers. But the headline feature is 5G wireless compatibility, which works on both the sub-6GHz and mmWave standards. Naturally it can connect to LTE, too.
Like other ARM-powered Windows laptops, the Spin 7 is quite light, at just 3.09 pounds and .63 inches thick. Acer didn’t mention a specific time figure for the battery, saying only that it was “extreme” and “multi-day.” But based on my experiences with the Lenovo Yoga C630 (on an older Qualcomm SoC), I’d say 15 hours would be a pretty reasonable expectation.
Acer hasn’t given a firm date or price for the refreshed Spin 7. Presumably it will hit the market late this year or early next.