Backup noise will often be picked up, but recordings of my voice offered good volume and seemed easy to understand when played back. The built-in is nothing special, but it does the job.

Exposure was often a bit off, though, causing big swings in my skin tone. Color reproduction is also good in a well-lit room. It’s a nice upgrade over a 720p camera and delivers a clear improvement in sharpness. Acer Chromebook Spin 514: Webcam, microphone, biometricsĪ 1080p webcam with a physical privacy shutter is squeezed into the laptop’s top bezel. The speakers work best with podcasts and video content, as loud music can cause unpleasant distortion. They’re not excellent, but loud enough at maximum volume to fill an office with sound. The Spin 514’s low brightness remains a concern: LCD laptop screens are often brighter than OLED, but that’s not true here.Ī pair of upward-firing speakers provide the Spin 514’s audio. OLED laptops offer an improvement in contrast and color performance that most people will easily notice and prefer. However, the IPS display is pressured by new laptops with OLED screens, some of which are priced just one to two hundred dollars higher than the Spin 514. 1080p video content looks realistic and vivid. The display’s contrast and color performance are adequate for a modern laptop. Acer sells several less powerful versions of the Spin 514 with Ryzen 3 processors.

It’s beefy hardware for a Chromebook, and the configuration tested represents a premium model. The Acer Chromebook Spin 514 is powered by AMD’s Ryzen 5 5625C, a six-core, 12-thread processor that includes AMD Radeon Graphics with seven graphics cores. Acer Chromebook Spin 514: Specs and features Looking for more options? Check out our roundup of the best Chromebooks. However, those seeking budget laptop thrills may find the Windows alternatives more appealing. Powered by AMD’s six-core Ryzen 5 5625C processor, the Spin 514 offers an alternative to competitors with the Intel Core i5-1240P and delivers big gains over Chromebooks with Qualcomm or MediaTek hardware. Want a fast Chromebook? The Acer Chromebook Spin 514 is likely to land near the top of your search. Expensive compared to Windows alternativesĪcer’s Chromebook Spin 514 is a speedy Chromebook with durable, premium design, but its pricing will limit its appeal to ChromeOS purists.

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