Editor's take: As Chrome OS has matured, manufacturers have been increasingly catering to consumers willing to pay a premium for Chromebooks packing higher-end hardware, interested in deploying the machines as primary portables rather than second-rate back-ups. While they may not be ideal for every situation, it's good to see traditional hardware makers experimenting with alternative operating systems.
Acer on Tuesday announced a new high-end Chromebook based on Intel's Project Athena initiative.
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 features a 13.5-inch VertiView IPS touchscreen display (2,256 x 1,504 resolution, 3:2 aspect ratio) coated in Corning Gorilla Glass. As the Spin moniker suggests, the system is a convertible meaning the screen can be opened a full 360-degrees, transforming the machine into a tablet when needed.
Under the hood, you'll find "the latest 10th Gen Intel Core processors" alongside up to 16GB of DDR4 RAM and as much as 256GB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage.
It all comes housed in a reinforced aluminum chassis that is U.S. MIL-STD 810G compliant. According to Acer, the system can survive drops from heights of up to 48 inches and withstand up to 132 pounds of downward force. It measures just 0.66 inches thick and comes in at 3.02 pounds.
Other amenities include dual USB 3.1 Type-C ports, an HDMI port, a USB 3.0 port, a microSD card reader, dual-band Wi-Fi 6 AX201 with 2x2 MU-MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0 and a backlit keyboard.
Battery life is said to be rated at up to 10 hours on a full charge.
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is scheduled to launch in North America next month starting at $629.99.