I ditched my MacBook for the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514 and I’m in love — but there’s a catch

Hold up! Are Chromebooks good now? Yea, I’m just as surprised as you are. It’s been a journey of rediscovery for me since I was blindsided by the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 — the MediaTek Kompanio Ultra 910 chipset being its ace in the hole to make one of my favorite laptops of the year.

Now, it’s the turn of the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514, and once again, it’s shot up the charts and is easily one of the best 2-in-1 laptops you can get right now. That Arm chip makes all ChromeOS processes fly by like it's nothing, while still giving you that same MacBook-esque stamina — all packed into a shell that feels amazing to hold with great ergonomics on the keyboard and touchpad too.

There are some power ups here over Lenovo’s efforts. First, it’s a 2-in-1, so you can flip that screen right back on itself for the tablet (or tent) experience — convenient given how well integrated Android is into ChromeOS (and how Google plans to bring them even closer together). And second, that display itself is super crispy with a 2.8K OLED, which brings that same deep contrast and mesmerizing color you know and love.

But there are a couple issues to note here. First is a small one in the grand scheme of things: the display color accuracy on the Spin 514 isn’t as close to just right as the Chromebook Plus 14. Better resolution, but not quite as vivid or accurate in tones.

And second is that finish. Not to take away from the premium feel of that aluminum shell, but whatever its coated with, it does make the Spin 514 very susceptible to dings and marks (more on that later).

Finally is that common ChromeOS problem — pricing this next generation of Chromebooks at $699 (starting) puts it in direct competition with Windows laptops and cheaper Macbooks. Provided you’re sure all of what you want to do is within the relatively small realm of app support in ChromeOS, you’ll have an amazing time with the Spin. But keep in mind that you won’t be able to use many of the usual suspects like Photoshop.

So let me take a beat and explain why if you’re in the market for a Google laptop, this is one of the best Chromebooks to buy right now.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? This is a more premium 2-in-1 Chromebook.
• Who is it for? This is ideal for those who depend on all of Google’s services for work and play — spending a ton of time in Chrome and dabbling in the vast array of the big G’s AI features.
• What does it cost? The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514 with MediaTek chip will launch in October at a starting price of $699.
• What do we like? Unmistakably premium for every reason — that MediaTek chip provides impressive performance and incredible power efficiency, while Acer brings the luxury aesthetic of a sleek aluminum shell, great ergonomics and a gorgeous 2.8K OLED touchscreen on a full 2-in-1 hinge.
• What don’t we like? At $699, this is definitely a pricey Chromebook laptop. Plus, the coating on the aluminum shell is very susceptible to even the smallest of impacts.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514: Specs

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514: The ups

Like I said, I used to be a Chromebook hater (sorry Google), but with every new Arm-armed option like this, I’m finding a new love for them.

Unmistakably premium

Normally with Chromebooks, you get used to a drop in build quality — tactical choices on cheap plastic that help keep that cost down. With the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514, that’s not the case, as it’s an entire aluminum shell, and a damn good-looking one at that.

Holding it in your hands, it almost feels like a luxury experience. Then opening it up, you can really feel the confidence inspired in the strength of that hinge, and you can work to your heart’s content on a keyboard that feels oh-so ergonomically sound and a touchpad with zero spongeyness to every click.

This is a gorgeous laptop. But while the coating does make it fingerprint resistant, it does mark very easily (more on that later).

Arm strength and stamina

Just like the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14, Acer’s Spin 514 comes armed with the latest MediaTek Kompanio Ultra 910 chipset — packing an NPU capable of 50 trillion AI operations per second (TOPS) entirely locally on the silicon. And with it being an Arm chip, you best believe you’re getting blazing speeds with impressive stamina to boot.

RAM does take a knock back to 12GB vs Lenovo’s 16GB, but I doubt you’ll be feeling that in the multitasking capabilities unless you really stretch it. I only managed to see it stutter ever so slightly at a mammoth 65 tabs.

AI operations are nice and quick on that NPU, with smart photo edits happening locally zipping by in a flash. Whatever you throw at this, you won’t lose any of that responsiveness — especially in the immediate reaction to any multitouch inputs on that screen. And speaking of the display…

Blindsided by OLED beauty

It’s a stunner. That’s all I’d need to say here to my friends, but let’s get a little more geeky here.

That 14-inch 2.8k OLED panel is super crispy and uber vivid with a nice HDR quality. And popping it on a 360-degree hinge gives you many ways to interact with it — from having your work look super pretty in laptop mode, to binge watching/using Nvidia GeForce Now in tent mode, or getting creative in tablet mode.

Yes, it’s not as color accurate as Lenovo’s panel, but for the casual workload, this will only be a problem to those who need to make super specific granular creative work and need that accuracy ensured in what they do. For everyone else, you’ll just admire the really pretty screen here.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514: The downs

One of these is par for the course for Chromebooks, and the other is something that sounds small on paper, but can be a frustration if you’re keen to take care of your shiny new laptop.

Pricey for a Chromebook

But this falls into the same trap that the Chromebook Plus 14 does. At $699, you have to really want a Chromebook, because you could grab a decent Windows laptop or maybe even a slightly older MacBook at this price (the M2 MacBook Air for example).

Because while in the grand scheme of premium laptops, it’s a decent price, we are still talking about ChromeOS here. It is getting better with time, and I stand by this being the best desktop UI when it comes to working hand-in-hand with AI.

But local app support continues to be oceans away from Windows 11 and macOS. And at this high price, that may be a question.

Accident prone

This is just a small issue in the grand scheme of things, but as it triggered my ADHD for clean lines and minimal wear and tear, I have to say it. The coating atop this aluminum shell is rather prone to small signs of damage. Not to the hardware itself — this is a durable design that inspires confidence. But rather small nicks that you’ll have no idea where they came from.

For example, I’ve been carrying mine around in a laptop case in my Mous Optimal backpack. Any other laptop in there has been able to withstand any kind of carrying/gently putting the back down on the floor/desk. But here, however, a small mark has appeared on the bottom corner of the keyboard deck that has scratched off some of that silver topping.

Small things like this peeking in your peripheral vision can be annoying — especially in a laptop you’ve paid 700 bucks for.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514: Verdict

Wear and tear susceptibility aside, though, after crowning a new best Chromebook, I’m now giving the best 2-in-1 throne to the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514. It’s seriously that good.

The laptop hardware feels phenomenal to use at every angle, the display is drop dead gorgeous, and the turbo-charged Arm engine on the inside will crush any ChromeOS task while slow-sipping that battery.

If your work and life revolve around Google products, this is the best convertible option to snag.