But even with light productivity, its battery life is remarkable, lasting approximately 16 hours. Unfortunately, the webcams video quality is poor, the touchpad is rather small, and while the keyboard offers a comfortable typing experience, it lacks backlighting. It also has a tiny, dull screen that appears a little washed out. But because it has no fans, it doesn’t get hot when it’s working and is absolutely silent. The MediaTek MT8183 SoC, Mali-G72 MP3 integrated graphics, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage are all features of our Acer Chromebook Spin 311 (CP311-3H series). There are no other CPU, GPU, or memory setups, although a model with a larger 64GB storage drive is available. also you can check our article on Acer Chromebook Spin 311 review.
Acer Chromebook Spin 311 review: Design
The Spin 311 has thick bezels around the screen, an all-aluminum silver chassis, and a design that is supposed to be both robust and portable. It is the epitome of what a Chromebook should look like. And on those latter two, the Spin 311 is effective. No part of the body, including the keyboard and the hinges, flexes in any way. Gorilla Glass has also been used to protect the screen, so it should be able to endure a few drops. The Spin 311 is marketed as being 2.65 pounds for portability, however our test unit weighed only 2.3 pounds. The difference between the two is negligible; the Spin 311 won’t put undue strain on your back at this size and weight. The Spin 311 is compact, with a footprint that is no larger than an A4 sheet of paper. It is just slightly thicker (0.74 inches vs. 0.66 inches) than the Samsung Chromebook 4. The Spin 311’s little size is both a pro and a con. Whatever you’re doing on the machine, it feels claustrophobic. The Spin 311’s size isn’t too problematic for taking around or casually using at home. However, for frequent users, the restricted space is at best inconvenient and at worst a deal-breaker. That is not a criticism against the Spin 311 itself, but rather of a Chromebook of this size. Although the aesthetics are uninspired, the build quality is outstanding, and it still manages to seem classy and appealing.
Audio
Even though they aren’t very remarkable, the Spin 311’s bottom-firing dual speakers perform quite effectively. The sound has a strong upper midrange tilt and the speakers are undersized. That highlights the dialogue, which is fantastic for films and television programmes. It makes some musical instruments stand out more than others. The upper midrange of the piano might jolt out of the music in a riffing piano piece like Anomalie’s Valours, for instance. The abrupt change in volume can be startling in a composition with such a complex melody. Even so, the speakers function. Even high-end Windows machines struggle to produce sound this loud and clear without distortion, yet the Spin 311 never distorted while it was on our lap.
Keyboard and touch pad
The Spin 311 is an excellent little laptop for typing and work, yet it is not shocking that a cheap plastic laptop does not have a flawless build. It has a full-size keyboard, good key definition, and no cramped feeling when typing, in contrast to the Microsoft Surface Go 2. Of course, there is none of the fancy equipment, like as a fingerprint scanner or a backlit keyboard. The Spin 311 serves as a reminder that the fundamentals are what really matter, especially while writing a 3,000 word essay as opposed to endlessly scrolling through Netflix. But it does have one really cool function. The Chromebook Spin 311 is based on layouts that were initially created with classrooms in mind. The value of these computers is their ability to withstand misuse. Because of this, the keyboard contains a reservoir that can contain a full can of liquid without any of it pouring into the vital components. Test this without using Coke because sticky, sweet things are bad for keyboards. On the underside, though, you can see where the liquid pours out. The touchpad is equally useful. Instead of a glass surface like that of upscale Chromebooks, it has a plastic one. However, it has a texture that is somewhat reminiscent of glass, is a reasonable size, and lacks the floaty feeling that we want to avoid while looking for a professional laptop. It also has a chunky clicker motion. also you will learn our article on Acer Chromebook Spin 311 review.
Acer Chromebook Spin 311 review: Display
Being a little device, the screen is anticipated to be smaller as well. It has an IPS panel and measures 11.6″. This harkens back to the early laptops of the 1990s and 2000s. The Acer Chromebook 311 likewise has a display with a 1,366x768px resolution. Prior to ten years ago, this was the norm. Even an entry-level device in 2022 should have had a display that was at least full HD at 1080p, according to expectations. Due to the size of smartphones, the 720p resolution wouldn’t be a problem. On an 11.6″ panel, however, you’ll see some of the subsequent graininess. And you’ll notice much more of showing itself if you get really close. It still accomplishes the task and may be something that many people will ignore given the price range. Not the brightest screen available, either. Even at maximum brightness, it cannot compete with a space where sunlight is abundant, especially when it is low in the sky and reflects inadvertently through the windows. However, colour reproduction is still excellent. HD video playback still looks nice despite the reduced resolution. A good contrast is also present. In spite of this, when compared to other displays side by side, the blacks aren’t that dark. Additionally, two locations on the right side of the screen have minor light bleed.
Acer Chromebook Spin 311 review: Battery life
The 10-hour battery life of the Chromebook Spin 311 is claimed by Acer. The claims made about laptop batteries are typically false, but this one is at least not wholly false. The Spin 311 lasts eight hours and twenty minutes when streaming YouTube at half brightness. If you only need to create papers, you probably won’t want to set the brightness much lower than what we did for this test, but the battery should last a little bit longer. Who, though, works that long hours? With the help of phone chargers, you can (slowly) refuel this laptop thanks to its USB-C charging feature. For those who will use the Spin 311 primarily at home, there is also good news. You can connect a monitor or TV over USB-C through the DisplayPort standard even though it lacks an HDMI port. Two USB-C ports, two USB 3.0 ports from the past, a microSD slot, and a headphone socket are all included.
Performance
The Acer Chromebook Spin 311’s keyboard has a very gratifying click and clack sound when you sit down to use it, and it’s surprising how enjoyable typing can be on such a small device. It’s especially good that the touchpad is of the same calibre, being simple, quick, and enjoyable to use. That satisfaction, however, is not matched by what is displayed on the screen; in order to see the photos well, we had to significantly increase the brightness. Inevitably, battery life suffered as a result. The screen became brighter as a result of the brightness increase, but just in the sense of being lighter and whiter; because colours and contrasts did not follow suit, for instance, it is somewhat taxing on the eyes. It’s enjoyable and useful to use the Acer Chromebook Spin 311’s spin mechanism to transform it from a laptop-like gadget to a tablet-like one, especially when combined with the touch screen. You may effortlessly transition from using it as a typical laptop or notepad to a completely browsing and touch tablet-like gadget on the couch and back again. One interesting but crucial point: the keyboard is deactivated when the screen is completely turned around to be used only as a touchscreen, preventing you from accidently typing and smudging keys into strange google searches as you go. Even better, you may enjoy having a gadget with you everywhere you go by using the spin mechanism in various ways, such as by setting it up as a tent to watch Netflix. The screen may be closed to go to sleep and then instantaneously started up again by lifting the screen back up; it’s a pretty smooth and quick operation. The boot time of 12 seconds from off to log in screen is fantastic. The slightest stuttering occasionally occurs as it resynchronizes and loads a Google account, documents, emails, and other items, but this is insignificant and by no means a deal-breaker.
Configuration options
The Acer Chromebook Spin 311 costs $330 (£280; approximately AU$490), which raises questions when compared to the Acer Chromebook 314, which was released around the same time. A more expensive, smaller model with less performance and battery life? At first, it doesn’t make sense. However, the variations in its design, construction, functionality, and practical benefits undoubtedly justify it. you can read our article on Acer Chromebook Spin 311 review.
Conclusion
The Acer Chromebook Spin 311 works okay for academic purposes. It is a lightweight, portable laptop that is small and easy to carry around. The battery life is over sixteen hours. Because it is a 2-in-1 convertible with a 360-degree hinge, you can turn the screen around to use it as a tablet. Sadly, the touchpad is very small, and although while the keyboard is comfortable to text on, it doesn’t have backlighting. Although it has an ARM-based SoC, it is not powerful enough to perform intensive workloads like graphic design.
