Acer Spin 3
A meaty 15.6in convertible – but performance is anything but heavyweight, and the screen is a big letdown
The Spin 3 looks like a remarkable deal. It’s the cheapest Windows system here, yet also the largest, with a luxurious 15.6in touchscreen. Clad in tough, “shale black” plastic with a subtle brushed effect, it’s an impressive looker. And, as the name hints, the lid flips all the way round to turn it into an outsized tablet.
Before you get too excited, though, there are a few points to be aware of. To start with, the Spin 3’s sheer size, and its 2.14kg weight, make it this month’s least portable laptop. While it’s nice to have the option of switching into tablet mode, we’re not sure we’d want to use this hefty PC in any sort of handheld arrangement.
Another point to note is that the low price gets you a low-end set of internals. As with the ZenBook, we don’t expect workstation-grade power from a portable system. But with its sizeable frame, it’s not unreasonable to look at the Spin 3 as a desktop replacement.
Sadly, that’s not a role it’s well suited to. The Core i3-6006U processor is a step down even from the ZenBook’s; despite the generous inclusion of 8GB of DDR4 RAM, the Spin 3 only managed an overall score of 30 in our application benchmarks. That’s enough power for everyday computing, but more demanding tasks (such as editing photos and videos) are likely to feel sluggish.
The Spin 3 did put in a surprisingly strong performance in our Dirt: Showdown gaming test. At 720p, and with all detail options set to high, it averaged 37fps – this month’s highest score. Presumably, the large case permits more effective cooling, so the GPU can run faster for longer. The Spin 3 also achieved an impressive score of 205 in the MotionMark browser benchmark – a long way ahead of the Asus ZenBook’s 138. But here the Spin 3 is helped by having far fewer pixels to deal with: its expansive screen has a resolution of just 1,366 x 768. That’s not a good thing – it makes the desktop feel cramped, and it’s blocky too: the Spin 3’s pixel density of just 100ppi is the lowest in the group. What’s more, it’s this month’s dimmest panel, with a maximum brightness of 206cd/ m2 and a contrast ratio of 237:1. We certainly wouldn’t recommend the Spin 3 for a brightly sunlit environment. Another disappointment is Acer’s use of a mechanical hard disk. Inevitably, this makes it slower to open and switch between apps than on an SSD system. The effect isn’t as bad as you might fear, though: the Seagate drive has a large 128MB cache that helps reduce thrashing, and its 1TB capacity ensures you won’t be running out of space any time soon.
To be fair to the Spin 3, the big screen lends itself to movie-watching, and the 360-degree hinge lets you prop it up in “tent mode” as a kioskstyle entertainment centre. The stereo speakers are pretty loud, and while you don’t get much in the way of oomph and rumble, there’s a crispness to the audio that’s great for dialogue.
We also like the keyboard, which has a nicely definite action and little give in the backplate. The size of the Spin 3 allows Acer to fit in a separate numeric keypad too, which will please Excel acolytes. This pushes the main keyboard and touchpad off-centre, but you get used to this quickly, and the touchpad itself is a decent size with a positive (if slightly rattly) clicking action.
Finally, while we doubt owners will be regularly carrying their Spin 3 systems around, battery life is pretty good. We got through 7hrs 29mins of video before shutting down; a respectable showing, especially considering the screen size.
Ultimately, the Spin 3’s problem is that it’s simply too ambitious. We love the idea of a huge touchscreen and a premium chassis for £500. But the reality involves too many cut corners – especially that dreadful screen. If you’re tempted by the design, more expensive Spin 3 variants bring stronger internals and better displays. But if you’re looking for a bargain laptop, you’ll do better elsewhere.