Acer Spin 3 vs Acer Spin 5: Which One to Buy?

Estimated read time 13 min read

Here we are comparing Acer Spin 3 vs Acer Spin 5 so you can choose best basic laptop for you. I must say these both are very good gift products. Lets check out more about them below.

Acer Spin 3Acer Spin 5
BUY NOWBUY NOW
PROSPROS
Flexible 2-in-1 design
1080p display
Good speakers
Low price
Bright display
Great keyboard
Affordable
CONSCONS
Below-average battery life
Poor performance
Shallow keyboard
Bloatware
Lots of bloatware
Runs hot
Below-average battery life

SPECIFICATION

MODELAcer 14″ Spin 3 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 LaptopAcer 13.3″ Spin 5 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop
Operating SystemWindows 10 Home (64-Bit)Windows 10 Home (64-Bit)
Performance
CPU1.6 GHz Intel Core i5-8265U Quad-Core1.6 GHz Intel Core i5-8265U Quad-Core
Maximum Boost Speed3.9 GHz3.9 GHz
L3 Cache6 MB6 MB
Memory TypeDDR4DDR4
Total Installed Memory8 GB8 GB
Memory Configuration8 GB8 GB
Memory Slot TypeNot Applicable260-Pin SO-DIMM
Buffered MemoryNoNo
ECC MemoryNoNo
Graphics TypeIntegratedIntegrated
GPUIntel UHD Graphics 620Intel UHD Graphics 620

DISPLAY

DISPLAYAcer 14″ Spin 3 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop Acer 13.3″ Spin 5 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop
Panel TypeIPSIPS
Size14″13.3″
Aspect Ratio16:916:9
Resolution1920 x 10801920 x 1080
TouchscreenYesYes
Adaptive Sync TechnologyNoneNot specified

Storage and Expansion

Storage and ExpansionAcer 14″ Spin 3 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop Acer 13.3″ Spin 5 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop
Total Installed Capacity1 TB256 GB
Solid State StorageNot Applicable1 x 256 GB 2.5″ SATA
Hard Disk Storage1 x 1 TB 2.5″ SATA (rpm unspecified)Not Applicable
Optical DriveNoneNone

I/ O

I/ OAcer 14″ Spin 3 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop Acer 13.3″ Spin 5 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop
Ports2 x USB Type-A (USB 3.1 / USB 3.2 Gen 1)
1 x USB Type-A (USB 2.0)
2 x USB Type-A (USB 3.1 / USB 3.2 Gen 1)
1 x USB Type-A (USB 2.0)
USB Type-C Ports Not Applicable 1 x USB 3.1 / USB 3.2 Gen 2
Display1 x HDMI1 x HDMI
Audio1 x 1/8″ / 3.5 mm Headphone/Microphone Input/Output1 x 1/8″ / 3.5 mm Headphone/Microphone Input/Output
Built-In Speakers2Not specified
Media Card Slots1 x SD (Unspecified Type)1 x SD/SDHC/SDXC

Communication

CommunicationAcer 14″ Spin 3 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop Acer 13.3″ Spin 5 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop
Ethernet NoneNone
Wi-FiWi-Fi 5 (802.11ac)Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac); Dual-Band (2.4 & 5 GHz)
Bluetooth5.05.0
GPSNoneNone
NFCNoNo
NoNoWebcamUser-Facing:User-Facing: 720p

Battery

Battery Acer 14″ Spin 3 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop Acer 13.3″ Spin 5 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop
Battery ChemistryLithium-IonLithium-Ion
Capacity3-Cell: 5170 mAh3-Cell: 4670 mAh
Maximum Runtime16 Hours13 Hours

Keyboard & Mouse

KeyboardAcer 14″ Spin 3 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop Acer 13.3″ Spin 5 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop
KeyboardNotebook Keyboard Notebook Keyboard
Pointing DeviceTouchPadTouchPad

General

General Acer 14″ Spin 3 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop Acer 13.3″ Spin 5 Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop
Power Supply45 W 45 W
WDimensions13.2 x 9.1 x 0.8″ / 335.28 x 231.14 x 20.32 mm12.8 x 8.9 x 0.6″ / 32.51 x 22.61 x 1.52 cm
cmWeight3.75 lb / 1.7 kg3.53 lb / 1.6 kg
Warranty LengthLimited 1-Year WarrantyLimited 1-Year Warranty

Expert Reviews For Acer Spin 3:

By laptopmag.com
The Acer Spin 3 has a great 1080p display and an affordable price tag, but it’s held back by performance problems, an uncomfortable keyboard and subpar battery life.

By cnet.com
In the ultracompetitive market of midrange convertibles, the Acer Spin 3 fails to stand out.

By techradar.com
The Acer Spin 3 is affordable and can get the job done, but only if you have a few minutes to spare. Middling performance and subpar trackpad hardware mar an otherwise decent general use, 2-in-1 laptop.

By notebookcheck.net
Acer’s 14-inch convertible features all the things that are necessary for office use: A powerful processor, a fast SSD and the dual-channel-enabled RAM. Moreover, it also has good battery life and an “okay” keyboard, which can be used for regular typing. Unfortunately, Acer does not offer a keyboard backlight.

By gadgetspeak.com
There are several models in each range and what you get – hard disc, processor and memory etc. – will depend on where you purchase it.The unit I was sent has an Intel i5 quad core Processor, 8GB RAM and a 256GB Drive and as stated it comes with the..

Expert Reviews For Acer Spin 5:

By techradar.com
At a mid-range price, it’s easy not to expect much from the Spin 5, but that’d be wrong. The Spin 5 offers decent performance, design and battery life for the price.

By pcworld.com
The Acer Spin 5 is a decent laptop that’s worth considering for its good selection of features for the price, especially when it comes to connectivity and the quality of the keyboard and trackpad. On the downside you get merely average performance for the specs, an overly loud and uncomfortably warm fan, and a somewhat outdated design. Just don’t factor Alexa into your purchase decision either way.

By digitaltrends.com
Acer perfectly positioned the Spin 5 in the midrange convertible 2-in-1 niche. It’s attractively priced, well-built, and it provides solid performance and good battery life. Input options are very good, and it tosses Alexa support into the mix. Only a rather dim and slightly low-contrast display holds it back from being an excellent option in this price range.

By ultrabookreview.com
The Acer Spin 5 is the most affordable 13-inch convertible with Core U hardware I could find at the time of this post, especially in the US where it is priced more aggressively than in Europe. Knowing this, I was expecting some corners had to be cut in order to meat the lower price point and still end up with a product that wouldn’t sell for a loss. Luckily, there aren’t many. Yes, this Spin is a little heavy and made mostly out of plastic, it gets a shallow keyboard and the IO could be more versatile, but the only two significant nits are the dim screen and the erratic cooling system plagued by a noisy fan and incapable of keeping temperatures down. If it proves that the retail versions fair better in terms of temperatures and noise, the panel remains the only potential-deal breaker, and only if you plan to use the laptop outdoors or in other strong light environments.

By forbes.com
The Spin 5 lists at $900, but you can find it on Amazon for a paltry $787. That’s an amazing price for a machine that is stuffed with features and flexibility, and even though performance isn’t the greatest, my hunch is that it will still offer plenty of power for any undergrad with moderate computing needs.

DETAILED REVIEW:

DESIGN

Acer Spin 3:

In this laptop you will not find the fancy unibody metal design and it’s actually built with polycarbonate matter or in simple language it called plastic. Now, in my opinion, this is not at all a bad thing because of this keeps the weight of the laptop is very less. The laptop is well built and it feels nice in hands. When you open the panel you see a black textured upper bezel and a glossy silver bottom. The silver finishing looks very nice and does a good job at repelling smudges and scratches.

So if you are planning to use this laptop in your home or as a student, it should be able to handle your daily hustle quite well. The Acer Spin 3  is a 2-in-1 convertible laptop and it comes with a 360-degree hinge mechanism. So there are two hinges that hold the panel in various modes, from a traditional laptop mode to lying flat on a table to tent mode and in tablet mode as well.

Typically the hinges on a 2-in-1 convertible laptops tends to be not all that sturdy and they usually have some issues in them but the Acer Spin 3’s hinges holds the screen in place quite rigidly. I didn’t notice any screen shaking when using it in either laptop or tablet mode.

Acer Spin 5:

It has an aluminum casing on the top, bottom, deck, and the lid on the top has kind of a crosshatch aluminum pattern and sort of like the aluminum version of plaid anyway. I don’t know, I’m not in love with that texture but you might like it.

KEYBOARD & TOUCHPAD

Acer Spin 3:

Here, the keyboard’s build quality is good. The keyboard is quite responsive and the space between key’s is of 1 MM and that’s good. The keyboard is big enough and there is also good amount of space for the palms to rest. It is very convenient to type on this keyboard and you will not have any problem at all.

There is the backlight on this  keyboard and its pretty bright than some of the other laptops. And there is also a button to turn off the backlight on the keyboard. So it’s pretty handy, when you are at school or somewhere outdoors you have lights over there so you don’t need these backlights but when you are at home sitting in the dark you can turn on these lights to use the keyboard.

Now, the touchpad here is not as accurate as I expected but it’s OK because most of the people will not have problem with this at all. But, here we also have a fingerprint reader which helps to make our laptop a lot safe and secure from other people. But it’s also a problem because while using the touchpad the fingerprint will come in the way. But it’s not that big of a deal.

So overall the keyboard and touchpad are pretty nice. And it’s will be a nice experience for normal people to use this laptop.

Acer Spin 5:

The Acer Spin 5 keyboard have a separate number pad which some people may find useful, hence it is slightly longer and so bigger in footprint and you do have the combo F keys at the top and of course you’ve got volume keys and it’s single press so no pressing the FN key to to change the volume and the layout looks pretty but the arrow keys are going to be more cramped because of the number pad of course.

In terms of backlighting on the keyboard, you can just press the key’s to turn it on and off.

The trackpad here is smooth and it’s slightly bigger and more square in shape than Acer Spin 3 and it also has integrated fingerprint reader. In terms of usability it’s just better than Acer Spin 3 and it scroll’s really well and pin to zoom is good on this. It uses precision drivers and I can’t see any fault at all and gestures and all that works just the same like Acer Spin 3.

DISPLAY

Acer Spin 3:

This laptop has a fantastic display. It’s a 14-inch LED-backlit display. The display is fully multi-touch and it is full HD, so it’s 1920 X 1080 pixel resolution so this is a really crisp display with good high pixel per inch density and if you are typing something the texts look very clear. Or if you are reading something, browsing the Internet or whether you are watching videos or any kind of activity your eyes are not going to hurt because the quality of the panel. This is an IPS display and it is LED backlit so this is like the best you can get very very nice display.

Acer Spin 5:

The screen is a bit strange because besides it’s much bigger than the 9.7 and even be 10.5-inch iPads and I really enjoyed that specifically from a tablet perspective. What I don’t like however are these bezels, seriously what was Acer thinking, I mean most laptop companies are going towards bezel-less designs. Despite the strange design decision, it is quite a beautiful and sleek looking.

SPEAKERS

Acer Spin 3:

Here, we get front-facing firing speakers and because of this, we get much clear, high definition and powerful audio from these speakers. While I was doing some test I was hearing some songs and I was songs at maximum volume. I was able hear each and every beat of those songs very clearly. As well as the artist voice was also very clear. Even at turning volume at its max, I wasn’t able to hear any distortion. 

Acer Spin 5:

Here, the speakers are just above the keyboard and it gives an output from 80 to 82 decibels and that’s pretty impressive. So the speakers are quite nice and you will able to hear everything loud and crystal clear.

PERFORMANCE

Acer Spin 3:

Over here we have a 1.8 GHz Core i7-8550U processor and it makes running powerful apps on the laptop an easy task. Doing the Geekbench 4.1 test, results were very solid and the score was just a little less than 18000. It exceeds results of 15,110 by Asus Zenbook 13 and even the intel’s Core i5-8565U CPU score was above 9930 and that’s a category average. Hence, I could say that Acer Spin 3 is leading these tests.

Acer Spin 5:

On this review unit, we have an 8 Generation Quad-Core Intel i5 processor that runs at 1.6 GHz with a speed boost of up to 1.8 GHz and it also comes with Intel’s proprietary UHD graphic 620 which is not that great for games. It has 8 GB of DDR4 SDRAM and 256 GB SSD for storage, So it’s not too bad.

BATTERY

Acer Spin 3:

It claims to give 12 hours of battery life but I don’t think that’s it’s going to give 12 hours of battery life. It mostly depended on how high or low is your screen brightness and some other various factors. It’s unlike older laptops where we were able to just take out the battery when we were at home but in this laptop, we can’t do that. So basically it’s not user-removable battery.

Acer Spin 5:

Here, the battery is 53.9 watt-hour and it’s very typical for lithium-ion battery. The battery life is pretty good as well. Acer claims that it can run up to 13 hours which is way too much. But with Wifi on, display set to 115 nits of brightness and doing some work and streaming video and surfing the web we saw 7 to 8 hours of battery life.

It comes with a super-duper compact charger and if you hate carrying around those brick size chargers than this one is perfect for you as it is not bigger than iPad charger.

PORT SELECTION

Acer Spin 3:

On the right side we get a Kensington Lock Slot, an audio jack, an HDMI port, and a USB 3.0 port. On the left side, we have a charging point, power button, stylus and stylus charging slot, an SD card reader slot, and another USB 2.0 port.

Acer Spin 5:

On the Acer Spin 5, on the left-hand side we have the power connector, HDMI, USB-C and two USB 3.0 ports and you can use one of these two ports to power other devices. On the right-hand side, we have got a couple of activity light, we also have power button here which can be used in tablet mode, microphone, headphone jack, SDcard slot, USB 2.0 port, power button, and Kensington Lock.

WEIGHT & DIMENSIONS

Acer Spin 3:

It weighs around 3.7 pounds/1.7 Kg. Its dimensions are 13 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch and it’s a little bit heavier than other mainstream laptops.

Acer Spin 5:

It weights almost around 3.31 pounds/1.5 Kg it’s not much as first but when you use it as a tablet it becomes very noticeable. The weight distribution is much better when it’s in the laptop form.

WHICH ONE YOU SHOULD BUY?

Well, it mostly depends on how much budget do you have and what are your needs. If you are a student and you don’t have a lot of budget than Acer Spin 3 is definitely for you. If you are a professional and want better performance and better battery life laptop than Acer Spin 5 will suit your requirements perfectly. For me, Acer Spin 5 suits my requirements best so I would definitely take Acer Spin 5.

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Jignesh

I'm Jignesh Prajapati, a passionate tech enthusiast from Ahmedabad, India. In 2016, I took a bold leap, leaving my job to embark on a blogging journey. Despite exploring various niches, my heart found its true calling in technology. Today, I am the proud Founder and CEO of my tech blog - The World's Best and Worst

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