Acer Chromebook Spin 714 Unboxing: Big Specs, Realistic Price

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The new Acer Chromebook Spin 714 is in the office and we're ready to get rolling on the review process. There are things we can actually comment on this time around since this is a production-ready unit, so we're doing a quick unboxing to reacquaint ourselves with this beautiful, high-end Chromebook from Acer.
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[@TodLeamon]

I bought this as soon as it was released and absolutely love it!

[@malcontent_1]

Impressive, to say the least. I appreciate how competition among brands is driving more value & quality into the ChromeOS hardware space.

[@Zulgurub]

Beautiful device, looking forward to the full review

[@donavanboykin9489]

I bought this guy at Best Buy and it really disappointed me.The screen was an obvious downgrade from the 713, the trackpad was slower and there was weird crackling in the speakers! Also, the performance was a little off. There were definitely hangups doing basic things like opening apps. So much so to where I would try and close those apps and a few seconds later, they would randomly reopen again. I really wanted this one to knock it out of the park but it was a few steps back instead of one step forward😔I took it back and repurchased my 713 2021 model.

[@ZackMorris1]

You can adjust trackpad speed from the settings, so that's an odd quibble. The cracking speakers sounds like a defect and the app crashing is very concerning. The main reason this wasn't on my radar is the 16:10, don't think I can live without 3:2. I'm not sold on the Kampanio chip yet so I'm pretty happy with my 2020 713 for now. Waiting to see what the Dragonfly goes for around Christmas time and that'll probably be my gift from Santa this year.

[@Soraviel]

bruh 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@donavanboykin9489]

@@ZackMorris1 The trackpad speed was at max😔

[@erzascralet48]

Agree on the screen. THe color temperature is much more warm, and brightness is (from eyeballing it) maybe 300 nits instead of the 400+ the 713 was. Definite downgrade. And only way to adjust color temperature on a Chromebook is to enable Night Sight, and in settings adjust it, but it's more on the panel to adjust, so just not worth. I'm sticking with the 2021 model instead.

[@flow2tech]

@@donavanboykin9489 Acer just straight sucks on most fronts as is..

[@aavv1818]

Just bought the 17 inch chromebook for $379 (Full HD, touchscreen & backlit keyboard) but poor speakers so I'll buy a Bluetooth speaker to hopefully improve the tinny sound quality! LOVE YOUR REVIEWS! -San Francisco fan girl

[@PatrickC139]

Which Chromebook did you get?

[@BrooklynBowyer]

Much like a couple other people on this thread, I bought and returned mine from Best Buy. The trackpad was loose and cheap-feeling. The screen is an instantly obvious downgrade from the 713 (messy detail and yellowish tint) and the speakers were janky (which honestly doesn't bother me that much). Other than the inclusion of the stylus and the newer chip, the whole thing is a big downgrade from the 713 with a slightly higher price point. Suuuuper disappointed because I so wanted this to be a great machine. Sticking with my 713 which I love.

[@lars2894]

Agreed. They should have named it Spin 514 for clear indication of lower tier components.

[@EdgarVillegasG]

Great Chromebook, I only miss the lack of and external Micro Card reader slot

[@mjs28s]

@8:35 Speaking of sticker on the top - WHEN are the manufacturers going to stop with the stupid stickers!?! The units that they should be on are store display units. Are the people that actually buying the laptop and own it needing to know what CPU or hard drive or ram is in it after they own it? For the people that would need such a sticker they likely don't even know what enough ram or storage space is and for those that know those terms are also the people that most certainly know how to use the internet to check the model number or even inside the OS of the machine just bring up the machines specifications and configuration. Love the channel and looks like a nice CB for sure.

[@PLANETWATERMELON]

This looks like a 16:10 screen version of the 713. I really hope you address the major issue with this 714 and the 713 which is the odd speaker crackling sound from the speakers. Acer would really have a winner, but there is no excuse for crackling speakers, especially being that it is a software situation which is totally fixable. Please use your connections to Acer to bring attention to this unacceptable flaw.

[@gastroalchemy4499]

Would be wonderful I you could put together a power user chromebook experience. Like video editing. Those stuff that people didn't think you could do with the chromebook.

[@bradavon]

What why would you go from 3:2 to 16:10. 3:2 was it's usp 😢

[@jsnow3543]

I haven't seen one person address the speaker popping issue. Every forum i've been on talks about sending it back to acer through warranty and it not fixing the issue. Did you guys not notice this during your review period it explains the sales price now at best buy

[@finsphotography2705]

this is one chrome book i would love to try

[@thomasculkin349]

For those who use their Chromebook mostly on their lap (as I do), the ergolift keyboard is a real irritant and the reason I recently sold my Spin 713. Glad to see the speakers are loud, which was definitely not true with the 713. Nice price, though.

[@leewalker23]

Well just saying you shouldn't use laptop on your lap for too long, for health reason

[@DoctorNemmo]

@@leewalker23 People shouldn't spend too much time on the internet, yet, here we are

[@reynaldogonzalez5919]

What chrome books do you recommend below $300 in 2022 thanks

[@johnblackledge4009]

What I find most interesting is that the majority of the comments below disagree with Robbie's review.

[@michael_c2]

Yeah it sounds like if nothing else there's a problem with a batch of these devices and a speaker issue. Hope this is isolated to one batch. Personally, I would probably rather catch the 713 on the resale market at a good bargain anyway.

[@curbsidetech]

Looking forward to the full review

[@AndroidDigest]

How does it compare with the feel of the Acer Spin 713? Is it made of aluminum or plastic on the keyboard deck, on the bottom? Are the keys on the keyboard made of plastic and do they feel cheap like the 713? A lot of questions I had. Hopefully you address many of these things in the full review. I know it's solid, and feels good, but there's a lot of details I'm not sure about

[@donavanboykin9489]

It feels cheaper than the 713 somehow

[@BrooklynBowyer]

Definite downgrade from the 713 which is a bummer. Guess that's why it's at the price point it is.

[@gastroalchemy4499]

Understand that they stop shopping with the stylus. Can 3rd party stylus fit into the slot?

[@DamienStenson]

Would have loved this in 3:2 screen ratio.

[@citizensky]

Not bad but try you to focus on the product instead of you just describing it , it will help those of us that are shopping for a Chromebook better. Keep it up

[@felixbronnimann4647]

Hi mate. How about fan and fan noise? Thanks

[@flashbang009]

I had really high hopes, but I'm on my second model from Best Buy with speaker crackling and some trackpad issues. Not sure where to go from here other than potentially another exchange.

[@PLANETWATERMELON]

You still have this 714 and if so how is it?

[@flashbang009]

@@PLANETWATERMELONissues never went away, I ended up returning it and got a Lenovo windows laptop instead. Much happier.

[@richfletcher3275]

Where do I get the T-Shirt?

[@HubertEtAlice]

Bulky, shiny screen, not fanless… this one’s definitely not for me.

[@tvca]

For fanless the only option are arm Chromebooks or less powerful intel chips so... Half of the really good Chromebooks are out.

[@jiamiekori6575]

Kompanio 1300 is the way to for me, at least to say. Totally agree with you!

[@johnmilne8650]

Go for the new 513

[@dmitriykondratenko2085]

Thank you for the review. But I believe it would be great to show how it can transform in to the tab mode. For some people these devices (2in1) are a compromise between computer to work and tab to rest (read/watch) So please, can you make videos with more scenes of the product from the angles. 👍🏻

[@Mab0fSteel]

I was JUST about to call out missing the stowable pen when you came back to it :D

[@chrisladd5392]

Just a FYI for you all. Best Buy has the Spin 713 clearanced to $549.99 right now.

[@gnolan4281]

I just took delivery on the Asus CX5 14" I3. I'm happy with everything except that the maximum speaker volume is so low as to be useless. This Acer might not have speakers as good as my Pixelbook Go but at least they're loud.

[@PatrickC139]

That cx5 still looks like a really nice unit. They seem to be getting hard to find though.

[@gnolan4281]

@@PatrickC139 I paid $649 on Amazon and shortly thereafter the price went up by 75 bucks but with free shipping. It's a stunning machine. i always use a JBL peripheral anyway plus on occasion earbuds so its no biggie. The Pixelbook Go has the very best speakers IMHO but after a year the touchscreen stopped working and after 30 months the screen distorted. Powerwash didn't help.

[@sampless52]

What can we do after the AUE date for chromebook. Pls do a video on this topic

[@sikeston1978]

Great Job !!! are you going to review the asus cx 5601 its already at best buy and would really like your input on that device, I bought the cx5 2021 for my wife and was wanting to know if it was worth getting th cx 5601 for me or get las years cx5 ????

[@michal4736]

Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook OR Lenovo 300e Chromebook (2nd Gen). Which Chromebook would be better? The biggest + for the Lenovo 300e Chromebook (2nd Gen) is, for me, its shape. Rounded and slim, similar to the Pixebool Go.

[@munirm3672]

What Chromebook do you recommend for someone who uses a lot of tabs at the same time? (Research, Google slides, docs, 2-3 emails etc)

[@XO43137]

Are SSD/RAM upgradable?

[@lawsofsand]

With Chrome OS Flex working accross so many windows laptops I wonder what the benefits of purchasing a chromebook specifically are now. Android apps?

[@samcurmudgeon]

And Linux apps (Os Flex doesn't offer a Linux container) - but I'm not sure how many users would care.

[@lawsofsand]

@@samcurmudgeon I thought you could actually, but honestly if you're going that deep, just intall linux instead of Chrome OS flex

[@samcurmudgeon]

@@lawsofsand I've installed Flex OS twice - once when it was in Beta and again last week. In Beta I tested it on an old Thinkpad (not on the supported devices list) and this time on a Mac Mini (2015) that was just getting too slow with the latest MacOS (and is on the supported devices list). On neither did I have an option in advanced settings to enable Linux. -- I don't think anyone wanting a full Linux experience would bother with Crostini on ChromeOS but it does at least give you access to some alternative applications (Gimp, LibreOffice, etc.).

[@lawsofsand]

@@samcurmudgeon my mistake, I must have read from a poor source. From an enterprise perspective, I'm still going to be distributing thinkpads with Linux, 99% of our work is done in web apps but it's good to have the flexibility of Linux when needed.

[@markbracegirdle7110]

@@samcurmudgeon you can run Linux on Flex, but you need 8GB of RAM.

[@A_Bunch_of_Savages]

So they have a USI pen which gets used once in a blue moon by most people, but left out the fingerprint scanner that gets used by everybody every day. Whiffed again. Hard pass.

[@mikeyt181818]

The fingerprint scanner, 400 nits, 3:2 aspect ratio and haptic trackpad are the reasons I skipped this one and went for the HP Dragonfly Chromebook with the i3. With the sale and coupon code I got it at $864. Well worth the extra few bucks for me personally!

[@yvonnegraves7357]

Great video cool!

[@D34D4H34D]

The 713 EVO from last year is nicer than this 714 non EVO..

[@donavanboykin9489]

Agreed

[@psun7802]

c'mon @chromeunboxed, ya'lls supposed to be the pro's at reviews. look thru the comments. ya'll totally oversold the 714, and the people are talking.

[@Matt61268]

Well, from the comments I guess I'll be hanging on to my 713. Not paying 700 for a Chromebook anyway.

[@cedrichenryii]

Call me a fanboy but I think I will go Samsung.

[@user-lj4lo7cx7m]

Hello, can you please tell me the model? Thanks

[@imad1996]

Why pay $726 for this? They want to sell the i7 one for $1k+. There is something called MacBook air with M2. I believe the Mac will give 10times the value and the quality.

[@Elinzar]

700 for a Chromebook... At that point you better get something with windows or linux installed, since how locked down the Chrome os ecosystem is, is kinda pointless to spend that much money

[@jiamiekori6575]

Is it me or this thing is too thick?

[@bobsimmons1470]

I so want to love Chromebooks but then I see that I can get a Lenovo 7i with more features for the same money and I quickly give up all hope for Chromebooks

[@ThomasHoellriegl]

Which features do you mean?

[@bobsimmons1470]

@@ThomasHoellriegl thumbprint reader, better speakers, better screen, better build quality, better processor

[@ThomasHoellriegl]

@@bobsimmons1470 You write "Chromebooks", but you refer to only the model in this video. Well, as there are more cars on the market as the VW Golf, there are more Chromebooks on the market than this low priced one. As far as I know, Dell and HP have High Performance Business Class Chromebooks.

[@bobsimmons1470]

@@ThomasHoellriegl awesome thanks!

[@michael_c2]

@@bobsimmons1470 Just putting the word better in front of something doesn't make it a feature. And Chromebooks have fingerprint sensors. Just like windows devices, some of them have it and some of them don't.

[@theanimeking5884]

😂 😂 mine camera is 2k

[@christopherdelaughter1239]

Duck duck quack quack I’m the first to write in the crack

[@samyotta5248]

I have Acer Chromebook 513 very bad speaker 🔊 I'm going to sell it I will not buy Acer again

[@dandandan3515]

I cannot imagine spending over $700 for Chromebook. At this price point you may get a windows laptop with similar or better specs.

[@seenoweevil1991]

I imagine most of the people watching a Chrome channel *strongly* disagree with you. I know out of the two I prefer a CB.

[@donavanboykin9489]

Nah. I'd still prefer Chrome OS. Chromebooks don't have to be these slow, low powered devices. People get these instead of the cheaper ones for the same reason you would pay for a Windows laptop at this price. Performance. If I can keep the simplicity of Chrome whole also gaining spread and efficiency, it makes for a fantastic personal computer and work machine. Most of what we do nowadays is on the web. And aside from that we have Android apps and Linux apps to close the gap. There's never really anything I wanna do on my Chromebook that I can't.

[@brydonthunder]

In Canada atleast, chromebooks make sense until about 700$ At which point the tasks which you are expecting to do on the machine start to become more difficult and your just better off buying a windows laptop.

[@russc788]

$729 is not a fair price for a Chromebook. Chromebook books are supposed to be great at the low end. This is why I unsubscribed (along with Chromebook end of life nonsense)

[@michael_c2]

It's almost like Chromebooks are developing and that they have stuff at the higher end now as well. It's funny because people complained when all of it was low end and said it wasn't powerful enough. Now they make them more powerful and people complain that they're too expensive. Maybe a Chromebook isn't for you and that's fine, but you probably didn't need to announce it all of us.

[@elmin2323]

Yuck

[@christopher480]

Are you guys now too lazy to make real videos now?.....whats with the horrible short where you are trying to mislead ppl about the new duet? Who cares if Lenovo claims they fixed the cpu it doesnt support a pen at all. No microsd card slot either and yet you still called it the best tablet of this yr which honestly is pretty much a lie. Both asus and hp have wayyyyyyy better tablets and you know it,. Rob maybe its about time you switched places with your camera man for a long long while.

[@brydonthunder]

The duet supports a pen? Though I agree this channels videos give really poor quality information about the products. The fact they he even gave this laptop approval despite being clearly worse quality than last year is silly.