The Spin 1 ($329.99) is the least expensive 2-in-1 convertible laptop that Taiwan-based Acer makes.
To put it succinctly, you're getting a very usable PC for a very low price—and it even includes an active (powered) stylus for drawing and writing on its impressive 1080p screen.
We're so wowed by its excellent combination of price, features, and performance that we're giving it our Editors' Choice in the budget convertible category.
Before we go further, note that not all Spin 1s are created equal.
Pay close attention to the SKUs or model numbers, as the ones starting with SP111-32N, like our test unit, are sleeker than the ones starting with SP111-31, SP113-31, or SP111-31N.
Or, if you prefer, use Acer's part numbers.
Our review unit's part number is NX.GRMAA.002; the models with part numbers that don't start with NX-GRMAA, such as NX.GNGAA.002, are the thicker versions.
Upscale Looks
Despite what you might expect for the price, the outside of the Spin 1 ( at Amazon) isn't plastic.
This machine is covered in metal from its lid to its bottom.
Available in one color (the gunmetal gray of our review unit), the Spin 1 looks great and feels solid.
We especially like the crosshatched pattern on the lid.
The shiny beveled edge around the chassis and the lid add some sparkle, as do the twin mirror-finished display hinges.
The latter permit the Acer's display to tilt back 360 degrees, transforming it into a somewhat bulky tablet.
At 2.8 pounds, the Spin 1 is almost three times heavier than the 9.7-inch Apple iPad.
That's more of an observation than a complaint.
Big or small, convertibles tend to work their best in Laptop mode, with Tablet mode as a convenient, part-time bonus.
Like other hybrids, the Spin 1 also allows you to flip and fold the screen into Tent mode (with the screen tilted back 270 degrees and the machine resting on the top edge of its lid and front edge of the chassis) and Stand mode (screen tilted back, keyboard face down).
While in Stand mode, four rubber feet around the keyboard area prevent the system from sliding around too much.
As we noted before, the Spin 1 is somewhat bulky considering its 11.6-inch screen.
The machine measures 0.56 by 11.4 by 7.9 inches.
The half-inch-thick display bezel makes the Spin 1 look a little retro, but it's unlikely you'll find a borderless screen on a convertible notebook in this price range.
On the plus side, the bezel gives your fingers ample place to rest without touching the screen.
Nestled in the bezel above the screen is the Spin 1's venerable VGA (640-by-480) webcam.
We'd hesitate to use it even for casual chats, as its picture quality is very pixelated and washed out.
The Keys to Good Input
The Spin 1's full-size keyboard is more than usable.
As a matter of fact, we genuinely enjoyed typing on it.
The keys have a plastic feel but an energetic up-and-down action.
They made minimal noise under our fingers, and there was no flex in the keyboard deck.
Key backlighting is absent, but we don't expect it in this price range.
The touchpad just left of center in the palm rest is nicely sized and works fine, too, although its physical clicks are a bit loud for our liking.
Audible feedback that we do appreciate comes from the Spin 1's twin speakers; they pump out reasonably loud sound from the sides of the chassis.
Connectivity is yet another area where the Spin 1 does well.
It has an AC power jack, an HDMI video-out, a USB 3.0 Type-A port, and a microSD card slot along its left edge.
On the right side, you'll find a volume rocker, a power button, an audio combo jack, and another USB 3.0 port.
USB-C is notably absent, but that feature hasn't become commonplace in low-priced PCs.
Beautiful View
The crown jewel of this little Acer is its 11.6-inch screen.
You won't find any washed-out 1,366-by-768 panel here.
The Spin 1's display offers full HD (1080p) resolution and wide viewing angles thanks to IPS technology.
Viewing angles are especially important on convertible devices, as you'll be looking at the screen from so many different perspectives: as a laptop, lying flat, in A-frame mode, or in a vertical orientation.
Its exceptional brightness, high contrast, and well-saturated colors collaborated to deliver a lively picture.
We found the brightness to be overwhelming in darker rooms, a complaint we're always happy to have.
The display's 10-point touch technology worked without a hitch.
The Acer Active Stylus is included in the price of our review unit.
It goes for $49.99 on its own.
With 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity, a 5mm hover distance, and two side buttons, this is one high-tech input device.
The Active Stylus looks and feels like a traditional ink pen, albeit one that's rather heavy.
Its power source is a swappable AAAA-type battery.
Acer doesn't publish the expected battery life, but we suspect it'll last quite a while.
Although far too large to fit inside the Spin 1, the Active Stylus can be kept attached via magnets on either side of the palm rest or on the upper corners of the lid.
Our only wish-list item for this stylus is for grippy material toward the front, but that's a matter of preference.
Send More Storage!
If you're expecting the Spin 1 to plow through complex workloads and edit 4K videos, you've picked the wrong machine.
But if you want to surf the web, deliver PowerPoint presentations, and stream HD video, it should be able to keep up.
Its circa-2016 Intel Celeron N3350 processor has just enough pep to render complex webpages without a hiccup.
Light multitasking isn't a problem, thanks to its just-enough 4GB of system memory.
It's far better off in that regard than ultra-budget systems with just 2GB of RAM.
See How We Test Laptops
That said, you should expect to be a little patient now and then with a minimal-spec machine like this.
According to our benchmarks, the Celeron N3350 CPU is fractionally as fast as a dual-core Intel Core i3 processor that you might find in an entry-level notebook.
It doesn't take much to bog down the Celeron, especially if you're multitasking.
Loading multiple web pages at the same time is one way to do it.
Patience will undoubtedly be required for Windows 10 updates; they seemed to take forever on our Spin 1.
The drive in the unit loaned to us for review uses traditional flash-based storage, which is much slower than the high-tech NAND you'll find in a real solid-state drive (SSD).
That's the reality at this price point.
More limiting still is the fact that our review unit has just 32GB of storage space.
Of that, only 3.5GB was free for use, and that was after we uninstalled the Office 365 and Norton anti-malware trials.
Windows 10 actually required us to hook up external storage to get one of the OS updates installed due to lack of space.
Pictures are worth a thousand words:
There are ways to live with just 32GB of storage, though.
For one, you can easily expand the Spin 1's storage via its microSD card slot.
128GB cards were going for between $35 and $40 online as we typed this, and sizes up to 400GB were available.
Using cloud-based storage, such as Microsoft OneDrive, is another way to get around it.
Acer sells other models of the Spin 1 with 64GB or 128GB of storage, but they can get pricey, and the value proposition isn't as attractive.
The least-expensive model that includes 64GB of storage and the Active Stylus is the $429.99 SP111-32N-P0FA ($100 more than our review unit).
If you're willing to forego the stylus, the SP111-32N-C53M has 64GB of storage and goes for the same $329.99 as our tester.
Thermals and Performance
One benefit to the Spin 1's minimal performance footprint is that it doesn't need active cooling.
Thus, it's totally silent at all times.
The chassis barely became lukewarm even while we were running our benchmarks.
The Spin 1 wouldn't complete our PCMark 8 benchmark, which isn't an uncommon occurrence on low-spec systems.
It would have likely scored right about 2,000 points, as did the Asus VivoBook W202; that machine was powered by the same Celeron N3350 processor as our Acer.
The Core m3-powered Dell Inspiron 3179 scored far higher than the others in that benchmark.
Available as an option on pricier Spin 1 models, the Pentium N4200 in the Acer Switch 3 and the Dell Latitude 3189 was noticeably faster in the Cinebench and Handbrake tests than the Celeron N3350.
At least the Celeron was slightly faster than the older Atom x5-Z8350 in the Asus Transformer Mini T102HA.
The Spin 1 didn't top our battery life charts.
Its time of 9 hours and 14 minutes wasn't underwhelming, but neither was it impressive for this segment.
That time should at least get you through a work or school day on a single charge, though.
The Spin 1 put up performance in line with its integrated Intel HD 500 graphics in our 3D tests, but that's about all we can say.
Browser-based gaming is all you can really expect from this level of hardware.
A Likable Hybrid
The Acer Spin 1 SP111-32N-C2X3 packs a remarkable amount of value into a small package.
We'd consider its 1080p touch display to be good quality at any price, and you even get a high-tech powered stylus for its $329.99 asking price.
Its Celeron N3350 processor and skimpy 32GB of onboard storage mean you won't exactly be rendering the next Pixar movie on it, but it works fine for basic tasks.
Our Spin 1's 9-hour-plus showing in our battery rundown test wasn't enough to make it a segment leader, but that's still a very usable amount of time off the plug.
Add in plenty of ports and a stylish design, and a better value at this price point is tough to find.
Acer Spin 1 (SP111-32N-C2X3)
The Bottom Line
With its wealth of features and super-budget price, the 11.6-inch Acer Spin 1 is an excellent-value 2-in-1 convertible.
