At the ongoing annual IFA trade show, Acer unveiled the successor to the much loved Chromebook R 11, the Chromebook R 13.
The Chromebook R 13 is a bigger version of the Chromebook R 11, sporting the same convertible design with a 360-degree turning touchscreen that will allow users to use the device as either a laptop computer with keyboard or as a tablet computer.
In addition to the laptop mode and the tablet mode, users can also have the Chromebook R 13 on display mode, with the keyboard facing down and the screen looking like it is on a stand, and on tent mode, with the device standing on the edges of the screen and the body.
The specifications of the Chromebook R 13 will not allow it to be compared with top-of-the-line computers though. The device is the first Chromebook that will be powered by a MediaTek chipset, specifically the MediaTek M8173C Core Pilot quad-core processor, and will be powered by 4 GB of LPDDR3 RAM. The 13.3-inch touchscreen of the Chromebook R 13 is backlit with LEDs and is able to display full HD 1,920 x 1,080 resolution with a 10-point touch input.
The Chromebook R 13 also offers users with storage options of 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB, and comes with a USB Type-C port, a regular USB 3.0 port, an HDMI port, Bluetooth 4.0, a headphone jack and a microphone. It is also said that the device will be able to last as long as 12 hours from just a single charge.
With Google soon to introduce Android apps into the Chrome OS, which powers the low-cost Chromebooks, the components that make up a good Chromebook to take advantage of the coming Android apps have changed. The most important need would probably be a touchscreen, as most Android apps are created with a touchscreen interface in mind.
However, currently, most of the well-reviewed Chromebooks do not have touchscreens. Those that do, meanwhile, are too small, too lightly powered, or too expensive.
Acer's Chromebook R 13, with its specs and features, would be able to take advantage of the upcoming Android apps, and with a price tag that starts at $399 for the 16 GB model, it is looking very much like the top option for Chrome OS users looking forward to gaining access to the Google Play Store.
No specific release date has been revealed by Acer for the Chromebook R 13, but the company said that it will be launched into the market by October.
