AMD is planting its flag deep into Chromebook territory. At the CES tech conference in Las Vegas today, Acer announced the Acer Chromebook 315, powered by an AMD APU with AMD Radeon graphics and arriving in North America this February starting at $279.99.
Acer Chromebook 315 Specs
| CPU | AMD A4-9120C or AMD A6-9220C |
| Display | 15.6 inches, Full HD, IPS |
| RAM | Up to 8GB |
| Storage | Up to 32GB (eMMC) |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon (integrated) |
| Ports | 2x USB Type-C2x USB 3.0Headphone/speaker jack |
| Connectivity | WiFi 802.11ac with 2x2 MIMO Bluetooth 4.2 |
| Webcam | HD |
| Dimensions (WxDxH) | 15 x 10.1 x 0.8 inches (380.5 x 256.3 x 20mm) |
| Weight | 3.8 pounds (1.7kg) |
| Price | Starts at $279.99 |
Although Chromebooks up until now have favored Intel’s lower-end CPUs, it seems Team Blue has some competition here with both Acer and HP announcing AMD-based Chromebooks today.
The Acer Chromebook 315 will run on a dual-core, 7th generation AMD APU (basically a CPU with integrated graphics). Acer is offering two choices, the AMD A4-9120C with a 2.2-GHz clock speed and 2.5GHz turbo, or the newer and faster AMD A6-9220C at 2.5GHz, with a 2.9GHz turbo. In terms of graphics, the former has two GPU cores and AMD Radeon R3 graphics, while the latter has three GPU cores and AMD Radeon R5.
The Chromebook rocks a 15.6-inch display with Full HD resolution, available as both a touchscreen or non-touchscreen. Acer chose an IPS panel for the display and says you can view the image from 178-degree angles.
As a Chromebook, the machine will target basic productivity; memory goes up to 8GB, which is more than most computers running Google's OS. Maximum eMMC storage is 32GB. Acer claims the laptop's battery life will span up to 10 hours.
The Chromebook also has two USB-C ports (one on each side) and a pair of USB 3.0 ports, plus a combo headphone and speaker jack.
Other features include an HD webcam with an 88-degree field of view that Acer claims can handle group chats. Shoppers who opt for the touchscreen version will also get a full-sized, backlit keyboard. Sound is covered by two speakers on the each side of the keyboard that face upwards.
We look forward to getting our hands on the AMD-packed Acer Chromebook 315 during our time here at CES this week.
