Acer was one of the first companies to launch an ultrabook, but it’s been a little while since we’ve seen a new model from the company. That changes this month with the introduction of the new 2.9 pound Acer Aspire S 13 laptop.
It launches in Europe this month for €699, and the Aspire S 13 should be available in North America in May for $699 and up.
That puts the Aspire S 13 squarely in the same category as the Asus ZenBook UX305 line of entry-level ultrabooks. But whereas the most affordable ZenBook models feature Intel Core M3 processors, the $699 Aspire S 13 has an Intel Core i3 processor.
Acer will offer models with up to a Core i7 processor, up to 8GB of RAM, and up to 512GB of solid state storage. A touchscreen option will also be available.
Each model has a 1920 x 1080 pixel IPS display, and the demo models I saw all had matte, non-glare screens with good viewing angles. USB 3.1 Type-C and USB 3.0 ports, 802.11ac WiFi, and a battery that Acer says should be good for between 11 and 13 hours of battery life.
The notebook measures 12.9″ x 9″ x 0.6″ and comes in black or white colors. It’s not quite as small as a Dell XPS 13 or LG Gram 13, since the Acer notebook has larger bezels around the screen. But at 2.9 pounds, it’s still pretty portable for a laptop with a Core i series processor.