Acer took to the stage today at its Next@Acer event to unveil a bunch of new devices. While there are offerings in the consumer space such as the new Swift X that sports dedicated graphics, the company also had announcements for the business-focused TravelMate lineup of devices. The two devices announced today include a refreshed TravelMate P6 and a new TravelMate Spin P6 convertible.
The highlight of the TravelMate P6 range has been its lightweight nature and that doesn’t change this year either. While the TravelMate P6 weighs in at 2.4 pounds, the convertible is lighter at 2.2 pounds. The lighter weight does not compromise durability, thanks to the chassis built using a magnesium-aluminum alloy. The convertible model – which is a first for the P6 line – comes with an Acer Active Stylus that can be docked in the device.
Another important improvement comes in the way of the display dimensions, which is now a 16:10 aspect ratio unit that is housed in a frame with smaller bezels, addressing one of the complaints from our review of its predecessor. Both devices come with 14-inch Full HD resolution displays with Acer’s PrivacyPanel built-in. The units cover 100% of the sRGB color gamut, making them highly color accurate. Another addition this year is Windows Hello support, bringing biometric authentication using IR cameras, coupled with the privacy shutter.
As for specifications, both devices are being offered with up to an Intel Core i7 vPro processor from the 11th-generation Tiger Lake family of chips that come with Iris Xe graphics. The laptops can be had with up to 32GB of DRR4x RAM and 1TB of PCIe Gen3 NVMe SSD. The firm is promising up to 20 hours of battery life for the clamshell version, though, users’ mileage may vary.
Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 6 and 5G, with the latter bringing a useful way for professionals that are on the go, especially with pandemic-related curbs slowly lifting across countries. As for ports, the devices come with Type-C Thunderbolt 4 ports for the full Thunderbolt experience, along with the usual HDMI and USB-A ports. Interestingly, the laptops also come with NFC for mobile payments.
The TravelMate P6 (model number TMP614-52) will be available in the European markets from September for an asking price of €999. However, it will only make it to the U.S. in December and will start at $1,299.99. The TravelMate Spin P6 convertible (TMP614RN-52) will begin selling in Europe in October at a starting price of €1,199, with U.S. availability set for December starting at $1,399.