Acer's new Switch 12 tablet has a cool detachable keyboard

By Rich Edmonds
last updated

Acer today unveiled the new Switch 12 2-in-1 Windows tablet. Think of it as a larger version of the 10- and 11-inch Switch devices, a tablet and laptop in a single unit. Utilizing Intel's fight-generation Core M processors, Acer is certainly looking to pack some power inside these machines with a solid battery life.

Just like the smaller model, the Switch 12 comes with a Corning Gorilla Glass protected 1080p display, which also offers an anti-fingerprint coating. Thanks to the Intel Core M CPU, there's no fan to be heard while browsing the web and watching the latest blockbuster. And because the chip is also fairly energy efficient, Acer states that the Switch 12 should offer up to eight hours of video playback. The neat feature of the Switch 12 is the detachable keyboard.

Micro USB 3.0 ports are joined by Micro HDMI and the Switch 12 will be available with a 60GB or 120GB SSD. Unfortunately, Acer has yet to reveal pricing, but you can look forward to such details before the product launches next year.

Would you be interested in picking one up?

Rich Edmonds
Rich Edmonds
Senior Editor, PC Build

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.

38 Comments
  • These hybrids are getting pretty good
  • well took them long enough. will be like the transition from xp to win7 vista was the stage were hardware was hardly ammended everyone had problems. than over a 4 year period that got developed and was sorted with the Win7 release. Now we have Windows 8 with hardware hardly being changed and by the time win10 hits the shelves - the OEMS finally got the grip of it
  • Nice looking device. Btw I really hate when most manufacturers says the Corning Gorilla Glass is scratch resistance. It it NOT.
  • Gorilla Glass certainly is scratch resistant BUT it is not Scratch Proof it can still get scratched just takes a lot more effort that it would to scratch PLAIN glass..
  • Try comparing a phone that doesn't have Gorilla Glass to one that does.
    My old ZTE Blade is covered in pock marks and scratches. My 1020 - just one deeper scratch on the screen and some indiscernibly small surface scuffs....(after 12 months of use)
    The Blade was in a case...my 1020 has never been in one.
    Gorilla Glass is pretty damn good. But of course, it doesn't stop scratches entirely.
  • Resistance and Proof are not the same thing and they never said it was Scratch Proof !
  • I've used my 920 for almost a year without any screen protector, and no scratch to be found.
  • Some of these things are making me reconsider wanting to get a surface pro 3. I need something small and compact to pack on a motorcycle that will run Adobe lightroom. It's a 6 week road trip, so it can't take up to much space. I like my Dell venue pro, but it just doesn't have the horsepower I want.
  • The core m cpus do not have the same grunt as haswell. The surface pro 3 is a better bet, especially for photoshop and lightroom. I've got an i7 sp3 and the yoga pro 3. The core m in the yoga is a serious let down, as is the keyboard. I'm going to be passing it on to a pa, it doesn't have the grunt, for me. Nor the battery life. Which is a surprise. Daniel R did a preview of the Lenovo with the core m, I believe this has the same chipset. Check it out b if you can afford it, even the i5 has this beat.
  • Older i5 are beaten by the Core M. Newer ones are not.
  • It's the haswell I'm referring to. They're the new ones, low tdp etc. They are superior to the core m. There's a good article on anandtech.com about it all.
  • Looks like a good upgrade from my Asus t100 which has been great
  • I'm looking to buy a t100 as in my country its basically the only good hybrid thats available for a good price. How has the t100 treated you if I may ask? Or is there something out there thats better for the same price
  • My wife sold her 3rd gen iPad and her iPhone to get a T100, and she was knee deep in the Apple ecosystem. She loved it so much that when she dropped it a few weeks ago, shattering the glass, I offered to buy her a new one but she insisted I get the glass replaced. Yep, that much.
  • I have been using a T100 since before Christmas.
    Despite it only having an Atom processor, I have used mine to do Full HD video editing whilst cycle touring. Now I back home, I have it connected to my Full HD external monitor and use it for everything (website building primarily - but also photo editing & of course, watching videos etc).
    The only problem I have had with mine is regarding the space. Mine is a 32GB edition....trying to manage the space was just so frustrating.
    So I installed Wimboot using the guides/iso files provided here;
    http://avisek.pl/translations/installing-windows-8-1-on-asus-t100ta-wimb...
    I now have 18GB of free space, and a super smooth computer!
    I wouldn't change my T100 for anything right now. It is light, fast and works v.v.well. Also, recharging via USB means I can recharge my tablet using an Anker battery (and even via a solar panel when cycle touring).
    Great piece of kit.
  • Thanks for the feedback guys, the only thing I'm worried about is will it be able to do some light gaming? Not anything like Crysis or Battlefield but some online gaming. Also ram? Does it get bogged down easy? Because I usually open loads of tabs when using chrome and my previous laptops all started to get slow. I'm 90% certain I'm buying the t100 but the other 10% says I should buy a cheap touch screen laptop, one that has a i3 and atleast 500gb storage
  • It's pretty simple to work out if the T100 is for you. Which two of the three are more important to you; Portability? Battery life? Gaming? The T100 does the first two amazing well. It does also do gaming - but I wouldn't say it is a great device for it. There are loads of video demonstrations on Youtube showing what games the T100 can/can't play...(https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=t100+gaming) Also, it does only have 1 USB 3 port, and the touchpad is usable, but abyssmal. I have my T100 plugged into a USB 3 hub giving me seven extra ports - one of which houses the dongle for my Microsoft wireless mouse (and another connects me to my external HDD). The major problems with the T100 are the touchpad & the small internal space. So try and find a T100 with the 32GB/64GB + 500GB combinations. Oh, and there is a hardware revision that's out in the US which has a more powerful Atom processor... (As for RAM - I have just been watching my task manager. Without Google Chrome open, my memory usage is at 32%. With Chrome open and 8 tabs, it goes to 59%. Chrome is a memory hog, so if you use Internet Explorer, you'll be fine. I have only had one 'out of memory' warning....and that was when running a half dozen programs AND Chrome with a bag full of tabs open. Also, remember that the eMMC storage on the T100 is quicker than that of a conventional hard drive. So if you picked up an i3 laptop with a mech' hard drive, you would probably find the laptop slows down quickly when it starts using the Page File. I don't ever notice much slow down on my T100)
  • Thanks for the info mate you just convinced the other 10% of me to get this lol. The one I'm getting is the one with the atom z3740 which I hope is good enough but I'm struggling two find one with the 500gb hard drive so I guess I have to go for the 64gb version then
  • I have the 32 gig T100... Install 64gig SD card and move your OneDrive/SkyDrive folder to it as well as point your documents, photos, videos, etc to it and move the files over. I have about 10 gig free... (you might have to manually remove the onedrive) files after moving the folder)
  • Here's a video to look at it better, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suHN8dUarSk
  • I may be in the market for a surface 3 or mini. If either are made. I have a feeling I'm waiting for windows 10
  • Hybrids are becoming more and more hybrid day by day. Looks so cool.... Can't wait to get in hand.
  • I'm in the market to buy a tablet device. I loved my Surface 2 (it was stolen along with my older Macbook) but it's getting on in age now and I've been looking around. Haven't found anything I particularly liked. 
  • Notepad and pencils. Like your ancestors did it! No one is gonna steal your pencil lmao. N ur certainly not gona break the bank.
  • Acer is junk
  • Gotta love those Fight-Generation products!
  • Lool
  • Shhh... The first rule of the fight generation processors is you don't talk about the fight generation processors... :)
  • No good for me. I'm a lover, not a fighter
  • And what are the cool aspect of the keyboard? I can't find it on the article... :3 EDIT: Nevermind ... I've watched on video given by parunvatrick comment. This kind of visualization should be included in the article though. :)
  • Ok has anyone else noticed that we went from the occasional piece of shit tablet release to a new tablet coming out like every day lol. This is too many. What's the point. They all.do the same thing. Lol. Now were tablet crowded!!
  • All good news
    More tablets = more choice
    More choice = more sales
    More sales = more windows 8.1
    More 8.1 = more apps.
    Hopefully these will be cross platform until windows 10 unifies the platform completely.
    The new windows tablets are brilliant I can heartily recommend them.
  • Mr Toft I with you .I Predict that Windows 10 will be a hit because microsoft is lustening to what Peopla want and will make Windows 10 good enough to work well enough on touch screen and non touch screen Computers of all shapes  
  • You headline that the Acer Switch 12 has a cool detachable keyboard but you dont mention what's cool about it other than it's detachable. Not unique anymore.
  • Sorry but the fact that the stand on the bottom cannot be taken of is a killer for me. I am looking for a new portable windows pc but don't need the grunt the wives SP3 I5 has. So this is a no go for me if they bring out an 11 inch without that ugly stand on the bottom i might look at that.
  • Interesting but I wish Acer gave potential customers the option to add a digitizer and 16:10 display.
  • Seems familiar.
  • No link to an Acer specs/sales page? I have to Bing it myself?? :) I bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 8" tablet the other day, my first Android device and my first tablet... I kinda hate it. I love that there are so many apps, but the OS is us just so clunky, and the device itself feels underpowered and is sort of cumbersome to handle without a stand and a case. Think I'll return it (thanks Costco!) for something like this instead...