At a look
Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Solid efficiency for Lunar Lake
- Speedy built-in GPU
- 32GB of RAM
- Great worth for the {hardware}
Cons
- Battery life doesn’t impress
- Not optimized for multi-threaded CPU efficiency
Our Verdict
The Acer Aspire 16 AI is significantly good worth, with a number of succesful {hardware} at a great worth. But this machine trades a few of Lunar Lake’s battery life for larger efficiency.
Price When Reviewed
This worth will present the geolocated pricing textual content for product undefined
Best Pricing Today
Price When Reviewed
$1,099
Best Prices Today: Acer Aspire 16 AI
The Acer Aspire 16 AI, accessible for $1,099 at Costco, is a 16-inch productiveness laptop computer with beneficiant {hardware} in your greenback. With an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, this machine delivers spectacular single-threaded CPU efficiency for a Lunar Lake system and an NPU quick sufficient to run Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC options. The built-in Intel Arc GPU punches above its weight, too.
While Acer is pushing the AI angle right here — and this machine does have an NPU — Acer’s advertising is underselling how good the GPU is right here. On a current walk-through Costco’s laptop computer part, I noticed all kinds of laptops across the $1,000 mark. But they weren’t all capable of modest gaming like this machine is.
Acer Aspire 16 AI: Specs
The Acer Aspire 16 AI we reviewed got here with an Intel Core Ultra 9 288V CPU. This isn’t like most Lunar Lake CPUs I’ve benchmarked in machines just like the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360. This specific CPU is a higher-tier processor that cranks the TDP to 30W. This is Intel’s quickest Lunar Lake CPU, but it surely additionally makes use of extra battery energy.
This has Lunar Lake’s spectacular Intel Arc 140V built-in graphics and an NPU able to delivering Copilot+ PC options on Windows 11. The single-threaded CPU efficiency on this Intel Core Ultra 9 processor is bigger than what you’d anticipate from the typical Lunar Lake processor, though the multithreaded CPU efficiency nonetheless lags older Intel processor architectures.
Combine that with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB solid-state drive and, for $1,099, this machine has significantly spectacular {hardware} for the cash, particularly when RAM and SSD costs are so excessive.
- Model quantity: A16-52MT-91B0
- CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 288V
- Memory: 32GB LPDDR5X RAM
- Graphics/GPU: Intel Arc 140V
- NPU: Intel AI Boost (48 TOPS)
- Display: 16-inch 1920×1200 IPS show with 30Hz to 120Hz variable refresh charge
- Storage: 1TB PCIe NVMe 4 SSD
- Webcam: 1080p webcam
- Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 4 (USB Type-C), 2x USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x MicroSD card reader, 1x combo audio jack
- Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
- Biometrics: IR digicam for Windows Hello facial recognition
- Battery capability: 65 Watt-hours
- Dimensions: 13.97 x 9.85 x 0.63 inches
- Weight: 3.4 kilos
- MSRP: $1,099 as examined
At an MSRP of $1,099, the Acer Aspire 16 AI is superb worth for a midrange laptop computer.
Acer Aspire 16 AI: Design and construct high quality
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
This machine, in a “Steel Gray” colour, received’t win any design awards. It’s a giant piece of grey plastic. Acer has chosen to allocate this laptop computer’s price range to the {hardware}, not a elaborate chassis.
However, plastic is fine. The chassis feels good and doesn’t have a number of flex. It’s a strong machine that evokes confidence. The hinge is strong and doesn’t wobble as you sort.
At 3.4 kilos and 0.63 inches skinny, it’s pretty mild and compact for a 16-inch laptop computer. It’s fairly good for a midrange laptop computer that opts for a plastic chassis and robust inside {hardware}.
The show hinge will allow you to lie it flat, too, opening to 180 levels for additional flexibility.
The taskbar and Start menu are somewhat cluttered with bloat out of the field. The taskbar has a shortcut to Booking.com, for instance. Even for those who use Booking.com to e book journey, I doubt you utilize it so typically that you just want it pinned to your taskbar! Likewise, the Start menu comes with shortcuts to free-to-play video games like Forge of Empires. They’re nonetheless simple to unpin with a right-click.
Acer Aspire 16 AI: Keyboard and trackpad
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
The Acer Aspire 16 AI has a full-size keyboard full with a quantity pad on the proper facet. Some individuals choose having a quantity pad on a 16-inch laptop computer, whereas others discover it cramped. That’s a matter of non-public style.
This machine’s keyboard is ok — the keys don’t really feel mushy, and there’s clear bodily suggestions once you hit the underside. A extra premium keyboard would really feel “snappier” once you hit the underside of the important thing, however once more, this one’s completely high-quality. It additionally has a white backlight.
This machine’s trackpad is a considerable measurement that’s bigger than the trackpads on some competing 16-inch laptops I’ve reviewed. The floor is clean and responsive, and the big measurement makes it simple to carry out multi-touch gestures, like swiping up with 4 fingers to activate Task View and see your open home windows.
Acer Aspire 16 AI: Display and audio system
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
The Acer Aspire 16 AI has a 16-inch 1920×1200 IPS show. The standout function here’s a variable refresh charge from 30Hz as much as 120Hz, which is sweet to see.
The picture high quality and colours listed here are high-quality. They’re about what you’d anticipate from a productivity-focused 16-inch laptop computer — no higher and no worse. If you’re on the lookout for colours that actually pop, you’ll wish to search out a laptop computer with an OLED display screen. If you need larger element, you may search for one with a 4K panel. But this can be a strong panel.
This show delivers as much as 350 nits of brightness. That’s center of the street, however the show’s matte floor, which makes it extra immune to reflections, helps quite a bit. Acer managed to incorporate a touchscreen, too. Touchscreens are usually shiny and susceptible to reflections, in order that’s a particularly sensible alternative.
The audio system are higher than the typical midrange laptop computer I overview, with a considerable quantity of quantity and a transparent sound. Bass is missing, however the sound high quality is healthier than I anticipated it to be. However, I’d nonetheless suggest headphones or exterior audio system once you actually wish to take pleasure in your media.
Acer Aspire 16 AI: Webcam, microphone, biometrics
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
The Acer Aspire 16 AI has a 1080p webcam. For a midrange laptop computer, the picture high quality right here is nice — perhaps even higher than common on this worth vary. And, as this can be a Copilot+ PC, you get Windows Studio Effects for AI results that tweak your webcam’s image in actual time. The webcam additionally has a bodily privateness shutter you’ll be able to shut to dam it.
This machine’s microphone additionally sounds higher than common for a client laptop computer on this worth vary, choosing up clear audio. The webcam, microphone, and audio system are the little touches the place a number of laptops lower corners, and it’s good to see Acer delivering a strong baseline right here.
The Acer Aspire 16 AI has an IR digicam for Windows Hello, so you’ll be able to rapidly signal into your PC together with your face. It labored nicely. There’s no fingerprint reader on this machine.
Acer Aspire 16 AI: Connectivity
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
The Acer Aspire 16 AI affords a wide selection of ports. On the left facet, this machine has two Thunderbolt 4 (USB4 Type-C) ports, a USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1) port, and an HDMI 2.1 out port.
On the correct facet, Acer included a microSD card reader, a combo audio jack, a second USB Type-A port (additionally USB 3.2 Gen 1), and a safety lock slot.
This is an efficient variety of ports with fashionable specs — it’s a pleasant setup. This machine fees by way of USB-C, so that you’ll be plugging into one of many ports on the left facet to energy it.
Thanks to Intel’s Lunar Lake platform, the Acer Aspire 16 AI helps fashionable Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 wi-fi requirements, too.
Acer Aspire 16 AI: Performance
The Acer Aspire 16 AI is an enchanting machine performance-wise. While Intel’s Lunar Lake processors are usually gradual and sip energy, the Intel Core Ultra 9 288V processor right here runs at larger energy and delivers extra efficiency with decrease battery life. The machine performs nicely and, actually, for those who’re not on the lookout for 24-hour battery life, this Lunar Lake CPU might be a more sensible choice than the opposite ones.
We ran the Acer Aspire 16 AI via our standard benchmarks to see the way it performs. I set the Aspire 16 AI to “Best Performance” mode whereas plugged in by way of the Windows Settings app, as that’s the way you’ll seemingly wish to use it.
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
First, we run PCMark 10 to get an thought of general system efficiency. With a PCMark 10 rating of 8,923, the efficiency was surprisingly excessive. The outcomes right here outperform what I’d anticipate to see any Lunar Lake system ship.
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
Next, we run Cinebench R20. This is a closely multithreaded benchmark that focuses on general CPU efficiency. It’s a fast benchmark, so cooling below prolonged workloads isn’t an element. But, because it’s closely multithreaded, CPUs with extra cores have an enormous benefit.
Unsurprisingly, the Acer Aspire 16 AI stumbles right here. While this CPU runs at larger energy, it’s nonetheless a Lunar Lake chip with solely eight cores, 4 efficiency cores and 4 effectivity cores. The larger energy helps single-threaded efficiency, however it may possibly’t compete in multithreaded efficiency with out extra cores. (Intel’s next-generation Panther Lake {hardware} doesn’t have that very same drawback, but it surely’s simply beginning to arrive available on the market.)
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
We additionally run an encode with Handbrake. This is one other closely multithreaded benchmark, but it surely runs over an prolonged time. This calls for the laptop computer’s cooling kick in, and plenty of laptops will throttle and decelerate below load.
The Acer Aspire 16 AI took a mean of 1,405 seconds to finish the encode — that’s a bit over 23 minutes. The outcomes listed here are a bit higher than the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 and its Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor, seemingly as a result of this machine’s CPU is working a bit sooner with that additional energy.
These benchmarks are centered on multithreaded efficiency. This machine’s single-threaded efficiency is kind of spectacular, as proven by the PCMark benchmark, and it’s snappy in day-to-day desktop use.
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
Next, we run a graphical benchmark. This isn’t marked as a gaming laptop, however the Intel Arc 140V GPU right here can ship first rate gaming efficiency in lots of video games. This isn’t the gradual built-in graphics you’ll discover in Intel’s Arrow Lake or Meteor Lake platforms. We run 3DMark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU efficiency.
With a 3DMark Time Spy rating of 4,621, this machine delivered higher 3D gaming efficiency than the typical Intel or AMD laptop computer with built-in graphics. This is nearly as good because it will get with no discrete GPU on this worth vary, and that’s superior to see.
Even Doom: The Dark Ages was playable on this laptop computer, though I’d’ve had a greater expertise with just a few extra FPS. But most PC video games are much less demanding than that.
Overall, the Acer Aspire 16 AI delivers strong efficiency at its worth stage, full with a wide range of fashionable options. While multithreaded efficiency suffers, I believe a number of PC customers would moderately have the robust single-threaded efficiency alongside the speedy GPU right here than higher multithreaded efficiency and a gradual built-in GPU. This machine can play video games that an Arrow Lake or Meteor Lake laptop computer with built-in graphics simply can’t.
Acer Aspire 16 AI: Battery life
The Acer Aspire 16 AI has a 65 watt-hour battery. It delivered okay battery life for a 16-inch laptop computer, however not the form of battery life you’ll see from the typical PC with a Lunar Lake CPU — and never the as much as 23 hours, as Acer advertises. But our battery life rundown check is extra demanding than what Acer seemingly makes use of internally.
Foundry / Chris Hoffman
To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Steel on repeat on Windows 11 with airplane mode enabled till the laptop computer suspends itself. We set the display screen to 250 nits of brightness for our battery benchmarks. In some ways, this can be a best-case state of affairs for any laptop computer since native video playback is so environment friendly, and actual battery life in day-to-day use is at all times going to be lower than this.
The Acer Aspire 16 AI lasted a mean of 702 minutes in our exams — that’s slightly below 12 hours. The Qualcomm Snapdragon version lasted 15 and a half hours once we benchmarked it. That was a lower-than-expected consequence for a Snapdragon machine, too, and this Intel-powered machine has a extra power-hungry CPU.
16-inch laptops are likely to have decrease battery life, the big show makes use of extra energy. Plus, the Intel Lunar Lake CPU right here makes use of extra energy than the typical Lunar Lake configuration.
But, whereas that is low for Lunar Lake, it’s additionally greater than sufficient battery life if you wish to primarily use this laptop computer at a desk. Just don’t depend on maintaining it unplugged all day lengthy.
Acer Aspire 16 AI: Conclusion
The Acer Aspire 16 AI is a severe worth at $1,099, combining a CPU with speedy single-core efficiency, a surprisingly quick GPU that may play extra video games than you may anticipate, and an NPU that lives as much as Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC necessities. Plus, you get 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.
It’s tempting to miss this machine’s strengths due to Lunar Lake’s compromises. Yes, you aren’t getting the battery life you’d on different Lunar Lake machines. And sure, the multithreaded efficiency right here is low as a result of Lunar Lake doesn’t have sufficient cores.
However, for the typical PC consumer choosing up a 16-inch machine with built-in graphics, this is likely one of the very best choices. Between the strong single-threaded CPU efficiency, spectacular GPU, and all-around first rate {hardware}, the typical PC consumer can be happier with this machine than a laptop computer with a sooner CPU and a GPU that may’t deal with fashionable video games. At an MSRP of $1,099, the Acer Aspire 16 AI is superb worth for a midrange laptop computer.