Acer Aspire 5 review: An affordable laptop that’s enjoyable to use

Price When Reviewed

$369 (base mannequin) $499 (as reviewed)

Best Prices Today

$499

$630.34

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Are you available in the market for Windows laptop computer? Don’t wish to spend greater than $500? Then an Acer Aspire laptop computer is probably going close to the highest of your listing. Aspire laptops routinely take the highest slot in Amazon’s listing of best-selling laptops with some fashions dipping as little as $369.99. The mannequin we examined for this evaluation is the perfect of each worlds. It’s moderately priced and it delivers fairly good efficiency.

Enter the Acer Aspire 5. This laptop computer packs an Intel Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM, and is among the many most costly within the Aspire line. But that doesn’t imply it’s costly. It has a steered MSRP of $499.99 and typically retails for as little as $479.99. A Windows laptop computer with a current Core i5 processor for lower than $499.99 may appear too good to be true. Acer actually makes sacrifices to realize it. Still, the Aspire 5 is a reliable and pleasant laptop computer.

Acer Aspire 5 A514-54-501Z specs and options

The Acer Aspire 5 pairs an Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor with 8GB of RAM and a PCIe strong state drive. Buyers serious about graphics efficiency ought to be aware the Core i5-1135G7 packs Intel’s Iris Xe graphics with 80 execution models and a most clock of 1.3GHz. This isn’t Intel’s quickest built-in graphics possibility, but it surely’s a giant leap up from Intel UHD graphics present in most 10th-generation Intel Core {hardware}.

• CPU: Intel Core i5-1135G7
• Memory: 8GB
• Graphics/GPU: Intel Iris Xe
• Display: 14-inch 1080p LCD
• Storage: 256GB PCIe strong state drive
• Webcam: 720p 
• Connectivity:  2x USB 3.2 Type-A, 1x USB 2.0 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C (information solely), 1x Ethernet, 1x HDMI 1.4, 1x 3.5mm combo audio, 1x DC-in barrel plug
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5
• Biometrics: None
• Battery capability: 53watt-hour
• Dimensions: 0.71 x 8.88 x 12.9 inches
• Weight: 3.75 kilos

As talked about, Acer delivers the {hardware} at rock-bottom pricing. A fast tour of Amazon exhibits that alternate options from HP, Lenovo, and Dell are sometimes costlier, with most entry-level fashions slipping between $499 and $599. Acer has a bonus with funds buyers, however does that maintain up beneath shut inspection? 

Design and construct high quality

IDG / Matthew Smith

The Acer Aspire 5 is what you get should you present up at Jo-Anne Fabrics and order 14 inches of laptop computer. They’ll roll it out, reduce it, roll it again up, and hand it to you in a tall paper bag. It’s as much as you to iron out any wrinkles when you get it house.

What the laptop computer lacks in aptitude is excused by its strong, sturdy really feel. I’ll even admit the laptop computer has one thing in frequent with a would-be suitor on The Bachelorette: it’s generic, sure, however admittedly good-looking. The silver-and-black trim is businesslike and the black keycaps look engaging. 

Well, there’s one quirk. The show lid is barely extra bronze than the remainder of the laptop computer. It’s not that noticeable in actual life, although the distinction is obvious in photographs. 

The laptop computer is available in at .71 inches thick and 3.75 kilos. It’s no featherweight, however it’s going to simply slip into most laptop computer luggage and is gentle sufficient which you can overlook you’re carrying it in any respect. The energy adapter is small and can slip right into a small pocket on a backpack, messenger bag, or purse. 

Keyboard and trackpad

The Acer Aspire 5 has a fantastic keyboard. The key format is spacious and particular person key journey is important. Key really feel is a bit obscure however not so unhealthy as to spoil the expertise. I spent hours typing and located it to be fast, correct, and comfy. So lengthy because the lights are on, at the least.

The keyboard lacks a backlight. This isn’t unusual within the $500 value bracket, however nonetheless value noting, because it makes the laptop computer troublesome to make use of in a darkish room.

The touchpad floor, which measures about 4.25 inches vast and a couple of.5 inches deep, is typical for laptops on this value vary however cramped subsequent to costlier machines with bigger touchpads. Windows multi-touch gestures, resembling utilizing a five-finger pinch to attenuate all open home windows, will be exhausting to make use of due to the dearth of house. The floor feels equivalent to the encircling palm relaxation as effectively, so my fingers typically needed to hunt for it.

You’ll benefit from the Acer Aspire 5 most when it’s on a desk with an exterior mouse hooked up. This will allow you to benefit from the strong keyboard and ignore the lackluster touchpad. 

Display, audio

IDG / Matthew Smith

The Acer Aspire 5 packs a 14-inch, 1080p show with a matte coat. It’s fundamental, however not unremarkable, because it’s without delay higher and worse than anticipated.

Let’s begin with the unhealthy. The show has a restricted coloration gamut, coming in at simply 64 % of the sRGB scale. Color accuracy is a bit worse than common as effectively, although not terrible. The slender coloration gamut and mediocre accuracy saps vibrancy from the show. 

The disappointing coloration efficiency is paired with a robust distinction ratio of as much as 1300:1, which is respectable for a funds laptop computer. Brightness is nice, measuring as much as 290 nits. That’s excessive sufficient to make the matte show usable in almost all indoor lighting. 

Don’t overlook the show’s 1080p decision. This may appear fundamental to lovers, however funds patrons typically discover themselves dealing with laptops with an inferior 1366-by-768 show. Going with 1080p makes the Aspire 5 straightforward to make use of and ensures crisp, sharp textual content. 

A pair of downward-firing audio system present the laptop computer’s audio. They’re loud at most quantity and tuned in the direction of a transparent, crisp mid-range. The audio system are a superb match for podcasts, YouTube, and a few streaming, as dialogue all the time stands out. The most quantity can compete with reasonable ambient noise like that from a big fan or workplace HVAC system.

Webcam, microphone

The Acer Aspire 5 has a fundamental 720p webcam and a single microphone. Both carry out effectively sufficient for many Zoom calls however by no means impress. Those hoping to look crisp in a video convention might want to funds for a decent external webcam.

The excellent news? The Aspire 5’s prime bezel is thick, so most exterior webcams can perch on prime of it with out obstruction. The laptop computer additionally gained’t tip over with a heavy webcam such as the Dell Ultrasharp 4K hooked up.

Connectivity

IDG / Matthew Smith

The Acer Aspire 5 makes use of its thick body to make room for many old-school connectivity. There’s a complete of three USB Type-A ports (two USB 3.2 and one USB 2.0), one USB 3.2 Type-C supporting as much as 5Gbps of bandwidth, full-sized HDMI, Ethernet, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack.

The connectivity will likely be excellent for many patrons. Those taking a look at a funds laptop computer will probably use units that require USB-A and HDMI connections.

Wireless connectivity is the same old mixture of Wi-Fi 6 with Bluetooth, each offered by MediaTek’s MT7921 wi-fi LAN card. Wi-Fi efficiency was dependable throughout my house. I had no issues connecting a Bluetooth mouse and headphones.

Performance

The Acer Aspire 5’s Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor guarantees respectable efficiency at a low value. It packs 4 cores, eight threads, and has Intel’s Iris Xe graphics with 80 execution models. Acer hasn’t slacked on RAM, both, because the laptop computer packs a wholesome 8GB. 

So, do the specs result in respectable efficiency?

IDG / Matthew Smith

PCMark 10, a normal productiveness benchmark, begins the Aspire 5 off on the fallacious foot with an unimpressive rating of 3,902. That this finally ends up behind sooner Intel Core processors is not any shock. However, the true downside is AMD. Ryzen 5 processors, that are present in mid-range laptops just like the HP Envy x360 15.

On the opposite hand, it’s value holding the worth in thoughts. Most Ryzen 5 laptops are priced effectively above $499. AMD’s Ryzen 3 is extra generally discovered at $499 and beneath. The Acer Aspire 5’s rating will be excused by the actual fact it’s by far the least costly Windows laptop computer we’ve examined in current months. 

IDG / Matthew Smith

Cinebench R15 additionally turns in a reasonably anemic outcome which, as with PCMark 10, is basically as a result of Core i5-1135G7’s quad-core design. It can’t sustain with AMD processors that pack extra processor cores. As with the PCMark 10 outcomes, the Aspire 5’s have to be saved in thoughts. Laptops within the Aspire 5’s value vary typically have Intel Core i3 and AMD Ryzen 3 processors with as few as two cores. These will ship even much less spectacular outcomes. 

IDG / Matthew Smith

We take a look at Handbrake on Intel processors in two other ways. The first, proven above, depends fully on uncooked CPU grunt to transcode a 4K file of the brief movie Tears of Steel. This results in an outrageously lengthy encoded time of over one and half hours. Fortunately, there’s a a lot better method to encode video on trendy laptops.

IDG / Matthew Smith

This second take a look at performs the identical encode on the identical file, however as an alternative makes use of Intel’s Quick Sync and AMD’s Video Coding Engine to boost efficiency. 

Wow. It’s a giant leap, isn’t it? 

The Acer Aspire 5 does effectively, performing the encode in simply over 4 minutes. Its rating is available in barely behind the MSI Prestige 14 Evo, a 14-inch Windows laptop computer with a Core i7 processor. The AMD laptop computer, utilizing VCE, slips behind each Intel machines, although its encode continues to be over 4 occasions faster than earlier than. 

IDG / Matthew Smith

Intel’s Iris Xe graphics energy the Acer Aspire 5 to a rating of 1,226 in 3DMark’s Time Spy benchmark. This is just not too far behind the HP Envy x360 15, which we reviewed with an AMD APU packing Radeon Vega 8 graphics. Gamers will discover the Aspire can deal with older and fewer demanding video games like Counter-Strike and League of Legends with no points. Demanding titles like Control gained’t be playable at 1080p and 30 frames per second even at low element.

Battery life

Acer ships the Aspire 5 with a 53 watt-hour battery. This is a decent dimension for a funds laptop computer. However, our battery take a look at, which loops an area video file till the battery provides out, reported solely six hours and 35 minutes of endurance. That’s not a fantastic outcome.

IDG / Matthew Smith

Real-world outcomes backed up our take a look at. I used the Acer Aspire 5 extensively for a number of days and every day pegged endurance at six to seven hours. My workflow consisted of internet searching, writing in Microsoft Word, and photograph enhancing. The battery life is okay for a funds Windows laptop computer. It can’t deal with a full eight-hour work day, but it surely’s sufficient for many cross-country flights and greater than sufficient to be used at an area espresso store. Budget patrons in search of enhanced portability ought to flip their consideration towards Chromebooks just like the Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 or HP Chromebook x2 11.

Software

The Acer Aspire 5 arrives with quite a lot of pre-installed software program. This consists of Norton Antivirus, Dropbox, Firefox, and a taskbar shortcut to Amazon’s principal web page that merely opens the default internet browser (which continues to be Edge, although Firefox is put in). Additional internet hyperlinks resembling Booking.com will be discovered within the Windows Start menu. While a tad annoying, these extras aren’t an issue. They don’t hamper efficiency or generate undesirable pop-ups. Norton Antivirus is by far essentially the most annoying software program, but it surely’s straightforward to uninstall. 

Conclusion

The Acer Aspire 5 avoids typical funds laptop computer pitfalls. Windows laptops offered at this value or beneath typically make excessive cuts. They could have a dual-core processor, simply 4GB of RAM, or a tiny 128GB exhausting drive. This laptop computer does none of this. It delivers the naked minimal for an pleasant Windows 11 expertise and does so at a value simply tens of {dollars} costlier than much less succesful alternate options (together with different Aspire fashions). That makes it exhausting to beat for $499.