Acer Aspire Vero laptop review: Life in plastic is fantastic

Last yr, I received to evaluate Acer’s latest eco-friendly laptop, the Aspire Vero 14. Well, progress hasn’t stopped since then and we’re again once more with one other Vero, however this time it’s the massive 15.6-inch Vero with upgraded Intel 13th technology guts inside.

Acer’s Vero sequence makes use of extra pre- and post-consumer recycled plastics than most different new PC laptops on the market right now. From the keyboard to the chassis, and even the packaging, this takes an in depth take a look at what “new” must imply when waste discount and power financial savings are essential. But as at all times, if it’s not a great laptop, it may be constituted of stable titanium and nonetheless be a flop–does Acer have one other profitable Aspire Vero on its arms?

Looking for extra choices? Check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops out there proper now.

Acer Aspire Vero: Specifications

Our evaluate unit got here geared up with an Intel Core i7-1355U CPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of NVME PCIe SSD storage. For extra particulars, try the bulleted listing under:

• CPU: Intel Core i7-1355U (10 cores, 12 threads: 2 efficiency, 8 effectivity) 
• Memory: 16GB LPDDR5 RAM
• Graphics/GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
• Display: 15.6-inch 1080p IPS LCD
• Storage: 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe stable state drive
• Webcam: 1440p
• Connectivity:  2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (1x always-on charging), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x 3.5mm combo audio, 1x DC-in barrel plug
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
• Biometrics: Fingerprint reader
• Battery capability: 56Wh
• Dimensions: 14.2 (W) x 9.36 (D) x 0.70 (H) inches 
• Weight: 3.2 kilos, 3.86 kilos with AC adapter
• Price as Reviewed: $899.99

Acer Aspire Vero: Design and construct high quality

The Acer Aspire Vero has a plastic-forward design–no premium metals or luxurious touches right here. But plastic is a flexible materials, and may be extremely recyclable. Plus, the chunky, dimpled aesthetic of the 15.6-inch Vero is undeniably not like the aluminum that different machines put on. This yr, we sampled Acer’s Cyprus Green shade, a blue/inexperienced with flecks of lighter inexperienced embedded all through the pc and with some delicate mint accents.   

Again, this design goes with out paint or stickers (aside from the one with the serial quantity and regulatory data on the underside) for a clear look, solely molding in logos right here and there. On the entire, it’s a somewhat slick strategy, even when the squared-off aesthetic isn’t for everybody.

If I needed to knock the design in any respect, it’s that the larger 15.6-inch iteration I’m attempting for this evaluate doesn’t really feel fairly as stable because the smaller 14-incher I checked out final yr. The elevated measurement makes the entire thing really feel prefer it’s flexing a bit if you’re carrying it round or opening it up. If your laptops are likely to dwell on a desk more often than not, this gained’t be a lot of a difficulty however it did make me really feel prefer it was much less robust general.

Acer Aspire Vero: Connectivity

IDG / Brendan Nystedt

A robust go well with of the Aspire Vero household is its versatile, plentiful port choice. You’ll discover 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports right here, together with 2 USB-A ports, full-size HDMI, and a headset jack too. The vestigial DC-in barrel plug works with suitable chargers, though the model of the Vero we sampled got here with a compact 65-watt USB-C PD charger within the field. 

Wireless connectivity is nice, too, with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1 customary within the Vero 15.6. Although there could possibly be room for wired ethernet, you’ll have to make use of an adapter if you have to jack in on to a community.

Acer Aspire Vero: Keyboard and trackpad

IDG / Brendan Nystedt

Acer’s used loads of recycled supplies right here however nothing fairly feels low-cost together with, fortunately, the keyboard and touchpad. While the keyboard is possibly a bit squishy, the important thing throw is satisfying and it’s straightforward to inform if you’ve efficiently pressed a button. The complete factor is backlit, though solely with two ranges of brightness. This bigger 15.6-inch choice crams in a slim numpad on the righthand facet that’s nearly a usable measurement.

The “OceanGlass” recycled plastic touchpad is pretty clean for swiping and scrolling however wants a agency press to activate the mechanical clicker. If I had any bone to select with this setup is that it was far too straightforward to brush up in opposition to the pad with my palms, and that meant I used to be regularly deciding on textual content unintentionally. I discovered that turning off tap-to-click was useful right here, however beware that the mouse would possibly generally get a thoughts of its personal. For snappy biometric login utilizing Windows Hello, the touchpad has a small fingerprint reader within the higher proper nook, which works reliably.

Acer Aspire Vero: Display, audio system, and webcam

IDG / Brendan Nystedt

For the value, the Acer Aspire Vero offers you a stable show. It’s huge at 15.6 inches, has a full HD decision, and very nice colours and viewing angles. No, it’s not the newest show tech that you just’d see from dearer laptops however for abnormal duties it’s greater than enough. You’ll get your cash’s price right here. 

The webcam was considerably of a shock, coming in with a excessive 1440p decision. Compared to another midrange laptops, this can be a a lot increased decision and actually it made my face look lots sharp and lifelike for a video name. Colors had been correct, and I discovered that in my house workplace, the background was evenly uncovered, with the one overexposed elements being the home windows. In respectable mild at the least, the webcam is definitely fairly good within the Acer Aspire Vero.

For as a lot effort as Acer put into crafting the Vero from recycled supplies, they need to have spent a bit extra time on the audio system. Like final yr, I discovered the 2023 Aspire Vero’s audio system to be skinny and considerably tinny, missing a lot quantity or bass. Even when cranked as much as take heed to a podcast or a YouTube video with an individual speaking, the stereo down firing audio system merely sound hole. Whether you’re utilizing it on a tough floor or your lap (or a pleasant desk mat) this isn’t a laptop computer for having fun with leisure–undoubtedly spend money on some headphones.

Acer Aspire Vero: Bloatware

On high of instruments supplied by Microsoft inside Windows 11, Acer features a utility known as VeroSense that may information you to modify the Aspire Vero’s settings to save lots of energy (and due to this fact scale back the carbon output in its use). This is a neat concept, and the laptop computer even comes with pretty good settings applied by default that steadiness efficiency with energy consumption.

If that had been it, then I’d say that the Acer Aspire Vero was a fairly clear machine all issues thought of. Unfortunately, you’ll discover a bit extra junk put in than I prefer to see-Booking.com and a particular Dropbox promotion each dwell on the taskbar from the soar. Inside the Start menu, I discovered Forge of Empires, a hyperlink to a League of Legends teaching service, and received pop-up notifications from Acer telling me about all of these items, too. While not like final yr, the 2023 mannequin got here with out Norton put in (thank goodness!), however general the Aspire Vero may but scale back the litter.

Acer Aspire Vero: Performance

With its Intel Core i7-1355U, this huge, 15-inch pocket book has extra underneath the hood than you would possibly first anticipate. With a complete of 10 cores, you’ll zip by means of most abnormal duties with ease.

IDG / Brendan Nystedt

We use the PCMark 10 benchmark to get an general image of a laptop computer’s efficiency. This checks workplace use, net shopping, and even video conferencing to simulate common work a pc would possibly encounter. The Acer Aspire Vero 15.6 did effectively because of its plentiful cores, though it didn’t stand out from a crowded area the place even skinny laptops just like the Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED have the identical processor inside.

IDG / Brendan Nystedt

Using Cinebench R15, we pattern a laptop computer’s efficiency when rendering a 3D mannequin. Generally talking, this helps us gauge how effectively a pc’s processor cores work collectively to perform a activity. The Asus Aspire Vero, with its Intel i7-1355U, had ten cores to throw at this problem, and it carried out as anticipated. While it wasn’t as highly effective because the P-class Framework Laptop, it additionally outpaced smaller machines that get hotter and have to drag again their efficiency.

IDG / Brendan Nystedt

Unfortunately, players, the Acer Aspire Vero 15.6-inch ought to most likely be used for schoolwork as a substitute of shoot-em-ups. Although we noticed stable 3D efficiency from the Intel chip’s Xe graphics, it simply isn’t aggressive sufficient to sort out something however older titles, and less complicated indie video games. The 14-inch HP Dragonfly Pro, with its AMD chip, has far more horsepower for this sort of software, however it’s additionally a bit dearer.

IDG / Brendan Nystedt

In our Handbrake rendering take a look at, the Intel i7-1355U’s Xe graphics cores assist the Aspire Vero in transcoding an enormous HD video into one to be used on a pill. In this take a look at, we are able to see this laptop computer does simply nice, maintaining with the older Surface Laptop 5, whereas not fairly dwelling as much as the sooner, hotter, and dearer HP and Framework competitors. 

Acer Aspire Vero: Battery life

IDG / Brendan Nystedt

Since this Acer has an enormous 15.6-inch display screen, it additionally means there’s room for ample battery inside its plastic body. Acer match a 56Wh cell inside this laptop. That helped the Aspire Vero run over 13 hours in our video loop take a look at, making it one of many longest-running Intel-based machines we’ve but seen. Although this mannequin isn’t tremendous moveable as a result of its cumbersome measurement and heavier weight, relaxation assured that if you happen to determine to camp out at a café, you’ll run out of espresso lengthy earlier than your laptop dies.

Acer Aspire Vero: Should you purchase it?

Like final yr’s mannequin, the 2023 model of the Aspire Vero exhibits that Acer can innovate with the supplies of a laptop computer with out making it really feel like a science experiment. With comparatively excessive percentages of pre- and post-consumer supplies, the Vero exhibits that every little thing previous could possibly be new once more, if extra corporations had been keen to recycle and reuse plastic of their computer systems. Personally, I really like that the Vero is, to steal a phrase from a competing tech firm, unapologetically plastic. There’s no different machine that appears or feels fairly like this one.

If there’s one draw back to the Vero’s environmental cred, it’s that for an additional yr, you’ve got restricted improve choices. RAM is soldered to the board, so if you happen to require extra later you’ll want a completely new laptop, one which took a bunch extra carbon to create. We actually want the Vero lineup would undertake a extra modular strategy, and make repairs and upgrades simpler to maintain these recycled machines helpful for longer.

The lengthy battery life and quick Intel chip all assist make this really feel much less like a greenwashing train and extra like a great laptop computer that comes with a facet of warm-and-fuzzies. It doesn’t matter if you happen to’re a tree hugger who needs to cut back their carbon footprint by a bit bit (however admits in addition they want a brand new laptop as a substitute of shopping for a used one) or simply a median individual on the lookout for a PC that may final them for just a few years, the Acer Aspire Vero 15.6-inch is a swell choice.