Acer Nitro 5 review: An affordable gaming laptop with killer value and a few flaws

Price When Reviewed

$1,299.99

Best Prices Today: Acer Nitro 5 (2022)

Gamers searching for a worth laptop computer will discover many machines that deliver entry-level discrete graphics at an affordable value, however not each laptop computer with such {hardware} is good for gaming. Acer’s Nitro 5 proves that time with its excellent sport efficiency, although a number of flaws will restrict its enchantment.

Don’t get it twisted, although. The Nitro 5 has so much to supply. It delivers superior graphics efficiency and there are many port choices. The audio can be punchy and the keyboard is spacious. However, as with most cheap gaming laptops, there are some compromises to concentrate on. Battery life is shockingly brief and the show is actually nothing to jot down residence about. That stated, if you happen to’re on a decent funds, the Nitro 5 remains to be a superbly affordable choice.

Specs and options

The Acer Nitro I examined equips Intel’s Core i5-12500H processor, an entry-level variant within the H sequence that gives a complete of 12 cores however solely 4 efficiency cores. This will make for an intriguing comparability with prior gaming laptops, lots of which have fewer cores in complete however no environment friendly cores. 

• CPU: Intel Core i5-12500H
• Memory: 16GB
• Graphics/GPU: Nvidia RTX 3060
• Display: 15.6-inch 1080p 144Hz IPS LCD
• Storage: 512GB SSD
• Webcam: 720p
• Connectivity: 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x USB-C 3.2, 1x USB-A 3.1, 2x USB-A 2.0, 1x 3.5mm combo audio, 1x Ethernet
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
• Biometrics: None
• Battery capability: 51 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 14.2 inches x 10.7 x 1.06
• Weight: 5.51 kilos
• Price: $1,299.99

Intel’s 12th-gen processor is paired with an Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics chip, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB, which brings the MSRP to $1,299.99. The laptop computer, which is not going to be launched till May 22, 2022, is promoting a hair above that value on Amazon on the time of publication. 

Design and construct high quality

IDG / Matthew Smith

The Acer Nitro 5 is a group of plastic panels and metallic facades pressured into an angular and aggressive design. There’s a retro really feel to the machine which, at over an inch thick, is way bulkier than the smooth high-end gaming laptops that always hog the highlight. If you need a laptop computer that screams “hey, I’m new and cool!” – look elsewhere.

There is one contact I like: the lid. I get a 1980s vibe from its understated combo of matte black surfaces with pastel blue and purple stripes that remind me of wire traces on a PCB.

How does it really feel? Fine. The chassis and show lid are largely plastic and permit noticeable flex when dealt with with modest pressure, however the design comes off as moderately sturdy. This is due to its thick profile and hulking, firmly articulated show hinges.

Still, Dell’s gaming-oriented Inspiron line and Lenovo’s entry-level Legion laptops present a extra enticing take a look at related pricing. Even Acer’s personal Predator line is way extra strong and there’s an overlap in pricing between Nitro 5 fashions and the Predator Helios 300 line.

Keyboard and trackpad

IDG / Matthew Smith

Acer stuffs a big keyboard with a numpad into the Nitro 5’s sizable body. There’s loads of room regardless of the numpad’s inclusion, so the arrow, Enter, and Backspace keys are related in dimension to different laptops. The right-side Shift key’s half-sized, nevertheless. I don’t just like the numpad’s inclusion, because it offsets the keyboard from the touchpad, however those that want a numpad will after all welcome its inclusion. 

RGB keyboard backlighting is included however works on a per-zone, not per-key foundation. This is a suitable compromise for a laptop computer within the Nitro 5’s value vary. Backlight brightness could be very excessive at most and several other brightness ranges can be found. 

Key really feel is nice. There’s loads of room for lengthy, luxurious key journey. The keys backside out with a crisp, snappy motion that gives respectable suggestions. The keycaps appear low cost and hole, nevertheless, once more reminding house owners of the Nitro 5’s worth pricing.

The touchpad is unremarkable. It’s not large, measuring about 5 inches huge and 3.5 inches deep. It’s surrounded by fairly shallow palm rests for a machine of the Nitro 5’s dimension. The responsive floor however can appear cramped when utilizing Windows’ multi-touch gestures. 

Display, audio

IDG / Matthew Smith

The Acer Nitro 5 mannequin I reviewed had a 15.6-inch 1080p non-touch display screen with a refresh price of 144Hz. This show is discovered on the massive majority of Nitro 5 programs, although a number of top-tier fashions improve to 1440p 165Hz show.

1080p decision isn’t thrilling in 2022, after all, but it surely’s a super selection for any value-oriented laptop computer. Because of the show’s dimension, pixel density remains to be excessive sufficient to look extraordinarily sharp in video games, and sticking to 1080p means most video games ship robust efficiency on the laptop computer’s native decision. 

Image high quality is blended. The edge-lit LCD show gives good colour accuracy and a good distinction ratio of as much as 1230:1, however is proscribed by a slender colour gamut that shows solely 66 p.c of the sRGB gamut. This saps the vibrancy you’ll see in additional premium gaming laptops and is most noticeable in colourful video games like Overwatch or Rocket League. It’s additionally dangerous information for creators hoping the Acer Nitro 5 may very well be a budget-minded transportable machine for each gaming and photograph or video modifying. 

Results like this aren’t uncommon to see in worth gaming laptops, however do present the issues of scaling up a machine that essentially targets a worth purchaser. The Acer Nitro 5 carries an MSRP that places it near the entry-level variations of extra premium laptops just like the Alienware m15, Lenovo Legion 7, and Acer Predator. These will provide a much better show.  

IDG / Matthew Smith

Audio high quality is extra favorable. The Nitro 5 makes use of a top-facing speaker system that delivers glorious quantity and a transparent, crisp presentation. There’s a little bit bass, however not a lot, so heavy motion and thumping can muddy the sound. This is an space the Nitro 5 can match extra premium gaming laptops that focus on a slimmer type issue, as its dimension offers ample house for the sound system.

Webcam, biometrics

The Acer Nitro 5 doesn’t attempt to provide a wonderful video or audio recording expertise. It has a fundamental 720p webcam with a dual-array microphone. Each works effectively sufficient for video conferencing in a well-lit, quiet room, however you’ll run into hassle in darkish rooms or these with reasonable background noise.

Biometric login shouldn’t be accessible on this laptop computer. 

Connectivity

IDG / Matthew Smith

A girthy profile means the Nitro 5 has house to supply a variety of connectivity. Video output is offered by an HDMI 2.0 port and a USB-C 3.2 port / Thunderbolt 4 port with DisplayPort Alternate Mode. 

The USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 port is said to offer Power Delivery as much as 65 watts, however the laptop computer’s battery discharged after I linked it to a monitor delivering 65 watts, so don’t anticipate to depend on it for charging. A 230-watt energy adapter offers juice over a barrel plug connector. 

Additional USB connectivity consists of one USB-A 3.1 port and two USB-A 2.0 ports. There’s additionally an Ethernet jack and a 3.5mm combo audio jack. I’d’ve appreciated to see extra USB-A 3.1 ports accessible.

Wireless connectivity comes over Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. The wi-fi adapter is Intel’s Killer Wi-Fi AX1650i. It offers near-Gigabit efficiency at brief vary however struggled in my indifferent shed, which is 50 toes and a pair partitions away from the router. This location is usually powerful for laptops, however the Nitro 5 was particularly unreliable and will solely obtain obtain speeds of round one megabyte per second. 

Performance

The Acer Nitro 5 AN515-58-527S, like the remainder of the latest Nitro 5 line, gives a 12th-gen Intel Core processor. My explicit machine geared up the Intel Core i5-12500H, a 12-core processor with 4 efficiency cores and eight environment friendly cores. This was paired with 16GB of reminiscence and a 512GB stable state drive. 

IDG / Matthew Smith

We begin with PCMark 10, an artificial take a look at with an emphasis on day-to-day use slightly than demanding workloads. The Intel Core i5-12500H doesn’t do effectively right here, falling behind each comparability machine except for the Acer Swift 3. It’s disappointing to see the Core i5-12500H fall thus far behind the HP Victus with Core i7-11800H processor. The Core i5-12500H’s slim variety of efficiency cores appears to carry it again on this take a look at. 

IDG / Matthew Smith

Cinebench R15 is a closely threaded and demanding take a look at that higher spreads the load throughout many cores. This is to the Core i5-12500H’s benefit. While it doesn’t beat the Core i7-1800H, it comes shut, and delivers a win over the Ryzen 7 5800H within the Asus Vivobook Pro 15 OLED. It’s a superb, although not distinctive, end result for the Acer Nitro 5.

IDG / Matthew Smith

Handbrake, one other closely multithreaded take a look at, reviews extra excellent news. While the HP Victus shouldn’t be accessible for comparability on this take a look at attributable to variations in testing situations, we will see the Acer Nitro 5 scores a win over the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 examined with Ryzen 9 6900HS processor. The Core i5-12500H additionally offers a significant enchancment over the Core i7-1260P, a processor that might be widespread in skinny, premium laptops. 

IDG / Matthew Smith

Now we transfer on to the graphics benchmarks, beginning with 3DMark’s Time Spy take a look at. The Acer Nitro 5 scores a fantastic victory right here, defeating the equally geared up HP Victus and simply outrunning the MSI GF76 with RTX 3050 Ti. In truth, the Acer Nitro outranks many latest RTX 3060 laptops and comes slightly near the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 with Radeon RX6800S.

IDG / Matthew Smith

Shadow of the Tomb Raider additionally produces a good end result, averaging 98 frames per second at 1080p decision and Highest element settings (with ray tracing off). This is a bit greater than the HP Victus and, as soon as once more, slightly near some laptops that equip extra highly effective GPUs. 

IDG / Matthew Smith

Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition delivers no actual shock, as as soon as once more the Acer Nitro 5 barely out performs the HP Victus and falls solely a bit behind dearer laptops with GTX 1080 graphics. The Nitro 5 additionally beats the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 with Radeon RX 6800S graphics on this take a look at. 

In abstract, it’s clear the Acer Nitro 5 advantages from its concentrate on gaming, and this results in excellent frames-per-dollar in video games. Acer’s Nitro 5 manages to nip on the heels of considerably dearer gaming laptops. 

Content and day-to-day efficiency is extra blended. The Core i5-12500H processor is powerful in closely multithreaded workloads however might be at a major drawback to Intel Core i7 H-Series processors with extra efficiency cores.  

Battery life

The Acer Nitro 5 is a robust performer in video games, however this does come at a steep penalty in battery life. It’s commonplace to see disappointing battery life on this section, however the Nitro 5 is considerably worse than regular. 

IDG / Matthew Smith

Yes, that’s proper. The Acer Nitro 5 will barely final lengthy sufficient to look at a film on a flight from Seattle to San Francisco. Real-world efficiency in gentle use was higher than that, coming in round three hours, however that’s nothing to brag about. It is smart, nevertheless. The laptop computer has a meager 51 watt-hour battery. That’s smaller than what you’ll discover in lots of thin-and-light machines. It’s merely overwhelmed by the power-hungry {hardware}. 

Software

Acer ships the Nitro 5 with a slim array of bloatware. This consists of Norton Security Ultra plus quite a lot of pre-installed apps like ExpressVPN and Forge of Empires. Though barely annoying, the bloatware is straightforward to disregard or uninstall as desired. A software program command heart known as NitroSense is used to regulate fan velocity, keyboard backlighting, and audio options. It seems inoffensive and labored effectively in my time with the laptop computer. 

Conclusion

The Acer Nitro 5 is an effective worth for players seeking to most sport efficiency on a slim funds. Nvidia’s RTX 3060 is given the house and energy it must ship robust outcomes. For many, this alone might be sufficient to make the Nitro 5 a contender. However, quite a few flaws maintain the Nitro 5 again from its full potential.

The show isn’t nice, the battery is just too small, and the Core i5-12500H processor is simply at its finest in closely multithreaded workloads. This narrows the Nitro 5’s focus. It’s glorious for gaming, however college students and content material creators in search of a flexible funds powerhouse might want to preserve trying.