Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Solid worth as configured
- Easy-to-see show
- Plenty of succesful ports
Cons
- Very low coloration gamut
- Basic seems to be and really feel
- Performance and battery life could possibly be higher
Our Verdict
You can get a lot better laptops than the Acer Aspire 14 AI, but it surely brings loads to the desk at $699. Aside from its bland show, it doesn’t actually fumble anyplace too badly. As a consequence, it proves a succesful, utilitarian laptop computer that shouldn’t disappoint those that want a productiveness machine.
Price When Reviewed
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Price When Reviewed
$699.99
The Acer Aspire 14 AI is a budget-minded laptop aiming to convey affordable efficiency and the most recent Microsoft Copilot+ capabilities in a laptop computer that’s modest and reasonably priced. To that finish, Acer has constructed a reasonably easy machine that has most of the qualities — for higher or worse — I’ve change into accustomed to from laptops bearing the Aspire badge.
You’ll get a modest machine within the Acer Aspire 14 AI. It’s not impressively skinny or gentle neither is it main the best way by way of efficiency or battery life. And whereas the show is completely helpful, it falls nicely wanting excellence. The result’s a utilitarian machine that’s at the very least likable and nicely met by a $699 price ticket.
Acer Aspire 14 AI: Specs and options
The overview unit we acquired boasts an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V processor, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage. For extra particulars on specs and options, try the bulleted listing under.
- CPU: Intel Core Ultra 5 226V
- Memory: 16GB LPDDR5x
- Graphics/GPU: Intel Arc 130V
- Display: 14-inch 1920×1200 IPS Touchscreen
- Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD
- Webcam: 1080p
- Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x 3.5mm combo audio
- Networking: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
- Biometrics: Windows Hello facial recognition
- Battery capability: 65 watt-hours
- Dimensions: 12.57 x 9.06 x 0.70 inches
- Weight: 3.07 kilos
- MSRP: $699 as-tested ($699 base)
The Acer Aspire 14 AI is admittedly only a easy, good machine for anybody who doesn’t need to fuss round on the lookout for the best possible (and coping with the value that comes with it).
Acer Aspire 14 AI: Design and construct high quality
IDG / Mark Knapp
Outside of a few of its extra premium merchandise, Acer appears fairly averse to rejiggering its designs. While the Acer Aspire 14 AI has modified barely, choosing an all-gray coloration scheme, it nonetheless seems to be like most of the different Acer fashions I’ve come throughout within the final couple of years. It finds itself someplace between the extra polished designs of the Acer Swift Go collection and the base-tier Aspire fashions.
You’ll nonetheless discover considerably thick bezels across the show and a plastic keyboard deck. The backside of the laptop computer and the show lid are made from aluminum, although. This mannequin is somewhat chunky, measuring 0.7-inches thick earlier than factoring within the sizable rubber toes. It’s a little bit of a shock to see it so massive when it packs a low-power processor. The thickness makes the laptop computer really feel slightly brick-like, however at the very least that comes with a sturdiness.
The underside of the laptop computer has a large grille, and a single fan pulls in contemporary air to blow it out via a vent above the keyboard. Acer has gone with this vent positioning on lots of its laptops, and it at all times leaves me involved about particles or liquid coming into it, because it opens upward.
The positioning additionally ensures it exhausts warmth proper on the show, the place it might trigger harm over time. The Acer Aspire 14 AI suits in a modest 14-inch show, and above that’s located a webcam system paired with a Windows Hello-capable facial recognition scanner.
Altogether, the look of the Acer Aspire 14 AI isn’t very particular to behold. It seems to be uncommitted to any kind of sense of favor, and a few of it seems cobbled collectively, with odd seams, some jagged geometry and a few curved.
Acer Aspire 14 AI: Keyboard, trackpad
IDG / Mark Knapp
Acer hasn’t carried out something I can detect to enhance the keyboard on the Acer Aspire 14 AI in comparison with any of its different machines. The keys are nonetheless very flat and don’t have nice stabilization, which might make for tough typing as you regulate to the keyboard.
Having examined a great deal of Acer laptops, I’ve managed to adapt considerably to those designs and was in a position to attain an appropriate typing velocity of 114 phrases per minute with 98 p.c accuracy in Monkeytype, however the mushiness of the keys was a daily annoyance.
The keyboard will get white backlighting, however as a result of Acer has opted for a grey keyboard, it could possibly mirror quite a lot of gentle, making it onerous to see in vibrant circumstances. When so many different Acer Aspire laptops have opted for black keycaps, this swap doesn’t make a lot sense, particularly because it simply harms visibility.
Acer Aspire 14 AI: Display, audio
IDG / Mark Knapp
The Acer Aspire 14 AI doesn’t have a very particular show, and is somewhat unhealthy in some respects. The 1200p decision is unobjectionable at this dimension, however loads of competitors goes sharper. The show additionally solely gives a 60Hz refresh charge the place you could find 90Hz and 120Hz on many different units. The show has a responsive touchscreen, which might simplify some navigation and is a pleasant addition to get for the cash.
Where the show will get some credit score is in its visibility. It reaches a modest brightness of 327.6 nits and has a powerful anti-glare end that dramatically cuts down on reflections. This makes it straightforward to see the display in most circumstances the place shiny shows could be marred by reflections.
Sadly, you’ll solely be seeing a utilitarian show. The distinction is typical of an IPS panel, and the colour gamut is about as little as you will get from a contemporary show, hitting simply 64 p.c of the sRGB coloration area.
The audio system on the Acer Aspire 14 AI are respectable. They supply vibrant and loud mids that present loads of quantity for clear, easy-to-hear speech. The high-end is a bit harsh and resonant, which takes away from music. The bass can also be restricted, not digging in very deep to offer music or voices their correct fullness. There’s some clear ducking as nicely, the place an excessive amount of quantity at one frequency will pull down the quantity elsewhere.
Acer Aspire 14 AI: Webcam, microphone, biometrics
The webcam included on the Acer Aspire 14 AI is a modest, 1080p one. It’s not superb, but it surely’s surprisingly first rate at dealing with totally different lighting circumstances. The image seems to be slightly comfortable, however even in less-than-ideal lighting, the digital camera manages to show the picture nicely. It can find yourself slightly noisy in something lower than daylight.
The mic array on the Acer Aspire 14 AI pairs nicely with the cameras. They do a superb job choosing up my voice with out an excessive amount of echo. As a consequence, my voice sounds loud and clear, somewhat than distant. The mic may cut back some background noise. A pattern recording had an air filter working within the background, however the mics utterly negated its noise.
Acer has built-in Windows Hello facial recognition with the webcam. This makes for snappy sign-ons, and whereas it’s stunning to not see fingerprint as a secondary choice, I’ve usually discovered facial recognition the sooner of the 2 on Windows laptops anyway.
Acer Aspire 14 AI: Connectivity
IDG / Mark Knapp
You get respectable connectivity from the Acer Aspire 14 AI. On the left fringe of the laptop computer, you’ll discover a pair of USB-C ports offering Thunderbolt 4 connectivity and charging capabilities. There’s additionally a full-size HDMI 2.1 port over there to offer high-resolution output. Each aspect of the laptop computer features a high-speed USB-A port. This is all rounded out by a 3.5mm audio combo jack and a Kensington lock slot on the best aspect of the laptop computer.
The system contains Wi-Fi 6E connectivity for quick and dependable wi-fi connectivity. Bluetooth 5.3 can also be supported and labored with out a hitch whereas taking part in again audio to a pair of Bluetooth headphones.
Acer Aspire 14 AI: Performance
The Acer Aspire 14 AI is a good performer general, and it will get bonus factors for doing so at a aggressive worth. In PCMark 10, it does a good job maintaining with the Core Ultra 7 155H-powered Dell Inspiron 14 Plus ($799 as examined) and the Acer Swift Go 14 ($1,000 as examined), although it’s nonetheless trailing these fashions. It’s additionally shut, however once more trailing the AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS within the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED ($849 as examined).
A great little bit of its capability to maintain tempo with them in any respect might be coming from the storage, which proved fairly quick in testing. The drive exceeded my expectations for a 1TB SSD in such a cost-effective bundle, reaching 6388MB/s sequential learn speeds and 5571MB/s sequential write speeds in CrystalDiskMark 8.
While the Acer Aspire 14 AI general performs nicely sufficient in day after day operation, in additional demanding workloads, the CPU falls behind. Cinebench hits the CPU onerous, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 226V used right here doesn’t fairly sustain.
The single-core efficiency really proved among the many better of the bunch, displaying a number of the features Intel has been in a position to make with its structure, however this CPU doesn’t have the multi-core energy to compete, falling nicely behind each Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS in these competing fashions.
It does at the very least come out forward of the Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100, however solely when that chip is pressured to emulate. In Cinebench R24, which has an ARM model, the Acer Aspire 14 AI even falls behind the Qualcomm-powered Dell Inspiron 14 for multi-core efficiency.
The chip additionally will get a lower-tier of built-in graphics with Intel Arc Graphics 130V. It’s merely not as spectacular because the Intel Arc Graphics paired with the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H. It additionally comes up brief in opposition to the AMD Radeon 780M built-in graphics of the Zenbook 14 OLED.
One side of the Acer Aspire 14 AI’s efficiency is considerably stunning: It doesn’t appear to wrestle an excessive amount of with warmth in comparison with these rivals. It’s capability to maintain up in longer benchmarks, just like the single-core runs of Cinebench or our Handbrake benchmark (the place it struck near the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 (2024) and beat the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED), counsel it’s in a position to maintain temperatures and throttling in verify. The followers are slightly shrill when the laptop computer is working underneath a heavy load, however at the very least it’s quiet throughout common use.
Acer Aspire 14 AI: Battery life
The Acer Aspire 14 AI’s battery life is aggressive with these rivals, with it managing simply over 17 hours in our 4K video playback take a look at, which runs the laptop computer in airplane mode with the show set between 250 and 260 nits of brightness. This has it neck-in-neck with the 2 Dell Inspiron fashions and the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED, all of which it beats by a hair.
It’s satisfying battery life, however having seen an increasing number of laptops break 20 hours (and one even break 24 hours), it’s not spectacular. The battery life can also be considerably soured by the truth that the Acer Aspire 14 AI is simply maintaining with these different fashions. Normally, whenever you commerce off efficiency, you’d count on higher effectivity and battery life in trade. But, as can see, the Acer Aspire 14 AI’s efficiency sacrifices haven’t given it a significant benefit in battery life.
Acer Aspire 14 AI: Conclusion
The Acer Aspire 14 AI banks loads on a compelling price ticket. Thankfully, at $699, it has one. It will not be setting any data, however that is clearly a machine that understands utility.
The show will not be fairly, but it surely’s straightforward to make use of. The keyboard might use some enhancements, however all of Acer’s might and there’s nonetheless worse on the market. The audio system might not pump up the jams, however they current clear speech. And, even when efficiency isn’t prime notch, the Acer Aspire 14 AI simply plugs alongside in day-to-day workplace duties whereas slowly draining its battery.
There will not be loads to actually love in regards to the Acer Aspire 14 AI, however there’s additionally little or no to get really annoyed about. Nothing about it’s outright horrible. Even the virtually colorless show retakes some misplaced floor by providing a powerful anti-glare end and touchscreen capabilities.
The Acer Aspire 14 AI is admittedly only a easy, good machine for anybody who doesn’t need to fuss round on the lookout for the best possible (and coping with the value that comes with it).