As a result, we have come to expect two distinct types of laptops from Acer: high-end models that stand out, such as the insane Swift 7 ultraportable and Predator Triton 900, and mainstream models that are crazily inexpensive, such as the Predator Helios 300 from last year and the Aspire 5 from this year. My go-to pick for anyone who simply needs a quick, trustworthy laptop for everyday usage around the house for more than a year is Acer’s Aspire E 15. Sadly, that specific model is getting harder and harder to find, but the Aspire 5 is a great replacement that is more compact, lighter, and yet relatively reasonable.
The 15.6-inch Aspire 5 weighs only 3.8 pounds (1.7 kg) and is only 0.7 inches thick, with prices starting at $400 for an Intel processor and $350 for an AMD chip (18 mm). With a 15.6-inch display, it might be difficult to achieve that balance between size, weight, and price. Comparatively, the Acer E 15 featured a similar-sized screen but weighed more than 5 pounds (2.4 kg) and was somewhat thicker than an inch (30 mm). It was similarly equipped and began at around the same price.
You do lose items like a DVD drive, an SD card reader, and a VGA display output, but it’s likely that just the card reader is now more important to most people. The base model’s processor is upgraded from a dual-core Intel Core i3 to a quad-core i5, and the memory and storage are both doubled to 8GB and 256GB, respectively, in the $530 configuration I tested. These upgrades are definitely worth the additional cost.
Acer Aspire 5 review: Design and build quality
You will receive the Acer Aspire 5 if you visit Jo-Anne Fabrics and request a 14-inch laptop. It will be rolled out, sliced, and then rolled back up before being given to you in a large paper bag. You are responsible for removing any kinks once you get it home. The laptop’s sturdy, long-lasting feel makes up for its lack of flare. Even though the laptop is generic, it is undeniably attractive. It shares this trait with a potential suitor on The Bachelorette. The black keycaps and professional-looking silver and black trim add visual appeal.
There is, however, one oddity. The display lid has a little darker bronze color than the laptop’s body. Though the difference is obvious in images, it isn’t that obvious in person. The laptop weighs 3.75 pounds and has a thickness of.71 inches. Even while it’s not very light, it can still fit into most laptop bags and is so lightweight that you hardly even notice you’re carrying it. Because it is compact, the power adapter can fit in a small pocket on a backpack, messenger bag, or handbag.
Acer Aspire 5 review: Ports
The Acer Aspire 5 is a great laptop for semi-permanent docking to a bigger workstation due to its abundance of connectors. For accessories, it includes three USB-A ports and one USB-C port. Additionally, the laptop has a Kensington Lock connector for tethering it to a table, an HDMI port for a display, an Ethernet port for hardwiring into the internet, and a standard headphone jack. Due to the exclusive nature of the power adapter, having the proper cable on hand is a need for charging. On a laptop that is meant to provide functionality on a tight price, the absence of a microSD card reader seems like a mistake.
Acer Aspire 5 review: Display
The 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080-pixel display of the Aspire 5 is vivid and has good color saturation. The colors and tones were wonderfully represented while watching the Magic Camp trailer, especially when a group of children emerged in dramatic slow motion while wearing red sweatsuits. The contrast was great throughout, and the colors were warm, rich, and well-saturated. It was a good visual experience all around. With this display, you can completely relax and binge watch movies.
When our team of expert mad scientists evaluated the panel’s ability to reproduce color, the Aspire 5 tied with the Asus VivoBook with a score of 63% of the sRGB color spectrum. The Lenovo Yoga C740 outperformed them both, achieving 111%, significantly higher than the 89% norm for common laptops. The VivoBook and Yoga C740’s displays both average 248 nits in brightness, while the Aspire 5’s display averages 258 nits (250 nits).
Acer Aspire 5 review: Keyboard and touchpad
The chiclet keyboard of the Aspire 5 is full-size and has a number pad on the right side for accurate data typing. The laptop’s keyboard was so comfy for typing that I used it to complete this entire review. Having said that, little hands might feel more at ease multitasking while docked with their preferred keyboard and mouse due to this laptop’s large size.
By giving the trackpad the same metal finish as the chassis, Acer aims for sexiness. However, it will be difficult for your hand to distinguish between the spaces. I was able to bump it several times and move away from the app I was using. The trackpad’s multitouch gestures should be disabled anyhow because the touch-and-drag system can be difficult to master. When I turned it off, the trackpad was considerably easier to use and felt just as responsive as other of my favorite Chromebooks. When you’re engaged in serious writing sessions, you may also turn off the trackpad with the Function key.
Acer Aspire 5 review: Graphics and Gaming Tests
The Aspire 5’s lack of an AMD or Nvidia dedicated GPU and reliance on integrated graphics results in a naturally constrained graphics performance. You may use it to stream movies, work on light picture editing projects, and be productive in the workplace, but if you want to play the newest games, you’ll need to seek elsewhere. However, compared to other cheap models, its visuals are speedier, frequently finishing first in our testing.
Last but not least, we test the battery life of laptops by continuously playing a locally recorded 720p video at 50% screen brightness and 100% audio volume while turning off Wi-Fi and the keyboard backlighting. Additionally, we gauge the screen’s brightness in nits and the extent to which common color gamuts or palettes are covered using a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and software.
Acer Aspire 5 review: Performance
My initial finding is that the 2022 Aspire 5 is considerably speedier than the model from the previous year. Given the prior model’s low-power Core i3, this is not surprising, and there has been a performance boost of at least $200. The 2022 Acer Aspire 5 is quick enough to compete with laptops that cost significantly more, in contrast to the 2021 model, which was too slow even for $480 or so. In any case, these laptops are designed for basic chores and workplace productivity rather than more demanding workloads like AAA gaming or 4K video editing.
To that end, the Intel Core i5-1235U, which sits in the middle of Intel’s 12th-gen lineup for thin-and-light laptops, is installed in my review machine. It is a 15-watt, 10-core (two Performance and eight Efficient), 12-thread processor. Below it is the nine-watt U-series with the same core and thread count, and above it is the 28-watt 12-core (four Performance and eight Efficient), 16-thread P-series. The Core i7-1255U has a maximum Turbo frequency of 4.7GHz, which we can compare to the Core i5’s maximum frequency of 4.4GHz even though this is the first Core i5-1235U we have evaluated.
Instead than concentrating on comparable low-cost laptops because this is a new CPU, I formed a comparison group of other contemporary processors. We also don’t have many recent models to contrast the Aspire 5 with because we haven’t examined many 15-inch cheap laptops in a while.
Acer Aspire 5 review: Battery Life and Heat
Acer estimates the 48Wh 3-cell Li-ion battery inside the Aspire 5 will last for eight hours. The laptop only lasted 6 hours and 55 minutes through the Laptop Mag Battery test, which involves continuous web browsing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness, falling short of the 9:22 mainstream average. At 8:23 and 10:18, respectively, both the VivoBook and Yoga C740 outlasted the competition. Heat is effectively dissipated by the Aspire. While working on a manuscript, I opened 30 tabs in Google Chrome, each of which was playing a different Full HD YouTube movie. There was barely any increase in temperature.
After 15 minutes, our team played a fullscreen HD video and took measurements at certain locations on the laptop. The touchpad registered 71 degrees Fahrenheit, which is far lower than our comfort threshold of 95 degrees. We measured a pleasant 86 degrees between the G and H keys and on the underside.
Acer Aspire 5 review: Price and availability
The pricing and sales data provided by Acer can occasionally be a little unclear. If there is a certain model you need, you may need to search online. Some of the models mentioned on its website can be purchased directly from Acer, while others are sold through online merchants and high street stores, like Currys in the UK. As previously indicated, we examined a 14-inch Aspire 5 model with Windows 10 Home, a quad-core i5-1135G7 CPU clocked at 2.4GHz 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB solid-state drive.
Depending on which page you visit, Acer’s US website offers two different prices for that specification: $669.99 or $599.99. Although you can purchase that model from a few internet merchants for about £450.00, you cannot purchase it directly from Acer in the UK. Oddly, Australia only receives one Aspire 5 model with a more powerful i7 processor and larger 15.6-inch display for AU$1399.00.
Final Words
The Acer Aspire 5 isn’t the prettiest portable computer due to its thick screen bezels and shabby chassis style. But this laptop typically performs well when it counts. When 8GB of RAM, an Intel quad-core CPU, and an M.2 SSD are combined, performance is excellent. Even at this pricing point, the 14-inch IPS display is superior in most ways. The genuine all-day battery life is the next option. That is an incredible value for the money in all respects.
If style and durability are considered to be the more important qualities, even the chassis isn’t that bad. Our only wish is that the Acer Aspire 5 were a touch more aesthetically pleasing. But the Aspire 5 certainly delivers if you’re seeking for a laptop with a superb feature set, excellent speed, a nice screen, and true all-day battery life, all four for around £500.
