The Aspire 5 is marketed by Acer as a mobile workstation for video-editing tasks; however, this 14-inch model is a cheap entry-level laptop with reasonable speed and battery life.
1. Price
Moreover, Acer’s price and sales statistics can be quite perplexing. Some of the models mentioned on its website can be purchased directly from Acer, while others are available through online merchants and high street stores – such as Currys in the United Kingdom – so if you require a certain model, you may need to conduct an online search.
As previously said, we evaluated an Aspire 5 model with a 14-inch screen that also contains Windows 10 Home, a quad-core i5-1135G7 CPU operating at 2.4GHz (up to 4.2GHz with Turboboost), 8GB memory, and a 512GB solid-state drive. Depending on which page you view, Acer’s US website displays two different prices for this specification: $669.99 or $599.99.
This model cannot be purchased directly from Acer in the United Kingdom, although it is available from a number of internet merchants for approximately £450.00. Oddly, Australia only receives one Aspire 5 model with a 15.6-inch display and an i7 processor for AU$1,399.00.
2. Design
At this price point, you cannot expect cutting-edge design, and the Aspire 5 has a rather typical clamshell form with hefty borders around the screen’s edge that appear a touch old. Acer’s website, which is as ambiguous as ever, indicates that the product is available in a range of colors, but the ones offered on the site appear to be exclusively black or silver.
The chassis is strong and should be able to withstand a few bumps when traveling in a backpack or luggage. And while it is not an ultrabook, the Aspire 5 weighs only 1.7kg and is 18mm thick, making it completely portable when necessary. The keyboard is solid and pleasant for typing, and the trackpad features a fingerprint sensor for security. The only significant flaw is the laptop’s tiny L-shaped power connector, which protrudes from the side and appears quite exposed.
The 14-inch display has a resolution of only 1920×1080, yet it is bright, clean, and offers wide viewing angles. Also, we appreciate that it has a matte coating that reduces glare and reflection. The 720p webcam is a touch rudimentary, but the image quality exceeded our expectations; it becomes a bit grainy in low light, but a sufficiently bright day offers a sufficiently sharp image for video conversations.
But, the built-in speakers are somewhat weak. If you want to listen to excellent music, you’ll need to plug headphones or speakers into the audio jack on the right side of the laptop. The sound is sufficient for watching YouTube videos. Unfortunately, connectivity is somewhat inconsistent, with only one USB-C port and three USB-A (3.2) ports for connecting peripherals and other devices. The Aspire 5 includes Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless networking, in addition to Gigabit Ethernet for wired networks and HDMI for an external display.
3. Efficiency
This entry-level model is equipped with a more modest i5 processor and integrated Iris Xp graphics, rather of the i7 processor and GeForce graphics that Acer boasts about on its website. Still, it gives respectable performance for a laptop in this price category, scoring 1,417 for single-core performance and 4,440 for multi-core performance. The PCMark 10 test program awards the Aspire 5 a score of 1280 for real-world applications, making it a good ‘business laptop’ The Aspire 5 will be adequate for online browsing and office apps such as Microsoft Office. Its PCMark 10 score places it slightly below the halfway mark, but that’s not bad for an i5 laptop in this price bracket.
The Aspire’s integrated Iris Xe graphics won’t win any prizes either, as its 3DMark scores are typically below 20 frames per second. Nevertheless, to be fair, 3DMark uses extremely high graphics settings, so if you don’t mind lowering the graphics quality a bit, you might be able to occasionally play casual games.
4. Battery Lifetime
Acer’s website frequently exaggerates, claiming that the Aspire 5 has a battery life of up to 10 hours. In reality, our tests yielded scores of slightly over 6.5 hours for both movie playback and the PCMark application-based test suite. Even so, that’s not too awful for a low-priced laptop, and if you’re not using Wi-Fi, the Aspire 5 should provide you with a full day of mobile work.
All View
Acer attempts to market the Aspire 5 as a high-end video-editing laptop, yet this entry-level model costs only about $600/£450. The Aspire 5 is not an ultrabook, but its strong build and light weight of 1.7kg make it suitable for all-day use in a backpack.
