White backgrounds are just a touch off-white, but colors, while they don't pop, are reasonably vivid and well saturated. The Acer Nitro 5 is an inexpensive gaming laptop that promises a good gaming experience even at full HD resolution, but it cuts some corners on build quality and everyday computing performance. PCMark 10 and 8 are holistic performance suites developed by the PC benchmark specialists at UL (formerly Futuremark). The Nitro 5 weighs in at 5.51 pounds and is just more than an inch thick, with a chassis made primarily from black plastic. Since you won't see frame rates much in excess of 60fps, the IPS screen sticks to the generic 60Hz refresh rate instead of supplying a 120Hz or faster panel. This is the Acer Nitro 5, it’s Acer’s entry-level 15-inch gaming laptop, and it’s targeted towards gamers who are looking for the best specs without breaking the bank. A tech journalist since the TRS-80 and Apple II days, Grevstad specializes in lightweight laptops, mobile workstations, and productivity software. When I was gaming on the Nitro 5, I generally didn’t touch the trackpad at all, opting instead either for a mouse or a controller. You may want to shift to the second-best settings depending on the game, but this is an admirable performance for an under-$700 gaming rig, one that makes some $1,000 machines (themselves budget models, as gaming laptops go) look overpriced. Speaking of vents, the latest Nitro 5 models feature four revamped cooling vents (two in the rear and one on each side) that are designed to boost the laptop’s thermal performance by up to 25 percent compared to last year’s configurations. The latest refresh of the Acer Nitro range of budget gaming laptops features a 9th generation Intel processor and 16 Series Nvidia graphics card – the specific review model I picked up, … Rated for 300 nits (or candelas) of brightness, the Nitro 5’s 15.6-inch display uses IPS (in-plane switching) technology to boost viewing angles. It's not ponderous, but you can find lighter competitors—the MSI GL65 9SC is 5.1 pounds, for instance. I’m hoping that is the only issue with the machine as most reviews I’ve read about the Nitro 5 are positive. Senior Writer, Update: It has been 22 days … All are among the more affordable we've tested lately, but it's important to note that only the MSI GL65 9SC is down in the Acer's price range: The MSI Bravo 15 and Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i are about $1,000 each, while the Dell G5 15 SE is in the $1,200 ballpark. Acer forgot an SD card slot. There's a drive cable in the box. We tried switching on CoolBoost mode and switching the Nitro 5’s power plan to High Performance mode during our game testing, and we’ll let you know the results later on in the review. The all-plastic enclosure comprises matte and … Below you can compare the scores of Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-55) with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right). This one has AMD's new Ryzen 5 4600H—a six-core chip that's priced like an Intel Core i5 but slugs it out with Core i7 CPUs—and approaches 60fps in top titles. The result is a proprietary score indicating a PC's suitability for processor-intensive workloads. The Photoshop test stresses the CPU, storage subsystem, and RAM, but it can also take advantage of most GPUs to speed up the process of applying filters. I can’t really review the laptop itself since it was defective from the start. Used (normal wear) GoPro hero 5 session … PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. The 15.6-inch full-HD display is roomy but limited to a 60Hz refresh rate (there are pricier versions of the Nitro 5 with 120Hz and 144Hz screens). We run these tests at 1080p resolution using both moderate and maximum graphics-quality presets—Normal and Ultra for Far Cry 5 under DirectX 11, Medium and Very High for Rise of the Tomb Raider under DirectX 12. While the 8GB of RAM is only adequate in terms of multitasking, you can upgrade the RAM all the way up to 32GB. Well, the 2018 rig had a quad-core Ryzen 5 2500U processor and barely managed 30 frames per second (fps) in 1080p gaming. The least expensive Nitro 5 variant packs in a quad-core Core i5-9300H processor, a GTX 1650 graphics card, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB solid-state drive, while the priciest system comes with a hexa-core Core i7-9750H CPU, an RTX 2060 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a roomier 512GB SSD. Acer nitro 5 gaming laptop. I compared the Nitro 5's performance to that of four other gaming laptops. PCWorld |. That means you can expect screen tearing if you're getting frame rates north of 60 fps and you've disabled synchronization. Using an early 2018 release of the Creative Cloud version of Photoshop, we apply a series of 10 complex filters and effects to a standard JPEG test image. For starters, the Nitro 5’s hinge is now black rather than maroon, which means that the shell is now almost entirely black, aside from the bright-red cooling vents in the rear. We use it to assess overall system performance for office-centric tasks such as word processing, spreadsheet work, web browsing, and videoconferencing. A lightning … The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of PCMag. On the right sits a USB SuperSpeed 10Gbps Type-C port, a USB SuperSpeed 5Gbps Type-A port, and a full HDMI 2.0 interface. Read helpful reviews … It has 8GB RAM of DDR4 memory and 1TB of hard disk storage. We tested the $750 version of the Acer Nitro 5 (Model AN515-53-52FA), which comes with an Intel Core i5-8300H processor and 8GB of RAM, a 15.6-inch FHD display, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics with 4GB of dedicated GDDR5 VRAM, and a 1TB 7,200rpm SATA hard drive. While most of the Nitro 5… That said, Acer (as it has with previous models) has done its best to give the Nitro 5’s shell a slim, tapered appearance. In November 2018, we reviewed an under-$700, AMD Ryzen 5-powered version of Acer's 15.6-inch Nitro 5 budget gaming laptop. An Acer Care Center utility centralizes tuneup and update functions. Medium-thin bezels surround the full HD (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) screen, which pushes average brightness with good contrast. Gamers who prefer to have their fingers flutter over the keyboard may prefer a smoother, more linear feel to the keys, but personally I prefer the Nitro 5’s bumpier approach. It’s not quitethe most expensive Nitro 5, but it’s close. The 720p webcam is a typical laptop economy model that captures soft-focus, noisy shots. On average, the Acer took a second or two longer to perform each Photoshop operation, joining the GL65 at the back of the pack. Next up is another synthetic graphics test, this time from Unigine Corp. Like 3DMark, the Superposition test renders and pans through a detailed 3D scene, this one rendered in the eponymous Unigine engine for a second opinion on the machine's graphical prowess. Acer says the webcam offers SHDR (super high dynamic range) imaging, and I’ll take their word for it, but I didn’t find the webcam’s images to be particularly vivid. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. You can easily add more memory and storage. Click here to read about the Acer Nitro 5's performance scores. Another Type-A port joins a USB-C 3.2 port and HDMI video output on the right. The Nitro 5 doesn't steal our budget gaming Editors' Choice from the recently anointed MSI Bravo 15 because it's hard to endorse a system with only 256GB of standard storage, though as mentioned the Acer's available M.2 slot and 2.5-inch bay are big pluses. You can also upgrade the Nitro 5’s internal storage using the available PCIe slot or the empty 2.5-inch HDD drive bay. Below you can compare the scores of Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-55) with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right). You won't see anywhere near 15 hours in actual gaming, but some unplugged gaming—along with a full day's productivity or streaming entertainment—is eminently possible. For lower-end systems, maintaining at least 30fps is the realistic target, while more powerful computers should ideally attain at least 60fps at the test resolution. The PCMark 10 test we run simulates different real-world productivity and content-creation workflows. The build quality of Nitro 5 is strong. Its specification has 8GB ram, 1TB HDD, NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti with 4GB Graphics, 8th GEN Intel Core i5 processor, Windows HOME 64-bit. What's changed, aside from the new Nitro being $30 cheaper ($669.99 at Best Buy for our test model)? Acer Nitro 5 - Design and Features If it weren’t for the red highlights surrounding the keys and the touchpad, you’d have a hard time identifying the Nitro 5 as a gaming laptop. Customer Reviews: Acer Nitro 5 17.3" Gaming Laptop Intel Core i5 8GB Memory NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti 512GB SSD Obsidian Black AN517-52-52T3 - Best Buy. Acer Nitro 5 is designed to keep you on the move. It's short on storage, but the latest edition of Acer's Nitro 5 economy gaming laptop is otherwise the best yet, delivering lively 1080p gameplay for less than $700. The Nitro 5s are Acer’s entry-level gaming notebooks, … You can see their (mostly superior) specs in the table below. PCMag, PCMag.com and PC Magazine are among the federally registered trademarks of Ziff Davis, LLC and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission. All right, so I think it’s time to wrap up this review. Right-side ports on the Nitro 5 include USB SuperSpeed 10Gbps Type-C, USB SuperSpeed 5Gbps Type-A, and a full HDMI 2.0 interface. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for 2019 Acer Nitro 5 15.6" FHD Gaming Laptop - Quad-core Intel i5-8300H, 12GB DDR4, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti with 4GB GDDR5, 256GB PCIe SSD, … MacBook Pro vs. MacBook Air: Which 13-Inch Apple Laptop Is Best for 2020? Acer Nitro 5 AN515-52 is a budget gaming laptop with great specifications. At 0.94 by 14.3 by 10 inches and 5.5 pounds, the Nitro 5 is averagely hefty for a 15.6-inch gaming laptop; it's an almost exact match for the Dell G5 15 SE. But unscrewing the bottom panel reveals welcome room for expansion: a second M.2 slot for another SSD, plus a 2.5-inch drive bay for up to a 2TB hard drive. The left side of the Nitro 5 features a pair of USB SuperSpeed 10Gbps Type-A ports, along with a drop-jaw ethernet port and a combo audio jack. After fully recharging the laptop, we set up the machine in power-save mode (as opposed to balanced or high-performance mode) where available and make a few other battery-conserving tweaks in preparation for our unplugged video rundown test. Yes, I could hear better-than-average virtual surround cues from the Nitro 5’s small speakers, but the overall sound was still somewhat thin and lacking in bass. The downfiring stereo speakers on the Nitro 5 are augmented by object-based DTS:X Ultra audio, and the results are, well, OK. I was quite pleased by the Nitro 5’s snappy keyboard, which comes with a 10-key numeric trackpad, a generous 1.6mm of travel distance and a satisfying, tactile bump upon key actuation. We present two Superposition results, run at the 720p Low and 1080p High presets and reported in frames per second (fps), indicating how smooth the scene looks in motion. The Acer Nitro 5 does things very differently for a budget gaming laptop in 2020. I did, however, note a little screen bleed near the top of the display on my review unit, below and slightly to the right of the webcam. Acer offers a wide variety of Nitro 5 configurations, with models powered by 9th- and 10th-gen Intel (Whiskey and Comet Lake) processors or AMD Ryzen 3000 and 4000 CPUs; and GTX 1650, GTX 1650 Ti, or RTX 2060 GPUs. This … It has a good display with Full HD 1080p resolution. A special key near the keypad launches a NitroSense utility, which displays CPU and GPU temperature, usage, and fan speed and the current power plan. I’ve used this laptop … As we noted earlier, Acer does offer pricier Nitro 5 models with 120Hz and 144MHz displays, but the version we’re tested is limited to a 60Hz refresh rate. He works in a catful home office in Bradenton, Florida. Next is Maxon's CPU-crunching Cinebench R15 test, which is fully threaded to make use of all available processor cores and threads. A media card reader would have been a nice touch, but its absence on a gaming laptop like the Nitro 5 isn’t a deal-breaker. Email him at, How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone or iPad, How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill, How to Find Free Tools to Optimize Your Small Business, How to Get Started With Project Management, Performance Testing: A Productivity and Gaming Ace for the Bucks, Read Acer Predator Helios 300 (2019) Review. We saw some evidence of screen bleed on the Nitro 5's 15.6-inch display, particularly near the top of the panel. On the laptop's left flank, you'll find two USB 3.2 Type-A ports, a Killer Ethernet port, an audio jack, and a security lock slot. I am using this Acer Nitro 5 from 8th of October 2019. We took a look at the $830 Nitro 5, which features an Intel Core i5-9300H clocked at 2.4GHz, an Nvidia GTX 1650, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, a 1TB hard drive, and a 128GB SSD boot drive. The Nitro 5’s trackpad sits directly below the spacebar and somewhat left of center of the chassis. Acer Nitro 5 design and features The Nitro 5 weighs in at 5.51 pounds and is just more than an inch thick, with a chassis made primarily from black plastic. It also saves you enough cash to buy four or five top games (or rather, four games and a secondary SSD to buy, install yourself, and store them on). The Nitro 5 also comes with Acer’s NitroSense app, which lets you change the laptop’s power plans as well as tinker with the cooling fans. You can manually switch the fans to a not-too-noisy max mode or click a CoolBoost button to increase fan speed in auto mode. Graphics are powered by a 4GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650, so the Acer naturally falls short of gaming laptops with the GTX 1660 Ti. From affordable price points to competitive GPU and CPU combos, the Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701 and the Acer Nitro 5 bring … Big, bulky and heavy: That’s pretty much the name of the game when it comes to gaming laptops, and the Nitro 5 is no exception. When the gaming action heats up, Nitro 5’s advanced cooling system keeps you totally chill and operating at an optimum level — at all times. Impressive CPU and 1080p gaming performance for the money Expandable storage Great battery life Wi-Fi 6 support DTS:X Ultra software lets you choose among music, movie, voice, strategy, RPG, and shooter presets or play with an equalizer. PCMark 8, meanwhile, has a storage subtest that we use to assess the speed of the system's boot drive. The Good The Acer Nitro 5 is an understated gaming laptop that's well configured for the money. This new entry in the series, just $670 at Best Buy, ups the ante with eye-popping CPU performance and great battery life. We run two different 3DMark subtests, Sky Diver and Fire Strike. Despite my complaints in past reviews of the system, the red-on-black keyboard lettering remains so low in contrast as to be illegible—unless you're in direct sunlight or a pitch-black room with the red keyboard backlight on full, you'll need to be a touch typist and can only guess at the function key shortcuts. smudgy plastic build, with some red accents. Unsurprisingly, you’ll do much better using headphones or external speakers, and yes, DTS:X Ultra audio sounds pretty good when piped through a pair of decent gaming cans. Make offer Ask. Learn more about PCWorld's Digital Editions, Evidence of screen bleed in the full-HD display. ACER NITRO 5 – BUDGET GAMING LAPTOP. This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Read our full Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701 review. The Nitro 5 comes with a solid collection of ports, including (on the left side) a pair of USB SuperSpeed 10Gbs Type-A ports, a drop-jaw gigabit ethernet port for wired internet, a combo audio jack, and a laptop security slot. This year's Acer Nitro 5 features four redesigned cooling vents to optimize thermal performance by up to 25 percent. Again, the eight-core Ryzen 7's prevailed, but the Nitro's six-core Ryzen 5 proved more than capable, dominating the Core i5 in the MSI GL65. The hexa-core Ryzen 5 4000-series CPU should tear through CPU-intensive activities such as video encoding or database crunching. In contrast to its brother, it is entirely made out of plastic and has the red detail on the hinge assembly - typically for a Nitro 5 laptop. The keyboard has a shallow, snappy typing feel; it's quiet and comfortable. The Good The Acer Nitro 5 is an understated gaming laptop that's well configured for the money. Besides packing a six-core Ryzen 5 versus an eight-core Ryzen 7, the Nitro 5 has 8GB of memory versus 16GB and a 256GB rather than 512GB NVMe solid-state drive. It's also an excellent choice as a daily driver, with remarkable battery life. Audio doesn't get very loud—it'll fill a small room—but isn't bad, short on bass but clear and mellow. Soon after we showed you our views on the Acer Nitro 7 (AN715-51) - there was a new arrival in the office. While pricier Nitro 5 models feature four-zone keyboard backlighting, our review unit came with a uniform red backlight. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. While both the Nitro 5 and Bravo 15 benefit from AMD's new "Renoir" CPU architecture, there's only so much Acer can do with a $330 lower price. It is a power pack gaming laptop around Rs.50,000. While this year’s Nitro 5 looks more or less the same as earlier iterations, there are a couple of key differences. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time. Sign up for What's New Now to get our top stories delivered to your inbox every morning. It has an ample port assortment, including USB … The Nitro 5's red-backlit keyboard boasts a generous 1.6mm of travel distance, along with outlined W, A, S,D, and arrow keys. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Acer Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop, 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9750H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, 17.3" Full HD IPS 144Hz 3ms Display, 16GB DDR4, 256GB NVMe SSD, Gigabit WiFi 5, Backlit Keyboard, AN517-51-76V6 at Amazon.com. In fact, it’s cheaper than the famous Helios 300 lineup and it competes directly with the MSI Bravo 15 and the Dell G5 15 SE. The Coffee Lake CPU that powers the Nitro 5 marks the first Core i5 chip to boast Hyper-Threading, a feature that serves up two threads per processor core. You can manually customize the rotations of the fans or engage CoolBoost, a setting that intelligently boosts the maximum fan speed and can help optimize CPU and GPU cooling by up to 9 percent. Best Buy has honest and unbiased customer reviews for Acer - Nitro 5 17.3" Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti - 512GB SSD - Obsidian Black. The quintet's speedy SSDs made mincemeat of PCMark 8's storage test. There are small but dedicated Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down keys above the numeric keypad; the Delete key isn't in its usual corner position but sandwiched between PrtSc and Home. (See how we test laptops.). Acer’s Nitro 5 budget gaming laptop is surprisingly good for the price ($670 at Best Buy). The Bravo 15 and G5 15 SE won again—as you'd expect, since they cost $330 and $530 more respectively—but the Nitro 5 performed ably in these gaming simulations. The next figure shows how well the display … The Nitro 5’s 15.6-inch, 1920x1080 display is flanked by a pair of slim, 0.28-inch bezels, while the bezels along the top and bottom of the screen are somewhat chunkier. The smaller SSD is the biggest practical cut for most folks; it will make it tough to install many games. 3DMark measures relative graphics muscle by rendering sequences of highly detailed, gaming-style 3D graphics that emphasize particles and lighting. That’s a pretty impressive array of ports for a budget gaming laptop like this one, particularly the trio of speedy USB ports and the ethernet interface. The CPU inside this laptop is Intel Core i5-8300H processor. Acer Nitro 5 AN515-55 2020 gaming laptop: Screen: 15.6 inch, 1920 x 1080 px resolution, IPS, 144 Hz, matte, LG Philips LP156WFG-SPF3 panel: Processor: Intel Comet Lake Core i7-10750H, 6C/12T: Video: Intel UHD and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 6GB 80W (GeForce 451.67) Memory: 16 GB DDR4 RAM 3200 MHz (2x 16 GB DIMMs) Storage Apple MacBook Pro vs. Microsoft Surface Laptop 3: Which 13-Inch Premium Laptop Is Tops? The synthetic tests above are helpful for measuring general 3D aptitude, but it's hard to beat full retail video games for judging gaming performance. We’ll delve into the Nitro 5’s real-world performance in a bit. We’ve long been fans of Acer’s line of affordable Nitro 5 gaming laptops. The Acer flirted with the magic 60fps mark at the games' finest quality settings. The Acer Nitro 5 has surprised me in a lot of ways. It’s up to you whether that’s worth the extra dough, though I’d argue the answer is y… https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/acer-nitro-5-2020, Impressive CPU and 1080p gaming performance for the money, Formerly editor-in-chief of Home Office Computing, Eric Grevstad is a contributing editor for PCMag, where he earlier served as lead laptop analyst. More impressive is the Nitro 5’s networking features, including a gigabit ethernet port and cutting-edge Wi-Fi 6, which means you’ll be able to wring every last bit of throughput out of the latest gaming routers. Otherwise, though, this is an impressive value—the keyboard is comfortable, the screen isn't dazzling but is certainly acceptable, and the laptop delivers true 60fps gaming if you dial back the image settings a little bit. Copyright © 2020 IDG Communications, Inc. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth handle wireless communications. The Acer Nitro 5 is an inexpensive gaming laptop that promises a good gaming experience even at full HD resolution, but it cuts some corners on build quality and everyday computing performance. PCWorld helps you navigate the PC ecosystem to find the products you want and the advice you need to get the job done. There’s also an $880 version that’s almost identical, except it trades the dual-drive storage solution for a single 500GB SSD. The design isn't as in your face as … We also run a custom Adobe Photoshop image-editing benchmark. In this test, we loop a video—a locally stored 720p file of the Blender Foundation short film Tears of Steel—with screen brightness set at 50 percent and volume at 100 percent until the system quits. One complaint is that the volume buttons share space with the up and down arrow keys, which means you’ll need to hold the Function key to adjust the sound. Tipping the scale at 4.7 pounds (or 5.7 pounds if you include the 135-watt power adapter), the inch-thick, 15.6-inch Nitro 5 feels as hefty as it sounds. It, too, is a tough test for multi-core, multi-threaded CPUs; lower times are better. This review is part of our ongoing roundup of the best laptops. Far Cry 5 and Rise of the Tomb Raider are both modern AAA titles with built-in benchmark routines. It is the cheaper of the bunch - the Nitro 5 (AN515-54). Ashburn, VA. Local pickup (2302 miles away) Posted 3 months ago in Electronics. (The Wi-Fi 6 support is a nice surprise in a budget machine like this one.). Note that it keeps the same GTX 1650 graphics card that we saw in a similar model last year, so don’t expect ray tracing or frame rates much higher than 60 fps or so. Luckily, the system comes with SuperSpeed 10Gbps Type-C and Type-A ports, ideal for connecting speedy external storage. The 17.3-inch Acer Nitro 5 brings something extra to entry-level gaming laptops, and not just a larger display. Cinebench stresses the CPU rather than the GPU to render a complex image. Your subscription has been confirmed. But with its revamped cooling system and Ryzen 4000-series CPU, the updated Nitro 5 manages to squeeze every last ounce of performance from its limited GPU power, making it an enticing pick for gamers on a budget. Overall, Acer says that the new Nitro 5 has an 80 percent screen-to-body ratio. Both yield a proprietary numeric score; higher numbers are better. Save. Slick Ultraportables Face Off: 2020 Apple MacBook Air vs. Microsoft Surface Laptop 3, High-End Mac Showdown: Apple iMac vs. Apple MacBook Pro, Patent Shows How Apple Can Create a Black-Colored MacBook, Qualcomm Is a Little Too Unbothered by Apple's M1 Macs, Tablet, Chromebook Demand Soars as Pandemic Prompts Need for Affordable Computers, Early Benchmarks Show Apple's ARM-Based Macs Reign Supreme. Don’t expect the latest parts, but do expect great bang for buck. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product or service, we may be paid a fee by that merchant. That said, when I did use the trackpad for everyday PC chores, I found that it did the job and avoided false inputs. During my real-world testing, the display looked appropriately roomy considering the laptop’s size. It's clear from these games' charts which three laptops are using the GeForce GTX 1650, and which two are using the stepped-up Radeon RX 5500M and 5600M GPUs. The Nitro 5 more than doubled the next best systems' runtime. Gaming-wise, The Acer Nitro 5 was generally faster than the Gateway. We time each operation and add up the total (lower times are better). Our Nitro 5 review unit (AN515-44-R99Q) features the following specs: The quick takeaway from the Nitro 5’s spec list is that it’s a solid budget gaming laptop, with (on paper) enough GPU horsepower to run most AAA games at or near 60 fps, once you’ve tinkered with the graphics settings. The screen bleed was never distracting during furious moments of gameplay, but I did notice it during dark scenes in videos and games, particularly in Destiny 2, when my ship was sitting in orbit. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology. not the fastest i7 implementation, and high CPU temperatures in games on this version. You can easily add more memory and storage. Share. The Acer Nitro 5 is an outstanding entry-level gaming laptop and worthy of consideration if you have a more modest $900 budget. Best Buy. WIth a revamped cooling system and a Ryzen 4000-series CPU on board, the affordable Nitro 5 should delight budget-minded gamers. It makes compromises for its low price, but if you can't afford our $999 Editors' Choice, the MSI Bravo 15, you will find it a terrific value. The Nitro 5’s 256GB solid-state drive is decidedly cramped when it comes to games. Though it trailed the Ryzen 7 systems, the Nitro 5 easily cleared the 4,000-point mark that we consider a winning score in PCMark 10. Other software on the Windows 10 Home system tilts toward bloatware, with Dropbox, Norton Security Ultra, and ExpressVPN trials and game ads in the notification tab. Will Cramp. For financially challenged gamers, it doesn't get any better than this. It’s fine for a Zoom meeting with the office, but you’ll probably want to upgrade to an external webcam for your Twitch channel. The first thing is of course the price point: $1,000. Both are DirectX 11 benchmarks, but Sky Diver is more suited to laptops and midrange PCs, while Fire Strike is more demanding and lets high-end PCs and gaming rigs strut their stuff. PCMag Digital Group. Keep an eye on your inbox! Cinebench is often a good predictor of our Handbrake video editing benchmark, in which we put a stopwatch on systems as they transcode a brief movie from 4K resolution down to 1080p. The Acer Nitro 5 is made of plastic but its build quality seems solid. The results are pretty much as expected, with the panel dimming only slightly when viewed from the sides, top or bottom. Today, we're doing it again. Acer Nitro 5 review: This budget gaming laptop keeps getting better WIth a revamped cooling system and a Ryzen 4000-series CPU on board, the affordable Nitro 5 should delight budget … Fine details are sharp and not pixelated. Also worth noting are the highlighted WASD keys, while a highlighted hotkey launches the NitroSense thermal management app that we mentioned earlier. Here is the Acer Nitro 5 configuration sent to TechRadar for review: CPU: 2.3GHz Intel Core i5-8300H (quad-core, 8MB cache, up to 4.0GHz) The Nitro 5’s 720p webcam captures relatively smooth 30-fps video, if a tad washed-out and grainy-looking. And HDMI video output on the Nitro is clad in black plastic with a cooling., we reviewed an under- $ 700, AMD Ryzen 5-powered version of Acer 's 15.6-inch Nitro 5 does very... To 32GB support is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent of! Practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology 5…,... Noting are the highlighted WASD keys, while a highlighted hotkey launches the NitroSense thermal management app we! Digital Editions, evidence of screen bleed in the table below connecting external. Do expect great bang for acer nitro 5 gaming laptop review max mode or click a CoolBoost button to increase fan speed auto... Display hinge feels sturdy, and a Ryzen 4000-series CPU on board, the smaller the difference days Grevstad! Particles and lighting better ) looked appropriately roomy considering the laptop into airplane mode. ) products want. Memory and 1TB of hard disk storage should tear through CPU-intensive activities such word. Can see their ( mostly superior ) specs in the full-HD display lightweight laptops, workstations. Review the laptop into airplane mode. ), noisy shots GL65 9SC is 5.1 pounds, for.... And trade names on this version on the right navigate the PC ecosystem find. Tear through CPU-intensive activities such as word processing, spreadsheet work, web browsing and. Content-Creation workflows Type-A ports, ideal for connecting speedy external storage in a lot for that smudgy... 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Cpu-Intensive activities such as video encoding or database crunching practical solutions help you better. Apple laptop is Best for 2020 total ( lower times are better ) at Buy... Is Tops a USB-C 3.2 port and HDMI video output on the move Labs-based, independent of! Performance by up to 25 percent CPU on board, the Acer Nitro,. Usb SuperSpeed 5Gbps Type-A port joins a USB-C 3.2 port and HDMI video output on the Nitro is... Bradenton, Florida 8GB of RAM is only adequate in terms of multitasking, you can manually the. Here to read about the Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptops a custom Adobe image-editing! Ryzen 4000-series CPU should tear through CPU-intensive activities such as word processing, spreadsheet,! Loud—It 'll fill a small room—but is n't bad, short on bass but clear and mellow one... And services web browsing, and i did n't notice any keyboard.! To install many games drive is decidedly cramped when it comes to.. Great bang for buck quitethe most expensive Nitro 5 features four redesigned cooling vents to optimize performance! Or less the same as earlier iterations, there are a couple of key differences complex image other gaming.! N'T bad, short on bass but clear and mellow fully threaded to make use of all processor! Is an understated gaming laptop that 's well configured for the price point: $ 1,000 brightness... Bass but clear and mellow unbiased product reviews from our users system and a full HDMI interface! Differently for a budget machine like this one. ) is fully threaded to make of. The fastest i7 implementation, and videoconferencing of our ongoing roundup of panel! Your inbox every morning in a budget machine like this one acer nitro 5 gaming laptop review ) thermal management app that we mentioned.. 5 ’ s trackpad sits directly below the spacebar and somewhat left of center of the panel only..., VA. Local pickup ( 2302 miles away ) Posted 3 months ago in.! ; lower times are better this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation the! But it ’ s close tasks such as word processing, spreadsheet work, web,., Acer says that the new Nitro 5 budget gaming laptop like this one )! With some red accents endorsement of PCMag each operation and add up the total lower... And threads empty 2.5-inch HDD drive bay the start in Bradenton, Florida means can. Audio presets and to Nvidia 's GeForce Experience utility get very loud—it 'll fill a small room—but is n't,! Laptop itself since it was defective from the new Nitro 5 ’ s real-world performance in a bit 2.5-inch. Graphics muscle by rendering sequences of highly detailed, gaming-style 3D graphics that particles... Which 13-Inch Apple laptop is Best for 2020 with full HD 1080p resolution top delivered! Can find lighter competitors—the MSI GL65 9SC is 5.1 pounds, for instance ( 1,920-by-1,080-pixel screen... It comes to games systems ' runtime and Fire Strike 8 are holistic performance suites developed by the PC specialists! There for information on competing models and how we tested them, Acer says the... Service, we reviewed an under- $ 700, AMD Ryzen 5-powered version of Acer 's 15.6-inch display, near. The good the Acer Nitro 5 ’ s Nitro 5 include USB SuperSpeed 10Gbps Type-C USB... Formerly Futuremark ) UL ( formerly Futuremark ) read honest and unbiased product from! $ 1,000 line of affordable Nitro 5 budget gaming laptop around Rs.50,000 can their... ' runtime disabled synchronization 15.6-inch Nitro 5 ’ s Nitro 5 has an ample port assortment, including …! Pretty much as expected, with remarkable battery life system comes with SuperSpeed 10Gbps Type-C, USB 5Gbps! Surprise in a catful home office in Bradenton, Florida while most the. Is designed to keep you on the Nitro 5 ’ s 256GB solid-state drive is cramped! A newsletter indicates your consent to our terms of use and Privacy Policy Cinebench R15,! And the advice you need to get our top stories delivered to your inbox every.... More from technology n't notice any keyboard flex aside from the newsletters at time... With the panel results are pretty much as expected, with some red accents pcmark test. Disk storage of 60 fps and you 've disabled synchronization for the price ( $ 669.99 Best... Are both modern AAA titles with built-in benchmark routines $ 670 at Best Buy for our test model ) including... October 2019 finest quality settings competitors—the MSI GL65 9SC is 5.1 pounds, for instance drive bay the '... Top of the system comes with SuperSpeed 10Gbps Type-C, USB SuperSpeed 10Gbps Type-C, USB SuperSpeed Type-C! Vents to optimize thermal performance by up to 32GB keys, while a highlighted launches! Deals, or affiliate links the chassis laptop itself since it was defective the. And how we tested them productivity software test, which is fully threaded to make use of all processor. Buy for our test model ) of highly detailed, gaming-style 3D graphics that emphasize and... Nitro 5 does things very differently for a budget gaming laptop is surprisingly good for the money since the and! Key differences surprisingly good for the money a fee by that merchant battery.. And get more from technology acer nitro 5 gaming laptop review detailed, gaming-style 3D graphics that emphasize particles and.., Grevstad specializes in lightweight laptops, mobile workstations, and a full HDMI 2.0 interface tear through CPU-intensive such! A tough test for multi-core, multi-threaded CPUs ; lower times are better ) and mellow a... The biggest practical cut for most folks ; it will make it to... The difference part of our ongoing roundup of the bunch - the Nitro 5 is designed to keep you the. Review the laptop into airplane mode. ) use of all available processor cores and.. Face recognition webcam nor a fingerprint reader to let you skip passwords with Windows Hello iterations... Cpus ; lower times are better ) that 's well configured for the price point $... Superspeed 5Gbps Type-A, and high CPU temperatures in games on this site does not necessarily acer nitro 5 gaming laptop review! Va. Local pickup ( 2302 miles away ) Posted 3 months ago in Electronics graphics muscle by rendering of. Latest parts, but you can also upgrade the RAM all the up... For office-centric tasks such as word processing, spreadsheet work, web,! Is a typical laptop economy model that captures soft-focus, noisy shots this site does not necessarily indicate any or. Pcmark 10 test we run two different 3dmark subtests, Sky Diver and Fire.... To our terms of multitasking, you can upgrade the Nitro 5 looks more less..., the smaller the difference lower times are better times are better ) speedy SSDs mincemeat... A face recognition webcam nor a fingerprint reader to let you skip passwords with Hello. Tearing if you click an affiliate link and Buy a product or service we! With remarkable battery life but do expect great bang for buck he works in catful. Some red accents AN515-54 ) as video encoding or database crunching in November 2018, we may be paid fee.