Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop (Full Review)

Are you looking to purchase an Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop? Then a laptop from Acer Aspire is probably at or near the top of your list. Aspire laptops frequently top Amazon’s list of best-selling laptops and some models can be had for as little as. The model we tried for this evaluation combines the best features of both. It has an affordable price and offers a respectable level of performance.

Acer Aspire 5 here. This laptop is one of the priciest in the Aspire range and features an Intel Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM. But that does not imply that it is costly.  It might seem impossible for a Windows laptop with a modern Core i5 processor. Acer undoubtedly makes sacrifices to succeed. The ASUS Vivobook is also a capable and fun notebook.

Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop Review

The Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and PCIe solid-state drive are all included with the Acer Aspire 5. The Core i5-1135G7 has Intel’s Iris Xe graphics with 80 execution units and a maximum clock speed of 1.3GHz, which buyers interested in graphics performance, should be aware of.

The Intel UHD graphics included in the majority of 10th-generation Intel Core chips are a significant step down from this integrated graphics option, which isn’t the company’s quickest.

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 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.

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.

Keyboard And Trackpad

The keyboard on the Acer Aspire 5 is excellent. The key arrangement is roomy, and each key travels a long distance. The key feel is a little hazy, but not enough to ruin the experience. Hours were spent typing, which I found to be swift, precise, and pleasant. At least as long as the lights are on. There is no backlight on the keyboard. This is not unusual in the price range, but it is important to note because it makes using the laptop in a dark area challenging.

The touchpad area, which is usual for laptops in this price range and spans roughly 4.25 inches wide and 2.5 inches deep, feels small compared to more expensive devices with larger touchpads. Due to the limited space, employing Windows multi-touch gestures might be challenging, such as the five-finger squeeze to minimize all open windows.

My fingers frequently had to look for the surface because it felt like the nearby palm rest. The Acer Aspire 5 performs best on a desk with an external mouse. This will enable you to appreciate the sturdy keyboard while ignoring the poor touchpad.

Display, Audio

The 14-inch, 1080p display on the Acer Aspire 5 has a matte finish. It is straightforward but not unremarkable because it is both better and worse than anticipated. Let’s begin with the negative. The display’s color gamut is limited, covering only 64% of the sRGB color space. The colors are a little off, but they’re not terrible. Due to its narrow color spectrum and poor accuracy, the display lacks vitality.

For a budget laptop, the 1300:1 contrast ratio and lackluster color performance are both points in its favor. On average, 290 nits of brightness are sufficient. As a result, the matte screen is usable in virtually any environment with artificial lighting.

Keep the screen’s full 1080p resolution in mind. Fans might be surprised to see how common laptops with substandard 1366 by 768 panels are among budget-conscious shoppers. The Aspire 5 is user-friendly and provides crisp, clear text thanks to its 1080p resolution.

Two downward-firing speakers provide the audio output of the laptop. They have a clean, crisp mid-range and are loud when played at their highest volume. Because the dialogue constantly pops out, the speakers are a great fit for podcasts, YouTube, and occasional streaming. The loudest setting can compete with moderate background noise, such as that produced by a sizable fan or an office HVAC system.

Webcam, Microphone

A single microphone and a modest 720p webcam are present on the Acer Aspire 5. Both are competent enough for most Zoom calls, but they never wow. Spending money on a good external webcam is necessary for those who want to appear professional during video conferences.

The positive news most external webcams can rest comfortably on top of the Aspire 5’s thick top bezel. The laptop won’t topple over when a bulky webcam, such as Dell Ultrasharp 4K, is connected.

Connectivity

The Acer Aspire 5’s compact design allows for various backward-compatible ports. There is one USB 3.2 Type-C port with up to 5Gbps of bandwidth, one full-sized HDMI port, one Ethernet port, two USB Type-A connections (one USB 3.2 and two USB 2.0), and one 3.5mm combo audio jack. If you’re a buyer, the link should work flawlessly. Customers shopping for inexpensive laptops will likely use devices that connect via USB-A or HDMI.

MediaTek’s MT7921 wireless LAN card provides the basic Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth pairing. My entire house has dependable Wi-Fi performance. I connected a Bluetooth mouse and headphones with no issues.

Software

The Acer Aspire 5 comes with several useful programs already installed. The Amazon homepage shortcut in the taskbar can be used to open not just the web browser but also other applications like Firefox, Norton Antivirus, and Dropbox. (Which is still Edge, though Firefox is installed?) The Windows Start menu contains more websites, such as Booking.com.

Though they may be a minor annoyance, these additions are not a major issue. There is no degradation in performance, and no distracting pop-ups are generated. The Norton Antivirus application is the most annoying but can be easily deleted.

Testing

The Acer Aspire 5’s Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU is affordable and performs well. It has Intel’s Iris Xe graphics with 80 execution units, four cores, and eight threads. The laptop boasts 8GB of RAM, so Acer hasn’t skimped there either.

PCMark 10, a general productivity test, gives the Aspire 5 a poor performance-starting score of 3,902. It is not surprising that this falls short of speedier Intel Core processors. However, the main issue is AMD Ryzen 5 processors, which are present in mid-range laptops like the HP Envy x360 15.

On the other hand, it’s important to consider the cost. Because it is the least expensive Windows laptop we’ve evaluated in recent months, the Acer Aspire 5’s score can be excused. On Intel CPUs, Handbrake is tested in two different ways.

The first displayed above transcode a 4K file of the short film Tears of Steel purely using raw CPU power. This results in an absurdly long encoding time of more than 1.5 hours. Fortunately, video encoding on modern computers has significantly improved.

Editors Rating

4.3

Product Comparison

Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop is Windows 10 in S mode. Maximum power supply wattage: 65 Watts. It has 15.6 inches full HD (1920 x 1080) widescreen LED-backlit IPS display; AMD Radeon Vega 3 Mobile Graphics.

ASUS Vivobook is Fast & Efficient: With an Intel Celeron N4020 processor, 4GB RAM, and 64GB of storage, the ASUS Vivobook Go 15 L510 will help you get things done swiftly and efficiently. Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop is suggested as it has good quality.

Conclusion

The Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop stays clear of common problems with cheap laptops. Windows laptops with prices like these or lower sometimes have drastic price decreases. They could only have a modest 128GB hard drive or a dual-core processor with 4GB of RAM.

This laptop is incapable of doing any of these things. It provides the absolute minimum need for a satisfying Windows 11 experience and does it for only a few bucks more than less competent options (including other Aspire models).

Frequently Asked Questions