Acer Nitro 5 (2021) Review: Strong Specifications At A Low Price

By Author: Ella Smith
Total Articles: 70
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 The Acer Nitro 5 is the newest entry into the competitive mid-range gaming laptop market. Acer is always a competitor because the company consistently produces impressive and effective devices at surprisingly low costs.On paper, the newest Nitro is no different. It combines Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 graphics with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor for a surprisingly low price of £1,149 in the UK. If it has AMD, it is the AN515-45 model number, and if it has Intel, it is the AN515-57 model number.That’s a strong specification for a low price, but it’s worth investigating further to see if the low price has resulted in any compromises.Design & BuildIf you’re familiar with Acer laptops, you won’t be surprised by the Nitro’s look. The machine sticks out with its angled base, projecting lines on the lid ...
... and red air vents, but it also seems a little archaic compared to many of its contemporaries.Given the price, it’s acceptable that the Nitro is built of plastic. The build quality is adequate as well, but there is movement in the screen, and the base may be stretched, which is another area where the budget bites a little. It’s not fatal, and the Nitro is still tough enough to carry in a bag, although computers in the £1,500/US$1,500 range are more durable.If you invest a little more, you’ll also obtain lighter and smaller styles. The Acer is heavier and thicker than typical gaming notebooks, weighing 2.7kg and measuring 25mm thick.The Nitro 5 (2021) includes three full-size USB 3 ports, one of which is capable of 10Gbps data transfer. A 10Gbps USB-C port is also available, but it doesn’t allow power delivery or DisplayPort, making it less useful. There are HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet, and audio ports on the outside, and dual-band Wi-Fi 6, and Bluetooth on the inside.The feature set is completed by a 720p webcam. Although it has enough ports and connectivity to handle mainstream gaming and computing, the webcam does not support Windows Hello, and there is no card or fingerprint reader.Keyboard & TrackpadThe Acer’s 15.6-inch laptop comes with a full-size keyboard with a good layout, as well as a number pad with slightly narrowed keys. The four-zone RGB LED illumination also allows for a fair level of personalization.The keyboard performs admirably as well. The buttons are quick, silent, and pleasant, so they can withstand extended periods of gaming or typing. Their action is a little sluggish, which may turn off those who like a more sharp experience, but it’s a small quibble.There are no surprises on the trackpad. It’s not especially large, the buttons are mushy, and it’s located on the left side of the base, making it easy for your wrist to trigger the pad. A USB gaming mouse is significantly superior.Screen & SpeakersThe 15.6-inch display offers a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and a refresh rate of 144Hz. Because this model lacks Nvidia G-Sync, slight tearing may occur, but it will not be a major or widespread problem. In the end, this display is adequate for mainstream gaming and eSports; synchronization and higher refresh rates are only available if you spend more.The maximum brightness level of 255 nits is adequate for indoor use but insufficient for outdoor use, especially when combined with a black level of 0.19cd/m2. That’s good because it results in a 1347:1 contrast ratio, which is rather outstanding. Those figures translate to a good depth and punch in real-world situations.However, the color palette is somewhat limited. Because the Nitro’s display only renders 61.5 percent of the sRGB color gamut, it falls well short of creating all of the shades needed by games. The Delta E of 5.96 is also mediocre, implying that precision is compromised.Finally, the display’s contrast and black point statistics indicate that it can handle mainstream gaming: at its most basic level, it has the punch and depth to accomplish the job. However, due to the poor color reproduction, everything appears pallid, with the brightest colors being underrepresented.The audio system is also subpar: the speakers are excessively quiet, lack bass, and have a tinny output. Make use of a gaming headsetSpecs & PerformanceThe Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 in the Acer Nitro 5 (2021) has a peak power of 85W, which is well in the middle of the spectrum for this chip, which can operate anywhere between 60 and 115W. It still boasts 6GB of RAM and 3,840 processor cores, as well as reasonable Ray-tracing capabilities.The AMD Ryzen 7 5800H, which is based on Zen 3, is a fantastic and dependable mobile processor. It has eight cores with a clock speed that starts at 3.2GHz and increases to 4.4GHz.The rest of the Nitro’s specs are predictable: 16GB of dual-channel RAM and a 1TB SSD with average read and write speeds of 2,391MB/s and 659MB/s, respectively.The RTX 3060 sped through Far Cry New Dawn at Ultra settings with a smooth framerate of 82fps, and it averaged more than 40fps in more demanding games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Cyberpunk 2077. That’s good news for today’s best single-player games: they’ll run smoothly, and you’ll only have to make concessions if you want to hit 60 frames per second or higher.Even in simpler games, the RTX 3060 achieved framerates above 100fps, so you’ll have no trouble running the most demanding eSports titles on the 144Hz panel. If you want 240Hz performance or greater future headroom, you’ll need a more expensive laptop with an RTX 3070.Battery LifeIn our battery test, the Acer Nitro 5 lasted 5 hours and 9 minutes while running OpenGL tests, browsing the web, and streaming video at 150 nits of brightness. For a gaming laptop, that’s quite impressive. On the same test, the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition had a battery life of 3:29. The ROG Zephyrus M16 had a slightly longer battery life (6:22), while the ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition had an abnormally lengthy battery life (10:14) for a gaming laptop.Bottom LineThe Acer Nitro 5 is a capable performer (albeit not particularly attractive), with a screen and acoustics that are accurate. The laptop’s keyboard is perhaps the ugliest aspect, but I was able to get through my usual word count on it.The price of this laptop is the main source of concern. The Acer Nitro is normally considered a budget model, but at $1,699, it is actually more expensive than the Alienware counterpart. Granted, it outperformed the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 in most of our testing, but owing to a bargain that’s been going on for over a week, the Alienware configuration we tested costs $1,37 right now. As a result, your laptop will have a lot more premium appearance.Of course, the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 lacks the Nitro 5’s 1440p display, but the similarly equipped ROG Zephyrus M16 outperforms the Nitro 5 with a 16:10 2560 x 1600 display. Of course, it’s also $1,849, and it performed somewhat worse in our testing than the Acer Nitro.If Alienware’s discount continues, that could be the best laptop for the majority of people. If you’re searching for a Nitro that keeps true to its affordable roots, there’s also the Intel and older Nitro 5 versions. The Acer Nitro 5 looks to be our most consistent mid-range AMD gaming laptop for now, provided you’re ready to sacrifice aesthetics and money for slightly faster performance and a 1440p resolution. It’s a shame it doesn’t appear to be the case.Source:https://office365setup.directorypie.com/acer-nitro-5-2021-review-strong-specifications-at-a-low-price/